Death and the Magician by Raymund FitzSimons
4 Extra Debut. Grief stricken, Houdini investigates psychic claims, but can he find solace amidst his fear of mortality? Stars Lee Montague.
"I am Houdini. I have been thrown into the bottomless sea, nailed inside a packing case weighed down with 200 pounds of lead. I have been buried alive in a grave six feet deep. I have always come back. And I will come back from the dead".
Nobody can have risked death so often and so daringly as Houdini; nobody can have been so haunted by its shadow. His investigation into psychic phenomena led to his friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - a friendship which was to end for Houdini in disillusion and which brought him to the very edge of madness.
Houdini died on 31 October 1926 - Halloween - aged 52.
Starring Lee Montague as Houdini, James Grout as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Miriam Margolyes as Bess Houdini.
Researched and written by Raymund FitzSimons.
Houdini .... Lee Montague
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle .... James Grout
Bess Houdini .... Miriam Margolyes
Narrator .... Hugh Dickson
Music and special effects by David Hitchinson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Producer: John Knight
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 May 1981.
On radio
Broadcasts
- Mon 2 Nov 202615:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 2 Nov 202621:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 3 Nov 202605:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
