Gone all Nostalgic

N

Norm

Dedicated Member
Does any one from GB remember those wonderful radio comedies :-
The Navy Lark , Round the Horn, Educating Archie - ( A ventrilaquist on the wireless, oops sorry radio I ask you!)
The Glums with Jimmy Edwards - (not sure if I have that right) and there was also a comedy starring Jimmy Clitheroe.

Am I getting too old and bad tempered because there doesn't seem to be much radio comedy that is funny now!!!
 
I grew up listening to all of these Norm, the mind plays a few tricks these days ,

The Navy Lark ......John Pertwee making a boghole of Sir Todhunter Willoughby Brown (It mostly came over as Sir Wibbleby Toddleby or similar. I believe Ronnie Barker was in it too!

Round The Horne .......was named after Kenneth Horne the main lead.

Educating Archie ..........the voice was done by Peter Brough , the programme featured Max Bygraves (yes a ventriloquist on radio!)

The Glums ..........featured Jimmy Edwards with Dick Bentley as "Ron" and June Whitfield as "Eth". This pair may have influenced Howard and Marina since they did a scene ""oh Ron! Yes Eth!!"They invariably were interrupted mid smooch!

Jimmy Clitheroe .................featured in a programme called The Clitheroe Kid!

That's about all I remember at the moment Norm as I said the mind plays a few tricks these days :o :o
 
Moving away from the Classic Comedies to the more "serious" programmes what about.
"Dick Barton Special Agent" and "Journey into Space"
 
dick said:
I grew up listening to all of these Norm, the mind plays a few tricks these days ,

The Navy Lark ......John Pertwee making a boghole of Sir Todhunter Willoughby Brown (It mostly came over as Sir Wibbleby Toddleby or similar. I believe Ronnie Barker was in it too!

Round The Horne .......was named after Kenneth Horne the main lead.

Educating Archie ..........the voice was done by Peter Brough , the programme featured Max Bygraves (yes a ventriloquist on radio!)

The Glums ..........featured Jimmy Edwards with Dick Bentley as "Ron" and June Whitfield as "Eth". This pair may have influenced Howard and Marina since they did a scene ""oh Ron! Yes Eth!!"They invariably were interrupted mid smooch!

Jimmy Clitheroe .................featured in a programme called The Clitheroe Kid!

That's about all I remember at the moment Norm as I said the mind plays a few tricks these days :o :o
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A bit of across the generations in that list. My earliest recollections of radio comedy were of regular programmes each evening at 19:30 on the old Light Programme:

Educating Archie
Take it from Here (included the Glums which was not a separate programme in its own right).
Ray's a Laugh (Ted Ray)
Life with the Lyons
Much Binding in the Marsh (Kenneth Horne)

The standard routine was to repeat them all on Sunday afternoon on the Light Programme after Family Favourites and the Billy Cotton Band Show.

Kenneth Horne was most prolific and went on to 'Beyond our Ken' and 'Round the Horne':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Horne
 
happyjack said:
Moving away from the Classic Comedies to the more "serious" programmes what about.
"Dick Barton Special Agent" and "Journey into Space"
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You reading my mind ?? I went spare when they took Dick Barton off and replaced it with The Archers!! :02: I also remember Journey into Space and Dan Dare(not sure which radio station Dan was on ?)
 
dick said:
You reading my mind ?? I went spare when they took Dick Barton off and replaced it with The Archers!! :02: I also remember Journey into Space and Dan Dare(not sure which radio station Dan was on ?)
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Radio Luxembourg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Dare#Radio_Luxembourg_serial

The New Adventures of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future aired five times a week on Radio Luxembourg for five years from 2 July 1951. Dan's voice was Noel Johnson, who also played Dick Barton on BBC radio.[6] Each episode started with the command "Spaceships Away!". The 15-minute show was sponsored by Horlicks and on 3 March 1952, the 106th episode of Dan Dare was heard that Monday night with different episodes on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:15pm. Although the dramatisation was recorded on wax discs for broadcast, the original discs were lost or destroyed.[7] Until recently no copies had ever been recovered but in late 2011 two episodes were found as part of the Lost Shows Appeal, orchestrated by missing episode hunter Charles Norton. The recovered shows were "Under Sentence of Death" (episode 76), aired 21 January 1952, and The Lost World On Mars (episode 53), aired 19 March 1953.[8]

If I remember rightly, 'Journey into Space' was on a Monday at 19:30 on Light Programme.
 
dick said:
You reading my mind ?? I went spare when they took Dick Barton off and replaced it with The Archers!! :02: I also remember Journey into Space and Dan Dare(not sure which radio station Dan was on ?)
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Re- Dick Barton, I think I was 7 years old when it was taken off in 1951. The custom at home then was to have a bath (old tin bath front of the fire) get my pyjamas on , listen to Dick Barton and off to bed. Not like today , it was never negotiable. :o Problem was, depending how much of a "cliff-hanger " finish it sometimes took a while to settle off to sleep. :wink:
 
You should all get onto Radio 4 Extra. You'll find a lot of these programmes there (though they tend to repeat throughout the day, so you can listen at a time to suit you). I've recently listened to The Navy Lark, The Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour, Doctor at Large (Richard Briers), and more.
 
Here in DC, on WAMU from American University, they air old radio shows on Sunday night. A blast from the past.
 
Just to change the subject a little there was also that program for the armed forces stationed abroad, mainly I think in what used to be West Germany and Cyprus. Relatives and friends sent in requests for a piece of music to be played. There was also one for children at an earlier time, Uncle Mac seems to come to mind.

Oh happy days or am I getting maudlin and looking thru' "rose tinted specs" !!
 
Norm said:
Just to change the subject a little there was also that program for the armed forces stationed abroad, mainly I think in what used to be West Germany and Cyprus. Relatives and friends sent in requests for a piece of music to be played. There was also one for children at an earlier time, Uncle Mac seems to come to mind.

Oh happy days or am I getting maudlin and looking thru' "rose tinted specs" !!
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TWO WAY FAMILY FAVOURITES on Sunday lunch I think for the forces, and CHILDRENS CHOICE on Saturday morning with Uncle Mac. :)
 
dick said:
TWO WAY FAMILY FAVOURITES on Sunday lunch I think for the forces, and CHILDRENS CHOICE on Saturday morning with Uncle Mac. :)
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I already mentioned it. Broadcast on Sunday from around noon to 13:15 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Favourites.
Most remembered hosts were Cliff Michelmore and Jean Metcalfe
Billy Cotton Band-show followed it and around 13:45 a series of comedy programme repeats from 19:30 on the weekday evenings started.
 
dick said:
TWO WAY FAMILY FAVOURITES on Sunday lunch I think for the forces, and CHILDRENS CHOICE on Saturday morning with Uncle Mac. :)
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JUNIOR CHOICE with Uncle Mac, later taken over by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart, who still does the show every Xmas. It does make me wonder if the kids of today would request the classical stuff that came on. That's where I first heard 1812 Overture.
 
joppyuk1 said:
JUNIOR CHOICE with Uncle Mac, later taken over by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart, who still does the show every Xmas. It does make me wonder if the kids of today would request the classical stuff that came on. That's where I first heard 1812 Overture.
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I stand corrected Joppy , As I said in another post the mind plays a few tricks these days.:-[
 
bbc iplayer

As I write this not wishing to watch the drivel currently on TV I am listening to episodes of It sticks out half a mile the follow up to Dad's Army with Sgt Wilson , Pikey and Hodges BBC have restored the episodes it is quite a gentle comedy worth a listen . A number of historical radio comedy shows are sill available Goons, Hancock , Dad's Army and often they put on biographies of the stars of yesteryear . I recently listened to Billy Breen's documentary who you will know as Larry Grayson . It was really interesting a good mix of facts and excerpts from Larry on stage.

I have to say I laughed out loud at a lot of his routines I know he wasn't everyone's cup of tea but there's one bit where he is on stage bemoaning the day he has had and how he hates working with this orchestra especially the trumpet player " He's anybodies for a sugar doughnut ........... he's had that many he must have worms! Classic
 
Its like old times on BBC today they are showing an old film Double Dynamite with Frank Sinatra , Jane Russell and Groucho Marx . It feels like it was written around letting Groucho deliver his extremely funny one liners and in first two minutes of his screen time he delivers a belter. Talking to Frank Sinatra's character Johnny " Hey Johnny I've got a real cert running in the third race he's running so fast he could win the Second."
 
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