Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor

Seven BBC Radio Crime Dramas

By: Michael McStay

Narrated by: Stephen Thorne, Joe Dunlop, Toby Jones, Phyliss Logan, Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater, Nicholas Boulton, Gareth Armstrong, James Taylor, John Webb, Peter Gunn, Margaret Coleman, David Jarvis, Michael McStay, full cast

The collected BBC Radio 4 crime dramas featuring Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor

Like his actor namesake, Ronald Coleman is a suave, well-spoken English gentleman. But although he's a movie buff, Coleman is no film star - he's a copper, and a Detective Inspector to boot. Together with his down-to-earth Scottish partner, DS Fred Astor, he sets about solving cases on two very different patches - rural Kirkcaldy and inner-city Southampton.

Death Beach sees Hollywood director Curt Zorack's film shoot interrupted by the death of one of the cast. But is it suicide or murder? In Death of a Mean Cornet, a jazz musician and old friend of Sergeant Astor is found dead of a heroin overdose. It looks like an accident, but Fred's not convinced. In Death Against the Odds, two murders in one night cause Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor to lose some sleep - and long for the days when sheep-rustling was the worst crime they had to deal with.

Death of a Hooligan finds the two detectives working together at South Hants Central, and probing the suspicious death of a football fan; while in A Day at the Races, Sergeant Astor falls among thieves, and Inspector Coleman has one of his infamous hunches. In No Harm Done, the duo are faced with a wall of silence when a resident of the notorious Gantry Estate is found badly beaten. And in Fools Rush In, an IRA terrorist is released from Parkhurst prison - and promptly disappears. How is he connected to the mysterious Irishman causing parking problems on a suburban street?

These enthralling crime dramas star Stephen Thorne as Coleman and Joe Dunlop as Astor, with a supporting cast including Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater and Nicholas Boulton.

Production credits

Written by Michael McStay

Produced and directed by Jane Morgan and Ned Chaillet. Theme music by Stephen Warbeck

Starring Stephen Thorne as Inspector Coleman and Joe Dunlop as Sergeant Astor

Death Beach

Cast: Peter Vaughan, Mary Miller, David King, Nigel Carrington, Vincent Brimble, Jonathan Oliver, James Greene, Michael McStay, Jane Whittenshaw, Sue Broomfield, Ben Onwukwe, Stephen Garlick, Nicholas Gilbrook

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 13 October 1990

Death of a Mean Cornet

Cast: Kate Binchy, Maria Miles, James Grant, Paul Barber, Tony Armatrading, Michael McStay, Sidney Cole, Peter Gunn, John Forgeham, Terence Edmond, David Learner, John Webb, Matthew Sim, Mark Straker, Nicholas Murchie, Jonathan Tafler

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 18 July 1992

Death Against the Odds
Cast: Peter Gunn, Phyllis Logan, James Warwick, Morag Hood, Elaine Collins, Diana Bishop, John Fleming, Pauline Yates, John Webb, David Holt, Dominic Letts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 21 August 1993

Death of a Hooligan

Cast: Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater, Nicholas Boulton, James Kerry, Dominic Curtis, Tom Bevan, Peter Kenny, Paul Panting, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Gareth Armstrong, James Taylor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 16 May 1994

A Day at the Races

Cast: Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater, Nicholas Boulton, John Hartley, Larry Dann, McCartney Brown, Breffni McKenna, Gareth Armstrong, David Jarvis, David Sinclair, James Taylor, Don McCorkindale.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 23 May 1994

No Harm Done

Cast: Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater, Nicholas Boulton, Tony Osoba, Elaine Claxton, Pauline Letts, Dexter Fletcher, Simon Schatzberger, Deborah Berlin, Toby Jones, Sidney Cole, Peter Acre, Matthew Morgan, Gavin Muir, David Jarvis, Danny Schiller, Susannah Corbett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 30 May 1994

Fools Rush In

Cast: Diana Bishop, Frances Jeater, Nicholas Boulton, Anthony Jackson, Marianne Morley, Sally Kinghorn, Rachel Atkins, Michael Onslow, Tom Bevan, Paul Panting, Lyndham Gregory.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 6 June 1994

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Absolute fun

I figured this would be another detective series with a bumbling idiot for a sargent but no, street smart and put upon underlings show their worth at every turn. I even enjoyed the arrogant Inspector for once with his funny film noir quotes that are always off-putting to those around him. The performance was spectacular and each story builds on the relationship between the Inspector and HIS sargent. Recommend this one for the pure enjoyment of storytelling.

Diverting but not gripping

I hoped for a gripping crime drama with mystery and hidden clues along the lines of a modern Holmes or Wimsey but my impression is this is more a drama featuring two policemen than a crime drama about solving crimes. Perhaps the characters overtook the story too much for my preference?

Decent, but dated

Overall solid, but I think a different actor plays Coleman in the later episodes so it was a bit surprising. I also felt that the solutions to those cases were more flimsy than the earlier episodes. I bet all those guys got off with adequate counsel. Astor has a kind of romance brewing with another police officer, but since it went nowhere and hardly took up any time leading up to the final scene, I think it could have been eliminated.