Alibi for a Judge & other plays: Eight Full-Cast Vintage BBC Radio Dramatisations

Eight thrilling tales from the writer of Brothers in Law, featuring courtroom cases, legal wranglings, conspiracy and blackmail

Barrister and county court judge, Henry Cecil wrote numerous comic stories set in the legal world, most famously Brothers in Law. Collected here are eight vintage dramas based on his works, beginning with an adaptation of his debut novel, The Painswick Line, a tale of a judge and his somewhat unconventional family starring Cecil Parker and Monica Grey.

The Disagreeable Man, starring Norman Shelley and David Spenser, finds a peaceful English village disrupted by the arrival of two newcomers, one of whom is most unpleasant. In Alibi for a Judge, an attractive young woman enlists the co-operation of the elderly judge who had convicted her husband of robbery to prove his innocence. It stars Andrew Cruickshank and Lesley Burford.

Next are two very different family dramas. Daughters in Law, starring Cecil Parker and Naunton Wayne, is a lighthearted story about a lawyer-loathing squire who discovers his sons have fallen in love with a judge’s twin daughters, one a barrister and one a solicitor. Fathers in Law, meanwhile, deals with the thorny issue of adoption, as the rights of a childless couple wishing to adopt a baby boy are set against those of his natural father. Alan Barry, John Westbrook and Joan Matheson star in this heartrending drama leavened by touches of humour.

Inspired by a real-life case, A Matter of Speculation depicts the 1814 trial of aristocratic naval officer Admiral Lord Cochrane, on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the London Stock Exchange. No Fear or Favour, Henry Cecil’s last radio play, concerns an imprudent judge threatened by an unscrupulous blackmailer, and stars Paul Daneman, Sarah Badel and Peter Sallis. Finally, in The Buttercup Spell, the pollen of the humble yellow flower is found to have unusual and beneficial effects, causing everyone to love their fellow man. Peter Williams stars in this delightful 1975 fantasy.

With thanks to Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle

NB: These are vintage radio productions and the audio quality reflects the age of the recording

Cast and credits Written by Henry Cecil

The Painswick Line Starring Kenneth Hyde, Cecil Parker, Monica Grey, Frederick Treves, Alan Haines, Gordon Faith, Ralph Truman, Timothy Harley, Denys Blakelock, Stephen Thorne, Michael Goldie, Beatrlce Kane, George Merritt, John Boxer, Hamlyn Benson.

Produced by H. B. Fortuin

The Disagreeable Man Starring Norman Shelley, David Spenser, Margaret Wolfit, James Thomason, Humphrey Morton, Ronald Herdman, Alan Dudley, Hilda Kriseman, Noel Hood, Anna North, Duncan McIntyre, Wilfred Babbage, Antony Viccars, Geoffrey Wincott.

Adapted by C.E. Webber from an episode in the book Ways and Means by Henry Cecil Produced by Martyn C. Webster.

Alibi for a Judge Starring Andrew Cruickshank, Amanda Grinling, Aubrey Woods, Jonathan Scott, Trader Faulkner, Peter Howell, Michael Shannon, Clifford Norgate, Hector Ross, Carole Boyd, Michael Burlington, Anthony Smee.

Adapted by Henry Cecil and Felicity Douglas Directed by John Tydeman

Daughters in Law Starring Cecil Parker, Antony Viccars, John Pullen, Gudrun Ure, Diana Olsson, William Eedle, Will Leighton, Naunton Wayne, Peter Claughton, Malcolm Hayes, Rolf Lefebvre, Philip Leaver, Haydn Jones, Derek Birch.

Produced by H. B. Fortuin

Fathers in Law Starring Hector Ross, Alan Barry, John Westbrook, Joan Matheson, George Curzon, Gordon Faith, Patricia Leventon, Michael Gough, Allan McClelland, Nigel Graham, Philip Guard, Monica Grey, Michael McClain, Fraser Kerr, Molly Rankin, Betty Huntley-Wright, Denys Blakelock, Peter Marinker.

Produced by H. B. Fortuin

A Matter of Speculation Starring Cecil Parker, Noel Howlett, Garard Green, Basil Jones, John Boxer, William Fox, Alan Haines, Stephen Thorne, Hector Ross, Fraser Kerr, Nigel Graham, Eric Anderson, Mary Wimbush, Norman Shelley.

Produced by Archie Campbell

No Fear or Favour Starring Paul Daneman, Sarah Badel, Peter Sallis, Timothy Bateson, Hector Ross, Peter Williams, Manning Wilson, Michael Shannon, Peter Howell, Antony Higginson, Michael Burlington, Michael Cochrane.

Adapted by Henry Cecil Produced by Harry Catlin

The Buttercup Spell Starring Peter Williams, Gerald Cross, John Ruddock, Leslie Heritage, John Challis, John Samson, Malcolm Hayes, William Fox, Philip Leaver, Geoffrey Beevers, Edward Kelsey, Lewis Stringer, Peter Bartlett, Peter Marinker, Katherine Parr, Sheila Grant.

Produced by Archie Campbell

© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

© 2025 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781529974591

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Lydbog: 27. november 2025