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Funny Stuff from
the BEEB
In addition to the many fine and
funny television programs broadcast on the BBC, they also have
been known to take various shows and restage them for radio broadcast.
I have dozens of these shows, too many to highlight here, but
I have put up some representative programs you might want to look
for at www.amazon.co.uk:
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Knowing Me Knowing You
Comedian Steve Coogan has
many alter egos, but the one with the biggest alter ego
is Alan Partridge, star of his own chat show, "Knowing
Me Knowing You" and idol of only himself. He is bubmling,
ill informed about his guests, highly opinionated, and
most probably the Genesis of Martin Short's Jiminy Glick
character, only much slimmer.
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People Like Us
In both the television and radio shows,
a series of documentaries explore various individuals
from a Vicar to a Real Estate Agent to a pair of clueless
new parents. Everything is done in a serious tone so you
might not "get" the humor unless you know that
these are brilliant satires on situations and people.
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Blackadder
Four television series (6 episodes each)
and the Christmas special, "A Blackadder Christmas
Carol" were produced. Each has been restaged for
radio broadcast. If you are at all familiar with the characters,
you will miss nothing of the humor. You will be able to
picture Baldrick getting smacked by Edmund Blackadder
after he spends Blackadder's fortune on a single giant
turnip, or picture the sneer on Captain Darling's face
each time Captain Blackadder talks to him.
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Dad's Army
Way back in about 1968 a black and white
pilot for a little series about the aged World War II
Home Guard group from the village of Walmington-on-Sea
neat the English Channel premiered on the BBC. It not
only lasted for many years in first-run shows, it is still
extremely popular today in reruns.
The characters — from the pompus
Captain Mainwaring, normally president of the local bank,
to Corporal Jack Jones, the town's butcher, to the miserly
Private Frazier, the town's mortician — are all truly
funny and played to perfection. These BBC Radio productions
cover about 1/4 of all the televised programs. |
Of course, there are dozens of
other programs that are either reproductions of TV shows, or
were produced specifically for radio only. Here are two examples
of radio-only series:
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The Goon Show
Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe
and Spike Milligan were all comedy giants. They teamed
together in the 1950's for a long-running radio series
called The Goon Show. Scripts tried to center on a subject
or story but frequently dissolved into punning contests
and silly non-sequiters. There were recurring characters
and themes throughout the series. These guys are to radio
what Monty Python is to sletch television. True pioneers.
The final Goon Show was also
televised on BBC Television and is avaiable on PAL-format
videotape. |
The Navy Lark
This BBC Radio series, featuring the crew
of ship "HMS Troutbridge," ran from the late 1950s through
the 1960s and into the late 1970s. It starred Jon Pertwee
— the second Dr. Who — and Ronnie Barker —
later to team up with Ronnie Corbett and The Two Ronnies.
Nautical foul ups and general buffoonery were the order
of the day in this series.
Some of the humor is dated and very British-specific,
but enough of it works today to make these enjoyable.
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