Protection | BBC Saturday Night Theatre (1968) | Westward Old Time Radio

We travel back to Britain in 1968 for a gripping BBC crime drama from acclaimed writer John Wainwright. Protection takes us into the smoky backstreets of a northern English city, where a tight-knit police force finds itself confronting a brutal protection racket backed by southern criminals moving onto its territory. As Det. Chief Supt. Lewis, played by David Mahlowe, investigates, loyalty, fear, corruption and justice become increasingly difficult to separate. Originally broadcast as part of the BBC’s legendary Saturday-Night Theatre, this tense and atmospheric drama also brings back characters from Wainwright’s earlier play Death in a Sleeping City. Directed by a young Alan Ayckbourn, Protection is a fascinating piece of vintage British radio drama — tough, intelligent and uncompromising. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 6 July 1968, it features David Mahlowe, Bob Grant, Roger Rowland, Frank Singuineau and Christopher Godwin.