Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case

Paul Temple BBC Serials #15

by Francis Durbridge

For thirty years the fictional crime novelist and detective Paul Temple, together with his Fleet Street journalist wife Steve, solved case after case in one of BBC Radio's most popular series. They inhabited a sophisticated world of chilled cocktails and fast cars, where the women were chic and the men wore cravats - a world where Sir Graham Forbes, of Scotland Yard, usually needed Paul's help with his latest tricky case.

Just as Paul and Steve are about to go on holiday, Wilfred Stirling visits with a plea. His daughter Brenda was recently murdered, her body dumped on a bomb site. Her boyfriend Howard Gilbert, seen walking away from the site, has been convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang - but Brenda's father feels sure he didn't do it. In spite of all the evidence against Gilbert, Mr Stirling asks Paul to clear his name and discover the real murderer.

If he's to prevent an unjust hanging, Paul has just a week in which to discover the truth. Can he solve the case in time?

Featuring the celebrated pairing of Peter Coke as Paul Temple and Marjorie Westbury as Steve, Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case was first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme from 29 March to 17 May 1954.

3 CDs. 3 hrs 30 mins.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Fiction, Thriller

4 pages, Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Francis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author born in Hull. In 1938, he created the character Paul Temple for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple.

A crime novelist and detective, the gentlemanly Temple solved numerous crimes with the help of Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist who later became his wife. The character proved enormously popular and appeared in 16 radio serials and later spawned a 64-part big-budget television series (1969-71) and radio productions, as well as a number of comic strips, four feature films and various foreign radio productions.

Francis Durbridge also had a successful career as a writer for the stage and screen. His most successful play, Suddenly at Home, ran in London’s West End for over a year.

Reviews

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charm and sophistication, and a pretty good little mystery make this an enjoyable outing for Paul Temple and his wife, Steve. The father of a slain girl doesn’t believe the young man convicted of killing her, actually did the deed, and he comes to Paul for help in proving it.

The unusual premise for a Paul Temple story pulls the mystery element to the forefront in this Coke/Westbury outing. Dead girls and missing shoes, jewels, and of course, the mysterious mystery man make the story a delight.

The young man convicted of the crime is not the most likable chap, but he is set to pay the ultimate price very quickly, so Paul must hurry if he’s to solve this one in time! Involving and charming, if with a bit less of the usual Durbridge plot elements — car chases, bombs exploding, etc. The Gilbert Case is very enjoyable for Paul Temple fans however, and was later adapted by Durbridge to print form as a non-Paul Temple story, titled Another Woman’s Shoes. Great fun!

[Debbie Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter downloaded these on Audible and I have become hooked. The voices and music take me back to my childhood and the whole atmosphere evokes the feeling of very different days indeed! Days of drawing rooms, appointments at dress shops, staff who will travel to London with your things and criminals who do smash and grabs! Pure escapism by Timothy! And Steve’s a legend!!

[Si · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with Paul Temple and I was hooked from the start. Great stories I love them all but this is my favourite and I keep going back to it even after 25 years.

[Nicky Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUDIOBOOK PODCAST
Another wonderful GA crime thriller recorded in the 1960’s.
Paul Temple decides to investigate whether or not a condemned young man really did kill his fiancée after the girls father begs him to intervene

[MaggyGray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Höre mir momentan nochmal alle meine Paul Temple Hörbücher an. Eine ausführliche Rezension, die eigentlich für alle Fälle steht, gibt es hier: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Farhana Sufi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh! Quite an actionful twisty thing.

[Morgan Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Talk about intricate and complex! What a ride. The ending was lovely…I had a hunch, and it paid off. But the story definitely kept me guessing until the very end before I was certain.

Paul’s concern for Steve is sweet…I love them as a couple.

I don’t recall any language in this one.

[Rose]

This Temple story added a welcome touch of novelty in that this time, Paul was trying to get someone acquitted. Apart from that it contained most of the plot elements you know and love, oddly minus the car going into a body of water, but the central issue - the microfilm containing the whereabouts of a stolen pendant being cut into three pieces, each piece put into the heel of a shoe and distributed - was just bizarre. Why shoes? How did the shoes fit well enough for their recipients to wear them? How come they just happened to be wearing them when killed? How did the killer know which shoe to take, and why not take both just to be on the safe side?

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Helma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charmant und nostalgisch.