The various covers of the acclaimed biography of W Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings first published in 2009.
Learning on Screen, also known as ‘Box of Broadcasts’ archives UK broadcating programmes on W Somerset Maugham.
These can be accessed by subscription on the part of educational institutions and libraries.
Selina Hastings’ The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham was BBC Radio Four’s ‘Book of the Week’ in 2009. Read by Barbara Flynn.
Book of the Week: Episode One. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham Tuesday, 3 Nov 2009, 00:30 18 mins
BBC Radio 4 Synopsis: ‘Barbara Flynn reads from Selina Hastings’ biography of Somerset Maugham, which sheds new light on his complex character. 1: In 1892, at the age of 18, Somerset Maugham enrolled at St Thomas’ medical school, but his heart wasn’t in it. What he really wanted to do was write.’
Citation:- Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, 00:30 03/11/2009, BBC Radio 4, 18 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01213FB4?bcast=36248490 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Book of the Week: Episode Two. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. Wednesday, 4 Nov 2009, 00:30 18 mins
BBC Radio 4. Synopsis: ‘Barbara Flynn reads from Selina Hastings’s biography of Somerset Maugham, which sheds new light on his complex character. 2: Still struggling to make ends meet, Maugham has a change of fortune when the manager of the Royal Court Theatre decides to stage his play, Lady Frederick.’
Citation:- Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, 00:30 04/11/2009, BBC Radio 4, 18 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01233899?bcast=36303770 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Book of the Week: Episode Three. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. Thursday, 5 Nov 2009, 00:30 18 mins
BBC Radio 4. Synopsis: ‘Barbara Flynn reads from Selina Hastings’s biography of Somerset Maugham, which sheds new light on his complex character. 3: In 1915, with the codename Somerville, Maugham is despatched to Geneva to work for British intelligence.’
Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, 00:30 05/11/2009, BBC Radio 4, 18 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/012338E8?bcast=36359060 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Book of the Week: Episode Four. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. Friday, 6 Nov 2009, 00:30 18 mins
BBC Radio 4. Synopsis: ‘Barbara Flynn reads from Selina Hastings’s biography of Somerset Maugham, which sheds new light on his complex character. 4: With his marriage to Syrie imploding, Maugham escapes to the south of France with Gerald and buys the Villa Mauresque.’
Citation: Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, 00:30 06/11/2009, BBC Radio 4, 18 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01233929?bcast=36414593 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Book of the Week: Episode Five. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. Saturday, 7 Nov 2009, 00:30 18 mins
BBC Radio 4. Synopsis: ‘Barbara Flynn reads from Selina Hastings’s biography of Somerset Maugham, which sheds new light on his complex character. 5: When Maugham’s companion Gerald Haxton dies, Alan Searle becomes a major part of Maugham’s life.’
Citation: Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham, 00:30 07/11/2009, BBC Radio 4, 18 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0123399A?bcast=36470082 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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The Lives and Work of Somerset Maugham. Saturday, 7 Mar 2020, 19:00 180 mins.
In 2015 BBC Radio 4 Extra produced a three hour programme celebrating Maugham’s life and works through documentary, readings and drama drawn from the BBC’s archives as a commemoration of it being 50 years or half a century since his death in 1965.
Presented by Simon Fanshawe.
BBC Radio 4 Extra. Synopsis:
‘William Somerset Maugham was one of the most commercially successful English writers ever. His plays, short stories and novels effortlessly sold in their millions; his work on stage, page and screen drew huge audiences. He remains the English writer most adapted for film and TV. And yet he described himself as possessing only a “knack” for writing and his place among the literary greats as being only “in the first row of the second rate”. Despite his huge popularity with a mass audience, the literary establishment dismissed him as “middle brow”. The subjects he wrote about, and his complex and exotic lifestyle moulded the image of the successful 20th century writer – a wide circle of famous friends, a villa in the South of France, the adulation of readers across the globe and the ears of the Empire’s leaders. His own long life, too, reads like the plot for a novel. Born when Disraeli was Prime Minister, he died when the 60s were in full swing. He trained as a doctor, dedicated himself…’
Citation:- The Lives and Work of Somerset Maugham, 19:00 07/03/2020, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 180 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/08C0A63B?bcast=131425345 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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The BBC’s four part television series of Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden espionage stories first broadcast in 1991
Ashenden Episode 1. The Dark Woman. Sunday, 17 Nov 1991, 21:10 55 mins. BBC1 London
Synopsis: Somerset Maugham’s classic First World War spy stories – inspired by his own experiences as a secret agent – are adapted for television for the first time in a four-part drama serial.
Alex Jennings (the RSC actor) takes the title role, and is joined by Joss Ackland, Ian Bannen, and Harriet Walter: star of BBC2’s recent drama The Men’s Room. The series is directed by Christopher Morahan, who made The Jewel in the Crown and Old Flames.
Successful West End playwright John Ashenden is determined to help the war effort, and is recruited by “R” – controller of the embryonic Secret Service. His first assignment involves him with Giulia Lazzari, a music-hall dancer with a dangerous lover: a terrorist working for the Germans.
Ashenden’s challenge is to persuade Giulia to lure her lover across the border from neutral Switzerland into France – and he soon discovers his own capacity for ruthlessness and deceit.
A Kelso Films production for BBCtv.’
Citation: Ashenden, The Dark Woman, 21:10 17/11/1991, BBC1 London, 55 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/RT434027?bcast=120049703 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Ashenden: Episode 2. The Traitor. BBC One Sun 24th Nov 1991, 21:10 on BBC One London
BBC Radio Times archive reference: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ffdb1515211e473b979422fdfff6f23e
Synopsis: ‘Second in the four-part adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s stylish First World War espionage stories, starring Alex Jennings, Joss Ackland, Ian Bannen, Alan Bennett, Anna Carteret. Based in Geneva, Ashenden is now accepted as a fully fledged agent, using his writing activities as a cover while running his network of spies. But there are complications when he gets caught up in the rivalry between his employers and one of his most valuable agents is brutally killed.
Screenplay David Pirie. Producer Joe Knatchbull. Director Christopher Morahan.
A Kelso production for BBCtv
Citation: Ashenden, The Traitor, 21:10 24/11/1991, BBC1 London, 55 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/RT434302?bcast=120050551 (Accessed 20 Jul 2025)
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Ashenden. Episode 3. Mr. Harrington’s Washing. Sunday, 1 Dec 1991, 21:10 55 mins. BBC1 London
Synopsis:
‘Third in the four-part serial starring Alex Jennings, Joss Ackland, Ian Bannen.
The latest assignment for Somerset Maugham’s semi-autobiographical First World War playwright-spy mirrors the author’s own espionage activities in Russia in 1917.
On the eve of the Revolution, Ashenden – like Maugham himself – is sent to Petrograd with funds to prop up the shaky Kerensky government, and keep Russia on the side of the Allies.
On the Trans-Siberian Express he meets an obsessive American businessman who may provide a useful cover, though they will both need the help of their Russian guide to steer them through the chaos and violence of the Bolshevik uprising.
A Kelso production for BBCtv.’
Citation: Ashenden, Mr. Harrington’s Washing, 21:10 01/12/1991, BBC1 London, 55 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/RT434576?bcast=120051301 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Ashenden. Episode 4. The Hairless Mexican. Sunday, 8 Dec 1991, 21:35 55 mins. BBC1 London
Synopsis:
‘The last of four First World War spy adventures adapted from the semi-autobiographical stories of Somerset Maugham.
Ashenden is sent to Italy with a Mexican hitman accomplice – played by Alfred Molina; seen recently in the role of Tony Hancock in the Screen One film of the comedian’s life.
They are under instructions to assassinate a courier in possession of vital documents. But events take an unexpected turn when Ashenden meets a charming American woman.
A Kelso production for BBCtv.’
Citation: Ashenden, The Hairless Mexican, 21:35 08/12/1991, BBC1 London, 55 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/RT4347CC?bcast=120052009 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Readings of W Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden spy stories for BBC Radio by Alex Jennings.
Episode One W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy Tuesday, 18 Aug 2015, 01:00 30 mins BBC 7
Synopsis: “‘R’: The writer is recruited by Britain’s Secret Service. Based on William Somerset Maugham’s own experiences read by Alex Jennings.”
Citation: W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy, 01:00 18/08/2015, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00772193?bcast=116269676 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Episode Two: W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy Wednesday, 19 Aug 2015, 01:00 30 mins BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘The Traitor: The agent unearths a German plot to infiltrate England, with English charmer Caypor posing as a spy. Read by Alex Jennings.’
Citation:- W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy, 01:00 19/08/2015, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/007732EC?bcast=116276935 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Episode Three: W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy Thursday, 20 Aug 2015, 01:00 30 mins BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘Mr Harrington’s Washing: The agent meets an American whose love of laundry has ugly consequences when the Bolsheviks revolt. Read by Alex Jennings.’
Citation:- W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy, 01:00 20/08/2015, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0077414F?bcast=116285199 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Episode Four: W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy. Friday, 21 Aug 2015, 01:00 30 mins BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘Miss King: Evading Swiss police, the agent is called to see dying Miss King who is desperate to impart information. Read by Alex Jennings.’
Citation:- W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy, 01:00 21/08/2015, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/007744E0?bcast=116290969 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Episode Five: W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy. Saturday, 22 Aug 2015, 01:00 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis:- ‘Giulia Lazzari: Determined to entrap a renowned traitor, the agent co-opts a dancer. Alex Jennings reads Somerset Maugham’s thriller.’
Citation:- W Somerset Maugham – Ashenden, Gentleman Spy, 01:00 22/08/2015, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/007750E0?bcast=116296368 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Somerset Maugham – For Services Rendered. Sunday, 18 Mar 2018, 04:00 90 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Synopsis: 4 Extra Debut. Somerset Maugham’s incisive state-of-the-nation play adapted for radio by Lu Kemp. In the late summer of 1932, a progressive English family, the Ardsleys, are trying to live their lives under the long shadow of WWI. Stars Sian Thomas, David Calder, Tom Espiner and Cath Whitefield. Directed by Lu Kemp. From September 2013 when it was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as ‘Saturday Theatre.’
Citation:- Somerset Maugham – For Services Rendered, 04:00 18/03/2018, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 90 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/05A5D28E?bcast=126328038 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
Radio Times description when first broadcast in 2013:
‘Written in 1932 For Services Rendered is Somerset Maugham’s incisive state-of-the-nation play – written fifteen years on from the end of WW1.
Set in late summer 1932 in Kent, the Ardsley family seem to be managing their lives very well but in reality each of them is fighting for survival. The Ardsley children are facing unpromising futures: Ethel is married to a former officer who is not quite the man she hoped he’d be; Eva is unmarried and approaching 40, martyring herself to the cause of their brother Sydney; Sydney has been blinded in the war; and Lois, at 27, is single and without a hope of marrying in the English backwater the family live in.
The family must go through a seismic shift in order to survive. The younger generation can no longer live their lives in the blueprint of the older generation, they must find a new way of living. England is changing, falling apart, and must begin again.
The first performance was on 1 November 1932 in the West End (with Ralph Richardson playing Leonard Ardsley). The anti-war message was not popular with audiences, and the play only ran for 78 performances.
The play is particularly extraordinary viewed in retrospect as the lessons of WW1 are written so clearly across the lives of the characters who, less than a decade later, would find themselves at war again.
For Services Rendered was written by Somerset Maugham. It is adapted and directed for radio by Lu Kemp.’
Full cast:
- Leonard Ardsley: David Calder
- Charlotte Ardsley: Sian Thomas
- Sydney Ardsley: Tom Espiner
- Eva Ardsley: Cath Whitefield
- Lois Ardsley: Louise Brealey
- Ethel Bartlett: Mariah Gale
- Howard Bartlett: Michael Shaeffer
- Collie Stratton: Justin Salinger
- Wilfred Cedar: Ron Cook
- Gwen Cedar: Hettie Baynes Russell
- Dr Charles Prentice: John Rowe
- Gertrude: Philippa Stanton
For Services Rendered was first produced by BBC Radio in 1948 when broadcast on the Third Programme on Mon 26th July at 19.10. It was adapted for broadcasting by Cynthia Pughe
and directed and produced by Val Gielgud.
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Somerset Maugham – The Painted Veil Omnibus. Saturday, 28 Jan 2012, 12:00 75 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Synopsis: Dramatisation of Somerset Maugham’s haunting and compelling story of woman’s spiritual awakening. Starring Sarah Smart and Nicholas Farrell.
Citation:- Somerset Maugham – The Painted Veil Omnibus, 12:00 28/01/2012, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 75 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/024291BD?bcast=78145430 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
First broadcast on BBC R4 as a series dramatisation in 15 Minute Drama from Monday 23rd January 2012. Dramatised by Lizzie Nunnery.
First published in 1925 to a storm of protest this is a haunting and poignant drama of a woman’s spiritual awakening.
Kitty marries for the wrong reasons and is living with her husband, Walter, in Hong Kong. She’s in love with another man and when her husband discovers her infidelity he, in an act of vengeance, poses a terrible ultimatum.
- Kitty ……. Sarah Smart
- Walter ….. Nicholas Farrell
- Charles ……. James Nickerson
- Shop worker ……. Chris Li
- Directed by Pauline Harris.
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Weekend with Willie [Somerset Maugham] by Richard Huggett. Sunday, 18 Nov 2018, 04:00 90 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra
Synopsis: ‘John and Daphne Maitland are an unsophisticated couple flattered to be invited to dinner by celebrated author W Somerset Maugham at his French villa. But if they’d known the other guests were to be Willie’s brother Freddie. his ex-wife Syrie, and his American friend, Gerald, they might have treated the invitation with slightly more caution… Richard Huggett’s drama stars David March as W. Somerset Maugham AKA Willie; Prunella Scales as Syrie Maugham; Richard Huggett as Sir Frederick Maugham; Barry Dennen as Gerald Haxton; Robert Beatty as John D Hackerman; Andrew Secombe as Pierre; Hayden Wood as John Maitland; and Shirley Cooklin as Daphne Maitland. Director: David Johnston. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1981.
Citation:- Richard Huggett – Weekend with Willie, 04:00 18/11/2018, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 90 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/123C1B01?bcast=127942401 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
The first broadcast on the BBC was in Saturday-Night Theatre: Weekend with Willie on BBC Radio 4
Sat 26th Sep 1981, 20:30.
Cast:
- W. Somerset Maugham: David March
- Syrie Maugham: Prunella Scales
- Sir Frederick Maugham: Richard Huggett
- Gerald Haxton: Barry Dennen
- Martin Johnson: Michael Cochrane
- John D. Hackerman: Robert Beatty
- Pierre: Andrew Secombe
- John Maitland: Haydn Wood
- Daphne Maitland: Shirley Cooklin
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Maugham’s Eye View- series of six half hour radio dramas
Saturday, 18 Jul 2009, 19:00 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis: The Creative Impulse: An authoress is horrified when her husband runs off with the cook. Somerset Maugham’s drama stars Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. Episode 1 of 6
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 19:00 18/07/2009, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0107CA61?bcast=32906505 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Maugham’s Eye View. Thursday, 27 May 2010, 14:30 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis: The Vessel of Wrath: An unlikely romantic liaison is formed in the Dutch East Indies. Somerset Maugham’s drama stars Dirk Bogarde and Anna Massey. Episode 2 of 6
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 14:30 27/05/2010, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/01097887?bcast=47296644 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Maugham’s Eye View. Monday, 31 May 2010, 14:30 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘The Round Dozen: A famous bigamist aims to chalk up wife number twelve. Somerset Maugham’s drama stars Dirk Bogarde and Michael Williams. Episode 3 of 6.’
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 14:30 31/05/2010, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/010A55B4?bcast=47513626 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Maugham’s Eye View. Tuesday, 1 Jun 2010, 14:30 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘Footprints in the Jungle: A couple at a Malaysian Country Club hold a murderous secret. Somerset Maugham’s drama stars Dirk Bogarde and Patricia Hodge. Episode 4 of 6.’
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 14:30 01/06/2010, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/010BF18E?bcast=47567902 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Maugham’s Eye View. Wednesday, 2 Jun 2010, 14:30 30 mins. BBC 7.
Synopsis: ‘The Facts of Life: Nicky is told not to gamble, lend cash or see women, but Monte Carlo beckons. Somerset Maugham dramatisation with Dirk Bogarde. Episode 5 of 6.’
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 14:30 02/06/2010, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/010DED9C?bcast=47622143 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Maugham’s Eye View. Thursday, 3 Jun 2010, 14:30 30 mins. BBC 7
Synopsis: ‘Before the Party: Kathleen thinks her sister Millicent holds a secret about her husband’s death. Somerset Maugham drama stars Dorothy Tutin. Episode 6 of 6.’
Citation:- Maugham’s Eye View, 14:30 03/06/2010, BBC 7, 30 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/010FB524?bcast=47676645 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
First broadcast on BBC R4 in 1996 and directed and produced by Janet Whitaker and dramatised by Neville Teller.
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Film: Secret Agent (1936). Sunday, 11 Nov 2012, 12:00 105 mins
ITV4. Synopsis: ‘Early Hitchcock comedy, based on a Somerset Maugham story, about two secret agents who pose as man and wife while on an assignment in Switzerland to kill an enemy spy.’
Citation:- Secret Agent, 12:00 11/11/2012, ITV4, 105 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00010DBA?bcast=91640023 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Film: Of Human Bondage (1934). Saturday, 5 Jan 2013, 13:15 80 mins. BBC2 England
Synopsis: ‘Drama based on a novel by Somerset Maugham. Despite his yearnings for the finer things in life, Philip Carey cannot extricate himself from a mutually destructive relationship with waitress Mildred Rogers.’
Citation:- Of Human Bondage, 13:15 05/01/2013, BBC2 England, 80 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/00FAD381?bcast=93106074 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Film: The Letter (1940). Saturday, 6 Jan 2018, 15:00 90 mins. BBC2 England
Synopsis: ‘Atmospheric melodrama set among wealthy colonials in Malaya. When a woman shoots her lover, she claims to have acted in self-defence and expects a speedy trial to find her innocent. But she learns that the victim’s widow holds an incriminating letter, available to her at a price. Based on a play by W Somerset Maugham.’
Citation:- The Letter, 15:00 06/01/2018, BBC2 England, 90 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/10849510?bcast=125912954 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Film: Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). Wednesday, 3 Jun 1998, 13:35 115 mins. Channel 4
Synopsis: ‘Lavish adaptation of the W Somerset Maugham classic Rain starring Rita Hayworth as an “entertainer” who is stranded on a South Seas island where she falls foul of fanatical bigot Jose Ferrer. With Aldo Ray, Russell Collins, Harry Bella Ver. Director: Curtis Bernhardt.’
Citation:- Miss Sadie Thompson, 13:35 03/06/1998, Channel 4, 115 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/C4PP123508?bcast=130070276 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Films: Three Cases of Murder (1955). Monday, 9 Sep 2019, 14:35 120 mins. Talking Pictures TV
Synopsis: ‘A trilogy of macabre mystery tales involving murder, intrigue and the supernatural. In the first, a museum worker becomes part of a world behind the paintings he sees every day. You Killed Elizabeth tells of a man who suspects himself of murdering his faithless fiancee. Lord Mountdrago tells the story of a foreign secretary who dreams of killing an MP he hates.
Enhanced Description: ‘The writing and directing credits for each of the segments are: “In The Picture” directed by Wendy Toye from the story by Roderick Wilkinson; “You Killed Elizabeth” directed by David Eady from a story by Brett Halliday; “Lord Mountdrago” directed by George More O’Ferrall from the story by W. Somerset Maugham.
Citation:- Three Cases of Murder, 14:35 09/09/2019, Talking Pictures TV, 120 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0000C2BF?bcast=130080337 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Films: Quartet (1948). Friday, 27 Sep 2019, 14:30 140 mins. Talking Pictures TV.
Synopsis: ‘Somerset Maugham introduces four of his classic tales of wit and intrigue, each played by a different cast. In The Facts of Life, a naive young man falls prey to a Monte Carlo seductress; Dirk Bogarde stars in Alien Corn as an aspiring musician; in The Kite, a young man is controlled by his domineering mother and wife; and The Colonel’s Lady causes her husband embarrassment by publishing a book of romantic verse.’
Citation:- Quartet, 14:30 27/09/2019, Talking Pictures TV, 140 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/0FC3A549?bcast=130291143 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Short Works of Somerset Maugham BBC R4 series
Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Monday, 13 Nov 2017, 21:00 15 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra
Synopsis: ‘The Facts of Life: Made for 4 Extra. An unhappy father laments the wayward behaviour of his eldest son and seeks advice from his bridge club. Episode 1 of 5’
Citation:- Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, 21:00 13/11/2017, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 15 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/10173BE3?bcast=125523930 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Tuesday, 14 Nov 2017, 21:00 15 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Synopsis: ‘The Closed Shop: In a South American country where business is in trouble, politicians conspire with the local women to keep trade afloat. Episode 2 of 5.’
Citation:- Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, 21:00 14/11/2017, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 15 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/10179A73?bcast=125530532 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Wednesday, 24 Jan 2018, 21:00 15 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra
Synopsis: ‘A Man From Glasgow: In the suffocatingly hot nights of a summer in Algeciras, a man from Glasgow tells the story of a terrible haunting in a local house and how he cannot get it out of his mind. Episode 3 of 5.’
Citation:- Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, 21:00 24/01/2018, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 15 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/1073F495?bcast=125974164 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Thursday, 16 Nov 2017, 21:00 15 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra
Synopsis: ‘The Four Dutchmen: Friendship and rivalry compete between four rather large shipmates with disastrous consequences. Episode 4 of 5.’
Citation:- Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, 21:00 16/11/2017, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 15 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/10193C59?bcast=125545829 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham. Friday, 17 Nov 2017, 21:00 15 mins. BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Synopsis: ‘The Book Bag: Brother and sister, Tim and Olive Hardy, share a dangerous secret. They try everything in their power to keep it from others until Tim has to go away on a trip. Episode 5 of 5.’
Citation:- Short Works: The World of Somerset Maugham, 21:00 17/11/2017, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 15 mins. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/101961D3?bcast=125551582 (Accessed 26 Aug 2024)
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The Narrow Corner. The novel by W. Somerset Maugham dramatised by Jeffrey Segal.
Saturday-Night Theatre. BBC Radio 4. First broadcast: Sat 1st Apr 1989, 19:45 on BBC Radio 4 FM
90 minutes. Directed by Graham Gould for BBC Manchester. Stereo.
Credits.
- Dramatised By: Jeffrey Segal.
- Directed By: Graham Gould
- Dr Saunders: Garard Green
- Fred Blake: Owen Scott
- Captain Nichols: Douglas Blackwell
- Mrs Hudson: Carol Marsh
- Christessen: Philip Sully
- Erith: Jeffrey Segal
- Louise: Cara Kelly
- Swan: Lewis Stringer
- Ryan: Peter Craze
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/h4mIkiSV4s8?si=0O5j-6IZadgttMUy
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90 minutes duration. First broadcast: Sat 15th May 1971, 20:30 on BBC Radio 4 FM
Synopsis: ‘A Trollopian comedy of manners set in Edwardian London in which Canon Spratte, son of the late Lord Chancellor and brother to Earl Spratte, is determined to obtain a Bishopric. The path to his promotion is far from smooth.
Directed and Produced by Graham Gauld.
(Repeated: Monday, 3.0 pm)
Credits:
- Dramatised By: Donald Tosh
- Produced By: Graham Gauld
- Canon Theodore Spratte: George Baker
- Lord Spratte: Peter Pratt
- Lady Sophia Spratte: Lydia Sherwood
- Winifred Spratte: Pat Pleasance
- Lionel Spratte: John Rye
- Lord Wroxham: Geoffrey Beevers
- Mrs Railting: Norah Blaney
- Louise Railing: Jo Manning Wilson
- Bertram Railing: Michael Spice
- Lord Stonehenge: Noel Iliff
- Lady Patricia: Ursula Hirst
- Sir John Durant: Martin Friend
- Gwendolyn Durant: Sheila Grant
- Ponsonby: Denis McCarthy
- Mrs Fitzherbert: Betty Baskcomb
- Mrs Caudle: Marjorie Forsyth
- Bishop Poole: Leslie Heritage
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/GU3gif3e4Yg?si=UNmO2LJWpG-bl1IG
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Saturday-Night Theatre The Circle by W Somerset Maugham. BBC Radio 4
Sat 25th Apr 1970, 20:30 on BBC Radio 4 FM
With Stephen Murray, Carleton Hobbs, and Grizelda Hervey.
This, perhaps the most distinguished of Somerset Maugham’s plays, was originally produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in 1921 and remains a classic example of English comedy at its best.
Directed and produced by Val Gielgud.
Credits:-
- Produced By: Val Gielgud
- Arnold Champion-Cheney: Alan Wheatley
- George: Peter Tuddenham
- Anna Shenstone: Dorit Welles
- Elizabeth: Patricia Gallimore
- Edward Luton: Brian Hewlett
- Clive Champion-Cheney: Carleton Hobbs
- Lady Kitty: Grizelda Hervey
- Lord Porteous: Stephen Murray
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/AW-VJLB44Nk?si=cBsOGCqmjAcOeSSY
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W Somerset Maugham reads his short story The Three Fat Women of Antibes which is the first side of a 12″ LP- part of the Columbia Masterworks ‘Distinguished Authors Reading From Their Works’ recorded and distributed in the USA.
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/vYhmah8x0Hc?si=FF0SYeoOHVkhjQN-&t=131
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Somerset Maugham interview (1955). Filmed at Somerset Maugham’s villa at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the Mediterranean, this programme features the author and playwright in a far-ranging 1955 conversation with British critic and journalist Alan Pryce-Jones.
Produced for the US NBC Network.
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/35zdFvas0uQ?si=Hs6vNULfoEIWkia5
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The Tenth Man by Somerset Maugham. Saturday-Night Theatre. BBC Radio 4
First broadcast: Sat 26th Dec 1970, 20:30. 90 minutes.
The Tenth Man by Somerset Maugham adapted by Peggy Wells with Clifford Norgate
Patricia Gallimore , Hector Ross , and Carleton Hobbs.
George Winter had built a fortune on a simple premise- nine men out of ten are either rogues or fools. But had he thought that one day the tenth man might cross his path?
Produced and directed by David Geary.
Cast:-
- Lord Francis Etchingham: Hector Ross
- Lady Etchingham: Joan Matheson
- Catherine Winter: Patricia Gallimore
- George Winter: Clifford Norgate
- Anne Etchingham: Venetia Maxwell
- Edward O’Donell: David Robb
- Thompson: Patrick Tull
- Robert Colby: Peter Williams
- Frederick Bennett: Martin Friend
- The Prime Minister: Carleton Hobbs
- Swalecliffe: Michael Kilgarriff
- Ford: Gerald Cross
- Colonel Boyce: Charles Simon
Synopsis: “George Winter is a self-made businessman and M.P., who lets nothing stand in the way of his ambition, believing that nine out of ten men are rogues or fools. Whenever Winter meets a rival who can’t be bought, he destroys them through methods both legal and underhand. His wife Catherine is intent on divorce, but with the scandal potentially damaging to his election campaign, Winter blackmails her into staying with him. Then, Winter meets his ‘tenth man’: Jim Ford a victim who refuses to be silenced by threat or bribery, who has the power to expose one of Winter’s shady gold mine deals, and bring his house of cards crashing down.”
Availavable on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/R3bU-ZMww64?si=E4EKa-Z9ntVeRb1C
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Saturday Night Theatre. The Sacred Flame by Somerset Maugham. BBC Home Service.
First broadcast: Saturday 17th July 1965, 20:30 on BBC Home Service Basic. 90 minutes.
Sybil Thorndike in The Sacred Flame by Somerset Maugham adapted for radio by Peter Watts with Jill Balcon and Carleton Hobbs ‘ They tell me that one of these days they’ll try operating again to see if they can put me right. But I know they’re lying. I’m here for life.’
The Sacred Flame (1928) was William Somerset Maugham’s 21st play, written at the age of 54. Maugham dedicated the publication to his friend Messmore Kendall.
Produced and directed by Graham Gould.
Cast in order of speaking:-
- Maurice Tabret: John Graham
- Dr Harvester: Stephen Jack
- Mrs Tabret: Sybil Thorndike
- Nurse Wayland: Jill Balcon
- Alice Jo: Manning Wilson
- Major Liconda: Carleton Hobbs
- Stella Tabret: Pat Pleasance
- Colin Tabret: Denis Goacher
Available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/2dbLSP-of5I?si=MckADI7sbjlHRP9D
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This posting is a work in progress and still under development with more resources and information to be added to in due course.