The 1966 BBC Trial By Jury

Cast
The Learned JudgeGeorge Baker
The PlaintiffCynthia Glover
The DefendantKenneth Bowen
Counsel for the PlaintiffDenis Dowling
UsherWilliam Parsons
Foreman of the JuryLeslie Fyson (?)

John McCarthy Singers
BBC Concert Orchestra
Producer: Michael Moores
Conductor: Stanford Robinson

Originally Broadcast on BBC Music Programme on 30 January 1966

This recording is part of a complete series broadcast on the BBC at fortnightly intervals in 1966. The series has never been issued commercially, but many fans have copies taken off the air. This entry in the series is notable as one of George Baker's last, in a G&S recording career that had begun in 1917! (He also sang King Gama in the 1966 BBC Ida.)

Understadably, Baker—well over eighty years old at the time this recording was made—is a bit overparted, but most of the pleasing attributes of this wonderful voice are still there. All the other singers give strong accounts of their roles, while the chorus is full of sparkle. However, in a crowded field of Trial By Jury recordings, this is not likely to be anyone's first choice.

The role of the Foreman was uncredited in the original Radio Times programme announcement, but according to Chris Webster it sounds like Leslie Fyson, who appeared on most of the other recordings in the 1966 series, and also played the role in the 1989 series.