Radio and TV - Memories and Favourites

Dad was a Goon fan so I remember them from my earliest years. Dad copied a few from records he got at the library. Yes, Tales of Old Dartmoor, The International Christmas Pudding, The Phantom Head Shaver of Bexhill On Sea... In modern years I've heard a lot more but find that they vary in quality. I still like Round the Horn but haven't taken to Beyond Our Ken. My first 'live' favourite was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which appealed to me as a comedy and sci-fi. I was first introduced to Terry Pratchett on Radio 4 and some of my favourites are from more recent decades eg The Castle. A long time favourite of mine is I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue. This last 10 years is a bit more boring, but maybe I just haven't found the gems?

I also enjoyed a The Navy Lark, Round The Horne and The Goon Shows. I actually made a collection of all the episodes of The Goon Show I could find in the early 2000's. There are virtually no recordings of the first three series including the first series called Crazy People, but a lot of the existing recordings are on Spotify. When I was living in Queensland the ABC radio channel was broadcasting a lot of the Goon Shows.

The Goons were very special but hard to describe to Americans. Sing a few bars of the Ying Tong Song usually arouses their interest. I also love Spike Milligan's book Puckoon and at one point, many years ago, I used to carry a spare copy to loan to anyone who was interested.

Hi all, Last evening, I listened to a wireless edition of a Miss Marple murder. It was brilliant. So, if you have a small glass of sherry or port, make yourself comfy. Miss Marple Murder on Wireless.

November 23rd 2023 is the 60th anniversary of the first episode of Doctor Who. As part of their celebration, BBC have published this article about Delia Derbyshire who was involved in the creation of the distinctive opening music for the long running TV series. Delia is of course in the list of famous Coventrians elsewhere on historiccoventry.

Another item of the history of "Doctor Who" From left to right: Rene (Restaurant Chef), Julia Smith, Mike Kenyon, Verity Lambert Verity Lambert was the founding producer of "Doctor Who" from 1963 to 1965. Julia Smith was a director of "Doctor Who" in 1966 and 1967. The photo was taken in 1991 at the "Mijas Film Studios" in the early stages of "Little England" before it was renamed "Eldorado". It was a pleasure to work on "Eldorado" from the beginning until the end.

Does anyone else remember the brilliant Navy Lark BBC Radio series, where from time to time a "thick-as-two-planks-sounding" voice would interrupt the inanity of Captain Phillip's musings with "In-telli-gence Spea-king". Highlights of my growing up years - the Navy Lark, Around the Horne, the Goon Show etc!

Often listen to it on 4X. Most folks don't realise that Ronnie Barker made his first broadcast roll in that wireless show.

Loved these radio programmes, especially the often rude Round the Horn whilst eating Sunday dinner.

Kenneth Horne used to introduce his programmes with a short chat about the happenings the previous week. He had me laughing with one particular story: - "Last week I looked up an old friend" - followed by a pause and "What a ghastly sight that was!" My young and developing brain took a second or two to see the joke, but it obviously stayed with me all these years!

The secret to early comedy was that the scripts were highly variable. We remember them fondly because of the gems but forget the sketches or episodes that weren't good . The writers and actors were able to develop stuff that worked. I don't really like Beyond Our Ken but Round the Horne is the same concept but polished. I found the character Eamon Android a joke that never really worked but Julian and Sandie were a great foil for Ken.

Humour is very much an individual thing. I could never see what was remotely funny about the Goons. Grown-up men acting like idiots putting on silly voices. In particular, Harry Secombe's voice really irritated me. Number one, not remotely funny, and number two when he sang, his voice was permanently strained. Spike Milligan: most of the time not funny, just acting like an imbecile with silly voices and mannerisms. But one sketch he did was a corker. A serious newsreader in a suit announced "and now, we go over to the Bishop of [can't remember the city' name] for some words of comfort". The camera then cut to a high-ranking church official in all his regalia, the gown or robe, the stole, and on top of his head, the sort of massive headgear the pope and other clergy members wear in an effort to big themselves up, designed to make their stature and head higher than they are in reality, give themselves an aura of inflated importance, an adrenaline-producing ego boost... Where was I? Oh, yes, words of comfort from the bishop: Milligan then, with perfect mimicking of the hand and head gestures used by the higher orders of the clergy, started on what sounded like a Latin chant: "Leee-breeee-arm,... vaar-leee-arm,... moooor-gah-darn..." I still find it brilliantly funny. The punchline was so unexpected, which is key. Round the Horne. My mother loved to listen to this on the wireless, on a Sunday I think it was. She laughed a lot, although I'm sure that nearly all, if not all of the innuendo went over her head. It certainly went over my head as a schoolboy. Even as a boy, I appreciated great comedians like Tony Hancock, especially when teamed up with Sid James.

It reminds me of one of the textbook models of management from a business studies course I did last century. It was called the ladder effect. Several suits are climbing up a ladder, one after each other. We were told that when you look down (on the lower ranks), all you see is heads. But when you look up, all you see is bums.

We loved Julian and his friend, Sandy, especially when they were waving their lallys(?) We had a cassette tape of Best of Round the Horn that we wore out on car trips. There's a wonderful, much more than a comedian, named Garrison Keiller from Minnesota who had a radio programme we listened to that was a lot like the older shows we loved. Also the Car Guys, whose lawyers were Dewey, Cheathem and Howe, that were a lot of fun.

Hi all, For those in the UK, most of those old time wireless shows are available from time to time on Radio 4extra.