Beyond Our Ken

Beyond Our Ken

Beyond Our Ken featured characters similar to those later featured in Round the Horne, for instance, Betty Marsden’s Fanny Haddock (which parodied Fanny Cradock). It was also notable for Pertwee’s Frankie Howerd impersonation, Hankie Flowered, and Hugh Paddick’s working-class pop singer Ricky Livid – the name being a mickey-take on contemporary pop singers’ stage names…

Parsley Sidings

Parsley Sidings

Parsley Sidings was a BBC Radio sitcom created by Jim Eldridge. It starred Arthur Lowe and Ian Lavender (who were also starring in the television wartime sitcom Dad’s Army at that time), together with Kenneth Connor from the Carry On films. The scripts are by Jim Eldridge (who would later go on to write for many more series, the most successful being the BBC’s King Street Junior). The show is set in a…

Steptoe and Son

Steptoe and Son

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd’s Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune,…

British Radio Comedy

British Radio Comedy

Radio comedy has not only entertained audiences for some 70 years, but it’s also been a medium for change in British society itself. Bandwaggon established a new formula of comedy sketches and music. At the beginning of the war, it was a wonderful boost for morale. After the War, there was the famous Goon Show,…

The Navy Lark

The Navy Lark

The Navy Lark was a BBC radio comedy written by Laurie Wyman and George Evans about the crew of The Royal Navy ship HMS Troutbridge and their mis-adventures. The show was first aired on The Light Programme in 1959 and ran for fifteen series until 1976 making it the second longest running radio programme the…