History Radio / DickieDickDickens

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: In the final series, Dickie can for some reason never remember the name of his son's friend, Leonardo da Cinzano.

** Dickie, especially in the first series. He's a notorious burglar and pickpocket without any scruples, and will occasionally delve into more serious crimes, even murder -- in the first series he shoots and kills a number of rival gangsters, though later on he develops a fondness for setting them up so they duke it out and kill each other instead. But apart from this he's charming, polite and friendly to pretty much everyone he meets (when he doesn't play TheGadfly to them), he's loyal to his friends and fiancée, he always keeps his promises and honors his debts, and can be extremely generous when the mood takes him.

* BatmanGambit: One of Dickie's specialties. He's good at predicting how people will react in certain situations, and several of his plans rely on this. ''Usually'' the gambits work -- but not ''always''; sometimes there's an unexpected SpannerInTheWorks, and sometimes it turns out Dickie's miscalculated because he didn't have all the info -- or because he either underestimated or overestimated his opponent.

* UsefulNotes/AlCapone: Curiously enough, he's not even mentioned even if most of the series takes place in Chicago during his reign. He's mentioned in ''one'' episode, in one of the Norwegian sequel episodes, in which the respective female presidents of the "Al Capone fan club" and the "Dickie Dick Dickens fan club" argue over whether it's Al Capone or Dickie Dick Dickens who deserves to be known as "King of Chicago."

'''Dickie Dick Dickens''' is a series of audio dramas and books by the German married couple Rolf and Alexandra Becker. The series, a spoof on American quasi-documentary crime series like Franchise/{{Dragnet}}, tells the story of Richard "Dickie Dick" Dickens, a gentleman gangster in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in TheRoaringTwenties as he goes from humble pickpocket to feared and revered gangster boss with the title "the most dangerous man in America," simply by being just a little smarter than just the police and his rival gangsters.

* AntiHeroTeam: Dickie builds up one over the course of the first twelve-episode series, consisting of himself, his fiancée Effie Marconi, his "fatherly friend" Oliver "Opa" Crackle, and his superstitious henchman Bonco.

* CoolOldGuy: Opa Crackle's age doesn't hinder him from being the most enthusiastic and gung-ho member of Dickie's gang.

* LemonyNarrator: Two of them. They narrate in tandem, are full of exaggerated admiration for Dickie, fill out details and sometimes disagree with each other about which details are unnecessary for the story. In the fifth series they end up arguing so much that one narrator gets fed up, declares that there's no point telling this story, and starts reciting cake recipes instead before the other narrator manages to get everything back on track.

'''Dickie Dick Dickens''' is a series of audio dramas and books by the German married couple Rolf and Alexandra Becker. The series, a spoof on American quasi-documentary crime series like Franchise/{{Dragnet}}, tells the story of Richard "Dickie Dick" Dickens, "the most dangerous man in America," a gentleman gangster in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in TheRoaringTwenties as he goes from humble pickpocket to feared and revered gangster boss, simply by being just a little smarter than just the police and his rival gangsters.

'''Dickie Dick Dickens''' is a series of audio dramas and books by the German married couple Rolf and Alexandra Becker. The series, a spoof on American quasi-documentary crime series like Franchise/{{Dragnet}}, tells the story of Richard "Dickie Dick" Dickens, a gentleman gangster in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in TheRoaringTwenties as he goes from humble pickpocket to feared and revered gangster boss, simply by being just a little smarter than just the police and his rival gangsters.

Both books and audio dramas were translated to several languages, and were hugely popular in both UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} and UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}. The Norwegian version was even so beloved that Norwegian radio listeners voted it "the best radio crime series ever," and (with the blessings of Rolf and Alexandra Becker) Paul Skoe, who had been the producer of the Norwedian adaptations, wrote two more sequel series where Dickie and his gang visit Norway.

Both books and audio dramas were translated to several languages, and were hugely popular in both UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} and UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}. The Norwegian version was even so beloved that Norwegian radio listeners voted it "the best radio crime series ever," and the translator Paul Skoe even (with the blessings of Rolf and Alexandra Becker) wrote two more sequel series where Dickie and his gang visit Norway.

* GreenEyedMonster: Surprisingly, almost completely averted in Dickie's and Effie's relationship; even subverted on a few occasions.

Both books and audio dramas were translated to several languages, and were hugely popular in both Norway and Sweden. The Norwegian version was even so beloved that Norwegian radio listeners voted it "the best radio crime series ever," and the translator Paul Skoe even (with the blessings of Rolf and Alexandra Becker) wrote two more sequel series where Dickie and his gang visit Norway.

* TookALevelInKindness: Could perhaps be chalked up to EarlyInstalmentWeirdness and CharacterizationMarchesOn, but Dickie is ''far'' more hard-boiled and ruthless in the first series. At a few points he even threatens to kill both Effie and Opa Crackle, something the Dickie from later series would ''never'' do.

* AntiHeroTeam: Dickie builds up one over the course of the first twelve-episode series, consisting of himself, his fiancée Effie Marconi, his "fatherly friend" Oliver "Opa" Crackle, and his superstitious henchman Bonco.

* JusticeByOtherMeans: At the end of the first series, Dickie [[FakingTheDeath fakes his death]] and takes on a new identity, having required the papers of a recently-deceased Irish immigrant named Maxim F. Poltingbrook. It's under this identity he marries his fiancée Effie Marconi... and then, a few months later, it turns out the original Maxim F. Poltingbrook was already married, and so Dickie ends up arrested for bigamy.

* AntiHeroTeam: Dickie builds up one over the course of the first twelve-episode series, consisting of himself, his fiancée Effie Marconi, his "fatherly friend" Oliver "Opa" Crackle, and his superstitious henchman Bonco.
* AssholeVictim: Anyone who's ''seriously'' harmed by Dickie's antics are without fail shown to be terrible people who deserve everything that's coming to them.

* AntiHeroTeam: Dickie builds up one over the course of the first twelve-episode series, consisting of himself, his finacee Effie Marconi, his "fatherly friend" Oliver "Opa" Crackle, and his superstitious henchman Bonco.

Five series and in all 51 episodes were produced between the years 1957 and 1976. The fifth series was more like a sequel series, taking place many years later where a now 60-year old Dickie discovers that he has an adult son, named Donald D. Doberman.

* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: Dickie's gang, and to some extent Jim Cooper's gang, are generally pleasant enough and avoid unnecessary brutaliry or bloodshed. Other gangs, such as those led by James Topper, Afonzo Capelli and Admiral Jefferson Harper, are far more ruthless and bloodthirsty.

* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Inspector Mackenzie quickly reveals himself as this. He's a grouchy, sarcastic and lazy JerkWithAHeartOfGold who ends up with a specific grudge against Dickie because Dickie has outwitted him and made him look like a fool so many rimes... but he's one of the few cops in the series who ''isn't'' corrupt or incompetent, and who has a set of moral standards. Even though he complains loudly about having to do his job, when he ''is'' on the job he's clever and meticulous and can even become quite the {{Determinator}} when he's angry enough. He and Dickie have the odd EnemyMine moment; at the end of the first of these Mackenzie even laments still having to arrest Dickie after the man has helped him out and plans on testifying on his behalf in court. (Of course Dickie escapes anyway, so the arrest never happens.)

'''Dickie Dick Dickens''' is a series of audio dramas and books by the German married couple Rolf and Alexandra Becker. The series, a spoof on American quasi-documentary crime series like Franchise/{{Dragnet}}, tells the story of Richard "Dickie Dick" Dickens, a gentleman gangster in Chicago in the 1920s, as he goes from humble pickpocket to feared and revered gangster boss, simply by being just a little smarter than just the police and his rival gangsters.

** Dickie to a T. He's a notorious burglar and pickpocket without any scruples, and will occasionally delve into more serious crimes, even murder -- in the first series he shoots and kills a number of rival gangsters, though later on he develops a fondness for setting them up so they duke it out and kill each other instead. But apart from this he's charming, polite and friendly to pretty much everyone he meets (when he doesn't play TheGadfly to them), he's loyal to his friends and fiancée, he always keeps his promises and honors his debts, and can be extremely generous when the mood takes him.

* LemonyNarrator: Two of them.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In the first series, Dickie's main police antagonist is the self-glorifying but not particularly competent Commissioner Hillbilly. In the second series, he transfers out of Chicago and is replaced by Inspector Mackenzie, who is both a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute and a {{Foil}} to Hillbilly. He takes on roughly the same role as Hillbilly, but is actually a good deal smarter and more competent -- he's just too lazy to really put in much effort unless there are some sort of personal stakes for him involved.

** Jim Cooper waivers a bit between this trope and FauxAffablyEvil; he's got a nasty temper and has even less scruples than Dickie, but over time he shows himself as quite friendly and even a borderline ReasonableAuthoruityFigure to his gang. It's never quite clear if he's genuine or not -- Dickie certainly doesn't think he is.
* AlCapone: Curiously enough, he's not even mentioned even if most of the series takes place in Chicago during his reign. He's mentioned in ''one'' episode, in one of the Norwegian sequel episodes, in which the respective female presidents of the "Al Capone fan club" and the "Dickie Dick Dickens fan club" argue over whether it's Al Capone or Dickie Dick Dickens who deserves to be known as "King of Chicago."

* AffablyEvil: Dickie to a T. He's a notorious burglar and pickpocket without any scruples, and will occasionally delve into more serious crimes, even murder -- in the first series he shoots and kills a number of rival gangsters, though later on he develops a fondness for setting them up so they duke it out and kill each other instead. But apart from this he's charming, polite and friendly to pretty much everyone he meets (when he doesn't play TheGadfly to them), he's loyal to his friends and fiancée, he always keeps his promises and honors his debts, and can be extremely generous when the mood takes him.

* AffablyEvil: Dickie to a T. He's a notorious burglar and pickpocket without any scruples, and will occasionally delve into more serious crimes, even murder -- in the first series he shoots and kills a number of rival gangsters, though later on he develops a fondness for setting them up so they duke it out and kill each other instead. But apart from this he's charming, polite and friendly to pretty much everyone he meets (when he doesn't play TheGadfly to them), he's loyal to his friends and fiancée, he always keeps his promises and honors his debts, and can be extremely generous when the mood takes him.

* {{Flanderization}}: Sergeant Martin, in the first series, he sometimes gets loud when he's excited, and when the Commissioner tells him to lower his voice, he does. From the second series on, nothing can get him to lower his voice: he shouts nearly all his lines; he even ''whispers'' loudly.
* IjustWantToBeNormal: Parodied in the first series. Dickie repeatedly insists that he has no ambitions whatsoever and just wants to be a humble pickpocket. He treats it as an annoyance that his rivals keep "forcing" him to pull off bigger and bigger crimes.

* AffablyEvil: Dickie to a T. He's a notorious burglar and pickpocket without any scruples, and will occasionally delve into more serious crimes, even murder -- in the first series he shoots and kills a number of rival gangsters, though later on he develops a fondness for setting them up so they duke it out and kill each other instead. But apart from this he's charming, polite and friendly to pretty much everyone he meets (when he doesn't play TheGadfly to them), he's loyal to his friends and fiancée, he always keeps his promises and honors his debts, and can be extremely generous when the mood takes him.
* DeadpanSnarker: Inspector Mackenzie ''never'' runs out of sarcasms, a fair few of them directed at SergeantMartin who [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm isn't always the best at telling when someone's being sarcastic and when they're being sincere.]]
* {{Flanderization}}: Sergeant Martin, in the first series, he sometimes gets loud when he's excited, and when the Commissioner tells him to lower his voice, he does. From the second series on, nothing can get him to lower his voice: he shouts nearly all his lines; he even ''whispers'' loudly.