Edward J. Mason had his first major success in 1947 as a script writer when the
BBC Home Service radio network began airing his British detective serial
Dick Barton which he created with co-writer
Geoffrey Webb. This was the first serial to air on the BBC and it continued to be aired until 1951. The BBC replaced
Dick Barton with
The Archers, originally another creation of the Mason-Webb team, today
The Archers remains the world's longest-running
soap opera on radio. In 1950 and prior to
The Archers, Mason also created the radio serials
The Lady Craved Excitement and
What the Butler Saw, both of which were filmed in that year by
Hammer Films (
The Lady Craved Excitement, What the Butler Saw). In 1954, he wrote the 6-part serial thriller
Red For Danger, which was broadcast on the BBC Midlands service. In 1955, Edward J. Mason created another mystery series called
Shadow Man for the BBC's English language commercial rival Radio Luxembourg.
Shadow Man was sponsored by
Stork Margarine and it ran on
208 at 8:30 pm on Tuesday evenings. That same year Mason also worked on scripts for two television series:
Unheimliche Begegnungen and a year later (1956) on ''I'm Not Bothered''. In 1960, Mason wrote for the TV mini-series
The Days of Vengeance and in 1961
Flower of Evil. In 1962 his TV work included
Outbreak of Murder followed in 1964 by
How to be an Alien. Mason also created a string of
panel game shows with producer
Tony Shryane and these included
Guilty Party,
My Word!, and
My Music. ==Personal life==