Philip Levene Torment

SANWAL

(3.8 stars; 3 reviews)

SATURDAY-NIGHT THEATRE Sat 5th May 1962, 20:30 on BBC Home Service Basic Barry Foster and Derek Bond in Torment by Philip Levine Produced by Robin Midgley The police spend a great deal of their time investigating crimes to which people insist on confessing.  Ralph Ellinger, a tormented 22-year-old Cambridge law student, who is known to have had a nervous breakdown, walks into the local police station in the small town of Wintersleigh, confessing to Inspector Hadley of CID that he murdered a girl. They don’t take him very seriously. But they do start investigating….. Ralph Ellinger: Barry Foster Frank Ellinger: Rolf Lefebvre Ruth Ellinger: Barbara Bolton Dr Rooney: Derek Bond Inspector Hadley: Philip Morant Sergeant Lumsdenf: Peter Claughton Mr Preedy: Peter Claughton Flora: Priscilla Benson Publican: Arthur Gomez Mr Ryder: Wlll Eighton Mr Owstalrs: Wlll Eighton Mr Denton:Godfrey Kenton Carol Sanford: Dorit Welles Constable Barclay: Michael Spice Brenda: Patricia Bendall Daphne: Patricia Cree David: Terry Raven Pete: Jeremy Ranchev Ralph tells the Inspector the murder happened the previous June, on the 27th, almost a year ago. He had come down to Wintersleigh from Cambridge for the summer vac and when he got home, the house was empty as his father was abroad on holiday with his stepmother. He was a bit depressed so he drove into Norwich for the evening, took in a film then, on the way back, picked up this girl who waved him down just after  10 pm. She was a young Irish girl in her early 20s with red hair and green eyes by the name of Peggy. She had been hitchhiking from Liverpool, after coming over from Northern Ireland, to work for the summer at the Queens Hotel in Yarmouth. Though Yarmouth was a little out of his way, he told her he'd give her a lift. They stopped off for a drink at a pub called the Three Crowns and got quite friendly. After they left the pub, they chatted a bit and when they were a few miles from Yarmouth, he stopped the car and she let him kiss her. Then, though he couldn't explain it, he had his arms around her and couldn't let her go. She became frightened and started to struggle and the next thing he remembered was his hands around her throat and his fingers tightening. He knew what he was doing but for some reason he couldn't stop. Suddenly, she was quite still and he knew she was dead. He must have sat there for about an hour before he drove up to the other side of Wintersleigh and threw her body over the cliffs. He read the newspapers like a hawk the following days but there wasn't a word about her. At first, he tried to push it to the back of his mind and pretend it didn't happen - that it was a bad dream, but there's no doubt in his mind, he killed that girl. For a time he thought he could live with it but now he can't sleep or work and it has become unbearable - the girl's face never leaves him. An open and shut case? The police soon become skeptical of Ralph's story thinking it's some sort of practical joke when Ralph can't corroborate any of his story with evidence. After an exhaustive search, the police find no trace of the girl and have no reason to believe she ever existed..... [goodreads]

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.