The Tragical History of The Honourable John Byng , Esquire
Admiral of the Blue being
A True Account of the Famous Sea-fight off Minorca in 1756, the loss of that island, and the trial and death of the British Commander
The Cast includes
Anthony Ellis , Ewart Scott , Edward Craven , Harold Clayton , Percy Rhodes , Harcourt Williams , John Cheatle , Victor Fairley , Philip Wade , Charles Lefeaux , Louis Goodrich , Henry Hal latt, Norman Shelley , Gordon McLeod , 1 Charles Mason , Ruth Anderson ,
Philip Desborough , Muriel Taylor , Naomi Ludolf , Margaret Blackwood , A. J. Denton , James Pearce , S. H. Culley , Rollo Gamble and Eric Lugg
Reconstructed by ANTHONY L. ELLIS
Production by VAL GIELGUD
When The King's Tryall was broadcast in February it was realised that a new medium of dramatic expression had been found for the microphone. Here in the realism of the Court-room, the echo of hoofs in Whitehall, the stamp of feet in the corridors, was drama all the more real and tense because it was based on facts and not conceived in fiction. The human story of a man who lived and died, the actual words he spoke, the way he faced his judges and executioners, held listeners as perhaps no radio drama had ever done before.
The Trial and Execution of Charles I was followed in May by ' The Trial of Simon, Lord Lovat', and in July by that of Richard Hathaway , and the good opinion of this new form of drama was confirmed.
Tonight's broadcast differs from the Trials that have preceded it in that it is not confined to the Court Martial. It is given in four main scenes : i, Byng setting out; 2, The battle; 3. The Court Martial ; 4, The execution. It is the first of the Trials to be produced by the Drama Director, and another point of interest is that the author of the script will play Admiral Byng.