A man is convicted of murder. He escapes. Somewhere outside the prison walls lies the truth—and perhaps the only chance to prove his innocence.
Victor Canning’s The Hidden Face is a superb example of the British man-on-the-run thriller, a tradition stretching from John Buchan into the golden years of BBC radio drama. But what makes a story of pursuit so compelling when the audience can see absolutely nothing?
In this Listen with Gilbert: Saturday Night Theatre Companion, we explore Canning, his 1956 novel The Hidden Face—published in America as Burden of Proof—and its life on BBC radio. We’ll look at contemporary reactions to the drama, the craft of creating pursuit and danger entirely through sound, and the themes of guilt, innocence, identity and justice beneath the thriller.
And perhaps we’ll discover why, decades after its first broadcast, listeners are still willing to follow a fugitive into the darkness.
Listen to the play. Then join the conversation.
From Chesterton Radio — Stories • Ideas • Wonder
