CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER: THE PALE HORSE

A new British television adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse is in the works so this might be a good time to revisit the tale as portrayed on CBS Radio Mystery Theater for October 8, 1982 during the long-running series' final season.

In the novel, a dying woman gives her final confession to a priest, along with a list of names and a 'terrible secret."  Before the priest can do anything with the list he is killed by a car.  Our hero Mark Easterbrook hears a rumor of a place called The Pale Horse where deaths can be arranged.  He later discovers that the list given the priest includes the last names of the original dying woman as well as that of his godmother who recently died, supposedly of natural causes.  this leads Mark, accompanied by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, to the village of Much Deeping and to an inn called The Pale Horse, where three self-proclaimed witches live.  Do the witches have an ability to kill  from a distance, or is there a much more mundane evil at work?

This radio episode features the talents of Earl Hammond and Mandel Kramer, with Elspeth Eric and Marianne Sanders, and was introduced by Tammy Grimes.  "The Pale Horse" was produced and directed by Himan Brown.  The script by Roy Winsor veered from Christie's original novel.  Winsor was an established radio soap opera writer before he went on to create some of television's most well-known soaps:  Search for Tomorrow, Love of Life, and The Secret Storm.  He also co-created Another Life and was the head writer for Somerset.  Winsor also wrote three mystery novels and received an Edgar Award for The Corpse That Walked in 1975.

The upcoming television adaptation is currently in production and was written by Sarah Phelps who has written the recent television Christie adaptations And Then There None, Witness for the Prosecution, Ordeal  by Innocence, and The ABC Murders.

Meanwhile, enjoy this radio version.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk7zGPnhh4E