Written in 1833, Alexander Pushkin’s The Queen of Spades is a tale of avarice and madness. Orson Welles plays Hermann, an ethnic German serving in the Russian army. He believes that his fortune will be won at the gaming table, if only he can discover the three winning cards.

"Theatre Royal" was a groundbreaking independent series, first broadcast by the BBC in 1953 and soon taken up by American networks. It starred many leading actors and was the only radio series in which Laurence Olivier played leading roles.