APPOINTMENT WITH FEAR
THE MAN IN BLACK

VALENTINE DYALL - "THE MAN IN BLACK"
FRANKLIN DYALL - "THE MAN IN BLACK"

"Appointment With Fear" was the British version of USA radio series "Suspense", complete with the same music theme. "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. 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. The host was British actor Valentine Dyall. Other than the different host the series was the same as the American original. "Appointment With Fear" ran for a total of ten series. Dyall hosted nine of them, with the second series being replaced during that series by his father, Franklin Dyall. "Appointment With Fear" ran sporadically from 1943 to 1949 (plus a revival in 1955). There was no tenth series in 1957, it was merely a repeat broadcast of Series Nine.

"APPOINTMENT WITH FEAR"
EPISODES

SERIES 1
Cabin B13 by John Dickson Carr, 11 September 1943
The Pit and the Pendulum', adapted by John Dickson Carr from Edgar Allan Poe, 18 September 1943
Into Thin Air by John Dickson Carr, 21 September 1943
The Body Snatchers adapted by John Dickson Carr from Robert Louis Stevenson, 30 September 1943
The Customers Like Murder by John Dickson Carr, 7 October 1943
Will You Make a Bet With Death? by John Dickson Carr, 14 October 1943
The Devil's Saint by John Dickson Carr, 21 October 1943
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by John Dickson Carr, 28 October 1943
The Phantom Archer by John Dickson Carr, 4 November 1943
The Man Who Died Twice by John Dickson Carr, 11 November 1943
Menace In Wax by John Dickson Carr, 18 November 1943

SERIES 2
Vex Not His Ghost by John Dickson Carr, 6 January 1944
The Tell Tale Heart adapted by John Dickson Carr from Edgar Allan Poe, 13 January 1944
The Room of the Suicides by John Dickson Carr, 20 January 1944
The Sire de Maletroit's Door adapted by John Dickson Carr from Robert Louis Stevenson, 27 January 1944
The Dragon in the Pool by John Dickson Carr, 3 February 1944
The Man Who Was Afraid of Dentists by John Dickson Carr, 10 February 1944

SERIES 3
The Speaking Clock by John Dickson Carr, 13 April 1944
Death Flies Blind by John Dickson Carr, 20 April 1944
A Watcher by the Dead adapted by John Dickson Carr from Ambrose Bierce, 27 April 1944
The Pit and the Pendulum adapted by John Dickson Carr from Edgar Allan Poe, 4 May 1944
Vampire Tower by John Dickson Carr, 11 May 1944
The Clock Strikes Eight by John Dickson Carr, 18 May 1944

SERIES 4
I Never Suspected by John Dickson Carr, 5 October 1944
The Devil's Manuscript by John Dickson Carr, 12 October 1944
Death Has Four Faces by John Dickson Carr, 19 October 1944
The Purple Wig adapted by John Dickson Carr from G K Chesterton, 26 October 1944
He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr, 2 November 1944
The Great Cipher adapted by John Dickson Carr, from Melville Davisson Post, 16 November 1944
Vex Not His Ghost by John Dickson Carr, 30 November 1944
The Curse of the Bronze Lamp by John Dickson Carr, 7 December 1944
The Gong Cried Murder by John Dickson Carr, 14 December 1944
Lair of the Devil Fish by John Dickson Carr, 21 December 1944
The Oath of Rolling Thunder by John Dickson Carr, 28 December 1944

SERIES 5
Into Thin Air by John Dickson Carr, 11 September 1945
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by John Dickson Carr, 18 September 1945
The Man Who Died Twice by John Dickson Carr, 25 September 1945
The Clock Strikes Eight by John Dickson Carr, 2 October 1945
Cabin B13 by John Dickson Carr, 9 October 1945
Will You Make a Bet With Death? by John Dickson Carr, 16 October 1945

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 Honore 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
Escape to Death by Mileson Horton, 25 December 1946

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
The Clock Strikes Eight by John Dickson Carr, 14 January 1948

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

SERIES 9
The Man Who Couldn't Be Photographed by John Dickson Carr, 23 July 1955
White Tiger Passage by John Dickson Carr, 2 August 1955
The Dead Man's Knock by John Dickson Carr, 9 August 1955
The Sleuth of Seven Dials by John Dickson Carr, 16 August 1955
The Villa of the Damned by John Dickson Carr, 23 August 1955
Till the Great Armadas Come by John Dickson Carr, 30 August 1955

"The Man In Black" radio show was broadcast for one series of eight episodes in 1949, and again presented by Valentine Dyall in the title role as "The Man In Black". There are no known episodes to have survived.

"THE MAN IN BLACK"
EPISODES

SERIES 1
Markheim adapted by John Keir Cross from Robert Louis Stevenson, 31 January 1949
Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad adapted John Keir Cross from MR James, 7 February 1949
The Middle Toe of The Right Foot adapted by John Keir Crfoss from Ambrose Bierce, 14 February 1949
Our Feathered Friends adapted by John Keir Cross from Philip Macdonald and 'Thus I Refute Beelzy
- adapted by John Keir Cross from John Collier, 21 February 1949
The Judge's House adapted by John Keir Cross from Bram Stoker, 28 February 1949
The Yellow Wallpaper adapted by John Keir Cross from Charlotte Parkins Gilman, 7 March 1949
The Beast With Five Fingers adapted by John Keir Cross from WF Harvey, 14 March 1949
The Little House by John Keir Cross, 21 March 1949

Valentine Dyall

Valentine Dyall who was born on 7 May 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom: was an English character actor. His distinctive voice made him especially popular as a voice actor, and he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series "Appointment with Fear" & "The Man In Black" and the 1949 movie "The Man In Black<". He was the son of the veteran actor Franklin Dyall and the actress and author Mary Phyllis Joan Logan, who acted and wrote as Concordia Merrel. Dyall died on 24 June 1985 in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom. Valentine Dyall was also "The Man In Black" in a 1949 movie; and did a promotion for the BBC's horror series "Late Night Horror" as "The Man In Black". For more information on the "The Man In Black" movie, and "Late Night Horror", please use the below links:

Franklin Poole Dyall

Franklin Poole Dyall who was born on 3 February 1870, was an English actor. Dyall was born in Liverpool, with his father, Charles Dyall, being the first curator of the Walker Art Gallery. Dyall appeared in 26 films between 1916 and 1948, as well as being the eleventh actor to portray Captain Hook. With Mary Phyllis Joan Logan, he was the father of actor Valentine Dyall. Franklin Dyall died in Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom on 8 May 1950.

LINKS