1. A very popular genre – whether it be modern, cold-war or even historical – a good ‘cloak and dagger’ story always works well.
2. A genre that works extremely well with the medium of radio – all those word pictures, voice inflections and sound effects create vivid mind pictures.
3. The images represented in these radio series meant that each individual listener created their own mind pictures – rather than images created by someone else.
4. Traditionally these series were broadcast later in the evening (so that the children didn’t go to bed and have nightmares).
5. The Adventures of Major Gregory Keen (the first of which is Dossier on Dumetrius) was one of the first post-war espionage series. Its outstanding success meant the follow-on adventure (Deadly Nightshade) was commissioned almost immediately. There are five adventures in the series.
6. Long regarded as a forerunner to the James Bond franchise, The Adventures of Major Gregory Keen were penned by Lindsay Hardy – who had met and mixed with some of the inspirations for his characters when he was in London.
7. Other popular titles in this genre include A Mask For Alexis, Goodbye Gwynnevere, The Red Gardenia and Undercover.
8. We also have a series titled I, Spy in which each episode is a self-contained story – supposedly a true story – in which a person or event is detailed.
9. As the behaviour of spies and commandos necessarily involves an element of crime – these stories are usually categorised as ‘Crime & Mystery’. Who are we to draw a line on what is crime and what is espionage??
10. We’ve been told on more than one occasion – that people who listen to these stories in their cars have missed their turn-off due to their focus on the plot.

In Twenty-six Hours, Major Gregory Keen – together with Sergeant Coutts – travels to Berlin to find and destroy some diaries written by an indiscreet American General which are so inflammatory that, if they were to fall into the wrong hands, could cause another World War.

The diaries fall into the hands of ex-German General, Manfred Von Remer, who decides to sell them to the highest bidder…the United States, Russia or Great Britain.  Von Remer offers them first to the Americans, but will deal only through British Intelligence.

And so…Major Keen of MI-5 is put on the case.  He is to make his first contact through a girl in a Berlin café and it soon becomes obvious to Keen that more than one group is after the diaries.

104 x ‘Quarter-Hour’ episodes

Since her husband’s death, Ruth has been compelled to live on an allowance.  Ruth knows that if Greg Mallory inherits the estae he’ll sell and she’ll be forced to find somewhere else to live.

After the arrival of the man who calls himself Bart Barnett, Greg Mallory does all he can to prove the man is an imposter.  Bart’s mother, Ruth, claims he is not.  Bart’s claim is investigated even to the extent of having a court case concerning it.  For a time it looks as though Bart might be delcared an imposter but when Anita and Timothy arrive, Bart introduces them as his wife and son.  Timothy’s resemblance to the real Bart as a child and to his grandfather is so marked that it is finally accepted that his man is Bart Barnett.

Greg Mallory is still not satisfied.  He proposes to Jane Eaton and at the same time, seizes an opportunity to get Jane a position taking care of Ruth, who has had an operation, and helping with Timothy.  He persuades Jane to take the job in order to spy on Bart and Anita while he travels to the Pacific Islands to trace this man’s history.

Each episode is introduced by Gregory Keen, brilliantly played by Bruce Stewart.  No narrator is used, so the programe is alive the instant each chapter takes the air.  Touches of actuality create an atmosphere of realism throughout.  From the opening scenes, as the web is spun to enmesh the characters one after another to the climax – the suspense mounts, the pace quickens.