Radio recommendations

[citoyen]

Does anyone still listen to the now defunct Radio 2?

Anyway, back on topic, I tend not to listen to much stuff live, but I do use the Sounds app a lot, and recent listening include an adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s Beyond Black with Alison Steadman. It starts off quite whimsical but quickly turns very, very dark. Really good.

Also quite enjoyed Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully - a sitcom about an alien invasion.

[Tim Hall]

There's a new series of G F Newman's "The Corrupted" on this week in the afternoon drama slot on Radio 4. The first series started in and just after WW2 and charts the rise and rise of a fictional criminal family as they climb their way to the top, interacting with real names.  We're now on series 5, set in the 1990s.  I think there's been a bit of dramatic time dilation.

Toby Jones stars Joseph Oldman.

[Torslanda]

Does anyone still listen to the now defunct Radio 2?

Me, Sir!

[pcolbeck]

Does anyone still listen to the now defunct Radio 2?

About 14.5 million people a week according to the stats

[citoyen]

Obviously the gag is wasted on you lot. Doesn't matter. It's not funny anyway.

[Tim Hall]

Here's an unrecommendation. I listened so you don't have to.

Comedy Greats, 1970s on 4 Extra.  This was a compilation of radio comedy from the 70s, compered by Barry Cryer, who found himself very funny.

We started with the tortuous News Hudlines. While it may have been funnier when it was written, relying on what was in the news at the time for inspiration, it was dull, dull, dull.
Next up was All Gas and Gaiters, which made a pleasant noise as it burbled in my headphones.

The Frankie Howerd Show. I can't remember much about it. Ooh, no. Yes. Ooh.

Parsley Sidings. Arthur Lowe and Ian Lavendar reprise their Dad's Army roles, but this time they're father and son and work on the railway.

What Ever Happened to The Likely Lads? Now this, as expected, was good. A bit dated, but it was from 1973 after all. Clement and La Frenais can write good gags and Bolam and Bewes can deliver them. It was the one where Bob is getting married.

Finally we had Hello Cheeky, as mentioned by Wow elsewhere. Barry Cryer was one of the script writers, something he didn't stop telling us. I stuck with it all the way, as I was on my bike and couldn't be arsed to stop but by heck it was laboured and terrible.
 
There was a companion show last week, with stuff from the 60s, which included Beyond Our Ken (tolerable forerunner to Round The Horne), , It's A Fair Cop, which was an Eric Sykes/Hattie Jacques vehicle, The Navy Lark, which is again something I can listen too, some Benny Hill thing which was marginal, The Clitheroe Kid, which is just rubbish and I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again which is rubbisher.

To make myself feel better I found an episode of John Fennimore's Souvenir Programme.

[citoyen]

To make myself feel better I found an episode of John Fennimore's Souvenir Programme.

They're currently repeating the series with the kirates sketch. You know... kirates. With keg legs and carrots on their shoulder. So funny. So clever.

I think my dad likes Round the Horne, but he's old enough to remember when it was new.


ETA: just found on youtube that someone has made animations to go with John Finnemore sketches - these are lovely:
https://youtu.be/seYVm9BfIys
https://youtu.be/Ys8IYK0uHnQ

[Tim Hall]

To make myself feel better I found an episode of John Fennimore's Souvenir Programme.

They're currently repeating the series with the kirates sketch. You know... kirates. With keg legs and carrots on their shoulder. So funny. So clever.

I think my dad likes Round the Horne, but he's old enough to remember when it was new.

Someone <fx:tappity tap>ben pics has done an animation of kirates on You Tube. It maketh me laugh.

Here's a thing: Round The Horne, Beyond Our Ken and The Goon Show all feature musical breaks. The Goons had Ray Ellington and Max Geldray while Round The Horne used The Fraser Hayes Four doing close harmony singing that does my head in. Beyond Our Ken had Pat Lancaster who would have a cheesy intro from Kenneth Horne and some other close harmony group.  Why? Was it some kind of contractual requirement.

There's a pub* near here that instead of piped music in the loo has Round The Horne playing.

*pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Apparently they were A Thing before The Event. Your dad might remember them too.   

[pcolbeck]

The Navy Lark is good. I can listen to that one and it raises a chuckle. I can also see why it appealed at the time when millions of people had been in the forces, the idiot officers / canny non comms is a pretty universal military gag.
The Goon show on the other hand I find has dated incredibly badly. You can see why it was so radical at the time compared to the way other comedy shows had been until then but I just find it wearing and annoying.

[citoyen]

Someone <fx:tappity tap>ben pics has done an animation of kirates on You Tube. It maketh me laugh.

How funny - found that myself just a few minutes ago.

Here's a thing: Round The Horne, Beyond Our Ken and The Goon Show all feature musical breaks. The Goons had Ray Ellington and Max Geldray while Round The Horne used The Fraser Hayes Four doing close harmony singing that does my head in. Beyond Our Ken had Pat Lancaster who would have a cheesy intro from Kenneth Horne and some other close harmony group.  Why? Was it some kind of contractual requirement.

Suspect it's a hangover from the music hall "variety" tradition.

[Tim Hall]

The Navy Lark is good. I can listen to that one and it raises a chuckle. I can also see why it appealed at the time when millions of people had been in the forces, the idiot officers / canny non comms is a pretty universal military gag.
The Goon show on the other hand I find has dated incredibly badly. You can see why it was so radical at the time compared to the way other comedy shows had been until then but I just find it wearing and annoying.

Re The Navy Lark. Yes, there's an understanding bubbling along in the script that the audience know what it is/was like to serve in the armed forces (although I'm commenting from a position of ignorance, never having worn a uniform).  National service was just about still going when it first aired.  Have you heard "Our Brave Boys"?  The funniest* radio sitcom set in an MOD office.. Written in 2001 by Christopher Lee and featuring, amongst others, Fiona Shaw who later pops up in Killing Eve and Fleabag.  It's similar in tone, I think, to The Navy Lark, but not so slapstick.

The Goon Show seems to bwe held in the same reverence by some people of my Dad's generation as Monty Python is by some of mine.

*OK, probably the only radio sitcom in an MOD office.

[citoyen]

I still like the Goon Show, though I agree much of it has aged badly. Still very funny at times though. And tbh, quite a lot of Monty Python hasn't aged that well either.

Going off tangentially from radio, but since we're talking about things that are dated, my son decided to break his Marx Brothers virginity the other day and watched Duck Soup. My god... the sound quality is terrible and it's all very "stagey", and there was even a warning before it started (it was recorded off TCM) that some of the views expressed were "of their time". And yet... it is still incredibly funny. The mirror scene is pantwettingly brilliant.

[Tim Hall]

I still like the Goon Show, though I agree much of it has aged badly. Still very funny at times though. And tbh, quite a lot of Monty Python hasn't aged that well either.

Going off tangentially from radio, but since we're talking about things that are dated, my son decided to break his Marx Brothers virginity the other day and watched Duck Soup. My god... the sound quality is terrible and it's all very "stagey", and there was even a warning before it started (it was recorded off TCM) that some of the views expressed were "of their time". And yet... it is still incredibly funny. The mirror scene is pantwettingly brilliant.

Have you tried Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel?  A radio series originally written for Groucho and Chico, who played characters called Flywheel (an incompetent/bent lawyer) and Ravelli (his hapless sidekick) it got rejuvenated in 1990 by the BBC with Michael Roberts playing Groucho playing Flywheel and Franz Lazarus playing Chico playing Ravelli.  As it's American or set in America and is by the BBC it has Lorelei King playing the female roles. Spike Milligan pops up from time to time too,

[citoyen]

Have you tried Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel?

I have indeed!

I had a book of the scripts even before they did the radio remakes - IIRC the book came out shortly after they discovered the scripts, the original broadcasts having never been recorded, and the radio remakes came later. And then they subsequently discovered recordings of some of the originals.

ISTR that some of the gags are familiar from the Marx Bros films. They were never ashamed to re-use a good line.

[citoyen]

Just remembered another old favourite that has had a repeat airing on R4Extra recently - the original series of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

I recorded them off the radio on cassette when they were first broadcast (1988!) and listened to them over and over and over again. Although I binned my vast collection of cassettes some years ago, I could still remember some of the sketches almost verbatim.

The funniest thing about them now, though, is Clive Anderson - I think it was his very first job in broadcasting and to say his performance as host lacks polish is seriously understating it. You might imagine that as a former barrister it would come naturally to him, but you'd be mistaken.

[Andrew Br]

Obviously the gag is wasted on you lot. Doesn't matter. It's not funny anyway.

I got it citoyen
They haven't told Craig Charles it's closed, they just give him a toy microphone and let him sit in a studio (according to Radcliffe and Maconie that is).

[citoyen]

Obviously the gag is wasted on you lot. Doesn't matter. It's not funny anyway.

I got it citoyen
They haven't told Craig Charles it's closed, they just give him a toy microphone and let him sit in a studio (according to Radcliffe and Maconie that is).

 

 

[graculus]

I am looking forward to this, starting on Sunday. I missed the first few the first time around:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cb5k4

[Redlight]

I am looking forward to this, starting on Sunday. I missed the first few the first time around:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cb5k4

I did hear a couple and couldn't believe how so many talented actors could end up in something so dire.

[mattc]

Here's a thing: Round The Horne, Beyond Our Ken and The Goon Show all feature musical breaks. The Goons had Ray Ellington and Max Geldray while Round The Horne used The Fraser Hayes Four doing close harmony singing that does my head in. Beyond Our Ken had Pat Lancaster who would have a cheesy intro from Kenneth Horne and some other close harmony group.  Why? Was it some kind of contractual requirement.

Something like that - I think it was a BBC rule. The music made it "general/light entertainment" or some such. You could have as much as you liked in the schedule. Parliament had huge control over Auntie Beeb in those days.
Whereas a pure spoken comedy was under some other archaic category ("scripted theatre"??), which you could only have 29minutes a month. Maybe.

The few Goon Shows I've heard always had some jolly harmonica element. I'm rather fond of harmonicas.

I *think* the Young Ones fell under a version of the same legislation. But that might be a story Ben Elton told to fool young oiks like me ...

[Nuncio]

Down the Line 'Lockdown Special' with Gary Bellamy tonight R4, 11pm. Given, like The Fast Show, part of its humour was derived from repetition, I don't know how well a 'one-off special' will work so many years later. I'm not sure if I will remember the foibles of 'regular' callers from 8+ years ago.

[Basil]

Today's Women's Hour on R4 today will include "The Beauty of Cycling During Lockdown"
W'sH starts at 10am.  (Oh. Thats now) The article could be any time after that.

[citoyen]

Down the Line 'Lockdown Special' with Gary Bellamy tonight R4, 11pm.

That'll be good.

I have a feeling it will all come back to you quickly enough.

[graculus]

Today's Women's Hour on R4 today will include "The Beauty of Cycling During Lockdown"
W'sH starts at 10am.  (Oh. Thats now) The article could be any time after that.

It starts about 40 minutes in and is about 5 mins in length. Discussion includes Bristol Bike Project and cycling in general.

[Tim Hall]

Saturday Afternoon Drama was a re running of Havana Blue, the first in The Havana Quartet detective series. Set in Cuba in 1989 and written by Leonard Padura, I enjoyed it the first time round. For Sam Dale spotters (or is thast just me?), he's in there, as is Michael Bertenshaw, who I first encountered in The Home Front.