Appointment with Fear (radio)


Appointment with Fear was a horror drama series originally broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1940s and 1950s, and revived on a number of occasions since. The format comprised a dramatised horror story of approximately half an hour in length, introduced by a character known as "The Man in Black". The plays themselves were a mixture of classic horror stories by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, M. R. James and W. W. Jacobs, and commissioned stories by new or established writers. Many of the stories in the early series were written or adapted by John Dickson Carr, a number of which had already been produced for the American CBS series Suspense; and, in addition to its primary author, Appointment With Fear also shared the theme music and the narrator character of The Man in Black with Suspense.

''Appointment with Fear'' (1943-1955 and 1976)

Appointment with Fear ran for nine series between 1943 and 1955, initially on the BBC Home Service and from September 1945 on the Light Programme. The Man in Black was played by the British character actor Valentine Dyall, except in the second series where the character was portrayed by Dyall's father Franklin Dyall. Only four episodes are known to survive, three from Series 3 and one from Series 6. A tenth series was broadcast on the BBC World Service in 1976.

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Series 6

  • 'He Wasn't Superstitious' adapted by John Dickson Carr from Ambrose Bierce, 23 October 1945
  • 'The Man With Two Heads' by John Dickson Carr, 6 November 1945
  • 'The Case of the Five Canaries' by John Dickson Carr, 13 November 1945
  • 'And The Deep Shuddered' by Monckton Hoffe, 20 November 1945
  • 'The Case' by John Slater and Roy Plomley, 27 November 1945
  • 'Death at Midnight' by Robert Barr, 4 December 1945

Series 7

  • 'The Nutcracker Suite' by E Crowshay-Williams and J Leslie Dodd, 26 March 1946
  • 'Black Mamba' by Hugh Barnes and AR Ramsden, 2 April 1946
  • 'The Cask of Amontillado' adapted by Laidman Browne from Edgar Allan Poe, 9 April 1946
  • 'A Watcher by the Dead' adapted by John Dickson Carr from Ambrose Bierce, 16 April 1946
  • 'The Man Who Knew How' adapted by Ronald Cunliffe from Dorothy L Sayers, 23 April 1946
  • 'Dead Men's Teeth' by Charles Hatton and Richard Fisher, 30 April 1946
  • 'Experiment With Death' by Harry Bunton, 7 May 1946
  • 'Death Takes a Honeymoon' by Mileson Horton and WL Catchpole, 14 May 1946
  • 'Renovations at Merrets' adapted by Rankine Good from Honoré de Balzac, 21 May 1946
  • 'The Monkey's Paw' adapted by Louis N Parker from WW Jacobs, 28 May 1946
  • 'Cottage For Sale' by TJ Waldron, 4 June 1946
  • 'A Mind in Shadow' by Kenneth Morgan, 11 June 1946

Special

Series 8

  • 'Mrs Amworth' adapted by Charles Hatton from EF Benson, 25 February 1947
  • 'Sink or Swim Together' by ???, 4 March 1947
  • 'The Last Pilgrimage' by TJ Waldron, 11 March 1947
  • 'The Bell Room' adapted by Lester Powell from Edgar Allan Poe, 25 March 1947
  • 'The Diary of William Carpenter' adapted by Patric Dickinson from John Atkins, 1 April 1947
  • 'The Treasures' adapted by Charles Hatton from Gilbert Frankau, 8 April 1947
  • 'The Hands of Nekamen' adapted by Lester Powell from Kathleen Hyett, 22 April 1947
  • 'All Cats May Snarl' by J Vernon Basley, 29 April 1947

Special

Special

  • 'The Diary of William Carpenter' adapted by Patric Dickinson from John Atkins, 23 January 1948

Series 9

Series 10

There was no tenth series in 1957, it was merely a repeat broadcast of Series Nine.

Tie-In Publication

''The Man in Black'' (1949)

The Man in Black was broadcast for one series of eight episodes in 1949, also on the Light Programme, and again presented by Valentine Dyall in the title role. No episodes are known to have survived.

''Fear on Four'' (1988)

Fear on Four ran for five series on BBC Radio 4 between 1988 and 1992, the part of the Man in Black being played by Edward de Souza. A fifth series was broadcast in 1997, this time without a narrator. An anthology of stories from the first two series was published by BBC Books in 1990.

Series One

Series Two

Series Three

  • The Yellow Wallpaper
  • Green and Pleasant
  • The Monkey's Revenge
  • Invitation to the Vaults by Basil Copper, January 1991
  • The Edge
  • Dead Man's Boots
  • A Routine Operation?
  • Dance in the Underworld

Series Four

Series Five

''The Man in Black'' (2009)

The series was revived again in 2009, on BBC Radio 4 Extra, this time as The Man in Black, with Mark Gatiss in the title role. It ran for four series, each with five episodes, between 2009 and 2011.
Reruns of the 2009 version started to air on BBC Radio 4 Extra on April 24, 2020.

Series One

  • The Tower
  • Project Purple
  • The White Hare
  • Hide and Seek
  • Bombers' Moon

Series Two

Series Three

  • Connect
  • The Printed Name
  • Lights Out
  • Uncle William's House
  • Perfect Home

Series Four

  • Containment
  • The Punt
  • The Beaten Track
  • Reunion
  • The New Boy

Film adaptation

In 1950, Hammer and Exclusive Films released a feature film based on the series entitled The Man in Black.
The stars were Betty Ann Davies, Sheila Burrell, and Sid James, with Valentine Dyall reprising his role as the Man in Black.