Agatha Christie
Listeners may remember that in the summer of 1930 a serial detective story, 'Behind the Screen' was read, a chapter at a time, each by a different broadcaster: Hugh Walpole, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, E.C. Bentley, and Ronald Knox. It was an experiment in technique, and this new series which is to start tonight may be said to be another.
This time, instead of a serial, the short story is to be experimented with. The art of writing a short story is a more difficult art than that of writing a book, and perhaps the art of telling a story is rarest of all. Who is there that one can think of, with the excepttion of A.J. Alan, who excels ?
Yet once upon a time, when there were no books to read, no films to see, no wireless sets to switch on, people told each other stories, and listeners were absorbed.
Agatha Christie, who is to tell the first story tonight, has a great following in England and America for her written stories. Tonight she will appeal to an audience that depends upon the ear alone.