Episode 1

Intrepid hero agent Richard Hannay is recalled to London from the trenches on the Somme to hunt down the leader of a gang of German spies who led him such a dangerous dance in The Thirty Nine Steps.

Much to his disgust, Hannay is ordered to pose as a pacifist and is sent to Glasgow - but along the way he encounters a teenage British Secret Service agent who will change the course of his life.

John Buchan's rip-roaring First World War spy thriller was first published in 1919.

Brigadier-General Richard Hannay/Cornelius Brand …. David Robb
Sir Walter Bullivant …. Clive Merrison
Moxon Ivery …. Struan Rodger
Mary Lamington …. Jasmine Hyde
Peter Pienaar …. Jon Glover
Launcelot Wake …. Thomas Arnold
Abel Gresson …. John Guerrasio
Miss Doria Wymondham …. Briony McRoberts
Miss Claire Wymondham …. Liza Sadovy
Andrew Amos …. John Stahl
George Broadberry …. Peter Marinker
Ted Broadberry …. Ben Crowe

Dramatised in two parts by Bert Coules.

Director: Bruce Young.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.