IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 48

I have mentioned several actors who portrayed Dan Dare in previous posts, but here is a list of all the professional productions in radio, audio CDs, stage and television, with all the actors who have played Dan and Digby. The very first production was a radio series which ran from 1951 until 1956 on Radio Luxembourg. This was a daily serial which featured Noel Johnson as Dan and John Sharp as Digby. Johnson had previously played Dick Barton for the BBC and this series of long serials, split into daily fifteen minute episodes, followed the structure of the 'Dick Barton' serials. The next adaptation was a stage play, produced in 1972 at the then new Half Moon Theatre in Whitechapel. Written by Michael Irving, it starred Alex Leppard as Dan and Terrence Dougherty as Digby. 

Although several attempts were made to produce a major live action TV series in the 1980s, with James Fox and later Gareth Hunt mooted to play Dan and Rodney Bewes signed to play Digby, a series was never made. Dan's first appearance on television was actually for a series of three humorous adverts on ITV for Mobil Motor Oil in 1987. These featured Niven Boyd as Dan and Jimmy Yule as Digby. The next version was a four part BBC radio serial based on Dan's original Venus story, produced in 1990. This featured Mick Ford as Dan and Donald Gee as Digby. Also in the 1990s, Colin Baker, who had played Doctor Who on television, produced a short experimental 'Dan Dare' audio with the company who would later become Big Finish Productions. Colin played Digby and David Banks played Dan. Unfortunately, this was not developed into a commercial release.  A short TV pilot episode was made by Zenith Productions in 1994, with Robert Bathurst as Dan and Geoffrey Hughes as Digby (see picture alongside), but it was not commissioned. The pilot was screened at several Comic conventions and can be viewed on You Tube. Dan finally did get on television in a 26 part computer animated series in 2001, in which Greg Ellis voiced Dan and Julian Holloway was a cockney Digby! Aargh!

Dan was back on stage for a musical version of his story in 2003, produced at the Customs House in South Shields. Scripted by Tom Kelly, with music by John Miles, Dan was played by Joe Caffrey and Digby by Gez Casey. In 2008, Orion released an audio dramatisation of the first Venus story as Dan Dare: Voyage to Venus Part One. This was an almost exact reading of Frank Hampson's text from EAGLE and featured Tom Goodman-Hill as Dan and Rupert Degas as Digby. Degas played several other parts as well. Unfortunately sales were not encouraging enough for the second part to be recorded. Finally B7 Media released a series of six audio CDs in 2016 and 2017, with Ed Stoppard as Dan and Geoff McGovern as Digby. These plays have subsequently been broadcast on BBC Radio Four Extra.   

Essentially all these adaptations have been based on the original version of 'Dan Dare' in the 1950s and 60s EAGLE, with some being closer to the original than others. The Half Moon Theatre play, the Radio Luxembourg serials, the 1990 BBC version, the Orion audio and the Zenith pilot stuck very closely to the original. The Mobil adverts echoed Frank Hampson's designs, but as deliberate comedies they sent the characters up, although they managed this affectionately and successfully. The 2003 musical was also humorous, but parodied 1950s space fiction in general and in doing so, often ridiculed 'Dan Dare' unfairly and incorrectly. The 2001 CGI version changed Dan's appearance and failed to capture his personality, In attempting to update him, it presented him as a slightly pompous and even irritating character.  Acknowledging and accommodating our greater knowledge of the planets of the solar system, the B7 audios were  obliged to make significant changes to the stories. However, this was consistent with Frank Hampson's original, for he set Dan's adventures on what was then known of the planets. While changes were also made to several characters, such as Digby and Professor Peabody, Ed Stoppard's Dan was recognisably the EAGLE hero and this series successfully captured the spirit of the original. 

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 42

Seventy years ago, in 1953, EAGLE celebrated the last Coronation in style. For five issues the centre pages were entirely devoted to Coronation matters, including the Coronation route and how the B.B.C. would film the event. There were also several features about the Kings and Queens of Britain, the Royal Family and the Coronation itself. There was a Coronation Competition with prizes and EAGLE's editor, Marcus Morris even released a record in which he explained the significance, the events and the traditions of the Coronation for readers. In 1953, two of EAGLE's most popular strips 'PC 49' and 'Riders of the Range' were also successful B.B.C. radio series and two days after the Coronation, both were featured in a special Gala Night on the 'Light Programme' as the above extract from the Radio Times shows. Brian Reece, who played P.C. 49 introduced the programmes in character, along with Noel Johnson (also in character), as Dick Barton, the special agent he had played for three years in the popular daily serial. 'Riders of the Range' was one of the shows featured in the Gala. This was a short special edition of the western, but it featured all the major characters, including Paul Carpenter, who played Jeff Arnold, Charles Irwin as Luke and Macdonald Parke as the rancher J.C. Macdonald. The episode also featured Guy Kingsley Pointer, who would go on to play Doc in Charles Chilton's next radio series 'Journey Into Space' and Alan Keith, who played several parts in 'Riders of the Range' and would later create the long running 'Your Hundred Best Tunes' for B.B.C. radio, which he would present from 1959 until 2003, when he was ninety four. Sadly, the final series of 'The Adventures of PC 49' ended on radio shortly before this Coronation Special, so this was Reece's last appearance in the role. 'Riders of the Range' also ended its radio run later in 1953, but continued in EAGLE until 1962. 'PC 49' would continue in EAGLE until 1957. Dick Barton's radio adventures had concluded in 1951 and Noel Johnson had left the role in 1949, but as this was a Gala Night with the focus on popular programmes from the previous seven years, the character's inclusion made sense. 'Dick Barton: Special Agent' was still hugely popular when it ended and there were major protests at its cancellation. Some people are still feeling bitter about it now!