Milner's notion was correct. Hannay was meant to hand some diamonds over but now will only do so when Barbara has children. Milner is not prepared to wait and hatches a plan.

When Joe Morris arrives at Alford's Music Hall with Charlie Peterson's gang he is confronted by Richard Hannay's gang, 'The Centurions', who throw them out, but not before Richard Hannay is threatened by Joe Morris personally. This act will cripple the community of Strathallen, which is comprised mainly of farmers. When they discover that Hannay is in fact a Mining Engineer he suddenly finds that he is not at all welcome, although this is pure coincidence, as Hannay is simply visiting the town of his birth. Represented in London by the cunning and ruthless Count Von Schwabing, Germany is intent on causing trouble however and wherever she can—and Richard Hannay attracts trouble as a magnet attracts iron filings! Orson Welles portrayed Hannay in a radio play of The Thirty-Nine Steps in 1938, as did Glenn Ford in 1948 on Studio One, Herbert Marshall on Suspense in 1952. [3] When his goddaughter is jilted on her wedding day, Hannay finds himself searching for not just a missing bridegroom but also a shipment of gold.With this blessing Richard Hannay kisses Dirk Huysman, the man who had brought him up in South Africa after his parents died, and who is now dead himself, leaving Hannay with one last commission - to find his old adversary, Desmond Leigh, and to give him a fortune in uncut diamonds after Hannay is assured by Desmond Leigh that he bears no ill-will towards Huysman.

After nearly thirty years in southern Africa, Richard Hannay has achieved recognition as an officer in military intelligence, a mining engineer and a successful prospector. Now he is returning to Britain to seek a bride, a home and a quiet life. But Europe is a cauldron of political intrigue and, amongst the old Empires, a new power is rapidly making its way—a power that resents Britain's mastery of the waves: Imperial Germany.In the 2000s, BBC Radio 4 adapted four of the Hannay books, each starring David Robb: The Thirty-Nine Steps (2001), [4] Greenmantle (2005), [5] Mr Standfast (2008) [6] and The Three Hostages (2009). [7] The selling point is Robert Powell, and there’s no doubting that he’s a fine and charismatic actor, and he does his best to enliven the material and create some memorable drama. Fans of Powell will find much to enjoy. Naturally, for a mainstream television drama, individual episodes attract a good calibre of guest actors. You’ll find the likes of Charles Gray, Denis Lill, Edward de Souza and Martin Clunes making appearances.

He meets Alison Ross, his childhood friend, who is now the village schoolmistress. She is engaged to Lord Malcolm Drysdale, an impoverished nobleman, who in an endeavour to meet crippling death duties, is selling some of the land belonging to his estate to a mining company who want the land for a colliery. As tension mounts in Europe, the British Government prepares antidotes to possible germ warfare, and Richard Hannay finds himself at the centre of a demonic plot to steal them. Only Barbara Leigh was having an affair with Henry Milner, a foreman in the plantation. Now they can be open with their relationship. There were two series, the first with six episodes, the second with seven. Though a mixture of studio and location filming, the entire production (with the exception of the opening and closing title footage) was shot on videotape rather than the more expensive (yet typical) practice of shooting TV drama location exteriors on 16mm film. This maintained a more consistent atmosphere and look to the episodes. As of April 2021, only Benedict Cumberbatch has been announced as the lead of The 39 Steps. Cumberbatch will play Richard Hannay, a man involved in a vast conspiracy against his will. Here is a description of his character:When Hannay is entrusted with the safe-keeping of a dozen diamonds, he little knows the danger and distress they will bring. Editors Note: This preview was first published in April 2021 and has been updated to reflect new information. While the series has a few notable guest appearances (Charles Gray, Dennis Lill, Colin Jeavons in an unfortunately wasted part, Joanna David, Bernard Kay, Martin Clunes, Richard Pasco, etc.), most of the then-young actors supporting Powell are quite good. Stalky & Co 1 9 8 2 (UK) 6 x 50 minute episodes This six-part BBC miniseries was a faithful adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's…

Then there’s the problem that it’s shot entirely on tape, even for the outside location work. There’s no getting away from it: taped drama always looks cheap. A series like Sapphire and Steel gets away with one or two sets by having a minimal cast and opting for a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere. That’s the perfect cheap production! Hannay can’t reach for the same ideology because the stories want to aspire to international espionage conveying increasing tensions between the UK and Germany as the threat of war grows. It’s hard to do that convincingly with a small cast and few sets. Hard, but not impossible. For the most part though, Hannay plods along never quite being outright terrible but never being much good either. In the series, Powell reprised the role of Hannay, an Edwardian mining engineer from Rhodesia of Scottish origin. [3] It features his adventures in pre- World War I Britain. These stories had little in common with John Buchan's novels about the character, although some character names are taken from his other novels. Principal Cast [ edit ] Wilderness Road 1 9 8 6 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes This short-lived and best-forgotten BBC comedy followed Cage (David Sibley) and…

I became used to that sort of show watching "Masterpiece Theater" in the 1970s, but I thought British television had outgrown that style by 1988. His last adventure, The Island of Sheep, occurs some 12 years later when Hannay, now in his fifties, is called by an old oath to protect the son of a man he once knew, who safeguards the secret of the greatest treasure on earth. This book also focuses on Hannay's son, Peter John, now a bright but solemn teenager. Hannay was released in a four-disc Region 2 DVD set by Delta Visual Entertainment in February 2006. At first, I was disappointed that it was not. I was likewise disappointed to learn the series was shot on videotape on sometimes cheap-looking sets (though the exteriors always look good).