Whitehall 1212

Whitehall 1212 was the famous telephone number for Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Force and is also the name given to an exciting true crime drama from the golden age of radio. Written and directed by Wyllis Cooper, Whitehall 1212 aired on NBC from 1951 until 1952. It was hosted by Chief Superintendent John Davidson, curator of the Black Museum, Scotland Yard's repository of death.

Whitehall 1212 dramatized true-crime cases from the files by Scotland Yard that had been researched by Percy Hoskins, the chief crime reporter of the Daily Express. Permission for the cases to be dramatized was granted by Sir Harold Scott, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between 1945 and 1953, who also assisted Ealing Studios in the filming of the film The Blue Lamp, which led to the TV series Dixon of Dock Green, which painted a much rosier picture of the Metropolitan Police than Whitehall 1212.

After my own extensive research, I have been unable to locate any written scripts from the original radio broadcasts and have assumed them to be lost. However, recordings of the entire series are available on various ‘old time radio’ websites and I have used these to transcribe and adapt the scripts so that they can be performed once again. I have tried to remain faithful to the original scripts, only making changes to avoid repetition, assist with clarity, or where a phrase is used that would be inappropriate to a modern audience. On a few occasions the quality of the audio meant that it was not possible for me to be certain of what is being said. When this has occurred, I have filled in the gaps as best I could, often using information from the real cases, many of which can be found by searching on the internet.

David Muncaster