Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Daunt & Dervish

By: Guy Meredith
Narrated by: Anna Massey, Bill Paterson, Frances Barber, Full Cast, Imelda Staunton, Sean Scanlan, Sylvestra Le Touzel
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

All four series of the jaunty crime drama featuring two ex-spies who set up a private detective agency

London,1953. Josephine Daunt and Susan Dervish both worked for the Ministry of Defence during the Second World War, doing top-secret, highly dangerous espionage work. But in peacetime, they find themselves without a job and feeling useless. Determined to put their talents to good use, they decide to set up a detective agency, with the help of former private eye Bill Mackie.

From their Covent Garden office, they handle a steady flow of business. But the ladies’ lives really become exciting when they rescue a woman from drowning – only to discover that she’s not what she seems. Soon, the daring duo are caught up in all manner of challenging cases, including a sporting assignment involving a priest and an Olympic boxing hopeful, a request to bid on a Monet that takes them on a trail across the Channel, a commission to investigate film actress Belinda Lane and a theft at a fashion designer’s workshop that leads them into a world of Teddy boys, political machinations and murder....

Guy Meredith's light-hearted crime series stars Anna Massey as Josephine Daunt, while Imelda Staunton, Frances Barber and Sylvestra Le Touzel play Susan Dervish. Bill Paterson and Sean Scanlan co-star as Bill Mackie.

Written by Guy Meredith.

Format by Imelda Staunton and Anna Massey.

Series 1 produced by Cherry Cookson and directed by Janet Whitaker.

Series 2-4 produced and directed by Colin Guthrie.

Clarinet played by Julian Stringle (Series 3, Episode 1).

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

Inspector Purbright cover art
Detective Galbraith: The King of Diamonds & The Midas Touch cover art
Thriller Playhouse Box Set cover art
The Toff cover art
DI Gwen Danbury: An Odd Body: Series 1-3 cover art
Dr Gideon Fell: The Complete BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Father Paolo Baldi Mysteries cover art
Sergeant Cribb cover art
The Chief Inspector Dover Mysteries cover art
A Case for Dr Morelle cover art
Trueman and Riley cover art
Charles Paris: A BBC Radio Collection cover art
Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume One cover art
P. D. James BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Inspector West: A Classic BBC Radio Crime Collection cover art
The Ngaio Marsh BBC Radio Collection cover art

What listeners say about Daunt & Dervish

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    148
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    136
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    117
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great set of audio dramas

Nice detective stories in the tradition of Agatha Christie and Frances Durbridge. Set in post war London, the female protagonists are able to show the world that they are everyone's equal.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

Gentle, nostalgic, easy to listen to and wonderfully acted! I wish more stories had been recorded as I would certainly have used my credits on them!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good stories despite the change of actors.

Good stories, mostly well acted.
But as with other ex radio shows would it kill the producers to list the episode name instead of just giving chapter numbers that mean nothing? Would make finding episodes much easier. Why is the last episode split into several tiny bits ? No possibility of splicing it all together? Some of these ex radio shows are very lazily produced given it costs members a credit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

Definitely a welcome change from watching the TV, let your imagination take you back to a time of rationing, 50’s style clothing and living.
Non offensive language and plots to keep you enthralled and entertained.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Gem Not To Be Missed

Firstly, the cover artwork attracted me as a fan of the 'Paul Temple' series.
Indeed if you like 'Paul Temple' and the 'Charles Paris' series as written by Jeremy Front then 'Daunt & Dervish' is definitely for you.
An excellent production with the cream of British acting giving wonderful performances. Bill Nighy even pops up in episode 2.
I do hope more episodes are in the pipeline.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great series

Preferred the original cast but great series anyway. More entertainment please ! And preferably very soon !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Old school mysteries

Old school mysteries but none the worse for that, and the cast were brilliant. Overall it was like drinking hot chocolate, wrapped in a soft shawl on a cold grey day.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great entertainment

full of old world charm . Great stories, great actors, very easy to listen to, and entertaining

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A delight!

Apart from the annoying piano jingle at the beginning and end of each episode during series one, I loved the dramatisations.
Engaging characters and believable stories brought to life by a brilliant cast.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Really good series loved it just wish there were more. We’ll written, cast were amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!