{
  "title": "ALGERNON BLACKWOOD [STORIES]",
  "category": "[SHORT-STORIES]",
  "article": "Blackwood’s early fiction collection centering around a physician who is also a kind of occult\ndetective…\n[Preterite] “The late Sheila Hodgson was a noted author and playwright who wrote extensively\nfor BBC Radio. Of particular interest to genre fans is her series of audio dramas, inspired by M.R.\nJames' fragmentary Stories I Have Tried to Write, which feature James himself as protagonist.\n“Much less known is her series featuring Algernon Blackwood's supernatural detective, John\nSilence. I don't know how many of these were produced, and the usual references don't have\nmuch info. Camp of the Dog is the only audio drama I could find with the same title as one of the\noriginal John Silence tales. To further complicate things, the other play I have is based on a\nBlackwood story which originally had nothing to do with the \"physician extraordinary\". If anyone\ncould pass along information on other John Silence dramas by Hodgson, I'd be most grateful.\n“John Silence would bristle at being labeled an occult detective. He referred to himself as a\n\"psychic doctor\", one who tended to the ailments of the spirit instead of that of the flesh. Silence\nhated the word \"occult\", and considered what we call the supernatural to be merely an extension\nof the so-called natural universe. All manner of bogies, from werewolves to ghosts, are merely\nmanifestations of a spiritual illness in Silence's worldview.\n“In Hodgson's plays, Silence isn't the hero as much as an observer, an expositionary character\nwho explains what is happening and why. This is in keeping with the original short stories by\nBlackwood, in which the \"psychic doctor\" was involved to various degrees, sometimes as\nprotagonist, sometimes simply as a sympathetic audience to another's tale (as is the case in\nAncient Sorceries, which was produced as a four-part reading by BBC7). Still, these dramas are\nspooky fun, and should be of interest to any fan of Hodgson's other works.”\n[The Independent, March 22, 2002—“Sheila Hodgson” Jack Adrian] “Ruth Sheila Hodgson,\nscriptwriter and dramatist: born Beckenham, Kent 22 December 1921; married 1971 David\nMiddleton; died South Newton, Wiltshire 25 December 2001.\n“Sheila Hodgson was a prolific writer of radio and television dramas at a time, the 1950s to the\n1980s, when actually making a living out of such an occupation was rare. She was a pioneer who\ncontributed greatly to the entertainment of the nation… But her most lasting fame came late in\nlife and in a wholly unexpected manner, when she turned her considerable talents to the\nsupernatural.\n“In the realm of the wireless she was a purveyor of light fictions: thrillers, tales of adventure,\ndetective stories. On occasion a superior piece of psychological suspense would pass through her\ntypewriter – This Line is Now Closed (1978), for example, a chilling old-lady-in-peril tale which\nwas written expressly for the distinguished, and elderly, radio actress Grizelda Hervey (generally\nagreed by most critics to have had the best, most terror-filled shriek in the business). But in the\nmain Hodgson aimed to quicken the pulse in as diverting a manner as possible, as in The Long\nDrive Home (1967; directed by the legendary Betty Davies), which featured a clever murder plot\nset in the world of golf-bores with a cast (Timothy West, William Fox, Peter Howell, the\ninimitable Rolf Lefebvre) you could only have afforded on the radio.\n“Towards the end of her own career Hodgson became fascinated by the supernatural,\nsuccessfully adapting for radio's Midweek Theatre (a showcase series which featured the early\nwork of writers such as Andrew Davies, R.D. Wingfield, Frederic Raphael and N.J. Crisp) several\nof Algernon Blackwood's \"Dr John Silence: psychic detective\" stories, with the sinister-voiced\nMalcolm Hayes in the title role.”",
  "origination": "",
  "duration": "",
  "personnel": "",
  "extant_recordings": "",
  "chronology": "WE KNOW A STORY (WONS, HARTFORD)\n[???day—10:00-10:15 PM]\nSeptember 19, 1948\n“The Gypsy’s Prophesy”\n[EXTANT RECORDING]\n[Could this be a re-titling of “By Water”?]\nCAST: Sylvia Draper, Guy Hedlund.\n(BBC EASTERN SERVICE—PERSIAN TRANSMISSION)\n[Friday—4:54-5:12 PM]\nApril 27, 1951\n“The Camp of the Dog”\nPERSONNEL: H. M. Baiyuzi (translator, scriptwriter, producer).\nCAST: Miss Ansari, H. Darabaghi, A Dehkan, I. Saviz, S. A. Taheri.\nMIDWEEK THEATRE (RADIO 4)\n[Wednesday—8:15-9:00 PM]\nAugust 28, 1974\n“The Camp of the Dog”\n[Pre-recorded August 12, 1974… Repeat broadcast of recording on August\n29, 1974 (Afternoon Theatre, Radio 4), October 16, 1975 (Radio 4),\nDecember 28, 1975 (Radio Theatre, World Service), March 18, 1976\n(Theatre 45, SABC), and December 28, 1977 (Afternoon Theatre, Radio\n4).]\nPERSONNEL: Harry Catlin (producer), Sheila Hodgson (scriptwriter).\nCAST: Timothy Bateson (Stephen Hubbard), Malcolm Hayes (John Silence), Jane Knowles\n(Joan Maloney), David March (Reverend Timothy Maloney), Joan Matheson (Mrs.\nMaloney), David Sinclair (Porter), Peter Whitman (Peter Sangree).\nMIDWEEK THEATRE (RADIO 4)\n[Wednesday—8:15-9:00 PM]\nDecember 18, 1974\n“The Nemesis of Fire”\n[Pre-recorded December 12, 1974… Repeat broadcasts of recording on\nDecember 19, 1974 (Afternoon Theatre, Radio 4), June 13 and 17, 1976\n(Radio Theatre, World Service), November 25, 1976 (Theatre 45, SABC),\nand June 21, 1981 (Late Night Theatre, SABC).]\nPERSONNEL: Harry Catlin (producer), Sheila Hodgson (scriptwriter).\nCAST: Jack Carr (Porter), Madeleine Cemm (Jane), David Ericsson (Cabby/Waiter),\nGrizelda Harvey (Ellen Wragge), Malcolm Hayes (John Silence), Fraser Kerr (Stephen\nHubbard), Denis McCarthy (Dr. Corbin), Hector Ross (Colonel Wragge).\nMIDWEEK THEATRE (RADIO 4)\n[Wednesday—8:15-9:00 PM]\nMarch 19, 1975\n“Secret Worship”\n[Pre-recorded March 11, 1975… Repeat broadcasts of recording on March\n20, 1975 (Afternoon Theatre, Radio 4), October 31, 1975 (Midweek\nTheatre, Radio 4), June 6, 1976 (Radio Theatre, World Service), August\n5, 1976 (Theatre 45, SABC), and October 13, 1980 (Springbok Radio).\nPERSONNEL: Harry Catlin (producer), Sheila Hodgson (scriptwriter).\nCAST: John Bull (Man in Post Office), Alan Dudley (Bruder Pagel), Roger Gartland\n(Porter), Malcolm Hayes (John Silence), Fraser Kerr (Stephen Hubbard), Denis McCarthy\n(Bruder Kalkman), Sion Probert (Priest), Michael Shannon (Cabby), Peter Whitman\n(Waiter), Michael Wolf (Landlord).\nAFTERNOON THEATRE (RADIO 4)\n[Thursday—3:05-3:50 PM]\nOctober 2, 1975\n“The Empty Sleeve”\n[Research: was this a John Silence story, or was the character added by\nthe radio adapter (Sheila Hodgson)? ASHLEY: England (London):\ntransmogrification; the Gilmer brothers collect violins, one of which is\ncraved for by Hyman whose spirit, in the form of a cat, attempts to steal\nit.”\nPERSONNEL: Harry Catlin (producer), Sheila Hodgson (scriptwriter).\nCAST: Alan Dudley (William Gilmer), Garard Green (Porter), Malcolm Hayes\n(John Silence), Haydn Jones (Arthur Gilmer), Fraser Kerr (Stephen Hubbard),\nHector Ross (Cabby/Theatre Manager), Peter Woodthorpe (Isadore Hyman).\nBOOK AT BEDTIME—“ALGERNON BLACKWOOD GHOST STORIES” (RADIO 4,\nLONDON)\n[Monday-Friday—\nJuly 31, 2006\n“The Willows”\n[“…Two travelers camped in the wilderness encounter malevolent forces\nbeyond their understanding…”]\nPERSONNEL: Clive Brill (director), Fiona McAlpine (abridger), Hugh Ross\n(reader).\nAugust 1, 2006\n“The Empty House”\n[“…An aunt and her nephew attempt to spend the night in a haunted\nhouse…”]\nAugust 2, 2006\n“Ancient Sorceries”\n[“…An Englishman staying in a sleepy French town makes a terrifying\ndiscovery…”]\nAugust 3, 2006\n“Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House”\n[“…When his fellow lodger comes to borrow a book, a student is caught\nup in powerful rituals…”]\nAugust 4, 2006\n“The Glamour of the Snow”\n[“A tourist at a mountain ski resort becomes captivated by a mysterious\nyoung woman…”]",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}