The Scoop andBehind the Screen are both collaborative detective serials written by members of theDetection Club which were broadcast weekly by their authors on theBBC National Programme in 1930 and 1931 with the scripts then being published inThe Listener within a week after broadcast. The two serials were first published in book form in the UK byVictor Gollancz Ltd in1983 and in the US byHarper & Row in1984. The UK edition retailed at£6.95.
Julian Symons, then President of the club (1983), explains in his introduction: "...The present volume... was written to provide funds so that club premises might be acquired. Other books with the same purpose, also the product of several hands, wereThe Floating Admiral (1931), ...Ask a Policeman (1933), ... and ...Verdict of Thirteen. ..."[1]
The episodes, contributors, transmission and magazine publication details of this serial are as follows (all episodes were transmitted from 9:25pm to 9:40pm):
The billing from theRadio Times issue of June 15–21, 1930, illustrating Agatha Christie's broadcast of her chapter ofBehind The Screen.
(1): (Episode unnamed), written and broadcast byHugh Walpole. Transmitted on Saturday 14 June 1930. First published in issue 75 ofThe Listener on 18 June 1930.
(2):Something is Missing, written and broadcast byAgatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday 21 June 1930. First published in issue 76 ofThe Listener on 25 June 1930.
(3):Man at the Gate, written and broadcast byDorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday 28 June 1930. First published in issue 77 ofThe Listener on 2 July 1930.
(4):I Killed Mr Dudden, written and broadcast byAnthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday 5 July 1930. First published in issue 78 ofThe Listener on 9 July 1930.
(5):Amy Intervenes, written and broadcast byE.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday 12 July 1930. First published in issue 79 ofThe Listener on 16 July 1930.
(6):How Dudden Died, written and broadcast byRonald Knox. Transmitted on Saturday 19 July 1930. First published in issue 80 ofThe Listener on 23 July 1930.
InThe Listener (and subsequently in the book version), four of the episodes were untitled, the exceptions being the fourth and sixth, which were given the titlesIn the Aspidistra andMr Parsons on the Case respectively.
As announced inThe Guardian on 2 December 1930,Behind the Screen proved popular enough for the BBC to commission a second serial, this time in twelve instalments.
The episodes, contributors, transmission and magazine publication details of this serial are as follows (all episodes were transmitted from 9:25pm to 9:40pm except for episode 7):
(1): (Episode unnamed), written and broadcast by Dorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday 10 January 1931. First published in issue 105 ofThe Listener on 14 January 1931.
The billing from theRadio Times issue of 11–17 January 1931, illustrating Agatha Christie's broadcast of her second chapter ofThe Scoop.
(2): (Episode unnamed), written and broadcast by Agatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday 17 January 1931. First published in issue 106 ofThe Listener on 21 January 1931.
(3):Fisher's Alibi, written and broadcast by E.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday 24 January 1931. First published in issue 107 ofThe Listener on 28 January 1931.
(4):The Strange Behaviour of Mr. Potts, written and broadcast by Agatha Christie. Transmitted on Saturday 31 January 1931. First published in issue 108 ofThe Listener on 4 February 1931 under the alternative title ofThe Weapon.
(5):Tracing Tracey, written and broadcast by Anthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday 14 February 1931. First published in issue 110 ofThe Listener on 18 February 1931.
(6):Scotland Yard on the Job, written and broadcast byFreeman Wills Crofts. Transmitted on Saturday 21 February 1931. First published in issue 111 ofThe Listener on 25 February 1931.
(7):Beryl in Broad Street, written and broadcast byClemence Dane. Transmitted on Saturday 28 February 1931 from 8:30pm to 8:55pm. First published in issue 112 ofThe Listener on 4 March 1931.
(8):The Sad Truth About Potts, written and broadcast by E.C. Bentley. Transmitted on Saturday 7 March 1931. First published in issue 113 ofThe Listener on 11 March 1931.
(9):Bond Street and Broad Street, written and broadcast by Anthony Berkeley. Transmitted on Saturday 14 March 1931. First published in issue 114 ofThe Listener on 18 March 1931 under the slightly different title ofBond Street or Broad Street?.
(10):Beryl Takes the Consequences, written and broadcast by Clemence Dane. Transmitted on Saturday 21 March 1931. First published in issue 115 ofThe Listener on 25 March 1931.
(11):Inspector Smart gets a Nasty Jar, written and broadcast by Freeman Wills Crofts. Transmitted on Saturday 28 March 1931. First published in issue 116 ofThe Listener on 1 April 1931 under the slightly different title ofInspector Smart's Nasty Jar.
(12):The Final Scoop, written and broadcast by Dorothy L. Sayers. Transmitted on Saturday 4 April 1931. First published in issue 117 ofThe Listener on 8 April 1931.
InThe Listener the first two instalments were entitledOver the Wire andAt the Inquest. The book version of the serial (1983) replicates these chapter titles.
Weedon, A. '“Behind the Screen” and “The Scoop”’: a cross-media experiment in publishing and broadcasting crime fiction in the early 1930s'Media History, 13 (1), 2007, pp. 43–60.
