Donald Stewart (–1999)

British fictional detective Sexton Blake first appeared in print in 1893. He's appeared in newspapers, comic strips, books, radio, film, stage plays, and television. This audio book presents four of the episodes from the 1967 radio series. The fifth adventure is stated to be '...one of Britain's earliest surviving drama recordings (from 1930)', so it's not surprising that it features a different actor in the title role.

'The Eight of Swords' --*** A famous actress is found dead in the same show more beauty salon where Blake's secretary, Paula Dean, was. The eight of spades is a playing card found there. I didn't see the solution coming.

'A Murder of Crows'--***1/2 In case you don't know this already, 'murder' is the collective noun for crows. In this case, two men have been murdered, both named George Crow. Blake suspects it's more than some lunatic with a fixation on the name. The solution was nothing I expected.

'Double and Quit'--**** It's the 1960s, the Cold War, and spies are big entertainment fodder. Sexton Blake isn't a spy, but he is being asked to substitute for a convicted double agent who is due to be broken out of prison. Unsurprisingly, the man who recruits Blake proves to have less on the ball than our hero. I really enjoyed the end.

'You Must Be Joking'--*** Three men receive death threats written in limerick form. Blake belongs to the same club as two of them. While I kept snarling the word that occurred to me long before it occurred to Blake, I didn't finger the killer.

'Murder on the Portsmouth Road' --*** It's raining pitchforks and hammer handles, so to speak, when Blake and Tinker make an unexpected stop. They meet a constable, a murdered man, and another man the constable wants to arrest for the killing. Blake isn't so certain that the man is the killer.

I enjoyed the theme music for the 1967 episodes. Their plots were more elaborate than the one from 1930, but that one charmed me because I recognized an old radio method for making a thunder sound effect. I smiled every time I heard it.

The solutions weren't easily guessed, which was a plus. I also liked the fact that Blake's secretary wasn't limited to bringing in the coffee/tea and fussing with the paperwork. She wasn't a quiet little mouse at all, even if she was no Emma Peel. Recommended for mystery fans. show less

Despite some memorable dialogue and great performances from virtually everyone in the cast, the story fails to really grip me like it did in "Patriot Games". The nearly full hour of set up feels a bit too meandering, but that isn't really the issue -- the stakes don't get properly personal for the protagonist until the film is nearly done, and that's likely more of what kept me from feeling invested. Still, not a bad way to spend two hours at all.

Wonderful cast, of course. Not interesting story, at least to me. Politics, drug cartels, and a lot of people messing each other over. The "intrigue" is not interesting to me.
— Rebecca

A great spy movie! I watched this movie and LOVED it! One of my favorite scenes is the suspenseful house scene! A few gratuitous scenes that were completely unnecessary for the story... For that I take away one star.