DR. FU MANCHU
[RADIO-SERIAL]
This serial for Radio Luxembourg is considered the most faithful version of the Fu Manchu stories
ever done on the air—which is not surprising considering that Sax Rohmer himself wrote all of the
earlier episodes and then turned the scripting chore over to his wife Elizabeth and, later, to his
friend (and future biographer) Cay Van Ash. “We just went straight through the books in their
natural sequence,” explained Van Ash in a letter to Rohmer scholar R. E. Briney. “We did our
utmost to avoid narration and to translate action directly into dialogue or sound. This often
required additional material, and I think we also used a great many more sound effects than there
were in the American Shadow of Fu Manchu radio series.”
Clarke-Smith later reprised his role of Nayland Smith in a Rohmer script entitled “The Peculiar
Case at the Poppy Club,” which was broadcast on December 16, 1938 as part of the BBC series
What Happened at 8:20? It is not known whether or not Fu made an appearance also.
ORIGINATION: Radio Luxembourg.
DURATION: December 6, 1936-November 28, 1937 (original series), December 5, 1937-
February 6, 1938 (repeat series of episodes #19-28).
[NOTE: There was also a repeat series of the first eleven episodes on Wednesday afternoons at
4:45, running from July 21 through September 29, 1937. The complete series was also broadcast
over Radio Lyons from March 7, 1937 through March 6, 1938.]
PERSONNEL: Elizabeth Rohmer (scriptwriter), Sax Rohmer (scriptwriter), Cay Van Ash
(scriptwriter).
CAST: D. A. Clarke-Smith (Sir Denis Nayland Smith), Frank Cochrane (Dr. Fu Manchu), Cameron
Hall (Dr. Petrie—EPS. 44-52), Mervyn Johns, Vernon Kelso, Jack Lambert (Dr. Petrie—EPS. 1-9),
Gordon McLeod (Dr. Petrie—EPS. 27-43), John Rae (Dr. Petrie—EPS. 10-24), Pamela Titheradge
(Karamaneh), Rani Waller (Karamaneh—LATER EPS.), Arthur Young.
SPONSOR: Milk of Magnesia.
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
DR. FU MANCHU (RADIO LUXEMBOURG)
[Sunday—7:00-7:15 PM]
Dec. 6, 1936 [1] “The Painted Kiss”
Dec. 13, 1936 [2] “The Clue of the Pigtail”
Dec. 20, 1936 [3] “The Mystery of Redmoat”
Dec. 27, 1936 [4] “The Green Mist”
Jan. 3, 1937 [5] “The Call of Siva”
Jan. 10, 1937 [6] “The Hulk of the Flats”
Jan. 17, 1937 [7] “The Brain Thief”
Jan. 24, 1937 [8] “Aaron’s Rod”
Jan. 31, 1937 [9] “The Living Dead”
Feb. 7, 1937 [10] “The Fungi Cellars”
Feb. 14, 1937 [11] “The Lord of Fires”
Feb. 21, 1937 [12] “The Wire Jacket”
Feb. 28, 1937 [13] “The Cry of the
Nighthawk”
March 7, 1937 [14] “The White Peacock”
March 14, 1937 [15] “The Coughing Horror”
March 21, 1937 [16] “The Capture of
Karamaneh”
March 28, 1937 [17] “The Silver Buddha”
April 4, 1937 [18] “The Terror Tower”
April 11, 1937 [19] “The Fiery Hand”
April 18, 1937 [20] “The Return of Aziz”
April 25, 1937 [21] “The Six Gates”
May 2, 1937 [22] “The Mummy”
May 9, 1937 [23] “The Brass Box”
May 16, 1937 [24] “The Flower of Silence”
May 23, 1937 [25] “The Golden
Promegranates”
May 30, 1937 [26] “The Adventure of the
Queen of Hearts”
June 6, 1937 [27] “The Xagazig Mystery”
June 13, 1937 [28] “The House of Hashish”
June 20, 1937 [29] “The Lillies of Death”
June 27, 1937 [30] “Lady of the Si-Fan”
July 4, 1937 [31] “The House of the Wild
Cat”
July 11, 1937 [32] “The Lion Crypt”
July 18, 1937 [33] “The Flying Death”
July 25, 1937 [34] “The Shadow Army”
Aug. 1, 1937 [35] “Satan’s Chapel”
Aug. 8, 1937 [36] “The Purple Shadow”
Aug. 15, 1937 [37] “The Flying Plague”
Aug. 22, 1937 [38] “The House of the Devil
Doctor”
Aug. 29, 1937 [39] “The Hairless Horror”
Sep. 5, 1937 [40] “The Scented Drug”
Sep. 12, 1937 [41] “The Devil Doctor’s
Daughter”
Sep. 19, 1937 [42] “The Flower of Eternal
Life”
Sep. 26, 1937 [43] “The Return of the Monk”
Oct. 3, 1937 [44] “The Big Raid”
Oct. 10, 1937 [45] “The Arrest of the Devil
Doctor”
Oct. 17, 1937 [46] “The Secret of the Living
Dead”
Oct. 24, 1937 [47] “The Sleeping Venus”
Oct. 31, 1937 [48] “The Vault of the Living
Dead”
Nov. 7, 1937 [49] “The House of the
Bloodhound”
Nov. 14, 1937 [50] “Man Made Gold”
Nov. 21, 1937 [51] “The Human Incinerator”
Nov. 28, 1937 [52] “The Hell Below the
Thames”