Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time & Other Mysteries

A BBC Radio Crime Collection

By: Josephine Tey

Narrated by: Julia Foster, Joan Sims, Paul Young, Edward Petherbridge, Tilly Gaunt, Giles Fagan, Peter Gilmore, full cast

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dramatisations and readings of five of Josephine Tey's classic mystery novels.

Scottish novelist and playwright Josephine Tey was one of the greatest Golden-Age crime writers and the author of eight mysteries, including six featuring Scotland Yard inspector Alan Grant. The most famous of these, The Daughter of Time, was acclaimed the greatest crime novel of all time by the Crime Writers' Association. A full-cast dramatisation of this iconic story is included here, along with adaptations of four of her other much-loved mystery novels.

A Shilling for Candles: an independent-minded chief constable's daughter meets a suspected killer in this re-imagining of Josephine Tey's 1936 comedy thriller featuring Inspector Grant, starring Giles Fagan and Tilly Gaunt.

Miss Pym Disposes: invited by her friend Henrietta to lecture at a physical education college, expert psychologist Miss Lucy Pym little suspects that among the healthy young women is someone with a mind sick enough to commit murder.... Julia Foster stars as Miss Pym, with Joan Sims as Henrietta.

The Franchise Affair: a 15-year-old schoolgirl accuses Marion Sharpe and her mother of kidnapping and beating her. Can solicitor Robert Blair prove the women's innocence? An abridged reading by Edward Petherbridge.

The Daughter of Time: in hospital with a broken leg, Inspector Grant is bored. To pass the time, he decides to try and solve one of history's most famous puzzles: did Richard II really kill the Princes in the Tower? Peter Gilmore stars as Alan Grant.

The Singing Sands: travelling to the Highlands by train, Inspector Grant ends up investigating the mysterious death of the man in compartment B7. An abridged reading by Paul Young of Tey's final novel, published posthumously in 1952. 

Also included is a Woman's Hour discussion of the life of Josephine Tey, with Andrew Taylor and fellow author Nicola Upson, whose best-selling crime novels feature Tey as the detective heroine. 

A Shilling for Candles

Tisdall - Giles Fagan, Erica - Tilly Gaunt, Pottinger - Steve Hodson, Bergoine - Stephen Thorne, Grant - Ben Crowe, Albert Clay - Harry Myers, Hopgood - Geoffrey Whitehead, Martha - Frances Jeater. Dramatised by John Fletcher. Directed by Tabitha Potts. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5th December 1998.

Miss Pym Disposes

Lucy Pym - Julia Foster, Henrietta Hodge - Joan Sims, Teresa Desterro - Julia Swift, Miss Lux - Polly James, Miss Wragg - Zelah Clarke, Madame Lefevre - Margaret Robertson, Fröken Gustavson - Diana Olsson, Miss Meek - Eva Stuart, Miss Nash - Deborah Makepeace, Miss Innes - Moir Leslie, Miss Rouse - Susan Sheridan, Miss O'Donnell - Felicity Hayes-McCoy, Miss Dakers - Denica Fairman, Miss Gage - Caroline Gruber, Mr Nash - Michael Deacon, Mrs Nash - Eva Stuart, Rick - Paul Sirr. Dramatised by Elizabeth Proud. Directed by Glyn Dearman. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30th December 1987.

The Franchise Affair

Read by Edward Petherbridge. Abridged by Pat McLoughlin. Editor: Sally Feldman. Music: Bush's Music for Orchestra. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7th - 23rd May 1991.

The Daughter of Time

Alan Grant - Peter Gilmore, Nurse Ingham - Frances Jeater, Nurse Darroll - Jill Lidstone, Marta Hallard - Rosalind Shanks, Brent Carradine - Simon Hewitt, Richard - Steve Hodson, Tyrrel - Nigel Lambert, Brackenbury - Lewis Stringer, Lady Paston - Miranda Forbes, Edward - Graham Faulkner, Matron - Katherine Parr, Williams - Stuart Organ, Morton - Peter Tuddenham, Buckingham - Alex Jennings, Stillington - James Thomason, Sir John - Alaric Cotter. Dramatised by Neville Teller. Directed by Graham Gauld. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30th August 1982.

The Singing Sands: Read by Paul Young. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie. First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 17th - 20th March 2008.

Woman's Hour discussion: Presented by Jane Garvey. With Nicola Upson and Andrew Taylor. First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29th February 2008.

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Definitely not unabridged

This is a performance with plenty of artistic license. While it's not a bad performance I was looking for the unabridged Daughter of Time, it's much better than any performance. I was hopeful since the description stated that it was unabridged but am disappointed that it actually is abridged.

Odd incongruity?

What a startling dichotomy of performances! From the Jeeves-and-Wooster treatment of Shilling for Candles, to the stunning, thoughtful presentation of The Franchise Affair by Edward Petherbridge, this is a most curious representation of the worthy and respected works of Josephine Tey. Worth the price for the Petherbridge reading alone, however I would encourage first-time listeners to look for the unabridged versions of these great stories.

Sooo Good !!

What a great way to present Josephine Tey !! She really is right up there with Agatha Christy! This production is done very well and sucks you into every story. What a great 9 hours - wish there were more as well produced!

Would love more Tey

I didn't want to stop listening, great stories! We should have heard more of Ms Tey!

A very mixed bag!

Well, just skip ‘A shilling for candles’ altogether is my advice - it is nothing like the original: different motive, different murderer, different storyline. Frankly, just a load of rubbish. ‘Miss Pym disposes’ and ‘The daughter of time’ are reasonably good dramatised adaptations: they follow the original stories (if somewhat simplified) and have good actors. The abridged narration of ‘The Singing Sands’ is ook worthwhile listening. The standout story in the collection is ‘The Franchise Affair’ narrated by the incomparable Edward Petherbridge. Worth buying the collection for that alone.

full stories are much better

my wife and I did not like or finish the performances. not true to the stories at all and a bit campy.

Another great one

I really enjoyed this book. Each one she writes is so different than the others, really good.

Radio plays of Tey’s works

I enjoyed them. I was familiar with Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair but not the others. Great performances.

Entertaining Listen

The first mystery is a bit simplistic, but they better and better as they go along

An astounding author

I had heard Daughter of Time quite a few years ago on the radio, and recall how the narrative is beautifully crafted. Similarly, the Franchise Affair is sensational and I was drawn into the very modern critique she presents of how the population is groomed and manipulated by the media - it might as well have been Facebook or other social media. I found it difficult to really engage with the first story, where the police were, stereotypically, absolute plods and having picked on an 'easy' culprit, it felt entirely proper that the sargeant should be locked up in the cell. I am sure that Tey would not allow such lazy lampooning without going on to demonstrate a much more sophisticated narrative. I will therefore go back and try the first story again. If there are more Tey books available to record, please do!

Wonderful introduction to Tey's work

The reading of The Singing Sands elevated this collection to a sparkling delight. I hadn't read any of Tey's work and thought I'd prefer an overview before picking a book to try. The extra information about the author was most welcome. The BBC radio plays of high quality, but I preferred the erudite, kind and playful writing of the author.

It is abridged

The performaces are good but the stories are abridged wich makes them sometimes difficult to comprehend. Go for the unabridged books instead. That goes especially for "Daughter of time" and "The Franchis affair", Two of the best detective stories ever written.

I was so disappointed

After listening to Brat Farrar and enjoying it I thought this would be good. It was so dated and over acted it ruined it.

great stories well acted and narrated.

Franchise affair was brilliant but all stories good . I liked daughter of time less than the other stories.

Interesting stories

I bought this as I remembered enjoying Miss Pym Disposes and Daughter of Time, when they were first broadcast. The whole collection is well worth listening to and performance is good.

mixed bag

the first couple of dramatizations I found very weak and they gave no clue to the clever writing in the original stories. However once past those the other readings and dramatizations were extremely good.

Josephine Tey

I found the stories were so dull and boring. The headline dramatisation of the Daughters of Time was a real struggle to listen to the end . A complete waste of time. I just can’t understand why the critics like her work.