Design for Murder

Summary

1961 BBC production of Design for Murder by Alex Atkinson.

Theatre play

Design for Murder by Alex Atkinson [more information]

Play synopsis

The principal actors and creatives in a forthcoming theatre production have come for a discussion. One of them brings a letter she has received, threatening her life, and this letter could only have been written by one of the other six people present. Someone is murdered that evening, but it is not her. A classic ‘whodunnit’ thriller.

Production history

Reviews of the television production clearly indicate that the play was written for the stage. One production in Guildford in 1959 has been located, but this does not seem to have been the premiere.

Date of transmission

Thursday 6 July 1961

Time

8.20-9.20pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Patrick Dromgoole

Playwright

Alex Atkinson

Composer

Sidney Sager

Musician

Michael Watson

Designer

Desmond Chinn

Cast

John Abineri	John Wade
Kathleen Byron	Elizabeth Carr
John Cater	Tony Wallace
Constance Chapman	Milly Egerton
Charles Gray	Rex Berkely
Sydonie Platt	Delia Mitchell
John Welsh	Detective Inspector Hughes
Alan Wheatley	Philip Benson
Anthony Woodruff	Detective Sergeant Appleby

Additional details

Play tags

murder; theatre or acting, as theme; thriller

Print sources

Title

A Thriller in the Classical Design (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 7 July 1961, p. 15

Title

Radio Times, 29 June 1961 (Magazine)

Linking notes

photograph, p. 46; article, p. 47; listing, p. 49