Destination – Fire! - BBC Radio Collections

Destination – Fire! was a BBC Radio crime drama series from the 1960s about a fire investigator named Quentin "Q" Barnaby. The show featured a full cast of actors and ran for three series on the BBC Light Programme between 1962 and 1966.

Plot summary

Each standalone episode of the series follows investigator "Q" Barnaby (played by Robert Beatty) as he works to solve the cause and motivation behind different arson cases. In each mystery, Barnaby has to determine whether a fire was an accident or a deliberate act of arson. Writer Philip Levene was fascinated by the "wide variety of intriguing ideas" surrounding arson, such as greed, jealousy, financial motives, and the destruction of evidence.

Key information

Starring: The series starred Robert Beatty as protagonist "Q" Barnaby. Beatty was also well-known for playing the detective Philip Odell on BBC radio.
Writing: The script was written by Philip Levene, a prolific writer of radio and TV crime dramas during the 1960s.
Characters: Other cast members included Gudrun Ure as Valerie Chrane, Duncan McIntyre as Inspector Hackett, and Anthony Hall as Alec Groves.
Broadcast: The show originally ran for three series on the BBC Light Programme from 1962 to 1966.
Archive: Of the original 33 episodes, 19 have been lost over time. The 14 surviving episodes have been made available on various BBC platforms, such as BBC Radio 4 Extra and BBC Sounds.
Examples: Some of the cases Barnaby investigated included a blaze in a cinema, a fire aboard a ship, and a double insurance fraud that led to murder.