When radio's fictional heroes Adam Adamant and Dick Barton saved Blackpool

Historian Barry McCann looks back at Radio 2’s square jawed heroes who used the Tower as a giant amplifier
English actor Gerald Harper as Adam Adamant in the BBC series Adam Adamant Returns. The swashbuckler was frozen in ice only to thaw out in time for the swinging sixties. Juliet Harmer played sidekick Georgina Jones. Photo: Getty ImagesEnglish actor Gerald Harper as Adam Adamant in the BBC series Adam Adamant Returns. The swashbuckler was frozen in ice only to thaw out in time for the swinging sixties. Juliet Harmer played sidekick Georgina Jones. Photo: Getty Images
English actor Gerald Harper as Adam Adamant in the BBC series Adam Adamant Returns. The swashbuckler was frozen in ice only to thaw out in time for the swinging sixties. Juliet Harmer played sidekick Georgina Jones. Photo: Getty Images

Did you know that Blackpool Tower has not once but twice been the centre of diabolical machinations by nefarious criminal masterminds?But fear not, for on both occasions these were defeated by two of the British Realm’s most dependable square jawed heroes – Adam Adamant and Dick Barton!

Ex-Commando Captain Richard Barton MC began his radio adventures on the BBC Light Programme in 1946.

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Initially played by Noel Johns (later by Duncan Carse and Gordon Davies), he solved crimes, escaped cliff-hangers and saved the nation five evenings a week until 1951.

Noel Johnson, Alex McCrindle and John Mann immerse themselves in their roles as Dick Barton, Josk and Snowy, during a recording of the BBC radio adventure series 'Dick Barton, Special Agent', 1947. PHOTO: Getty ImagesNoel Johnson, Alex McCrindle and John Mann immerse themselves in their roles as Dick Barton, Josk and Snowy, during a recording of the BBC radio adventure series 'Dick Barton, Special Agent', 1947. PHOTO: Getty Images
Noel Johnson, Alex McCrindle and John Mann immerse themselves in their roles as Dick Barton, Josk and Snowy, during a recording of the BBC radio adventure series 'Dick Barton, Special Agent', 1947. PHOTO: Getty Images

He was ably assisted in these escapades by his chums Jock Anderson (Alex McCrindle) and Snowy White (John Mann).

In 1948, Hammer Films produced a big screen Dick Barton – Special Agent with Don Stannard in the title role.

Its success inspired two sequels, the first of which brought the stalwart chap to this very resort.

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Released in 1949, Dick Barton Strikes Back sees our intrepid hero investigating the mystery of English villages whose populations have been wiped out.

Radio actor Gordon Davies, the new Dick Barton, clutches the BBC microphone during an exciting part of the series. Photo:Getty ImagesRadio actor Gordon Davies, the new Dick Barton, clutches the BBC microphone during an exciting part of the series. Photo:Getty Images
Radio actor Gordon Davies, the new Dick Barton, clutches the BBC microphone during an exciting part of the series. Photo:Getty Images

Their bodies are unmarked, but their brains shrivelled.

With the aid of the trusty Snowy (Bruce Walker), he uncovers a gang of villains led by Fouracada (Sebastian Cabot) who have been testing a sonic weapon on the unfortunate settlements.

Their next move is to use Blackpool Tower as a giant amplifier and ensue mass destruction.

The final section of the film features extensive location shooting in the town.

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Having tailed one of the gang along the Golden Mile, Dick and Snowy follow him around a corner straight into the middle of the Pleasure Beach, then another that brings them to the Winter Gardens on Corporation Street!

Nice trick if you can pull it, or a real case of artistic licence.

Interior scenes include the Empress Ballroom and the recently departed Tower Aquarium.

There is also an exciting climatic fight between Barton and one of the gang inside the Tower lift as it ascends to the top.

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Suffice to say, Fouracada meets his Waterloo when falling down that very shaft and Barton saves the day – again!

Fast forward seventeen years to the mid-swing of the sixties and more villainy up to devilish doings on the Golden Mile, a conspiracy this time uncovered by the hero of the 1966 television series Adam Adamant Lives.

Adam Llewellyn De Vere Adamant (Gerald Harper) was an Edwardian gentleman adventurer who, in 1902, became entrapped by his arch nemesis and frozen alive in a block of ice.

Discovered and revived in 1966, he resumed his swashbuckling career with the uninvited assistance of Georgina Jones (Juliet Harmer).

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In the episode Death Has a Thousand Faces a man is stabbed to death during a party that Georgina is attending, and the only clue as to a possible motive is a stick of Blackpool rock found upon his person.

Bringing the matter to Adamant’s attention, the pair travel up to Blackpool and explore the Golden Mile, hoping to find where this particular rock originated.

The Blackpool locations open with Adam and Georgina riding an open top tram along the Golden Mile to the Tower buildings.

They disembark and walk back towards Central Pier, passing such highlights as O’Hagan’s Café and Pablo’s.

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Later, he visits the Town Hall in Talbot Square, where The Lobster Pot (Later Jenks and Rumours) can be clearly seen in the background.

Our hero even reveals he actually opened the Tower in 1894, while foiling a plan to demolish it before the ceremony.

“Fortunately I was able to despatch the scoundrels” he tells Georgina, adding that he threw one of them from the top.

The pair eventually uncover a fiendish plan by the wicked Madame Davario (Stephanie Bidmead) and her villainous henchmen.

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Having practically bought up all the plots on North Shore, she plans to blow up the Golden Mile using explosive illuminations, forcing traders and attractions to move their businesses onto her land.

And where is the lever to activate this deadly switch on? At the top of the Tower, of course, enabling Mr. Adamant to throw another scoundrel to his death.

Both the Adam Adamant series and Dick Barton film are available on DVD for archivists of old Blackpool footage to enjoy, along with another little curiosity in that both adventures refer to the resort as a city.

In Adamant and Barton’s world we were evidently successful in the city status bid.