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The Affair of the German Dispatch-Box

Can daring Edwardian sleuth Thorpe Hazell intercept vital missing papers in a German dispatch box? Read by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Can a daring amateur sleuth help to intercept a German dispatch-box with a highly confidential document stolen from the British Government?

Victor Lorenzo Whitechurch's most famous novel, first published in 1912.

Eccentric Thorpe Hazell is a speciality detective using his locomotive expertise to solve audacious and ingenious crimes plaguing Britain’s Edwardian railways.

Adapted in five parts by Fiona Kelcher.

Read by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Hazell is in many ways a man before his time: a vegetarian and health fanatic with an encyclopaedic railway knowledge. A man of independent means, he thrives on working to his own whims - and operating outside the law when it suits him.

English reverend, railway enthusiast and popular mystery writer, Victor Lorenzo Whitechurch's immaculate plots were much admired by Dorothy L Sayers and Ellery Queen. He was one of the first authors to submit his stories to Scotland Yard so they could vet his police procedures.

Producer: Fiona Kelcher

Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in December 2008.

15 minutes

Last on

Tue 23 Sep 202503:30
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 8 Dec 200809:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 8 Dec 200820:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Tue 9 Dec 200801:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 27 Jul 200913:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 27 Jul 200920:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Tue 28 Jul 200901:30
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 8 Feb 201013:45
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 8 Feb 201020:45
    BBC Radio 7
  • Tue 9 Feb 201001:45
    BBC Radio 7
  • Mon 20 Feb 201206:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 20 Feb 201213:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 20 Feb 201220:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 21 Feb 201201:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 3 Dec 201206:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 3 Dec 201213:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 3 Dec 201220:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 4 Dec 201201:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 5 Dec 201611:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 5 Dec 201621:00
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 22 Sep 202508:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 22 Sep 202513:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 22 Sep 202519:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 23 Sep 202503:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra