Broadcast: Sunday, 11th May 1958
Character: Storyteller
One of Peter’s greatest ever performances was not in the role of a hero in a stage play or villain on T.V., but as a storyteller on BBC Television’s ‘Sunday Special’ programme in February 1958.
On the occasion he read the bible story of ‘Shadrach, Neshach and Abednego’, and made such an impression on one of his viewers, Reverend Prebendary, J.B. Philips – translator of the Bible. He wrote: “The ‘Sunday Special’ reading of the story of ‘Shadrach, Neshach and Abednego’ was absolutely magnificent and, to my mind, the best Scripture reading I have ever heard in my life.”
The BBC acknowledged Peter’s work with an announcement in the Radio Times, congratulating him on his tremendous abilities, and suggesting that an earlier piece read by the late, great Charles Laughton on the same programme, had appeared flat and dull by comparison. The Canon Roy McKay, head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC echoed Reverend Philips’ sentiments by stating that he’d particularly appreciated Peter’s rendering of Saint Paul’s speech in Athens, going on to say it had been the highlight of an “excellent programme.”
PETER WYNGARDE: The Official Website 