John Arlott

Yes, I do.

Pakistan at Edgbaston, Liaqat Ali the bowler, no great pace, waist-high long hop, nice gentle pull all along the ground for four, and John Arlott on the radio went, "A princely entry into test match cricket." [laughs]

[laughs] Very good.

Mm.

The panel typically consisted of three formidable analytical minds.

First, you had John Arlott, who is best remembered as a legendary cricket commentator, but he possessed a remarkably sharp, poetic and observant intellect.

OK, a sports commentator, but a very sharp one.

Right.

Prim, precise, sharply dressed, and perhaps a bit arrogant.

He has a subtle motive, but seemingly no physical opportunity or obvious reason to have committed a messy crime on a rainy night.

So the scripted portion concludes, the bell rings, the live panel takes over, and John Arlott immediately goes on the offensive.

He doesn't waste any time.

The BBC presents Guilty Parties.

[instrumental music] A problem in crime detection, in which you're invited to match your wits with a panel of experts, John Arlott, FR Buckley, and Robert Fabian.

First of all, you'll hear the crime play, Poison in the Afternoon.

The panel will then decide on a line of investigation and cross-examine the suspects, who give unscripted answers to their questions.

[laughs]

[laughs]

John Arlott, F.R. Buckley, and Robert Fabian were the panel in Poison in the Afternoon, a problem in crime detection from the BBC series Guilty Party.

The play was written by Edward J. Mason, and the program produced by Tony Shryan.

Yes.

Having said that, I suppose there were occasions when wonderful people like Henry Blofeld would sit there, or even John Arlott would talk about the number seven bus going down St. Johnswood Road, wouldn't there be? A

hundred percent.

Absolutely.