Adventure Theater


Adventure Theater is a dramatic anthology series that aired on NBC in 1956. The series was produced in England in 1953, but was never broadcast there as a series. It was also known as Calling Scotland Yard.

Series structure

Actor Paul Douglas was the program host and introduced each of the two-act plays that composed the series. Each introduction involved a memento or souvenir that he had brought back from England. The story about the object led into that week's episode.

Cast

With the exception of Douglas, all of the featured cast members were British actors and included Hugh Latimer, Laurence Naismith, Anthony Nicholls, Derek Blomfield, Jack Watling, Maurice Denham, Robert Raglan, Hazel Court, Derek Bond and Kay Walsh.

Broadcast history

The series was broadcast in 1956 on Saturday evenings as a summer replacement for Your Hit Parade. The series returned in 1957 with repeats of the original 13 episodes.

Episodes

Some of the episodes were re-titled for broadcast in the United States.
  1. "The Missing Passenger"
  2. "Falstaff's Fur Coat"
  3. "The Thief of London"
  4. "Thirty Days to Die"
  5. "The Wedding Gift"
  6. "The Final Twist"
  7. "The Javanese Dagger"
  8. "The Ripper Strikes"
  9. "The Wilful Widow"
  10. "The Stranger on the Sea"
  11. "The Corpse of Pleasant Avenue"
  12. "The Man Who Stayed Alive"
  13. "The Sable Scarf"

    Film adaptations

Two films were made from the series for release in UK theaters in 1954, each comprising three episodes from the series, linked by Gilbert Harding.

''Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder''

Featuring the episodes:

''The Wedding Gift''

A man marries off his girlfriend to a wealthy diamond merchant then murders him.
Cast
A professional pickpocket makes his gift pay.
Cast
A jeweller robs himself and commits murder.
Cast