Secrets of Scotland Yard

The Secrets of Scotland Yard radio series was thought to be the older sibling to the popular series, The Black Museum.

Both series recreated real life stories from Scotland yard, including the often gory details of the crime and evidence which led the police to the culprit, and both series were created by the Towers of London syndicate.

Although the Secrets of Scotland Yard aired internationally between 1949 and 1951, it was some time later until its broadcast on the Mutual network - a good five years after The Black Museum, which aired here in 1952. 

Each show was hosted by Clive Brook, who would sometimes discuss matters with Percy Hoskins, a 1950s crime expert and reporter for the London Daily Express who knew every nook and cranny in London’s seedier districts and personally reported on many of the major crimes of the day. 

Some of the crimes and trials covered were actually quite famous, like the theft of the British Crown Jewels, or even the unsolved case of Jack the Ripper, but there was plenty of murder, serial killers, theft, forgery, family disputes and robberies all covered in the program - and of course, each time a crime was reported, the Scotland Yard detectives were afoot to solve the mystery!

The series came at a time when the public seemed to be fascinated by real life crimes, so the true crimes and punishments on the Secrets of Scotland Yard added a gruesome yet fascinating dimension to the proceedings that fictional murder stories could only dream about. It proved that truth can be stranger (and more frightening) than fiction!

The first story from the Secrets of Scotland Yard we have added to RUSC is called The Absent Minded Professor, and it demonstrates the far reaching significance of political crime, and how, wherever an international conspiracy may start, sooner or later its tentacles will come within the reach of the long arm of the special branch of Scotland Yard... 

I hope that you'll enjoy this new series. Joy and I will be adding lots more episodes over the coming weeks!

Happy listening my friends,