SEXTON BLAKE: THE VAMPIRE MOON & OTHER STORIES

Sexton Blake, detective and adventurer, a sort of down-market Sherlock Holmes (and James Bond), appeared in pulp stories from 1893 to 1978, in films, and on television and radio. The three radio episodes here, from 1967, are fairly standard mysteries. Their stories are at about the TV level, but the voice acting is highly competent, with William Franklyn making a rather waspish Blake. The material is dated; the first episode’s villains are “Chinamen” from that “inscrutable” country. The musical intros and cues are campy and cheesy enough to be from an Austin Powers movie. A very brief Blake show from 1930, with dialogue often overwhelmed by sound effects, is primarily of historical interest. Altogether, a slight program, reasonably entertaining, but mostly for fans of the genre. W.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2012]