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The Eighty Nine Men is a 1942 Australian radio serial by Max Afford. It was inspired by a photograph of the "89" butterfly in National Geographic magazine.

Premise

A gang of Fifth Columnists, with headquarters in Costa Rica, who take the "89" butterfly as their symbol. A serious young butterfly-hunter becomes unwittingly mixed up with them.

Cast

• Lloyd Lamble as Charles Entwistle
• Neva Carr Glyn
• Atholl Fleming
• Iris Moore as Eve Hemminway
• Vivian Edwards
• Reginald Collins as Alan Grant

Episodes

• Episode 1 - "The Thing in the Museum"
• Episode 2 - "The Curious Mr. McGonigal" - We meet the strange family which inhabits the Hemminway mansion, near the museum.
• Episode 3 - "Mystery After Midnight"
• Episode 4 - "The Four Traitors"
• Episode 5 - "The Fourth Heir " - After the reading of Sir Rupert Hemminway's will, his daughter Eve is now wealthy. But there is a codicil to the will, regarding a mysterious fourth heir. Lysander McGonigal delivers Eve a warning, which is echoed by the witch-like Aunt Rose. Entwhistle and Larry set out on a search for the missing Sally Campbell .
• Episode 6 - "Introducing Dr. Gresham" - Lucius Hemminway's over confidence leads him to make a mistake
• Episode 7 - "Terror at East Wynch" - The scene of the Hemminway murders and the trail of the Eighty-Nine Men moves from the Hemminway home to the nursing home of Dr. Graham.
• Episode 8 - "Death in the Shadows"
• Episode 9 - "Evidence from Costa Rica"
• Final episode - "The Face of Murder"

References

1. "Afford Writes New Thriller", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 37 (41), Sydney: Wireless Press, October 17, 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
2. "Afford Writes New Thriller", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 37 (41), Sydney: Wireless Press, October 17, 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
3. "A GIRL IN A THRILLER SERIAL". Bowen Independent. Vol. 39, no. 4011. Queensland, Australia. 27 October 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Monday, Oct 19", ABC Weekly, 4 (42), Sydney, 17 October 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
5. "Monday Oct 26", ABC Weekly, 4 (43), Sydney, 24 October 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
6. "Monday Nov 2", ABC Weekly, 4 (44), Sydney, 31 October 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
7. "Monday Nov 16", ABC Weekly, 4 (46), Sydney, 14 November 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
8. "Monday Nov 30", ABC Weekly, 4 (48), Sydney, 28 November 1942, nla.obj-1329731102, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove
9. "Monday Dec 14", ABC Weekly, 4 (50), Sydney, 12 December 1942, retrieved 5 September 2023 – via Trove

• 1940s Australian radio serials
• Radio serials by Max Afford
• Australian radio dramas about World War Two