The writer, theatre, audio book, and screenwriter Henry Francis Durbridge was the son of a Woolworth's manager and his wife, born on 25.11.1912 in Hull in Yorkshire.

Durbridge studied English and economics at the University of Birmingham, and has shortly thereafter worked as a stockbroker. Soon, however, he turned completely to writing. In 1933 appeared his first stage play as a doctorate, and in 1938 Francis Durbridge was 30 years old and working as a writer of radio plays for the BBC. In 1940 he married Norah Elizabeth Lawley, and the couple had two sons.

Francis Durbridge achieved his breakthrough in 1938 with the amateur detective Paul Temple, a character who Durbridge invented for the BBC. The adventures of the rich crime writer who has also worked as a detective found great popularity with the British audience.

After the war, the adventures of Paul Temple and his wife Steve have also been implemented for the German radio, with Paul Temple spoken here mostly by Rene Deltgen and once by Paul Klinger. Supporting roles are spoken, among others, by Walter Giller, Ernst Hilbich, Jurgen von Manger, Gustav Knuth, Peter Rene grains, Pinkas Braun, Gerd Baltus and many other people.

In Germany, Francis Durbridge became famous through the multi-part television thrillers such as It Has Gone Too Far, The Scarf or Tim Frazer. The ratings of these rightly called Street Sweeper Detectives reached up to 90 percent, which was of course also due the fact that the viewers at that time had only a very small selection of programs.

However, such rates make for very impressive results, and when the last part of The Scarf was broadcast on the evening of 17 January 1962, the rates were at 93 percent.

Today, one can hardly imagine that evening life almost stood still in Germany. Politicians moved important dates, sports clubs change their training schedules and pubs and restaurants without a TV didn’t even open.

Throughout his career, Francis Durbridgte published 35 novels, which were mostly based on the already broadcasted radio plays. Most of his novels were published under the author’s own name, but he also used the pseudonym Paul Temple.

Paul Temple thus developed into an independent character gave the impression that that he really existed yo many readers and listeners. Decades later, the American television station ABC (American Broadcasting Company) followed this idea with his television series Castle.

The thriller writer Richard Castle accompanies investigators of the Homicide Division of the NYPD (New York Police Department) in their work. The series often mentions books that the author is currently writing on. ABC has published these books by and by under the author's name, Richard Castle.

Francis Durbridge died after a long illness on 11 April 1998.

German Audio Books with Paul Temple

Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair

A Case for Paul Temple

Paul Temple and the Curzon Case

Paul Temple and the Van Dyke Affair

Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery

Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery

Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case

Paul Temple and the Lawrence Affair

Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair

Paul Temple and the Conrad Case

Paul Temple and the Margo Mystery

Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery

Paul Temple and the Alex Affair