The Cold War Hoax

Global War deceptions & mass manipulation, fear-mongering terror schemes and propaganda in the Age of the Bomb
heniek1812
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

I did a bit of digging and found the following sites mentioning "The Thirty Minute Theatre" which produced the "The News Benders",

1) From the personal blog of Louise Penn, writer, editor, film and theatre fan, based in London.
Thirty Minute Theatre – just under 50 episodes survive from 285 (many never filmed), but only a handful have been released. Includes key work from a variety of writers and directors. Made for the BBC.
https://loureviews.blog/2018/05/29/tv-s ... d-release/

2) A collector of old shows ,who as I understand it, does not sell but swaps/trades shows. He has something but not the whole collection.
THIRTY MINUTE THEATRE (4 Eps on 1 DVD)
http://www.oldtimetv.net/old-time-tv-drama-uk/

From BBC,
Thirty-Minute Theatre: The News-benders

BBC Two England, 10 January 1968 20.35
by Desmond Lowden.

[Starring] Donald Pleasence as J. G., Nigel Davenport as Robert Larkin
and Sarah Brackett as the Secretary

It is 1973. J.G. is a powerful figure working for a television news agency. Robert is a young man who has reached the top of his profession early and is content to free-lance and enjoy a quiet family life in the country. However, J.G. wants Robert to work for him and what is more, is determined to obtain his services. (Colour)

Contributors
Writer: Desmond Lowden
Designer: Norman James
Producer: George Spenton-Foster
Director: Rudolph Cartier
J.G.: Donald Pleasence
Robert Larkin: Nigel Davenport
The Secretary: Sarah Brackett
BBC then point you to this link -----> https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entr ... b765b82aa1
This episode is mentioned in this book,
Chasing the Moon: The People, the Politics, and the Promise That Launched ...
By Robert Stone, Alan Andres
Google only gives us a look at the appendix where one finds,
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FINAL FRONTIER

287 "Forward-thrusting space program" Spiro Agnew, interview with Roger Mudd, CBS News, "Man on the Moon: The Epic Journey of Apollo it" (July 20, 1969).
287 Had given her nightmares Marilyn Lovell, interview and DVD feature commentary, Apollo 13 (Universal City, CA: Universal, 2005).
287 Began worrying John Logsdon, interview with the authors (May ii, 2015).
289 An opinion poll indicated "U.S. Spending: New Priorities," Newsweek (October 6, 1969), p. 46; Congressional Record (October 7, 1964), p. 28837.
290 "I don't think that the moon" Mike Geoghegan, letter to Joe Consolino, "Memo to General Manager of the Trade Division" (July 20, 1970), Little, Brown & Company papers, Houghton Library; Harvard University.
290 "Could we advertise" Norman Mailer, letter to Ned Bradford (August to, 1970), Little, Brown & Company papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University
290 "Too many people" Wernher von Braun, interview with John Logsdon (August 25, 1970), in The Space Shuttle Decision by T A. Heppenheimer (Washington: NASA, 1999), P. 169.
291 Global supercomputer and telecommunications network The first message transmitted box% cen two computers on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Inter-net, occurred on October 29, 1969, eight months before the Wallops Island conference. By the time of the conference in June 1970, nine computer systems were connected to ARP 291 "Like buying a Rolls-Royce" Richard D. Lyons, "New Cuts for Apollo: 'No Gas for the Rolls-Royce?'" NIT (September 6, 1970), p. 107.
292 Astronaut Tom Stafford "NASA Cutbacks," NBC Evening News (September 2, 1970).
295 Clarke confided to Bernstein Jeremy Bernstein, "The Grasshopper and His Space Odyssey: A Scientist Remembers the Celebrated Science Fiction Writer Arthur C. Clarke," American Scholar (Summer 2008).
296 Semaphore and smoke-signal era ACC, interview filmed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Conference on the Centennial of the Invention of the Telephone (March 9, 1976), Arrr iomm film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= DivQc Bof4w. 296 Cranks were littering ACC, interview with Malcolm Kirk, Omni (March 1979).
296 Motivated by anger Bill Kaysing. interview with Nardwuar, aka John Ruskin (February 16, 1996), https://nardwuar.com/vs/bitk-aysing/.
296 As early as 1968 Thirty-Minute Theatre, "The News Benders," BBC Two (January to, 1968). 296 "In another couple of years" Norman Mailer, interview with Studs Terkel (January 29, 1971). 297 "Mass hoodwinking" Norman Mailer, "A Fire on the Moon," Life (August 29, 1969).
298 One went so far Bill Anders, interview with the authors (May 13, 2015).
301 Marvelous achievement Freeman Dyson, interview with Robert Stone (March 19. :15).
A good straight out description of the episode is found here,
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1403399/index.html
Question: From where did Mr. Lowden way back then get such ideas to put into this show ? I guess a better question would be "Who is Mr. Lowden or who is he writing FOR ?"
Here is some of his work,
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522857/

Alright, I will end this post (finally) with this available in whole work of Mr. Lowden,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPV8h-g-Olk
kickstones
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Posts: 368
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by kickstones »

I am not sure how trustworthy this site is, but I just came across this from 'Roberts hard to find video' site....

View Product

Title:

THIRTY MINUTE THEATRE (English 1968 - The News Benders / Getting In / Under The Age / Mill Hill / Knightsbridge / Bermondsey) DVD-R
Format:
DVD
Price:
$14.95
Description:
Plain packaging - guest stars Nigel Davenport, Donald Pleasence, Joss Ackland, Robert Hardy, Peter Cook, Clive Revill, Geraldine McEwan, Googie Withers, Edward Fox

http://www.robertsvideos.com/product.ph ... =1&page=31
heniek1812
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Posts: 139
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:26 am

Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

kickstones wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:37 am I am not sure how trustworthy this site is, but I just came across this from 'Roberts hard to find video' site....

View Product

Title:

THIRTY MINUTE THEATRE (English 1968 - The News Benders / Getting In / Under The Age / Mill Hill / Knightsbridge / Bermondsey) DVD-R
Format:
DVD
Price:
$14.95
Description:
Plain packaging - guest stars Nigel Davenport, Donald Pleasence, Joss Ackland, Robert Hardy, Peter Cook, Clive Revill, Geraldine McEwan, Googie Withers, Edward Fox

http://www.robertsvideos.com/product.ph ... =1&page=31
I found one place too but I have no clue if it is legit or not. As I wrote this I googled "ligit robertsvideos" and found this,
https://www.scamadviser.com/check-websi ... videos.com
This might be the way to go as I see some forums suggesting that it has been used by people to get things from them !!!

Nice job finding it kickstones :-)
michiganj
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Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:17 pm

Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by michiganj »

Great research guys!

I searched and found 'robertsvideos' as well. We had a bit of email exchanges and, to me, he seems legit. I placed an order for the DVD yesterday. We'll have to wait and see if I got ripped off or not.

Edit to add: I was thinking that maybe all that Robert had was the same 5 minute preview that can be found on Youtube so I asked him what was the duration of the episode and he said it was over 28 minutes.

Sounds promising. ;)
SacredCowSlayer
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Posts: 789
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by SacredCowSlayer »

michiganj wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:00 pm Great research guys!

I searched and found 'robertsvideos' as well. We had a bit of email exchanges and, to me, he seems legit. I placed an order for the DVD yesterday. We'll have to wait and see if I got ripped off or not.

Edit to add: I was thinking that maybe all that Robert had was the same 5 minute preview that can be found on Youtube so I asked him what was the duration of the episode and he said it was over 28 minutes.

Sounds promising. ;)
Wow—thanks michiganj! You got on that fast. I’m looking forward to hearing back about what you receive. Hopefully it’s the real deal.
heniek1812
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Posts: 139
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:26 am

Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

hoi.polloi wrote: Thu May 26, 2011 5:15 am A complaint about the hoax-y elements of the Cold War in essay format by Eustace Mullins:
THE $5 TRILLION COLD WAR HOAX
The Phoenix Project May 21, 1996
.....

All of Washington was amazed when Senator Vandenberg rose on the Senate floor, on January 10, 194S, and called for the establishment of the United Nations. As George Stimpson, founder of the National Press Club, later explained to me, America's leading isolationist had become a rabid internationalist in a single night. A beautiful blonde agent from British Secret Intelligence Service had been sent to his room. After an all night political discussion, Senator Vandenberg awakened to become the new champion of the United Nations. Although a little known story, it epitomizes how things are accomplished in Washington, today as yesterday.
....
Well I finally started to read this thread from the beginning when curiosity got the better of me rather quickly. I was curious who was this blond that got Vandenberg so "worked up". I believe it could very well be this person though the mission she was sent on in this case was Lend-Lease,

Elisabeth Peck, British agent code-named Cynthia.
https://spartacus-educational.com/SPYpack.htm
The best is at the end where we see again that Karma is a Bit#h.
In 1945 Arthur Pack committed suicide. Elizabeth then married Charles Brousse and they lived in in a medieval castle in France.

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Pack Brousse died of throat cancer on 1st December 1963. Charles Brousse was electrocuted about 10 years later by his electric blanket. Part of their castle was also destroyed in the ensuing fire.
heniek1812
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

Think a bit more about "The News Benders" I can see how perhaps Desmond Lowder got his ideas. Orwell, Vietnam war in the media, Space Race etc. These are outlined here,
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1403399/index.html
So I next had a look at Rudolph Cartier (interesting last name) as he was the man in the drivers seat in producing these shows.
'The News-Benders' is directed by Rudolph Cartier, who had made his name in the 1950s with ambitious live productions.
It turns out that Cartier produced a controversial version of Orwell's "1984". He took on JFK assassination by directing/writing "Lee Oswald: Assassin" (1966). Perhaps the request came from Dallas resident Jacob Leon Rubenstein. Would love to see how this story was presented. Well reading is the next best thing,
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/11 ... opsis.html
Here we see a clear example of manipulating history with this outright Cartier LIE,
The Warren Commission interviews Kenneth O'Donnell, the man responsible for the President's travel arrangements on his Dallas visit. He reveals that on the morning of his murder, Kennedy had commented on the impossibility of guarding against assassination by a sniper.
My my, looks like Ruby was in contact with Cartier because at least in this summary the name of the gunman is not given leaving the BBC viewer a mystery or better yet misdirection.
The next day, as he is escorted to the prison wagon that will take him to the county jail, a lone gunman shoots Oswald dead.
kickstones
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by kickstones »

heniek1812 wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 5:55 pm Think a bit more about "The News Benders" I can see how perhaps Desmond Lowder got his ideas. Orwell, Vietnam war in the media, Space Race etc. These are outlined here,
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1403399/index.html
Heniek, I very much suspect that Desmond Lowden wasn't the man behind the ideas for The News-Benders. I am in agreement with SCS who pointed out the synopsis was very much 'on the nose'.

It appears to be put together by a person(s) with the highest level of knowledge of reality of that era (and events pertaining to that era portrayed by the news media). This would suggest British intelligence involvement, not Lowden, who hardly rates three lines in wiki.

https://en.everybodywiki.com/Desmond_Lowden

Any intelligence connections to The News-Benders?


and when the head of all television Hugh Greene, he came to Hamburg and they showed him their production. He said you should have seen our's Mr Cartier's production was tremendous. Of course it was they stylised it .

https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/def ... script.pdf

Hugh Greene .....

Sir Hugh Carleton Greene KCMG OBE (15 November 1910 – 19 February 1987) was a British journalist and television executive. He was director-general of the BBC from 1960 to 1969. (The News-Benders was aired in January and August 1968).

After a few months in the Royal Air Force as a pilot officer in intelligence, he was released to join the BBC's German service, becoming its news editor.

After retiring from the BBC, Greene published several books, including a collaboration with his brother, the novelist Graham Greene, and made television programmes both for the BBC and its commercial rival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Greene

Graham Greene worked for MI6 during the Second World War; his brother Hugh was a foreign correspondent and one of the last Allied journalists to leave Berlin in 1939, so they knew the spying game from within. First published in 1957, at the height of the Cold War, the Greene brothers’ thrilling anthology of fiction, memoir and reportage inhabits the shadows of cloak-and-dagger paranoia. East German intelligence, believing they had stumbled upon trade secrets, promptly ordered 100 copies of the book.

https://www.foliosociety.com/row/spy-s- ... -book.html
heniek1812
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Posts: 139
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

kickstones wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 12:21 pm Heniek, I very much suspect that Desmond Lowden wasn't the man behind the ideas for The News-Benders. I am in agreement with SCS who pointed out the synopsis was very much 'on the nose'.

It appears to be put together by a person(s) with the highest level of knowledge of reality of that era (and events pertaining to that era portrayed by the news media). This would suggest British intelligence involvement, not Lowden, who hardly rates three lines in wiki.

https://en.everybodywiki.com/Desmond_Lowden

Any intelligence connections to The News-Benders?
I completely agree—fat chance that it was his ideas in that show. His first for TV work was a comedy to be followed by Benders.
But don't put him off completely because he was educated at Marlborough College which does put him into a "special orbit".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_Marlburians
The college is built beside the Mound. This was used as the motte of a castle. No remains of the castle can be seen today. Radiocarbon dating of core samples in the early 2010s indicated that the Mound dates from 2400 BC. This is close to the dates established for Silbury Hill.[9][10]
His career looks quite interesting in that there are these huge gaps in time. Hmm, who was he working for to pay his bills?
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522857/
Books

Bandersnatch 1969
The boondocks 1972
Bellman & true 1975
Boudapesti 3 1979
Sunspot 1981
Cry Havoc 1984
The Shadow Run / Once in Royal 1989
The Chain 1990 (Novelization of BBC TV serial])
kickstones
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Posts: 368
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by kickstones »

heniek1812 wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:34 pm
I completely agree—fat chance that it was his ideas in that show. His first for TV work was a comedy to be followed by Benders.
But don't put him off completely because he was educated at Marlborough College which does put him into a "special orbit".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_Marlburians
The college is built beside the Mound. This was used as the motte of a castle. No remains of the castle can be seen today. Radiocarbon dating of core samples in the early 2010s indicated that the Mound dates from 2400 BC. This is close to the dates established for Silbury Hill.[9][10]
His career looks quite interesting in that there are these huge gaps in time. Hmm, who was he working for to pay his bills?
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0522857/
Books

Bandersnatch 1969
The boondocks 1972
Bellman & true 1975
Boudapesti 3 1979
Sunspot 1981
Cry Havoc 1984
The Shadow Run / Once in Royal 1989
The Chain 1990 (Novelization of BBC TV serial])
Or who was using his name to pay the bills?

Here is his Bio from a site called Prabook
https://prabook.com/web/desmond_scott.lowden/220830

Desmond Scott Lowden, British Writer.

Background
Lowden, Desmond Scott was born on September 27, 1937 in Winchester, England. Son of Patrick Alfred Thomas and Margaret Elizabeth Lucy Lowden.
Education

Student, Marlborough College, England, 1951-1955.
Career

Movie assistant director, assistant editor, Pinewood-Shepperton Studios, 1956-1960; deckhand, 1961-1963; English teacher, 1961-1963; television and film writer, England, 1963-1970; writer, since 1970; represented by, Rogers, Coleridge and White, London.
Achievements

Desmond Scott Lowden has been listed as a notable Writer by Marquis Who's Who.

Here is another from apostrophe books.

http://apostrophebooks.com/writers/desmond-lowden/

Desmond Lowden’s first job was as a rewind boy in the projection box of a Rank cinema. From there, he became a runner at Britain’s famous Pinewood film studios, working his way up to writing a screenplay for the great comic actor Terry-Thomas. It was the beginning of a career in writing that saw him pen countless plays, screenplays and books.

His novels include the thrillers Sunspot, The Chain, Cry Havoc and – most famously – Bellman & True, which was made into an acclaimed crime movie by George Harrison’s Handmade Films in 1987.

Now in his seventies, Desmond leads a five-piece jazz group, and continues to write. In 2012, he signed with Apostrophe Books, with Bellman & True being re-released in digital form.

So according to these differing bio's he leaves Marlborough College (1955) which has you say 'does put him into a "special orbit" to become a rewind boy. From there a runner, then in space of a year becomes Movie assistant director, assistant editor at Pinewood-Shepperton Studio.

Highly suspicious, even more so when 3 different search sites (birth/ census) hold no record of him . . .


https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

Sorry, we found no matches.

Search for
Type: Births Surname: lowden First name(s): desmond
Spouse/Mother's surname: lowden District: Winchester County: Hampshire

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collect ... 7&gender=m

All England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 results for Desmond Scott Lowden


Results 1–1 of 1
View Record Name Baptism Date Baptism Place Relatives

To get better results, add more information such as Death Info or Location—even a guess will help. Edit your search or learn more.
View Record Zacheud Lawton Mary Ann
1–1 of 1

https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_queri ... ?locale=en


You searched for: First Name DESMOND SCOTT

Last Name LOWDEN

Exact Match? Yes

Record Type All

Start Year 1937

End Year 2019

No results found

It could be I am not using the search engines in the proper manner, I will have another go when I have more time.
heniek1812
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Posts: 139
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

kickstones wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 12:43 pm Or who was using his name to pay the bills?

. . .

So according to these differing bio's he leaves Marlborough College (1955) which has you say 'does put him into a "special orbit" to become a rewind boy. From there a runner, then in space of a year becomes Movie assistant director, assistant editor at Pinewood-Shepperton Studio.

. . .

Highly suspicious, even more so when 3 different search sites (birth/ census) hold no record of him . . .
Good point. Our man could be just a front. I looked on some genealogy sites and there is very little on him. What is there is his birth, and the rest is seen in newspapers referring to his writing. So his footprint in the E-Space is tiny.

As for "special orbit", looks like his rocket never gained altitude as Marlborough is not your regular school. Unless he was never there. The appearance in "full orbit", if only for fleeting moments, does seem suspicious given the unimpressive launch Desmond presents us with. Maybe George Smiley could help us out.
kickstones
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Posts: 368
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by kickstones »

heniek1812 wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 5:05 pm Maybe George Smiley could help us out.
Yes, his creator David Cornwell (John le Carré) once stated, the “lies that have been distributed are so many and so persistent,” . . . that, “arguably fiction is the only way to tell the truth.”

From cold war spy to angry old man: the politics of John le Carré

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/ ... dam-sisman

Maybe he had a hand in the creation of The News-Benders . . .

Thirty-Minute Theatre: The News-benders

"A taut, plausible playlet." (Daily Mail)
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/b ... 1968-08-07
heniek1812
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Posts: 139
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by heniek1812 »

Nice job kickstones !!!
his politics have become more overt, and more leftwing.
I hate these labels of right and left. I think they are BS. Cornwell appears to have eventually come to the realization that the little guy was being shafted. When you have a chance to look behind the curtain I suspect it is much easier to do this.
One reason why The Spy Who Came in from the Cold made such an enormous impact was its seeming authenticity.
I never get bored watching this film again. Not many films are able to match it.
Now this was a complete surprise to me. Not sure this is brought out in the movie.
As it turns out, Leamas has been deceived by his own masters: in reality, he is a mere instrument in what he eventually realises is a “filthy, lousy operation” to divert attention away from Mundt, a highly placed British agent in the East German security apparatus, at the expense of his rival Fiedler, a much more sympathetic character – “to save him”, as Leamas bitterly explains, “from a clever little Jew in his own department who had begun to suspect the truth”. Two innocent people are sacrificed to protect Mundt’s cover; the fact that both of them are Jews and Mundt a former Nazi makes an ugly operation hideous.
I'll have to watch it again to see if this detail is easy to spot or not.
His next novel, The Night Manager, would describe an undercover operation by a branch of British intelligence against one such arms dealer, a man contemptuously indifferent to the victims of his trade.
Brilliant series. I must have watched it three times already. I never tire of watching episodes 1 and 2.
And as he pointed out, the collapse of communism did not mean the end of the Russian threat.
Oh sure Guardian, lets re-frame the Cold War to "The Russian Threat". Watching NATO BS in Europe just makes me puke as it is just a rebrand of the game played during the Cold War. Otherwise the article is good !!!!
michiganj
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Posts: 83
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by michiganj »

SacredCowSlayer wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:59 pm
michiganj wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:00 pm Great research guys!

I searched and found 'robertsvideos' as well. We had a bit of email exchanges and, to me, he seems legit. I placed an order for the DVD yesterday. We'll have to wait and see if I got ripped off or not.

Edit to add: I was thinking that maybe all that Robert had was the same 5 minute preview that can be found on Youtube so I asked him what was the duration of the episode and he said it was over 28 minutes.

Sounds promising. ;)
Wow—thanks michiganj! You got on that fast. I’m looking forward to hearing back about what you receive. Hopefully it’s the real deal.
UPDATE: Just before Christmas I emailed Robert asking him where was my DVD as it had been over a month since I placed my order. He claims to have sent it out the following day but has offered to re-send another disc (yeah okay Robert). Hopefully it will arrive in the next week or two.
michiganj
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Posts: 83
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Re: The Cold War Hoax

Unread post by michiganj »

Finally! After a ridiculously long wait I managed to get The News-Benders. Turns out to be nothing what I was expecting. It's even better!

I vote to make Desmond Lowden an honorary member of CluesForum.

Enjoy!



You start on Monday
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