as Dick Barton (Story 33 - 39) John Mann as Snowy White Colin Douglas as Inspector Burke William Fox as Colonel Gardiner Alex McCrindle as Jock Anderson Margaret Robertson as Jean Hunter Cancellation In 1951 The Archers was first broadcast at 11.45 am on the Light Programme. BBC management, led by drama head Val Gielgud, had never felt comfortable with the sensationalism of Dick Barton. The Archers, which they considered more 'suitable', took Dick Barton place in the schedules from Easter 1951. Revivals In 1972 as part of the BBC's Golden Jubilee, the BBC broadcast a new, abridged, 10-episode version of the first Barton serial - "The Secret Weapon". The cast included many members of the original cast, including Noel Johnson, John Mann, William Fox, Alex McCrindle, and Margaret Robertson. From October 1997 to May 1998, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a six-part sequel/pastiche called Richard Barton: General Practitioner!, in which Dick Barton's son Richard is a country doctor caring for his apparently senile father, who retreats into fantasies based on his past adventures, believing that there are devilish enemies lurking around him. The series was written by Edward Mason's son Lol Mason, and featured Moray Watson as old Dick Barton, Robert Bathurst as his son Richard, Matilda Ziegler as Richard's wife Sally, Julian Dutton as young Dick Barton and Iain Cuthbertson as Jock Anderson. The series was rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2015 and again in 2019. In 2009, BBC Audiobooks released Dick Barton and the Mystery of the Missing Formula (), a reading of a novel based on the radio serials written by Mike Dorrell and read by Toby Stephens. The BBC produced a completely new live recording of an original 1951 Dick Barton serial in June 2013, starring Tim Bentinck and Terry Molloy. (Blackstone audiobooks ) Films Beginning in 1948, the Hammer film company made three Dick Barton films, which were intended to be the beginning of a long-running series. Don Stannard, the star, was killed in a car crash in 1949, and Hammer decided to discontinue the series after the production of only three films. Hammer shelved plans to film the next Dick Barton film, Dick Barton in Africa written by John Gilling. Dick Barton: Special Agent (1948) Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949) Dick Barton at Bay (1950) Television In 1979, Southern Television, one of the smaller ITV Network Companies, made a series of Dick