Paul Temple's Triumph

Once believed lost, Maclean Rogers's adaptation of the Francis Durbridge radio serial News of Paul Temple is the most densely plotted of the shoestring quartet made at Nettlefold Studios. It also comes closest to pitching John Bentley into James Bond territory, as he and Dinah Sheridan search for the scientist behind a pioneering nuclear missile shield after he is kidnapped by the shadowy Z organisation. Perhaps too many scenes are staged in hotel rooms, but the plot rattles along, with Teutonic boffins, petrol smugglers, snooping reporters and French singers armed with doped cigarettes distracting the Temples from cracking the case. Led by Jack Livesey (inheriting the role of Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Graham Forbes from Jack Raine), the supporting cast hams it up splendidly. But the villainy is often dastardly, even if the finale disappoints.