Background
Francis Henry Durbridge was born on November 25, 1912 in Kingston Upon Hull, City of Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom.
Francis Durbridge studied at Bradford Grammar School.
Francis Durbridge graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1933.
(Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard often calls upon Paul ...)
Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard often calls upon Paul Temple to help with his latest unfathomable case. In a small country lane, the well-known American, Myron Harwood, is found dead. The murder heralds the start of a spate of celebrity deaths - and each time the victim is found with a small white piece of cardboard, bearing the inscription ‘The Marquis’.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125627/?tag=2022091-20
1942
(Actress Norma Rice is found dead on a train, and the lett...)
Actress Norma Rice is found dead on a train, and the letters REX are scrawled in red chalk on her compartment window. It is the third death to occur in a mysterious string of murders and Scotland Yard are compelled to send once again for Paul Temple. Temple, now acting as an investigator as well as a mystery novelist, is joined by his wife Steve as they are embroiled in this latest mystery.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125643/?tag=2022091-20
1945
(An aeroplane crash sends billows of fire down the cliffs ...)
An aeroplane crash sends billows of fire down the cliffs of Dulworth Bay and two boys from a public school go missing, what connects these two events? Paul Temple is called onto the scene and there’s one name that’s causing a stir, Curzon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125740/?tag=2022091-20
1948
(What could possibly connect expensive Margo ‘designer’ co...)
What could possibly connect expensive Margo ‘designer’ coats, an industrialist, a petrified celebrity, and a psychiatrist with a peculiar secretary? A potent murder plot is underway when a terrifying warning is received on the grounds of a funfair. It’s up to Paul to unravel a disturbing set of mysteries that turns this funhouse into a deadly death trap.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125767/?tag=2022091-20
1961
(Summoned to meet an old business partner in a remote fish...)
Summoned to meet an old business partner in a remote fishing village, Tim Frazer can find no trace of the man - and a series of mysterious events pulls him into a murky world of espionage.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1848584512/?tag=2022091-20
1962
(Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving ...)
Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving Carl Milbourne, the brother-in-law of wealthy financier Maurice Lonsdale. After the news that Carl has perished in a fatal car accident, rumours begin to stir that despite all odds, Carl is alive and well. When Maurice’s widowed Sister Margaret pleads for the crime-fighting duos help, Paul and Steve find themselves on a trail of deception stretching from London to Switzerland.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125724/?tag=2022091-20
1965
(Paul and Steve are back to solve the latest hard-hitting ...)
Paul and Steve are back to solve the latest hard-hitting case of robbery and murder. After a heist goes down at Harkdale bank, a gang of thieves flee and a car chase ensues. As police close in on them, the thieves come to a screeching dead end. All the police have to do is retrieve the money.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125708/?tag=2022091-20
1970
(Historian Alfred Kelby decides to publish the diaries of ...)
Historian Alfred Kelby decides to publish the diaries of Margaret Spender, Lord Delamore’s secretary and secret lover. But these diaries go beyond historical records, they are pure scandal. Before the diary can be published, Kelby makes an unsettling disappearance. Someone is out to get their hands on these potentially explosive diaries no matter what and Temple is desperate to stop them. As he digs deeper into the dark political underworld, it is up to him to find out what really happened to Lord Delamore, the statesman whose death over ten years ago has been shrouded in mystery.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125686/?tag=2022091-20
1970
(Paul and Steve plan to relax and take in some fresh sea a...)
Paul and Steve plan to relax and take in some fresh sea air on board a luxurious trans-Atlantic liner that is until they meet the elusive Sam Portland. After the innocent introduction, grave danger lies ahead for the couple. As events unfold, a concoction of murder, blackmail and terror ensues. Life on board the ship requires cruise control as Temple attempts to get to the bottom of the secret behind Sam’s lost years. And just who is Madison?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0008125783/?tag=2022091-20
1988
playwright scriptwriter writer
Francis Henry Durbridge was born on November 25, 1912 in Kingston Upon Hull, City of Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom.
Francis Durbridge studied at Bradford Grammar School and graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1933.
While he was still a student, Durbridge had a radio play, Promotion (1933) broadcasted by the BBC. After graduating in 1933, he worked as a stockbroker's clerk, before becoming a full-time writer, the only vocation he has an aptitude for. Before his famous radio detective series, Durbridge wrote for the BBC diverse plays and sketches.
Francis Durbridge was internationally known throughout Europe for the creation of the Radio Detective Paul Temple and for the creation of the television thriller serial. The first Paul Temple serial was broadcast in 1938 and the last was in 1968. He then moved to BBC television, writing 17 television serials between 1952 and 1980. Both the radio and the television serials had their own productions throughout Europe, enjoying particular success in Germany. The Temple serials are still extensively repeated and enjoy a large audio audience and BBC has even commenced re-producing the serials. Between 1971 and 1993, Francis Durbridge wrote for the theatre - the plays toured in the UK and Germany and three plays had successful runs in the West End.
Durbridge wrote several Paul Temple novels in collaboration with John Thewes, Douglas Rutherford and Charles Hatten. Those he wrote with Rutherford appeared under the pen name 'Paul Temple'.
Durbridge died at his home in Barnes, London, aged 85, in 1998.
(What could possibly connect expensive Margo ‘designer’ co...)
1961(An aeroplane crash sends billows of fire down the cliffs ...)
1948(Summoned to meet an old business partner in a remote fish...)
1962(Paul and Steve plan to relax and take in some fresh sea a...)
1988(Paul and Steve are called upon to crack a case involving ...)
1965(Historian Alfred Kelby decides to publish the diaries of ...)
1970(Actress Norma Rice is found dead on a train, and the lett...)
1945(Sir Graham Forbes of Scotland Yard often calls upon Paul ...)
1942(When special agent Leo Salinger is run over in Amsterdam,...)
1964(Paul and Steve are back to solve the latest hard-hitting ...)
1970Durbridge married Norah Lawley in 1940. They had two sons.