Remembering the Past Australia

The Air Adventures of Biggles
"In the Blue"

James Bigglesworth, nicknamed “Biggles”, was a fictional pilot and adventurer in W. E. Johns’ adventure books written for young readers. Although the Biggles books by Captain W. E. Johns were popular worldwide, Australia was the only country in the world to make them into a radio serial. The Air Adventures of Biggles, the radio series, was produced and broadcast in Australia between 1945 and 1954. The series was first produced in Adelaide by AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd). In 1949, production was moved to Sydney from the 209th episode onwards and ran on for a total of 1,256 episodes. Each episode would run for about 15 minutes and about 30-40 episodes would be needed to narrate one complete story.

The Air Adventures of Biggles – In the Blue was based on the book “Biggles In the Blue”, originally published by Brockhampton in 1953 which was set in the early 1950s in the Caribbean.

Synopsis: Biggles is sent to Jamaica to recover a cache of secret papers–blueprints of German secret weapons under development at the end of World War Two. Their owner, Werner Wolff, had been living in Jamaica under an assumed name for many years. Unfortunately, Wolff had died without revealing where he hid his papers. There are few clues to go on, just a tracing of an oval shape with a little Square on it. And Biggles must move fast because his old adversary, von Stalhein, now in the employ of a secret service behind the Iron Curtain, is in Jamaica hunting for the same thing. [Biggles Wiki]

Author:

W. E. Johns

Producer:

J. Colin Craigen

Production Company:

Amalgamated Wireless (Aust.)

Scriptwriters:

Michael Noonan, Brian Wright and Harry Howlett

Cast:

Rex Waldron (Biggles), James Mills (Biggles), Moray Powell (Biggles), Walter Sullivan (Bertie), Diana Perryman (Pat Kendall), Max Osbiston (Algy), Leonard Bullen (Ginger)

Broadcast details:

The Air Adventures of Biggles was produced and broadcast in Australia between 1945 and 1954

Note:

Biggles appeared briefly on 2CH in 1945 and on 2KO Newcastle in 1946 with scripts by Maurice Chapman.

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The Air Adventures of Biggles
"In the Blue"

Australian radio dramatisation of The Air Adventures of Biggles – In the Blue based on W. E John’s 1953 adventure book “Biggles in the Blue”, in 37 episodes.  Total Running Time: 7 hours and 15 minutes.

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