Dick Barton and the Cabatolin Diamonds [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

One word. Brilliant!
This CD set dazzled me. I was amazed at just how good the episodes were.
Let me explain further.
I'd heard of Dick Barton but had never actually heard the series being far too young to listen to the original series when they were first transmitted.

This set of episodes fairly rattles along at a brisk pace and not a moment is wasted by the full dramatic cast on the writer Geoffrey Webb's story.

The series was written for radio and lasts a full 4 hours over 4 CDs.
Each CD has 4 episodes of the show split in to 3 parts and each one ends with a brilliant cliff hanger where the listener is asking themselves will Dick and his cohorts escape this time?
I can only imagine the tension and expectation of the original listeners when each exciting episode came to its shattering close. Of course Dick does and how he escapes is often a wonderful piece of writing and plot. I say original but this is not quite the case for the series has an interesting history.
The original series although never transmitted live was not saved by the BBC think of the original Dr Who and Patrick Trough ton's reign for examples of short sightedness. The series rights were bought under licence by an Australian company and then a South African one and rerecorded. (Don't worry about the accents they are all stiff British upper lips and the North African baddies and residents sound authentic.) The series were left secure in vaults to be rediscovered and about 340 of the original 360 survive so more releases should be on their way. I for one would love to hear more.
Now back to the CD set. I must I admit I was expecting to be amused at how twee the series was but I was really pleasantly delighted with how much I enjoyed them.
Written in simpler times when Britain ruled the waves and waived the rules too judging by Barton and his crew's cavalier attitude to international law.
The writer, Geoffrey Webb wrings every chance to move the scene from England, London and Wales to the then exotic North Africa of French Algiers. Dick has been employed to track down and destroy a counterfeit diamond producing and smuggling ring.
What amused me in all senses was how Dick extracted himself from dastardly plots and traps.
I won't give spoilers away but these ranged from Killer Apes and petrol soaked airplane hangers to poisoned nosegays and hidden plans in knitting patterns! I kid you not! Thank goodness Jean, Barton's aide is a fast knitter!!
As I said earlier the pace fairly rattles along and the supporting actors really convey the thrills and spills of the series.

Can children listen to it? Yes. No gratuitous sex nor violence.
Will they enjoy it? Yes Brilliant stuff.
Is it still PC in today's times? I would say yes. True the baddies are foreigners but not overtly racist IMHO.
A brilliant CD set in a satisfying 4 hours of sheer pleasure and escapism!

My wife and I like audio books (especially when travelling by car). We recently bought and listened to 'Dick Barton - Special Agent' and, although we'd only heard of Dick Barton before, we'd never listened to one of his tales. We enjoyed it so much that, when 'Dick Barton and the Cabatolin Diamonds' was made available, we immediately obtained a copy.

OK one has to accept, this was re-recorded in 1949 for transmission overseas as the original recordings were lost, so the quality is not that of a modern recording, having said that, the quality of the reproduction is excellent.

As to the storyline, if one accepts that the production is from the 40's and not the second decade of the 21st century and that, to an extent, is dated, I still feel that the listener will still enjoy this story.

This recording is from Spring 1949 - Dick's plans for a mediteranean cruise are cancelled to foil a gang of international diamond smugglers. Can Dick thwart the evil Henri De Flambeau before it's too late????

Can I recommend this - Yes, especially for fans of radio thrillers of yesteryear

The fact that this Dick Barton series exists at all is mystery in itself, and a bit of a miracle. Since few of these recordings from the 1940s survived ~ who knew they would ever be so popular and much needed forty years on?! ~ some brilliant archivist discovered that many of these early series were re recorded for audiences in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa ~ all outposts of all things English 60 years ago. Due to this foresight we, modern audiences, can experience these stories that may well have become otherwise lost.

To try and give a précis of this current CD "Dick Barton and the Cabatolin
Diamonds " would be pointless and anyway each episode is introduced with a "the story so far..." recap just as each episode finishes with the famous cliff-hanging questions, "Will Dick Barton be in time to rescue the ladies?" " Who is the man in the taxi? " "Is this the beginning of another adventure?" "Will they be in time to find the antidote to the poison?" etc

Dick and Jock and Snowey get in to more scrapes and end up in more perilous torture situations than even the mindless airheads in the "Saw" films. Trapped in mines, lifts and creepy basements, chained and tied and tricked until the writers run out of ideas, though that rarely happens. A rat on a treadmill that will release a poisonous gas unless stopped in time is just one example of the intriguing near-death experiences undergone by our intrepid team.

I confess that my favourite clue to the whereabouts of the artificial diamonds being manufactured by the baddie Henri Flobo (sic Fleurbeau) is found by Jean in a knitting pattern when knitted up; another highlight is Dick's impersonation of a "Macnoon" apparently a mad Arab.

This is so charming and it is impossible to listen to without a smile or two creeping to your lips. In a time before the telly families used to gather around the radio every night waiting for the ever-familiar signature tune heralding the next episode of "Dick Barton"

To a contemporary audience, if there is one for the radio, this sounds like those retro sketches from the Armstrong & Miller shows.

I think, though that the people who will listen to this splendid piece of radio history will be those grown ups who listened to these broadcasts 60+ years ago