Night Express is a radio play by John Fletcher. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17 April 1989 as an installment of the Monday Play. The running time is 90 minutes.
Plot[]
Very amateur spying in 1932 Vienna undertaken by MI6. The early days of Kim Philby and Donald MacLean. It is far more sympathetic to the wavering Donald Maclean than the arrogant Stalinist Kim Philby.
Also written as a tribute to the great 30's thriller novels and movies set on express trains travelling through Central Europe - Greene's "Stamboul Express", Eric Ambler's "Journey Into Fear," and Hitchcock's great "The Lady Vanishes." All warning what was ahead while British politicians, the press and the BBC ignored or even actively supported the rise of fascism. So no change there. (John Fletcher)
Cast[]
Gregory Roberts …. Cornelius Garrett
Litzi …. Melinda Walker
Harold St John …. Timothy Bentinck
The Professor …. Gabriel Woolf
MacDonald …. John Rowe
Archie …. Andrew Hilton
Simpson …. Christian Rodska
Erich …. Jonathan Tafler
Commissioner … Michael Graham Cox
Commissioner’s Assistant …. John Hartoch
Gunter …. Ian Targett
Karl …. Richard Pearce
Gerta …. Joan Walker
Directed by Shaun Macloughlin