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Nurse on Wheels

2026-06-20T21:24:54Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox film
| image = Nurse on Wheels.jpg
| caption = UK theatrical poster
| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]
| producer = {{ubl|[[Peter Rogers]]|[[Frank Bevis]]}}
| writer = {{ubl|[[w:John Burke (author)|John Burke]] (novel)|[[Norman Hudis]]}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Juliet Mills]]|[[w:Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]]|[[Joan Sims]]|[[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]]}}
| music = [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]
| cinematography = [[Alan Hume]]
| editing = Archie Ludski
| studio =Peter Rogers Productions
| distributor =[[Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors]]
| released = January 1963
| runtime = 85 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}
'''''Nurse on Wheels''''' is a 1963 British comedy film directed by [[Gerald Thomas]], and starring [[Juliet Mills]], [[w:Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]], and [[Joan Sims]].

''Nurse on Wheels'' shares its cast and production team with the ''[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]'' films, but the film is not an official member of the ''Carry On'' series.

==Story==
Joanna Jones, a [[w:nurse|nurse]], passes her [[w:driving test|driving test]] (after one hundred and six lessons) and successfully applies for a job as [[w:District Nurse|District Nurse]].

She settles into a cottage with her mother, and goes about her work with quiet confidence. But she finds that the patients are used to, and prefer, an older nurse, like Nurse Merrick, who has recently retired.

Joanna despairs of winning the confidence of her patients, but is then visited by Nurse Merrick who tells her that it was the same when she arrived many years before. Boosted by this, Joanna soon wins the support of the populace.

She also meets Henry Edwards, a rich but very short-tempered [[w:farmer|farmer]]. Her mother hopes that Joanna will fall in love with Dr Golfrey, who Joanna works with, but in fact it is Edwards who shows more interest in her.

When a young couple, Ann and Tim Taylor, park their [[w:Camping caravan|caravan]] in one of the fields owned by Edwards, the population rally around a heavily [[w:pregnant|pregnant]] Mrs Taylor. Edwards tries to evict them, but Joanna has taken charge of the delivery, and won't allow it.

All works out in the end. Dr Golfrey offers the vacant receptionist's job to Deborah, daughter of the local vicar (who is smitten with him anyway). Joanna becomes engaged to Edwards, who promises to curb his temper. And Mr Taylor is offered a job as gardener at the [[w:vicarage|vicarage]].

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Juliet Mills]] as Joanna Jones
* [[w:Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]] as Henry Edwards
* [[Joan Sims]] as Deborah Walcott
* [[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]] as Abel Worthy
* [[Esma Cannon]] as Mrs. Jones
* [[Raymond Huntley]] as Vicar
* [[Athene Seyler]] as Miss Farthingale
* [[Norman Rossington]] as George Judd
* [[w:Ronald Howard (British actor)|Ronald Howard]] as Dr. Harold Golfrey
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Mrs. Wood
* [[Renée Houston]] as Mrs. Beacon
* [[Jim Dale]] as Tim Taylor
* [[George Woodbridge (actor)|George Woodbridge]] as Mr. Beacon
* [[w:David Horne (actor)|David Horne]] as Dr. Golfrey Senior
* [[Deryck Guyler]] as Driving Examiner
* [[w:Barbara Everest|Barbara Everest]] as Nurse Merrick
* [[Brian Rawlinson]] as Policeman
* Amanda Reiss as Ann Taylor
}}

==Background==
The action was filmed partially in [[w:Little Missenden|Little Missenden]], Buckinghamshire.
It was based on the story 'Nurse is my Neighbour' by Joanna Jones, pseudonym of [[w:John Burke (author)|John Burke]].

Joan Sims was originally going to play Joanne Jones but apparently lost the role as she had gain weight prior to the production.

There seems to mismatch of reels as halfway through the film the story seem to go awry.

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0057371|Nurse on Wheels}}

{{Gerald Thomas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nurse On Wheels}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:1963 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gerald Thomas]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films produced by Peter Rogers]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Norman Hudis]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:British medical comedy films]]

Nurse on Wheels

2026-06-20T21:24:30Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox film
| image = Nurse on Wheels.jpg
| caption = UK theatrical poster
| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]
| producer = {{ubl|[[Peter Rogers]]|[[Frank Bevis]]}}
| writer = {{ubl|[[w:John Burke (author)|John Burke]] (novel)|[[Norman Hudis]]}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Juliet Mills]]|[[w:Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]]|[[Joan Sims]]|[[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]]}}
| music = [[Eric Rogers (composer)|Eric Rogers]]
| cinematography = [[Alan Hume]]
| editing = Archie Ludski
| studio =Peter Rogers Productions
| distributor =[[Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors]]
| released = January 1963
| runtime = 85 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}
'''''Nurse on Wheels''''' is a 1963 British comedy film directed by [[Gerald Thomas]], and starring [[Juliet Mills]], [[Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]], and [[Joan Sims]].

''Nurse on Wheels'' shares its cast and production team with the ''[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]'' films, but the film is not an official member of the ''Carry On'' series.

==Story==
Joanna Jones, a [[w:nurse|nurse]], passes her [[w:driving test|driving test]] (after one hundred and six lessons) and successfully applies for a job as [[w:District Nurse|District Nurse]].

She settles into a cottage with her mother, and goes about her work with quiet confidence. But she finds that the patients are used to, and prefer, an older nurse, like Nurse Merrick, who has recently retired.

Joanna despairs of winning the confidence of her patients, but is then visited by Nurse Merrick who tells her that it was the same when she arrived many years before. Boosted by this, Joanna soon wins the support of the populace.

She also meets Henry Edwards, a rich but very short-tempered [[w:farmer|farmer]]. Her mother hopes that Joanna will fall in love with Dr Golfrey, who Joanna works with, but in fact it is Edwards who shows more interest in her.

When a young couple, Ann and Tim Taylor, park their [[w:Camping caravan|caravan]] in one of the fields owned by Edwards, the population rally around a heavily [[w:pregnant|pregnant]] Mrs Taylor. Edwards tries to evict them, but Joanna has taken charge of the delivery, and won't allow it.

All works out in the end. Dr Golfrey offers the vacant receptionist's job to Deborah, daughter of the local vicar (who is smitten with him anyway). Joanna becomes engaged to Edwards, who promises to curb his temper. And Mr Taylor is offered a job as gardener at the [[w:vicarage|vicarage]].

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Juliet Mills]] as Joanna Jones
* [[w:Ronald Lewis (actor)|Ronald Lewis]] as Henry Edwards
* [[Joan Sims]] as Deborah Walcott
* [[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]] as Abel Worthy
* [[Esma Cannon]] as Mrs. Jones
* [[Raymond Huntley]] as Vicar
* [[Athene Seyler]] as Miss Farthingale
* [[Norman Rossington]] as George Judd
* [[w:Ronald Howard (British actor)|Ronald Howard]] as Dr. Harold Golfrey
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Mrs. Wood
* [[Renée Houston]] as Mrs. Beacon
* [[Jim Dale]] as Tim Taylor
* [[George Woodbridge (actor)|George Woodbridge]] as Mr. Beacon
* [[w:David Horne (actor)|David Horne]] as Dr. Golfrey Senior
* [[Deryck Guyler]] as Driving Examiner
* [[w:Barbara Everest|Barbara Everest]] as Nurse Merrick
* [[Brian Rawlinson]] as Policeman
* Amanda Reiss as Ann Taylor
}}

==Background==
The action was filmed partially in [[w:Little Missenden|Little Missenden]], Buckinghamshire.
It was based on the story 'Nurse is my Neighbour' by Joanna Jones, pseudonym of [[w:John Burke (author)|John Burke]].

Joan Sims was originally going to play Joanne Jones but apparently lost the role as she had gain weight prior to the production.

There seems to mismatch of reels as halfway through the film the story seem to go awry.

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0057371|Nurse on Wheels}}

{{Gerald Thomas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nurse On Wheels}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:1963 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gerald Thomas]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films produced by Peter Rogers]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Norman Hudis]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:British medical comedy films]]

Bottoms Up (1960 film)

2026-06-14T18:21:29Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox film
| name = Bottoms Up
| image = Bottoms Up poster.jpg
| alt = 
| caption =
| director = [[Mario Zampi]]
| producer = Giulio Zampi Mario Zampi
| writer = [[Michael Pertwee]] Additional dialogue by [[Frank Muir]] [[Denis Norden]]
| starring = [[Jimmy Edwards]] [[Arthur Howard]] [[Martita Hunt]] [[Sydney Tafler]] [[w:Mitch Mitchell|Mitch Mitchell]]
| music = [[Stanley Black]]
| cinematography = [[Gilbert Taylor]]
| editing = [[Richard Best (film editor)|Richard Best]]
| studio = Transocean [Mario Zampi Productions]
| distributor = [[Associated British Picture Corporation|Warner-Pathé Distributors]]
| released = {{Film date|1960|3|8|London|df=y}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Bottoms Up''''' is a 1960 British comedy film.

It stars [[Jimmy Edwards]] in a spin-off of his TV comedy series ''[[Whack-O!]]'', playing the seedy, alcoholic, [[w:Corporal punishment in schools|cane-wielding]] headmaster of Chiselbury School, a fictional [[private school|British public school]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a6356c3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713132338/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a6356c3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-13 |title=Bottoms Up | BFI | BFI |publisher=Explore.bfi.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-03-28}}</ref> Screenplay was by [[Michael Pertwee]], with additional dialogue by [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]].

The cast includes juvenile actor [[w:Mitch Mitchell|John "Mitch" Mitchell]] (as Wendover), who in the late 1960s was the drummer in [[w:The Jimi Hendrix Experience|The Jimi Hendrix Experience]], using his adult stage name, [[w:Mitch Mitchell]], and it also marks the first film appearance of [[Richard Briers]].

==Plot summary==
Professor Jim Edwards is the headmaster of Chiselbury School, a [[private school|private boarding school]] for boys. A new head of the school's Board of Governors threatens to replace him as headmaster unless he can drastically improve the school's performance. When Edwards is also confronted by his bookmaker demanding money he owes and which he cannot pay, he devises a plan to deal with both problems by agreeing to accept into Chiselbury the bookmaker's son who will impersonate the heir to the throne of an oil-rich (fictional) state in the Middle East, which he hopes will persuade other parents to enrol their sons.

==Cast list==
*[[Jimmy Edwards]] as Professor Jim Edwards
*[[Arthur Howard]] as Oliver Pettigrew
*[[w:Mitch Mitchell|Mitch Mitchell]] (billed as John Mitchell) as Peregrine Wendover
*[[Martita Hunt]] as Lady Gore-Willoughby
*[[Sydney Tafler]] as Sid Biggs
*[[Raymond Huntley]] as Garrick Jones
*[[Reginald Beckwith]] as Bishop Wendover
*Vanda Hudson as Matron (as Vanda)
*[[Melvyn Hayes]] as Cecil Biggs
*[[Donald Hewlett]] as Hamley
*[[Richard Briers]] as Colbourne

==Critical reception==
*''[[TV Guide]]'' called the film an "inane slapstick comedy set in an English boarding school ... Forced humour from a slapdash script and direction."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/bottoms-up/review/118416 |title=Bottoms Up Review |publisher=Movies.tvguide.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-28}}</ref>
*[[Allmovie]] wrote: "producer/director [[Mario Zampi]] knows where the laughs are and knows how to get them in full measure."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/bottoms-up-v123428 |title=Bottoms Up (1960) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast |publisher=AllMovie |date= |accessdate=2014-03-28}}</ref>
*[[Sky movies]] wrote: "it could have been a lot funnier, but, even so, it's a useful record of Edwards in his element."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skymovies.sky.com/bottoms-up-2/review |title=Bottoms Up! - Sky Movies HD |publisher=Skymovies.sky.com |date=2003-11-06 |accessdate=2014-03-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329093338/http://skymovies.sky.com/bottoms-up-2/review |archivedate=29 March 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0053668|title=Bottoms Up}}

[[Category:1960 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Associated British Studios]]
[[Category:Films shot in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:1960 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films based on television series]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mario Zampi]]
[[Category:Films set in schools]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:British school comedy films]]

Kay Kendall

2026-06-13T17:36:52Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Kay Kendall

#REDIRECT [[w:Kay Kendall]]

Colin Blakely

2026-06-13T17:31:45Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Colin Blakely

#REDIRECT [[w:Colin Blakely]]

Barbara Hicks

2026-06-13T17:30:18Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Barbara Hicks

#REDIRECT [[w:Barbara Hicks]]

Angus MacPhail

2026-06-13T17:30:02Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Angus MacPhail

#REDIRECT [[w:Angus MacPhail]]

Simon Williams (actor)

2026-06-13T15:05:56Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Simon Williams (actor)

#REDIRECT [[w:Simon Williams (actor)]]

Martin Wyldeck

2026-06-13T15:04:45Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Martin Wyldeck

#REDIRECT [[w:Martin Wyldeck|Martin Wyldeck]]

Graham Greene

2026-06-13T15:03:34Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Graham Greene

#REDIRECT [[w:Graham Greene|Graham Greene]]

Ring Dem Bells

2026-06-12T18:16:11Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[Dad's Army]]
| image = Ring dem bells.jpg
| caption =
| series_no = 8
| episode = 1
| director = [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]
| story = [[Jimmy Perry]] and David Croft
| airdate = Friday 5 September 1975 8.00pm (recorded Thursday 3 July 1975)
| length = 30 minutes
| guests =
| prev = [[Turkey Dinner]]
| next = [[When You've Got to Go]]
}}
"'''Ring Dem Bells'''" is the first episode of the eighth series of the British comedy series ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It was originally transmitted on 5 September 1975.

==Synopsis==
The platoon are going to be featured in a film to help the [[w:war effort|war effort]], but are annoyed to find they are playing the [[Nazi]]s. Chaos ensues when they are mistaken for real German soldiers, triggering an [[w:invasion|invasion]] alert.

==Plot==
The platoon are to be featured in a film to help the war effort. Private Pike, a keen cinema-goer, is very excited but once the film producers arrive to measure them for uniforms, it becomes clear that the platoon are going to be playing the Nazis. Despite his protests, Captain Mainwaring is informed that they will be only in the distance anyway. Mainwaring is measured for his uniform, but they do not have an officer's uniform to fit him. Instead, Wilson and Pike are chosen to be the officers. Mainwaring is excused from appearing in the film by the Colonel.

The platoon are dressed as German soldiers for their parts. Pike is enjoying his turn as an officer, [[w:Stechschritt|goosestepping]] around and acting like the German officers he has seen at the cinema. Mainwaring informs the platoon that they must stay inside [[Jones' van (Dad's Army)|Jones' van]] to avoid being spotted and creating an alarm.

Once they reach the film location, they are met by the producer who says that the filming has been postponed due to a problem with the lead actors, much to Mainwaring's disgust. Mainwaring halts outside the "Six Bells" [[public house]] to telephone Headquarters. Pike sees the pub and persuades Wilson that, now they are officers, they should all go for a drink. Thus the platoon converge upon the pub dressed as Nazis, much to the shock of the landlord, who tells his barmaid to warn the village.

Mainwaring discovers what has happened and orders the men outside, where they are met by an angry mob. They accuse Mainwaring of being a [[w:quisling|quisling]]. The landlord telephones [[Walmington-on-Sea]] to tell the Home Guard that Nazis are heading that way. Unfortunately, the telephone is answered by Warden Hodges and the Vicar, who assume the landlord is drunk. After going outside and seeing the backs of the platoon, who are still dressed as Nazis and Mainwaring (whom Hodges declares a traitor) speaking to them, they decide to sound the alarm by ringing the church bells.

The platoon realise what has happened and they rush to the church to try and stop the bells, but the door is locked. Mainwaring tells Pike to phone GHQ to inform them it is not an invasion. They eventually get in after Wilson unbolts the door from the inside, and find a terrified Hodges, Vicar and Verger hanging from above by the bell ropes. Pike returns to inform Mainwaring that he had managed to stop the [[w:Coldstream Guards|Coldstream Guards]] and a whole [[w:Division (military)|armored division]] from coming. Laughing, Pike adds that the whole south coast was on [[w:Alert state|red alert]] and the Brigadier himself wanted to know what "blithering idiot" was responsible. Pike tells Mainwaring that he has made him an appointment to see the Brigadier at 10:30 tomorrow.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
*[[Arthur Lowe]] as [[Captain Mainwaring]]
*[[John Le Mesurier]] as [[Sergeant Wilson]]
*[[Clive Dunn]] as [[Lance Corporal Jones]]
*[[John Laurie]] as [[Private Frazer]]
*[[Arnold Ridley]] as [[Private Godfrey]]
*[[Ian Lavender]] as [[Private Pike]]
*[[Bill Pertwee]] as [[Chief ARP Warden Hodges|ARP Warden Hodges]]
*[[Jack Haig (actor)|Jack Haig]] as [[List of characters in Dad's Army#Guest characters|Mr Palethorpe]], the Landlord
*[[Robert Raglan]] as [[List of characters in Dad's Army#Recurring characters|The Colonel]]
*[[Felix Bowness]] as [[Special Constabulary|Special Constable]]
*[[John Bardon]] as Harold Forster
*[[Hilda Fenemore]] as Queenie Beal
*[[Janet Mahoney]] as Doris, the Barmaid
*[[Adele Strong]] as Lady with the Umbrella
*[[Colin Bean]] as [[List of characters in Dad's Army#Other platoon members|Private Sponge]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
#The title is a reference to [[Duke Ellington]]'s 1930 [[w:Duke Ellington discography#Hit records|song of the same name]].
#BBC audience research at the time found that [[Ian Lavender]] had "surpassed himself" in his performance in a story giving him the "chance to display his versatility and comedy talent".<ref>McCann, ''Dad's Army'' (Fourth Estate, 2001) 198.</ref> Lavender has also said this was one of his favourite episodes.<ref>Richard Webber, ''Dad's Army: A Celebration'' (Virgin Publishing, 1997)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army (series 8) episodes]]
[[Category:1975 British television episodes]]

Only Two Can Play

2026-06-12T18:11:03Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox film
| image = Only Two Can Play poster.jpg
| caption = US cinema poster
| director = [[Sidney Gilliat]]
| producer = [[Leslie Gilliat]]
| screenplay = [[Bryan Forbes]]
| based_on = {{based on|''[[That Uncertain Feeling (novel)|That Uncertain Feeling]]''|[[Kingsley Amis]]}}
| starring = [[Peter Sellers]] [[w:Mai Zetterling|Mai Zetterling]] [[w:Virginia Maskell|Virginia Maskell]] [[Richard Attenborough]]
| music = [[w:Richard Rodney Bennett|Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[w:John Wilcox (cinematographer)|John Wilcox]]
| editing = [[Thelma Connell]]
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]] (UK) [[w:Kingsley-International Pictures|Kingsley-International Pictures]] (US)
| released = 11 January 1962
| runtime = 106 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''Only Two Can Play''''' is a 1962 British [[comedy film]] starring [[Peter Sellers]], based on the 1955 novel ''[[That Uncertain Feeling (novel)|That Uncertain Feeling]]'' by [[Kingsley Amis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b2302d3|title=Only Two Can Play (1962)|publisher=}}</ref> [[Sidney Gilliat]] directed the film from a screenplay by [[Bryan Forbes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/only-two-can-play-v36490/cast-crew|title=Only Two Can Play (1962) - Sidney Gilliat - Cast and Crew - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref>

The film is set in the fictional [[South Wales]] town of Aberdarcy, and largely filmed in and around [[Swansea]], Amis's stated model for Aberdarcy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/27815/Only-Two-Can-Play/notes.html|title=Only Two Can Play (1962) - Notes - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>

==Plot==
John Lewis (Sellers) is a poorly paid and professionally frustrated librarian and occasional drama critic, whose affections fluctuate between glamorous Liz ([[w:Mai Zetterling|Mai Zetterling]]), and his long-suffering wife Jean ([[w:Virginia Maskell|Virginia Maskell]]).

When a better paid job becomes vacant, Lewis is reluctant to apply, but is persuaded to do so by Jean. Then, he meets the obviously attractive Elizabeth Gruffydd-Williams (Liz), a designer with the local [[w:community theatre|amdram]] company and wife of a local [[councillor]].

Liz offers to intercede with her husband to help in getting Lewis the job, and makes it clear that she is attracted to him. Lewis is easily seduced into an affair, although it remains unconsummated.

Having been persuaded by Liz to leave the theatre's new production early one evening for an assignation, Lewis submits a bogus review to the local newspaper, but learns the next morning that the theatre burned down shortly after the play commenced. Jean thus learns of the affair and retaliates by encouraging her old flame Probert ([[Richard Attenborough]]), a self-important literary character and dramatist (who wrote the ill-fated play). Lewis also loses the friendship of his colleague and best friend, Ieuan Jenkins ([[Kenneth Griffith]]), who had a role in the play.

When Lewis is offered the better paid job, he realises that Liz will now use and control him if he lets her. Finally realising the price he has paid, he breaks off the affair and takes a job as a mobile librarian, in the hope that this will keep him away from predatory women. Jean is not so sure that he can resist them, and tags along to keep an eye on him.

==Cast==
* [[Peter Sellers]] as John Lewis
* [[w:Mai Zetterling|Mai Zetterling]] as Liz
* [[w:Virginia Maskell|Virginia Maskell]] as Jean
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Jenkins
* [[Raymond Huntley]] as Vernon
* [[w:David Davies (actor born 1906)|David Davies]] as Benyon
* [[Maudie Edwards]] as Mrs. Davies
* [[Meredith Edwards (actor)|Meredith Edwards]] as Clergyman
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Salter
* [[Frederick Piper]] as Mr. Davies
* [[Graham Stark]] as Mr. Hyman
* [[w:Eynon Evans|Eynon Evans]] as Town Hall Clerk
* [[John Arnatt]] as Bill
* [[w:Sheila Manahan|Sheila Manahan]] as Mrs. Jenkins
* [[Richard Attenborough]] as Probert
* [[w:Howell Evans|Howell Evans]] as Library Policeman (uncredited)
* [[Tenniel Evans]] as Kennedy (uncredited)
* [[w:Laurence Luxton|Laurence Luxton]] as American GI and Driver (uncredited)
* [[Desmond Llewelyn]] as a Vicar
* [[George Woodbridge (actor)|George Woodbridge]] as a Farmer

==Reception==
''[[The Times]]'' reported the film was the third most successful film at the British box office in 1962.<ref>"Money-Making Films Of 1962." The Times [London, England] 4 January 1963: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.</ref> ''[[Films and Filming]]'' said it was the fourth most popular for Britain for the year ended 31 October 1962 after ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]'', ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]'' and ''[[The Young Ones (1961 film)|The Young Ones]]''.<ref>British films are tops at box office Author: Douglas Marlborough Date: Monday, Dec. 10, 1962 Publication: Daily Mail p 3</ref>

It was nominated for [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]] in the 1963 [[BAFTA]] awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1963/film/film-and-british-film|title=1963 Film Film And British Film - BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org}}</ref>

''[[New York Times]]'' film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote: "ANYBODY who could do to organized labor what Peter Sellers did with his thumping performance of a union leader in the British comedy, "[[I'm All Right Jack|I'm All Right, Jack]]," is clearly the fellow to do the same thing to sex. And we are pleased to be able to proclaim he does it in his latest side-splitter, ''Only Two Can Play''. With a script by Bryan Forbes that pops perpetually with some of the brightest British quips of modern times, with Sidney Gilliat directing and with a spanking new Mai Zetterling deftly applying the itching-powders as a grandly seductive Eve, Mr. Sellers performs an old Adam that puts all recent seventh-year scratchers in the shade."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E00E5D8173BE53BBC4951DFB5668389679EDE|title=Movie Review -- Screen: 'Two Can Play':Peter Sellers and Mai Zetterling Star - NYTimes.com|website=www.nytimes.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0056308}}
*{{tcmdb title|id=27815}}

[[Category:1962 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1962 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Kingsley Amis]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sidney Gilliat]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett]]
[[Category:Films set in Wales]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bryan Forbes]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]

Only Two Can Play

2026-06-12T18:06:11Z

Kurt: /* Plot */

{{Infobox film
| image = Only Two Can Play poster.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = US cinema poster
| director = [[Sidney Gilliat]]
| producer = [[Leslie Gilliat]]
| screenplay = [[Bryan Forbes]]
| based_on = {{based on|''[[That Uncertain Feeling (novel)|That Uncertain Feeling]]''|[[Kingsley Amis]]}}
| starring = [[Peter Sellers]] [[Mai Zetterling]] [[Virginia Maskell]] [[Richard Attenborough]]
| music = [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[John Wilcox (cinematographer)|John Wilcox]]
| editing = [[Thelma Connell]]
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]] (UK) [[Kingsley-International Pictures]] (US)
| released = 11 January 1962
| runtime = 106 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''Only Two Can Play''''' is a 1962 British [[comedy film]] starring [[Peter Sellers]], based on the 1955 novel ''[[That Uncertain Feeling (novel)|That Uncertain Feeling]]'' by [[Kingsley Amis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b2302d3|title=Only Two Can Play (1962)|publisher=}}</ref> [[Sidney Gilliat]] directed the film from a screenplay by [[Bryan Forbes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/only-two-can-play-v36490/cast-crew|title=Only Two Can Play (1962) - Sidney Gilliat - Cast and Crew - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref>

The film is set in the fictional [[South Wales]] town of Aberdarcy, and largely filmed in and around [[Swansea]], Amis's stated model for Aberdarcy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/27815/Only-Two-Can-Play/notes.html|title=Only Two Can Play (1962) - Notes - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>

==Plot==
John Lewis (Sellers) is a poorly paid and professionally frustrated librarian and occasional drama critic, whose affections fluctuate between glamorous Liz ([[w:Mai Zetterling|Mai Zetterling]]), and his long-suffering wife Jean ([[w:Virginia Maskell|Virginia Maskell]]).

When a better paid job becomes vacant, Lewis is reluctant to apply, but is persuaded to do so by Jean. Then, he meets the obviously attractive Elizabeth Gruffydd-Williams (Liz), a designer with the local [[w:community theatre|amdram]] company and wife of a local [[councillor]].

Liz offers to intercede with her husband to help in getting Lewis the job, and makes it clear that she is attracted to him. Lewis is easily seduced into an affair, although it remains unconsummated.

Having been persuaded by Liz to leave the theatre's new production early one evening for an assignation, Lewis submits a bogus review to the local newspaper, but learns the next morning that the theatre burned down shortly after the play commenced. Jean thus learns of the affair and retaliates by encouraging her old flame Probert ([[Richard Attenborough]]), a self-important literary character and dramatist (who wrote the ill-fated play). Lewis also loses the friendship of his colleague and best friend, Ieuan Jenkins ([[Kenneth Griffith]]), who had a role in the play.

When Lewis is offered the better paid job, he realises that Liz will now use and control him if he lets her. Finally realising the price he has paid, he breaks off the affair and takes a job as a mobile librarian, in the hope that this will keep him away from predatory women. Jean is not so sure that he can resist them, and tags along to keep an eye on him.

==Cast==
* [[Peter Sellers]] as John Lewis
* [[Mai Zetterling]] as Liz
* [[Virginia Maskell]] as Jean
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Jenkins
* [[Raymond Huntley]] as Vernon
* [[David Davies (actor born 1906)|David Davies]] as Benyon
* [[Maudie Edwards]] as Mrs. Davies
* [[Meredith Edwards (actor)|Meredith Edwards]] as Clergyman
* [[John Le Mesurier]] as Salter
* [[Frederick Piper]] as Mr. Davies
* [[Graham Stark]] as Mr. Hyman
* [[Eynon Evans]] as Town Hall Clerk
* [[John Arnatt]] as Bill
* [[Sheila Manahan]] as Mrs. Jenkins
* [[Richard Attenborough]] as Probert
* [[Howell Evans]] as Library Policeman (uncredited)
* [[Tenniel Evans]] as Kennedy (uncredited)
* [[Laurence Luxton]] as American GI and Driver (uncredited)
* [[Desmond Llewelyn]] as a Vicar
* [[George Woodbridge (actor)|George Woodbridge]] as a Farmer

==Reception==
''[[The Times]]'' reported the film was the third most successful film at the British box office in 1962.<ref>"Money-Making Films Of 1962." The Times [London, England] 4 January 1963: 4. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.</ref> ''[[Films and Filming]]'' said it was the fourth most popular for Britain for the year ended 31 October 1962 after ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]'', ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]'' and ''[[The Young Ones (1961 film)|The Young Ones]]''.<ref>British films are tops at box office Author: Douglas Marlborough Date: Monday, Dec. 10, 1962 Publication: Daily Mail p 3</ref>

It was nominated for [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]] in the 1963 [[BAFTA]] awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1963/film/film-and-british-film|title=1963 Film Film And British Film - BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org}}</ref>

''[[New York Times]]'' film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote: "ANYBODY who could do to organized labor what Peter Sellers did with his thumping performance of a union leader in the British comedy, "[[I'm All Right Jack|I'm All Right, Jack]]," is clearly the fellow to do the same thing to sex. And we are pleased to be able to proclaim he does it in his latest side-splitter, ''Only Two Can Play''. With a script by Bryan Forbes that pops perpetually with some of the brightest British quips of modern times, with Sidney Gilliat directing and with a spanking new Mai Zetterling deftly applying the itching-powders as a grandly seductive Eve, Mr. Sellers performs an old Adam that puts all recent seventh-year scratchers in the shade."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E00E5D8173BE53BBC4951DFB5668389679EDE|title=Movie Review -- Screen: 'Two Can Play':Peter Sellers and Mai Zetterling Star - NYTimes.com|website=www.nytimes.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0056308}}
*{{tcmdb title|id=27815}}

[[Category:1962 films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1962 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Kingsley Amis]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sidney Gilliat]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett]]
[[Category:Films set in Wales]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bryan Forbes]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]

The Ghost Train (play)

2026-06-10T17:19:54Z

Kurt: /* Original cast */

{{italic title}}
{{Infobox play
| name =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| writer = [[Arnold Ridley]]
| based_on = 
| director =
| characters = {{plainlist|
*Saul Hodgkin
*Richard Winthrop
*Elsie
*Charles Murdoch
*Peggy Murdoch
*Miss Bourne
*Teddy Deakin
*Julia Price
*Herbert Price
*John Stirling
*Jackson
*Smith}}
| mute =
| setting = A deserted British railway station
| premiere = 
| place = [[Brighton]]
| orig_lang = English
| subject = The social interaction of a group of railway passengers
| genre = Comedy-Thriller
| web =
}}
'''''The Ghost Train''''' is a stage comedy-[[w:thriller (genre)|thriller]], written in 1923 by the English actor and playwright [[Arnold Ridley]].

The story centres upon the social interaction of a group of railway passengers who have been stranded at a remote rural station overnight, and are increasingly threatened by a latent external force, with a [[denouement]] ending.

The play ran for over a year in its original sold-out London theatrical run, and is regarded as a modern minor classic. It established the 20th century dramatic genre of "strangers stranded together in a railway scenario in constrained circumstances" thrillers, leading to the films such as ''[[The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)|The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938), ''[[Night Train to Munich|Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940), ''[[The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film)|The Taking of Pelham One Two Three]]'' (1974) and ''[[Narrow Margin|Narrow Margin]]'' (1990).

==Background==
Ridley was inspired to write the play after becoming stranded overnight at [[Mangotsfield railway station|Mangotsfield railway station]] (a now "lost station",<ref>{{cite web|title=Film of the site of the lost station in 2011|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW6qrtubSI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/QRW6qrtubSI |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|publisher=[[YouTube|YouTube]]|accessdate=2020-06-15}}{{cbignore}}</ref> on the defunct [[w:Midland Railway|Midland Railway]] Company's main line), during a rail journey through the [[Gloucestershire]] countryside. The deserted station's atmosphere, combined with hearing the non-stop [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] to [[Gloucester]] express using an adjacent curved diversionary [[main line (railway)|main line]] to by-pass Mangotsfield, which created the illusion of a train approaching, passing through and departing, but not being seen, impressed itself upon Ridley's senses. The play took him only a week to write. After a première in [[Brighton]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/train.htm|title=Full Steam Ahead...|website=Classichorror.free-online.co.uk|accessdate=2020-06-16}}</ref> it transferred to London's [[St Martin's Theatre|St Martin's Theatre]], where – despite unenthusiastic reviews from the theatre press critics – it played to sell-out audiences from November 1925 to March 1927.<ref name=times>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 February 1927, p. 10</ref>

==Original cast==
{{Small|''Source''}}<ref>"St. Martin's Theatre", ''The Times'', 25 November 1925, p. 14</ref>
*Caleb Porter as Saul Hodgkin
*[[w:G. H. Mulcaster|G. H. Mulcaster]] as Richard Winthrop
*Edith Saville as Elsie
*Basil Howes as Charles Murdoch
*[[w:Edna Davies|Edna Davies]] as Peggy Murdoch
*Gladys Ffoliott as Miss Bourne
*Frederick T. Cooper as Teddy Deakin
*[[w:Mary Clare|Mary Clare]] as Julia Price
*Neville Brook as Herbert Price
*[[w:Vincent Holman|Vincent Holman]] as John Stirling
*Walter Pemberton as Jackson
*Wilfred Langley as Smith

Changes to the cast during the run included [[w:Sydney Fairbrother|Sydney Fairbrother]] (from June 1926) as Miss Bourne,<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 3 June 1926, p. 14</ref> succeeded in the role by [[w:Connie Ediss|Connie Ediss]] in November 1926.<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 October 1926, p. 10</ref>

Ridley himself played Saul Hodgkin, the station master, in several productions over many years. He told ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1976 that when he first played the part he had to make up carefully to look old enough, but latterly "I had a job to make myself look young enough".<ref>Dixon, Stephen. "Pte Godfrey's private world", ''The Guardian'', 10 January 1976, p. 9</ref>

==Plot summary==
The plot revolves around a party of assorted railway travellers who find themselves stranded in the waiting room of an isolated country station in the evening. The [[station master]] tries to persuade them to leave the site as he is closing the station for the night. They refuse to leave, citing the lack of alternative accommodation for several miles around. He warns them of the supernatural danger of a spectral passenger train, the ghost of one that fatally wrecked in the locality several years before, that sometimes haunts the line at night, bringing death to all who set eyes upon it. Incredulous of his story, they still refuse to leave, and he departs leaving them facing a night at the station.

The main body of the play is then taken up with the interaction of the varied assortment of the passengers: strangers thrown randomly together in the odd social intimacy of happenstance that rail travel involves, representing a cross-section of English 1920s society. There are a variety of escalating dramatic incidents combined with a heightening tension as the latent threat of the spectral train's possible appearance is ultimately dramatically realised, bringing disaster and death to the group as foretold.

The story then resolves from a socio-suspense drama into a spy adventure, when it is revealed that the "ghost train" is quite real and is being used by [[communism|communist]] revolutionaries to smuggle machine guns from the [[Soviet Union]] into England, and the story of the "ghost-train" has been concocted to scare potential witnesses away from the scene of the operation. A [[MI5|British Government]] secret agent incognito in the stranded passengers' midst is then revealed; the agent confronts the revolutionary gang in a gun battle on the station, and the revolutionaries' covert operation is defeated.

==Production==
In its first run in London, for its climactic moment elaborate special-effects utilizing visual and audio devices were used to create the sensation of a train passing close by on the stage at high speed, including garden-rollers running over wooden laths, thunder sheets, etc. Reviewing the premiere in ''The Manchester Guardian'', [[Ivor Brown]] wrote, "the gentleman in charge of 'Noises off' becomes at times the protagonist, ... he can make a noise so like a train that he might impose on the station master of a terminus; meanwhile, he can throw in a hurricane, as it were, with the other hand."<ref>Brown, Ivor. "The Ghost Train", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 24 November 1925, p. 14</ref>

==Film and broadcast adaptations==
* Possibly the first film to be based on the play's central premise is the American silent ''[[w:The Phantom Express (film 1925)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1925), although there is no acknowledgement of this in that production's credits.
* The first credited filmed version was a German-British [[silent film]] co-production the ''[[w:Ghost Train (1927 film)|Ghost Train]]'' in 1927.
* The next film, starring comedian [[Jack Hulbert]], was ''[[The Ghost Train (1931 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1931), only survives in an incomplete form.
* ''[[w:The Phantom Express (1932 film)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1932) made in Hollywood the next year bears close similarity to the play's theme, but it is unacknowledged in its credits.
* In 1937, another version was produced ''[[The Ghost Train (1937 film)|The Ghost Train]]'', starring Clifford Benn, [[w:John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]], and [[w:Hugh Dempster|Hugh Dempster]].
* ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937) starring [[Will Hay]], was adapted from the play.<ref>Fuller, Graham. "Mystery Train", ''Sight and Sound'', Volume 18, no 1 (January 2008), pp. 36–40</ref>
* On 28 December 1937, the BBC broadcast a forty-minute performance of the play directed by [[w:John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]].<ref>"Broadcasting", ''The Times'', 28 December 1937, p. 19</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' review of the broadcast stating: "Once more it was very effective, the wind-machine working overtime from the start, doors opening spontaneously as on the best-ordered stages, bells tinkling ominously ... and an excellent train flying madly by beyond the waiting-room windows."<ref>"Televised Drama", ''The Times'', 29 December 1937, p. 8</ref>
* In 1939, a filmed version was produced in the Netherlands, ''[[De Spooktrein]]''.
* The play was reprised and adapted during [[World War II]] and remade as ''[[The Ghost Train (1941 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1941), starring [[Arthur Askey]] as Tommy Gander and [[Richard Murdoch]] as Teddy Deakin. The communist villains of the original production were replaced with Nazi [[fifth column]]ists.
* In 1951, a vinyl recording of the play was produced and commercially released in England by [[Decca Records]] (Release catalogue No.LK4040), starring [[Claude Hulbert]] in the role of Teddy Deakin (whose brother Jack had played the role 20 years earlier in a cinema release), with Arnold Ridley as the Station Master.
*[[George Posford]] and [[Eric Maschwitz]] collaborated on ''Happy Holiday'' (1954), a musical version of the play.
* A German television version of the play entitled ''Der Geisterzug'' was produced in 1957.
* A film was made in Denmark entitled ''Spogelsestoget'' – ''[[Ghost Train International]]'' (1976).
* A radio version of ''The Ghost Train'', adapted by [[Shaun McKenna]], directed by Marion Nancarrow and starring [[Adam Godley]] as Teddy Deakin, was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] in January 1998.<ref>
{{cite serial
|title = Arnold Ridley - The Ghost Train
|network = [[BBC]]
|station = [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]]
|date = January 1998
|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jyx0
|access-date = 1 August 2018
}}</ref> It has subsequently been repeated on [[BBC Radio 7]] in 2008, 2009, 2010 and on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] in 2011 and most recently on 3 January 2015.<ref>Pick of the Day", ''The Sunday Times'', 16 October 2011, p. 59</ref>
* An audio version of the play was recorded by Fantom Films at the 'Oxygen Rooms' in [[Birmingham]] in 2010, directed/produced by [[Dexter O'Neill]].

==Books==
A novel based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' was published in 1927.<ref>Adapted by [[Ruth Alexander (author)|Ruth Alexander]] (Pub. 'The Reader's Library Publishing Company, Ltd.).</ref>

There is a strong resemblance between several elements of this plot and the "spook train" in ''[[Five Go Off to Camp]]'' by [[Enid Blyton]] (published 1948).

==Opera==
A chamber opera based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' debuted at the Carolina Chamber Music Festival in [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], North Carolina, US, in September 2012, scored by Paul Crabtree for six singers and an instrumental ensemble. In February 2016, it was performed by the [[Peabody Institute|Peabody Chamber Opera]] in the roundhouse of the [[B&O Railroad Museum]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], Maryland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/|title=The Ghost Train – Overview|author=Paul Crabtree|website=Paulcraqbtree.net|accessdate=2020-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/artsmash/bal-peabody-chamber-opera-offers-mostly-effective-staging-of-ghost-train-20160215-story.html|title=Peabody Chamber Opera a mostly effective conductor for 'The Ghost Train'|author=Tim Smith|date=15 February 2016|accessdate=2016-07-11|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title | id=0033660 | title=The Ghost Train}}
* [http://paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/ Composer Paul Crabtree on "The Ghost Train"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Train, The}}
[[Category:1923 plays]]
[[Category:British plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays by Arnold Ridley]]
[[Category:Plays about rail transport]]
[[Category:Plays adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Comedy thriller plays]]

The Ghost Train (play)

2026-06-10T17:16:27Z

Kurt: /* Film and broadcast adaptations */

{{italic title}}
{{Infobox play
| name =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| writer = [[Arnold Ridley]]
| based_on = 
| director =
| characters = {{plainlist|
*Saul Hodgkin
*Richard Winthrop
*Elsie
*Charles Murdoch
*Peggy Murdoch
*Miss Bourne
*Teddy Deakin
*Julia Price
*Herbert Price
*John Stirling
*Jackson
*Smith}}
| mute =
| setting = A deserted British railway station
| premiere = 
| place = [[Brighton]]
| orig_lang = English
| subject = The social interaction of a group of railway passengers
| genre = Comedy-Thriller
| web =
}}
'''''The Ghost Train''''' is a stage comedy-[[w:thriller (genre)|thriller]], written in 1923 by the English actor and playwright [[Arnold Ridley]].

The story centres upon the social interaction of a group of railway passengers who have been stranded at a remote rural station overnight, and are increasingly threatened by a latent external force, with a [[denouement]] ending.

The play ran for over a year in its original sold-out London theatrical run, and is regarded as a modern minor classic. It established the 20th century dramatic genre of "strangers stranded together in a railway scenario in constrained circumstances" thrillers, leading to the films such as ''[[The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)|The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938), ''[[Night Train to Munich|Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940), ''[[The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film)|The Taking of Pelham One Two Three]]'' (1974) and ''[[Narrow Margin|Narrow Margin]]'' (1990).

==Background==
Ridley was inspired to write the play after becoming stranded overnight at [[Mangotsfield railway station|Mangotsfield railway station]] (a now "lost station",<ref>{{cite web|title=Film of the site of the lost station in 2011|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW6qrtubSI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/QRW6qrtubSI |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|publisher=[[YouTube|YouTube]]|accessdate=2020-06-15}}{{cbignore}}</ref> on the defunct [[w:Midland Railway|Midland Railway]] Company's main line), during a rail journey through the [[Gloucestershire]] countryside. The deserted station's atmosphere, combined with hearing the non-stop [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] to [[Gloucester]] express using an adjacent curved diversionary [[main line (railway)|main line]] to by-pass Mangotsfield, which created the illusion of a train approaching, passing through and departing, but not being seen, impressed itself upon Ridley's senses. The play took him only a week to write. After a première in [[Brighton]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/train.htm|title=Full Steam Ahead...|website=Classichorror.free-online.co.uk|accessdate=2020-06-16}}</ref> it transferred to London's [[St Martin's Theatre|St Martin's Theatre]], where – despite unenthusiastic reviews from the theatre press critics – it played to sell-out audiences from November 1925 to March 1927.<ref name=times>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 February 1927, p. 10</ref>

==Original cast==
{{Small|''Source''}}<ref>"St. Martin's Theatre", ''The Times'', 25 November 1925, p. 14</ref>
*Caleb Porter as Saul Hodgkin
*[[G. H. Mulcaster]] as Richard Winthrop
*Edith Saville as Elsie
*Basil Howes as Charles Murdoch
*[[Edna Davies]] as Peggy Murdoch
*Gladys Ffoliott as Miss Bourne
*Frederick T. Cooper as Teddy Deakin
*[[Mary Clare]] as Julia Price
*Neville Brook as Herbert Price
*[[Vincent Holman]] as John Stirling
*Walter Pemberton as Jackson
*Wilfred Langley as Smith

Changes to the cast during the run included [[Sydney Fairbrother]] (from June 1926) as Miss Bourne,<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 3 June 1926, p. 14</ref> succeeded in the role by [[Connie Ediss]] in November 1926.<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 October 1926, p. 10</ref>

Ridley himself played Saul Hodgkin, the station master, in several productions over many years. He told ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1976 that when he first played the part he had to make up carefully to look old enough, but latterly "I had a job to make myself look young enough".<ref>Dixon, Stephen. "Pte Godfrey's private world", ''The Guardian'', 10 January 1976, p. 9</ref>

==Plot summary==
The plot revolves around a party of assorted railway travellers who find themselves stranded in the waiting room of an isolated country station in the evening. The [[station master]] tries to persuade them to leave the site as he is closing the station for the night. They refuse to leave, citing the lack of alternative accommodation for several miles around. He warns them of the supernatural danger of a spectral passenger train, the ghost of one that fatally wrecked in the locality several years before, that sometimes haunts the line at night, bringing death to all who set eyes upon it. Incredulous of his story, they still refuse to leave, and he departs leaving them facing a night at the station.

The main body of the play is then taken up with the interaction of the varied assortment of the passengers: strangers thrown randomly together in the odd social intimacy of happenstance that rail travel involves, representing a cross-section of English 1920s society. There are a variety of escalating dramatic incidents combined with a heightening tension as the latent threat of the spectral train's possible appearance is ultimately dramatically realised, bringing disaster and death to the group as foretold.

The story then resolves from a socio-suspense drama into a spy adventure, when it is revealed that the "ghost train" is quite real and is being used by [[communism|communist]] revolutionaries to smuggle machine guns from the [[Soviet Union]] into England, and the story of the "ghost-train" has been concocted to scare potential witnesses away from the scene of the operation. A [[MI5|British Government]] secret agent incognito in the stranded passengers' midst is then revealed; the agent confronts the revolutionary gang in a gun battle on the station, and the revolutionaries' covert operation is defeated.

==Production==
In its first run in London, for its climactic moment elaborate special-effects utilizing visual and audio devices were used to create the sensation of a train passing close by on the stage at high speed, including garden-rollers running over wooden laths, thunder sheets, etc. Reviewing the premiere in ''The Manchester Guardian'', [[Ivor Brown]] wrote, "the gentleman in charge of 'Noises off' becomes at times the protagonist, ... he can make a noise so like a train that he might impose on the station master of a terminus; meanwhile, he can throw in a hurricane, as it were, with the other hand."<ref>Brown, Ivor. "The Ghost Train", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 24 November 1925, p. 14</ref>

==Film and broadcast adaptations==
* Possibly the first film to be based on the play's central premise is the American silent ''[[w:The Phantom Express (film 1925)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1925), although there is no acknowledgement of this in that production's credits.
* The first credited filmed version was a German-British [[silent film]] co-production the ''[[w:Ghost Train (1927 film)|Ghost Train]]'' in 1927.
* The next film, starring comedian [[Jack Hulbert]], was ''[[The Ghost Train (1931 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1931), only survives in an incomplete form.
* ''[[w:The Phantom Express (1932 film)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1932) made in Hollywood the next year bears close similarity to the play's theme, but it is unacknowledged in its credits.
* In 1937, another version was produced ''[[The Ghost Train (1937 film)|The Ghost Train]]'', starring Clifford Benn, [[w:John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]], and [[w:Hugh Dempster|Hugh Dempster]].
* ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937) starring [[Will Hay]], was adapted from the play.<ref>Fuller, Graham. "Mystery Train", ''Sight and Sound'', Volume 18, no 1 (January 2008), pp. 36–40</ref>
* On 28 December 1937, the BBC broadcast a forty-minute performance of the play directed by [[w:John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]].<ref>"Broadcasting", ''The Times'', 28 December 1937, p. 19</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' review of the broadcast stating: "Once more it was very effective, the wind-machine working overtime from the start, doors opening spontaneously as on the best-ordered stages, bells tinkling ominously ... and an excellent train flying madly by beyond the waiting-room windows."<ref>"Televised Drama", ''The Times'', 29 December 1937, p. 8</ref>
* In 1939, a filmed version was produced in the Netherlands, ''[[De Spooktrein]]''.
* The play was reprised and adapted during [[World War II]] and remade as ''[[The Ghost Train (1941 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1941), starring [[Arthur Askey]] as Tommy Gander and [[Richard Murdoch]] as Teddy Deakin. The communist villains of the original production were replaced with Nazi [[fifth column]]ists.
* In 1951, a vinyl recording of the play was produced and commercially released in England by [[Decca Records]] (Release catalogue No.LK4040), starring [[Claude Hulbert]] in the role of Teddy Deakin (whose brother Jack had played the role 20 years earlier in a cinema release), with Arnold Ridley as the Station Master.
*[[George Posford]] and [[Eric Maschwitz]] collaborated on ''Happy Holiday'' (1954), a musical version of the play.
* A German television version of the play entitled ''Der Geisterzug'' was produced in 1957.
* A film was made in Denmark entitled ''Spogelsestoget'' – ''[[Ghost Train International]]'' (1976).
* A radio version of ''The Ghost Train'', adapted by [[Shaun McKenna]], directed by Marion Nancarrow and starring [[Adam Godley]] as Teddy Deakin, was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] in January 1998.<ref>
{{cite serial
|title = Arnold Ridley - The Ghost Train
|network = [[BBC]]
|station = [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]]
|date = January 1998
|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jyx0
|access-date = 1 August 2018
}}</ref> It has subsequently been repeated on [[BBC Radio 7]] in 2008, 2009, 2010 and on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] in 2011 and most recently on 3 January 2015.<ref>Pick of the Day", ''The Sunday Times'', 16 October 2011, p. 59</ref>
* An audio version of the play was recorded by Fantom Films at the 'Oxygen Rooms' in [[Birmingham]] in 2010, directed/produced by [[Dexter O'Neill]].

==Books==
A novel based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' was published in 1927.<ref>Adapted by [[Ruth Alexander (author)|Ruth Alexander]] (Pub. 'The Reader's Library Publishing Company, Ltd.).</ref>

There is a strong resemblance between several elements of this plot and the "spook train" in ''[[Five Go Off to Camp]]'' by [[Enid Blyton]] (published 1948).

==Opera==
A chamber opera based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' debuted at the Carolina Chamber Music Festival in [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], North Carolina, US, in September 2012, scored by Paul Crabtree for six singers and an instrumental ensemble. In February 2016, it was performed by the [[Peabody Institute|Peabody Chamber Opera]] in the roundhouse of the [[B&O Railroad Museum]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], Maryland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/|title=The Ghost Train – Overview|author=Paul Crabtree|website=Paulcraqbtree.net|accessdate=2020-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/artsmash/bal-peabody-chamber-opera-offers-mostly-effective-staging-of-ghost-train-20160215-story.html|title=Peabody Chamber Opera a mostly effective conductor for 'The Ghost Train'|author=Tim Smith|date=15 February 2016|accessdate=2016-07-11|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title | id=0033660 | title=The Ghost Train}}
* [http://paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/ Composer Paul Crabtree on "The Ghost Train"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Train, The}}
[[Category:1923 plays]]
[[Category:British plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays by Arnold Ridley]]
[[Category:Plays about rail transport]]
[[Category:Plays adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Comedy thriller plays]]

The Ghost Train (play)

2026-06-10T17:14:18Z

Kurt:

{{italic title}}
{{Infobox play
| name =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| writer = [[Arnold Ridley]]
| based_on = 
| director =
| characters = {{plainlist|
*Saul Hodgkin
*Richard Winthrop
*Elsie
*Charles Murdoch
*Peggy Murdoch
*Miss Bourne
*Teddy Deakin
*Julia Price
*Herbert Price
*John Stirling
*Jackson
*Smith}}
| mute =
| setting = A deserted British railway station
| premiere = 
| place = [[Brighton]]
| orig_lang = English
| subject = The social interaction of a group of railway passengers
| genre = Comedy-Thriller
| web =
}}
'''''The Ghost Train''''' is a stage comedy-[[w:thriller (genre)|thriller]], written in 1923 by the English actor and playwright [[Arnold Ridley]].

The story centres upon the social interaction of a group of railway passengers who have been stranded at a remote rural station overnight, and are increasingly threatened by a latent external force, with a [[denouement]] ending.

The play ran for over a year in its original sold-out London theatrical run, and is regarded as a modern minor classic. It established the 20th century dramatic genre of "strangers stranded together in a railway scenario in constrained circumstances" thrillers, leading to the films such as ''[[The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)|The Lady Vanishes]]'' (1938), ''[[Night Train to Munich|Night Train to Munich]]'' (1940), ''[[The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974 film)|The Taking of Pelham One Two Three]]'' (1974) and ''[[Narrow Margin|Narrow Margin]]'' (1990).

==Background==
Ridley was inspired to write the play after becoming stranded overnight at [[Mangotsfield railway station|Mangotsfield railway station]] (a now "lost station",<ref>{{cite web|title=Film of the site of the lost station in 2011|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRW6qrtubSI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/QRW6qrtubSI |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|publisher=[[YouTube|YouTube]]|accessdate=2020-06-15}}{{cbignore}}</ref> on the defunct [[w:Midland Railway|Midland Railway]] Company's main line), during a rail journey through the [[Gloucestershire]] countryside. The deserted station's atmosphere, combined with hearing the non-stop [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] to [[Gloucester]] express using an adjacent curved diversionary [[main line (railway)|main line]] to by-pass Mangotsfield, which created the illusion of a train approaching, passing through and departing, but not being seen, impressed itself upon Ridley's senses. The play took him only a week to write. After a première in [[Brighton]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/train.htm|title=Full Steam Ahead...|website=Classichorror.free-online.co.uk|accessdate=2020-06-16}}</ref> it transferred to London's [[St Martin's Theatre|St Martin's Theatre]], where – despite unenthusiastic reviews from the theatre press critics – it played to sell-out audiences from November 1925 to March 1927.<ref name=times>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 February 1927, p. 10</ref>

==Original cast==
{{Small|''Source''}}<ref>"St. Martin's Theatre", ''The Times'', 25 November 1925, p. 14</ref>
*Caleb Porter as Saul Hodgkin
*[[G. H. Mulcaster]] as Richard Winthrop
*Edith Saville as Elsie
*Basil Howes as Charles Murdoch
*[[Edna Davies]] as Peggy Murdoch
*Gladys Ffoliott as Miss Bourne
*Frederick T. Cooper as Teddy Deakin
*[[Mary Clare]] as Julia Price
*Neville Brook as Herbert Price
*[[Vincent Holman]] as John Stirling
*Walter Pemberton as Jackson
*Wilfred Langley as Smith

Changes to the cast during the run included [[Sydney Fairbrother]] (from June 1926) as Miss Bourne,<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 3 June 1926, p. 14</ref> succeeded in the role by [[Connie Ediss]] in November 1926.<ref>"The Theatres", ''The Times'', 28 October 1926, p. 10</ref>

Ridley himself played Saul Hodgkin, the station master, in several productions over many years. He told ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1976 that when he first played the part he had to make up carefully to look old enough, but latterly "I had a job to make myself look young enough".<ref>Dixon, Stephen. "Pte Godfrey's private world", ''The Guardian'', 10 January 1976, p. 9</ref>

==Plot summary==
The plot revolves around a party of assorted railway travellers who find themselves stranded in the waiting room of an isolated country station in the evening. The [[station master]] tries to persuade them to leave the site as he is closing the station for the night. They refuse to leave, citing the lack of alternative accommodation for several miles around. He warns them of the supernatural danger of a spectral passenger train, the ghost of one that fatally wrecked in the locality several years before, that sometimes haunts the line at night, bringing death to all who set eyes upon it. Incredulous of his story, they still refuse to leave, and he departs leaving them facing a night at the station.

The main body of the play is then taken up with the interaction of the varied assortment of the passengers: strangers thrown randomly together in the odd social intimacy of happenstance that rail travel involves, representing a cross-section of English 1920s society. There are a variety of escalating dramatic incidents combined with a heightening tension as the latent threat of the spectral train's possible appearance is ultimately dramatically realised, bringing disaster and death to the group as foretold.

The story then resolves from a socio-suspense drama into a spy adventure, when it is revealed that the "ghost train" is quite real and is being used by [[communism|communist]] revolutionaries to smuggle machine guns from the [[Soviet Union]] into England, and the story of the "ghost-train" has been concocted to scare potential witnesses away from the scene of the operation. A [[MI5|British Government]] secret agent incognito in the stranded passengers' midst is then revealed; the agent confronts the revolutionary gang in a gun battle on the station, and the revolutionaries' covert operation is defeated.

==Production==
In its first run in London, for its climactic moment elaborate special-effects utilizing visual and audio devices were used to create the sensation of a train passing close by on the stage at high speed, including garden-rollers running over wooden laths, thunder sheets, etc. Reviewing the premiere in ''The Manchester Guardian'', [[Ivor Brown]] wrote, "the gentleman in charge of 'Noises off' becomes at times the protagonist, ... he can make a noise so like a train that he might impose on the station master of a terminus; meanwhile, he can throw in a hurricane, as it were, with the other hand."<ref>Brown, Ivor. "The Ghost Train", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 24 November 1925, p. 14</ref>

==Film and broadcast adaptations==
* Possibly the first film to be based on the play's central premise is the American silent ''[[w:The Phantom Express (film 1925)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1925), although there is no acknowledgement of this in that production's credits.
* The first credited filmed version was a German-British [[silent film]] co-production the ''[[w:Ghost Train (1927 film)|Ghost Train]]'' in 1927.
* The next film, starring comedian [[Jack Hulbert]], was ''[[The Ghost Train (1931 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1931), only survives in an incomplete form.
* ''[[w:The Phantom Express (1932 film)|The Phantom Express]]'' (1932) made in Hollywood the next year bears close similarity to the play's theme, but it is unacknowledged in its credits.
* In 1937, another version was produced ''[[The Ghost Train (1937 film)|The Ghost Train]]'', starring Clifford Benn, [[w:John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]], and [[w:Hugh Dempster|Hugh Dempster]].
* ''[[Oh, Mr Porter!]]'' (1937) starring [[Will Hay]], was adapted from the play.<ref>Fuller, Graham. "Mystery Train", ''Sight and Sound'', Volume 18, no 1 (January 2008), pp. 36–40</ref>
* On 28 December 1937, the BBC broadcast a forty-minute performance of the play directed by [[John Counsell (theatre director)|John Counsell]].<ref>"Broadcasting", ''The Times'', 28 December 1937, p. 19</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' review of the broadcast stating: "Once more it was very effective, the wind-machine working overtime from the start, doors opening spontaneously as on the best-ordered stages, bells tinkling ominously ... and an excellent train flying madly by beyond the waiting-room windows."<ref>"Televised Drama", ''The Times'', 29 December 1937, p. 8</ref>
* In 1939, a filmed version was produced in the Netherlands, ''[[De Spooktrein]]''.
* The play was reprised and adapted during [[World War II]] and remade as ''[[The Ghost Train (1941 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1941), starring [[Arthur Askey]] as Tommy Gander and [[Richard Murdoch]] as Teddy Deakin. The communist villains of the original production were replaced with Nazi [[fifth column]]ists.
* In 1951, a vinyl recording of the play was produced and commercially released in England by [[Decca Records]] (Release catalogue No.LK4040), starring [[Claude Hulbert]] in the role of Teddy Deakin (whose brother Jack had played the role 20 years earlier in a cinema release), with Arnold Ridley as the Station Master.
*[[George Posford]] and [[Eric Maschwitz]] collaborated on ''Happy Holiday'' (1954), a musical version of the play.
* A German television version of the play entitled ''Der Geisterzug'' was produced in 1957.
* A film was made in Denmark entitled ''Spogelsestoget'' – ''[[Ghost Train International]]'' (1976).
* A radio version of ''The Ghost Train'', adapted by [[Shaun McKenna]], directed by Marion Nancarrow and starring [[Adam Godley]] as Teddy Deakin, was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] in January 1998.<ref>
{{cite serial
|title = Arnold Ridley - The Ghost Train
|network = [[BBC]]
|station = [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]]
|date = January 1998
|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jyx0
|access-date = 1 August 2018
}}</ref> It has subsequently been repeated on [[BBC Radio 7]] in 2008, 2009, 2010 and on [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]] in 2011 and most recently on 3 January 2015.<ref>Pick of the Day", ''The Sunday Times'', 16 October 2011, p. 59</ref>
* An audio version of the play was recorded by Fantom Films at the 'Oxygen Rooms' in [[Birmingham]] in 2010, directed/produced by [[Dexter O'Neill]].

==Books==
A novel based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' was published in 1927.<ref>Adapted by [[Ruth Alexander (author)|Ruth Alexander]] (Pub. 'The Reader's Library Publishing Company, Ltd.).</ref>

There is a strong resemblance between several elements of this plot and the "spook train" in ''[[Five Go Off to Camp]]'' by [[Enid Blyton]] (published 1948).

==Opera==
A chamber opera based upon the play entitled ''The Ghost Train'' debuted at the Carolina Chamber Music Festival in [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], North Carolina, US, in September 2012, scored by Paul Crabtree for six singers and an instrumental ensemble. In February 2016, it was performed by the [[Peabody Institute|Peabody Chamber Opera]] in the roundhouse of the [[B&O Railroad Museum]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], Maryland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/|title=The Ghost Train – Overview|author=Paul Crabtree|website=Paulcraqbtree.net|accessdate=2020-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/artsmash/bal-peabody-chamber-opera-offers-mostly-effective-staging-of-ghost-train-20160215-story.html|title=Peabody Chamber Opera a mostly effective conductor for 'The Ghost Train'|author=Tim Smith|date=15 February 2016|accessdate=2016-07-11|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title | id=0033660 | title=The Ghost Train}}
* [http://paulcrabtree.net/the-ghost-train-overview/ Composer Paul Crabtree on "The Ghost Train"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Train, The}}
[[Category:1923 plays]]
[[Category:British plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays by Arnold Ridley]]
[[Category:Plays about rail transport]]
[[Category:Plays adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Comedy thriller plays]]

Dad's Army Appreciation Society

2026-06-06T23:46:47Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox organization
|name = Dad's Army Appreciation Society
|image = DAASLogo.svg
|image_border =
|alt = 
|caption = Logo
|abbreviation =
|motto =
|formation = {{Start date|1993}}
|headquarters =
|location =
|num_staff =
|num_volunteers =
|budget =
|website = http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/
|remarks =
}}

The '''Dad's Army Appreciation Society''' is an organisation dedicated to the British television show ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It is run by a small group of individuals and has over 1,700 members.

==History==
The society was founded in 1993 by [[Bill Pertwee]] (who played Warden Hodges), [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] (who played the Vicar) and fans of the show. The society, in association with the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]], set up the Dad's Army Collection, which was officially opened on 14 May 2000 by ''Dad's Army'' creators [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]. Also, [[Thetford]] (where much of the show was filmed) opened a [[Dad's Army Museum]] in 2007. In 2003 the secretary of the society, Tony Pritchard, designed a heritage trail for ''Dad's Army'' fans, in part funded through a grant from the [[European Union]].<ref name="TheTimes2003-12-29">{{cite news | date = 29 December 2003 | title = Europe puts Dad's Army on the map | work = [[The Times]] | location = [[London]], United Kingdom | page = 6 }}</ref>

As of 2009, the society had 1,700 members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06" /> having grown from approximately 300-500 members in 1997 and 1998.<ref name="Stephenson1997-11-14">{{cite news | last = Stephenson | first = Hannah | date = 14 November 1997 | title = Wartime Memories Live on... | work = [[The News Letter]] | location = [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]] | page = 12 }}</ref><ref name="Webber1998-07-19">{{cite news | last = Webber | first = Richard | date = 19 July 1998 | title = Why We're Dad's Barmy! | work = [[Sunday Mirror]] | location = [[London]], England | page = 22 }}</ref>

==Key figures==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! Person
|-
| President
| [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]]
|-
| Vice President
| [[Harold Snoad]]
|-
| Membership & Enquiries
| Tony Pritchard
|-
| Magazine Items & Enquiries
| Paul Carpenter
|-
| Video and Audio Library
| Andrew Biggs
|}

==Events==
The society holds many individual events around the country where they show and play rare ''[[Dad's Army]]'' items and footage. However, there is a main event in May/June when the society members meet up, have the annual society dinner, and go to the Dad's Army Collection at the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]].

Events have included a gathering in 1997 at [[The Oval]] attended by a number of the original cast (including [[Clive Dunn]] and [[Ian Lavender]]) as well as the shows writers, [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]],<ref name="TheTimes1997-08-07">{{cite news | date = 7 August 1997 | title = Don't panic | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 14 }}</ref> and a 1998 gathering at [[Cambridge, New Zealand|Cambridge]] (New Zealand) attended by Stephen Lowe, the son of the show's [[Arthur Lowe]] who played [[Captain Mainwaring|Captain George Mainwaring]].<ref name="MacLeod">{{cite news | last = MacLeod | first = Scott | date = 3 August 1998 | title = Don't panic ... it's just Dad's Army | work = [[Waikato Times]] | location = [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], [[New Zealand]] | page = 3 }}</ref> More recently, a 2009 gathering was held at Whitmore Hall at which Frank Williams was able to attend and speak to the society's members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06">{{cite news | date = 6 April 2009 | title = 'They like it up 'em' as star regales fans | work = [[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]] | location = [[Stoke-on-Trent]], United Kingdom | url = http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/like-em-star-regales-fans/article-874570-detail/article.html | access-date = 20 November 2009 }}</ref> and before his death [[Colin Bean|Colin Bean]] (who played Private Sponge in the series) regularly turned out to events, even though he used a wheelchair at the time.<ref name="TheTimes2009-06-24">{{cite news | date = 24 June 2009 | title = Colin Bean - Cameo actor best known for playing Private Sponge in Dad's Army and who often appeared as policemen in other TV programmes | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 59 }}</ref>
Since then (and from 1998) the Society have arranged annual events based at or around Thetford attended by the writers and cast members, including tours of the restricted Stanta Battle Area used for location filming.
The Society organised several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Croft and Perry partnership in 2018.

==''Permission To Speak, Sir!''==
The society publishes a member's magazine called ''Permission To Speak, Sir!'', three times a year. It includes society news, society merchandise and ''Dad's Army'' items for sale by members. Regular features are "Guest Appearances" and "Letters from Members".

In 2018 the Society published an updated version of the ''Dad's Army Companion'' to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

==Video and Audio Library==
The Video and Audio Library features a large selection of video and audio items that can be borrowed by members. In December 2020 a special section of the society's website was set aside for fan fiction written by the members, the first submission was made in January 2021 and was entitled ''Dad’s Army Negotiates Brexit'' and was by [[Niles Schilder|Niles Schilder]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schilder|first=Niles|title=fanfiction|url=http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-22|website=dadsarmy.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126140728/http://dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html |archive-date=26 January 2021 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/companion.html 'Dad's Army Companion']

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army]]
[[Category:Television fan clubs]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1993]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

Dad's Army Appreciation Society

2026-06-06T23:46:04Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox organization
|name = Dad's Army Appreciation Society
|image = DAASLogo.png
|image_border =
|alt = 
|caption = Logo
|abbreviation =
|motto =
|formation = {{Start date|1993}}
|headquarters =
|location =
|num_staff =
|num_volunteers =
|budget =
|website = http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/
|remarks =
}}

The '''Dad's Army Appreciation Society''' is an organisation dedicated to the British television show ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It is run by a small group of individuals and has over 1,700 members.

==History==
The society was founded in 1993 by [[Bill Pertwee]] (who played Warden Hodges), [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] (who played the Vicar) and fans of the show. The society, in association with the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]], set up the Dad's Army Collection, which was officially opened on 14 May 2000 by ''Dad's Army'' creators [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]. Also, [[Thetford]] (where much of the show was filmed) opened a [[Dad's Army Museum]] in 2007. In 2003 the secretary of the society, Tony Pritchard, designed a heritage trail for ''Dad's Army'' fans, in part funded through a grant from the [[European Union]].<ref name="TheTimes2003-12-29">{{cite news | date = 29 December 2003 | title = Europe puts Dad's Army on the map | work = [[The Times]] | location = [[London]], United Kingdom | page = 6 }}</ref>

As of 2009, the society had 1,700 members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06" /> having grown from approximately 300-500 members in 1997 and 1998.<ref name="Stephenson1997-11-14">{{cite news | last = Stephenson | first = Hannah | date = 14 November 1997 | title = Wartime Memories Live on... | work = [[The News Letter]] | location = [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]] | page = 12 }}</ref><ref name="Webber1998-07-19">{{cite news | last = Webber | first = Richard | date = 19 July 1998 | title = Why We're Dad's Barmy! | work = [[Sunday Mirror]] | location = [[London]], England | page = 22 }}</ref>

==Key figures==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! Person
|-
| President
| [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]]
|-
| Vice President
| [[Harold Snoad]]
|-
| Membership & Enquiries
| Tony Pritchard
|-
| Magazine Items & Enquiries
| Paul Carpenter
|-
| Video and Audio Library
| Andrew Biggs
|}

==Events==
The society holds many individual events around the country where they show and play rare ''[[Dad's Army]]'' items and footage. However, there is a main event in May/June when the society members meet up, have the annual society dinner, and go to the Dad's Army Collection at the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]].

Events have included a gathering in 1997 at [[The Oval]] attended by a number of the original cast (including [[Clive Dunn]] and [[Ian Lavender]]) as well as the shows writers, [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]],<ref name="TheTimes1997-08-07">{{cite news | date = 7 August 1997 | title = Don't panic | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 14 }}</ref> and a 1998 gathering at [[Cambridge, New Zealand|Cambridge]] (New Zealand) attended by Stephen Lowe, the son of the show's [[Arthur Lowe]] who played [[Captain Mainwaring|Captain George Mainwaring]].<ref name="MacLeod">{{cite news | last = MacLeod | first = Scott | date = 3 August 1998 | title = Don't panic ... it's just Dad's Army | work = [[Waikato Times]] | location = [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], [[New Zealand]] | page = 3 }}</ref> More recently, a 2009 gathering was held at Whitmore Hall at which Frank Williams was able to attend and speak to the society's members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06">{{cite news | date = 6 April 2009 | title = 'They like it up 'em' as star regales fans | work = [[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]] | location = [[Stoke-on-Trent]], United Kingdom | url = http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/like-em-star-regales-fans/article-874570-detail/article.html | access-date = 20 November 2009 }}</ref> and before his death [[Colin Bean|Colin Bean]] (who played Private Sponge in the series) regularly turned out to events, even though he used a wheelchair at the time.<ref name="TheTimes2009-06-24">{{cite news | date = 24 June 2009 | title = Colin Bean - Cameo actor best known for playing Private Sponge in Dad's Army and who often appeared as policemen in other TV programmes | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 59 }}</ref>
Since then (and from 1998) the Society have arranged annual events based at or around Thetford attended by the writers and cast members, including tours of the restricted Stanta Battle Area used for location filming.
The Society organised several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Croft and Perry partnership in 2018.

==''Permission To Speak, Sir!''==
The society publishes a member's magazine called ''Permission To Speak, Sir!'', three times a year. It includes society news, society merchandise and ''Dad's Army'' items for sale by members. Regular features are "Guest Appearances" and "Letters from Members".

In 2018 the Society published an updated version of the ''Dad's Army Companion'' to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

==Video and Audio Library==
The Video and Audio Library features a large selection of video and audio items that can be borrowed by members. In December 2020 a special section of the society's website was set aside for fan fiction written by the members, the first submission was made in January 2021 and was entitled ''Dad’s Army Negotiates Brexit'' and was by [[Niles Schilder|Niles Schilder]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schilder|first=Niles|title=fanfiction|url=http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-22|website=dadsarmy.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126140728/http://dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html |archive-date=26 January 2021 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/companion.html 'Dad's Army Companion']

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army]]
[[Category:Television fan clubs]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1993]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

Dad's Army Appreciation Society

2026-06-06T23:45:49Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox organization
|name = Dad's Army Appreciation Society
|image = DAASLogo.phg
|image_border =
|alt = 
|caption = Logo
|abbreviation =
|motto =
|formation = {{Start date|1993}}
|headquarters =
|location =
|num_staff =
|num_volunteers =
|budget =
|website = http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/
|remarks =
}}

The '''Dad's Army Appreciation Society''' is an organisation dedicated to the British television show ''[[Dad's Army]]''. It is run by a small group of individuals and has over 1,700 members.

==History==
The society was founded in 1993 by [[Bill Pertwee]] (who played Warden Hodges), [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] (who played the Vicar) and fans of the show. The society, in association with the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]], set up the Dad's Army Collection, which was officially opened on 14 May 2000 by ''Dad's Army'' creators [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]]. Also, [[Thetford]] (where much of the show was filmed) opened a [[Dad's Army Museum]] in 2007. In 2003 the secretary of the society, Tony Pritchard, designed a heritage trail for ''Dad's Army'' fans, in part funded through a grant from the [[European Union]].<ref name="TheTimes2003-12-29">{{cite news | date = 29 December 2003 | title = Europe puts Dad's Army on the map | work = [[The Times]] | location = [[London]], United Kingdom | page = 6 }}</ref>

As of 2009, the society had 1,700 members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06" /> having grown from approximately 300-500 members in 1997 and 1998.<ref name="Stephenson1997-11-14">{{cite news | last = Stephenson | first = Hannah | date = 14 November 1997 | title = Wartime Memories Live on... | work = [[The News Letter]] | location = [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]] | page = 12 }}</ref><ref name="Webber1998-07-19">{{cite news | last = Webber | first = Richard | date = 19 July 1998 | title = Why We're Dad's Barmy! | work = [[Sunday Mirror]] | location = [[London]], England | page = 22 }}</ref>

==Key figures==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! Person
|-
| President
| [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]]
|-
| Vice President
| [[Harold Snoad]]
|-
| Membership & Enquiries
| Tony Pritchard
|-
| Magazine Items & Enquiries
| Paul Carpenter
|-
| Video and Audio Library
| Andrew Biggs
|}

==Events==
The society holds many individual events around the country where they show and play rare ''[[Dad's Army]]'' items and footage. However, there is a main event in May/June when the society members meet up, have the annual society dinner, and go to the Dad's Army Collection at the [[Bressingham Steam and Gardens|Bressingham Steam and Gardens]].

Events have included a gathering in 1997 at [[The Oval]] attended by a number of the original cast (including [[Clive Dunn]] and [[Ian Lavender]]) as well as the shows writers, [[Jimmy Perry]] and [[David Croft (TV producer)|David Croft]],<ref name="TheTimes1997-08-07">{{cite news | date = 7 August 1997 | title = Don't panic | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 14 }}</ref> and a 1998 gathering at [[Cambridge, New Zealand|Cambridge]] (New Zealand) attended by Stephen Lowe, the son of the show's [[Arthur Lowe]] who played [[Captain Mainwaring|Captain George Mainwaring]].<ref name="MacLeod">{{cite news | last = MacLeod | first = Scott | date = 3 August 1998 | title = Don't panic ... it's just Dad's Army | work = [[Waikato Times]] | location = [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], [[New Zealand]] | page = 3 }}</ref> More recently, a 2009 gathering was held at Whitmore Hall at which Frank Williams was able to attend and speak to the society's members,<ref name="TheSentinel2009-04-06">{{cite news | date = 6 April 2009 | title = 'They like it up 'em' as star regales fans | work = [[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]] | location = [[Stoke-on-Trent]], United Kingdom | url = http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/like-em-star-regales-fans/article-874570-detail/article.html | access-date = 20 November 2009 }}</ref> and before his death [[Colin Bean|Colin Bean]] (who played Private Sponge in the series) regularly turned out to events, even though he used a wheelchair at the time.<ref name="TheTimes2009-06-24">{{cite news | date = 24 June 2009 | title = Colin Bean - Cameo actor best known for playing Private Sponge in Dad's Army and who often appeared as policemen in other TV programmes | work = [[The Times|The Times]] | location = [[London|London]], United Kingdom | page = 59 }}</ref>
Since then (and from 1998) the Society have arranged annual events based at or around Thetford attended by the writers and cast members, including tours of the restricted Stanta Battle Area used for location filming.
The Society organised several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Croft and Perry partnership in 2018.

==''Permission To Speak, Sir!''==
The society publishes a member's magazine called ''Permission To Speak, Sir!'', three times a year. It includes society news, society merchandise and ''Dad's Army'' items for sale by members. Regular features are "Guest Appearances" and "Letters from Members".

In 2018 the Society published an updated version of the ''Dad's Army Companion'' to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

==Video and Audio Library==
The Video and Audio Library features a large selection of video and audio items that can be borrowed by members. In December 2020 a special section of the society's website was set aside for fan fiction written by the members, the first submission was made in January 2021 and was entitled ''Dad’s Army Negotiates Brexit'' and was by [[Niles Schilder|Niles Schilder]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schilder|first=Niles|title=fanfiction|url=http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-22|website=dadsarmy.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126140728/http://dadsarmy.co.uk/fanfiction.html |archive-date=26 January 2021 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.dadsarmy.co.uk/companion.html 'Dad's Army Companion']

{{Dad's Army}}

[[Category:Dad's Army]]
[[Category:Television fan clubs]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1993]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

File:DAASLogo.svg

2026-06-06T16:01:42Z

Kurt:

== Licensing ==
{{Non-free 2D art}}

Dad's Army Appreciation Society

2026-06-06T15:59:29Z

Kurt:

Main Page

2026-06-04T18:02:38Z

Kurt:

<center>
= Welcome to the Goon Show Depository's very own Wiki. =
</center>
<table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="20px">
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="450px">The main purpose of this wiki is to document as much about [[The Goon Show]] as is possible. 

Generally speaking that is close to impossible for one person to achieve. Initially it was my intention to allow anyone to edit the wiki. However a couple of incidents occurred to change my mind. As a result I've closed off user account creation and anonymous no-account editing. However, should someone really, really want to edit/correct/create then please contact me, either on my talk page or via email (kurt@thegoonshow.co.uk) and I can create an account for you.
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="270px">
[[File:The Goon Show 1951 - 1960.jpg|thumb|250px|frame|center|Brushed metal plaque erected on 28th May 2011 at [[The Grafton Arms]], 
2 Strutton Ground, Westminster, London SW1P 2HP]]
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="450px">
The wiki's secondary purpose is to also document classic British radio comedy (with some TV shows and films thrown in for good measure) from, roughly, the 40s to the 90s.

There is still very much work to do.

Other British Radio Comedy…
*[[Beyond Our Ken]]
*[[The Clitheroe Kid]]
*[[The Embassy Lark]]
*[[Hancock's Half Hour]]
*[[It's That Man Again]]
*[[The Men from the Ministry]]
*[[Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh]]
*[[The Navy Lark]]
*[[Parsley Sidings]]
*[[Round the Horne]]
*[[Take It from Here]]
 
Plus many more...
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top">
* [[The Goon Show]]
* [[List of The Goon Show episodes]]
* [[The Goon Show music]]
* [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters]]
* [[The Goon Show CDs]]
* [[The Goon Show Compendiums]]
</td>
</tr>

</table>

*'''Please note: Any ''blue'' links that refer to people, events, films, radio shows, TV shows etc that don't relate directly to classic broadcast British comedy (up to roughly 2000) are redirects that will take you to the relevant English language Wikipedia article.'''

*'''The same is also true for any people who are still alive. The reason for the latter being that there aren't enough hours in the day for one person to keep those articles up to date. It's also to prevent legal liability for things like any possible defamatory statements.
'''
{{clear}}
<center>
[[File:CC BY-SA icon.svg|50px]] Some content in this Wiki was copied from [http://en.wikipedia.com the Wikipedia Wiki], which is licensed under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license].</center>

File:CC BY-SA icon.svg

2026-06-04T18:01:47Z

Kurt: /* {{int:license-header}} */

== Summary ==
=={{int:license-header}} ==
{{PD-textlogo}}

Creative Commons license

[[Category:SVG CC BY-SA logos]]

File:CC BY-SA icon.svg

2026-06-04T18:01:02Z

Kurt: /* {{int:filedesc}} */

== Summary ==
=={{int:license-header}} ==
{{PD-textlogo}}{{trademarked}}
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Attribution
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Share Alike
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[[Category:SVG CC BY-SA logos]]

File:CC BY-SA icon.svg

2026-06-04T17:59:08Z

Kurt: == {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |description= {{en|''Creative Commons "Attribution-Share Alike"'' license icon.}} {{eo|Bildsimbolo de la permesilo ''Krea Komunaĵo "Atribuite-Samkondiĉe"''.}} {{es|Ícono de la licencia ''Creative Commons "Atribución-Compartir Igual"''}} {{fr|Logo de la licence Creative Commons « Paternité-Partage des Conditions Initiales à l'Identique »}} {{hu|Creative Commons logo: "Nevezd meg!-Így add tovább!"}} |date=2008 |source={{Using}} http://mirrors.creativecommons...

== Summary ==
== {{int:filedesc}} ==
{{Information
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{{eo|Bildsimbolo de la permesilo ''Krea Komunaĵo "Atribuite-Samkondiĉe"''.}}
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As stated on https://creativecommons.org/policies use the current SVG on the CC downloads page for downloads. The copy here is intended for [[mw:InstantCommons|MediaWiki InstantCommons]].

=={{int:license-header}} ==
{{PD-textlogo}}{{trademarked}}
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Creative Commons license
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{{ImageNote|id=2|x=36|y=2|w=21|h=19|dimx=88|dimy=31|style=2}}
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Share Alike
{{ImageNoteEnd|id=3}}

[[Category:SVG CC BY-SA logos]]

File:Ambox warning yellow.svg

2026-06-04T17:55:53Z

Kurt:

== Summary ==
{{Information
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}}

File:Ambox warning yellow.svg

2026-06-04T17:55:35Z

Kurt:

File:Ambox warning yellow.svg

2026-06-04T17:53:47Z

Kurt: =={{int:filedesc}}== {{Information |description={{en|An yellow orange warning sign with an <tt>!</tt>. Re-uploaded because someone on the English Wikipedia wanted it again.}} |date=2008-04-27 22:18 (UTC) |source=Modification to :File:Ambox warning pn.svg |author={{U|penubag}} Yellow concept by User:Vipersnake151 |other versions=Nuvola version 96px 96px [[File:Ambox warni...

== Summary ==
=={{int:filedesc}}==
{{Information
|description={{en|An yellow orange warning sign with an <tt>!</tt>. Re-uploaded because someone on the English Wikipedia wanted it again.}}
|date=2008-04-27 22:18 (UTC)
|source=Modification to [[:File:Ambox warning pn.svg]]
|author={{U|penubag}} Yellow concept by [[User:Vipersnake151]]
|other versions=[[File:Nuvola apps important yellow.svg|96px|Nuvola version]] [[File:Ambox warning pn.svg|96px]] [[File:Ambox warning orange.svg|96px]] [[File:Ambox warning blue.svg|96px]] [[File:Ambox warning purple.svg|96px]]
|other fields={{Igen|I|+|s:=Mbox icon|sc=u}}
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=={{int:license-header}}==
{{pd-user|penubag}}

[[Category:Ambox SVG icons]]
[[Category:Black, white, yellow signs]]
[[Category:Triangular warning signs]]
[[Category:SVG triangular symbols with an exclamation mark]]
[[Category:Triangular icons]]
[[Category:Yellow triangles]]

File:Cc-by new white.svg

2026-06-04T17:52:21Z

Kurt: =={{int:filedesc}}== {{Information |description={{en|1=The new « Attribution » icon from Creative Commons with white background.}} {{tr|1=Creative Commons'dan beyaz arka plana sahip yeni "Atıf" simgesi.}} |date=2006-12 |source=Reference icons : https://creativecommons.org/about/licenses and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/fr |author= {{U|Sting}} |permission=See https://creativecommons.org/policies for trademark restrictions. |other versions=transparent background : {{F|Cc-...

== Summary ==
=={{int:filedesc}}==
{{Information
|description={{en|1=The new « Attribution » icon from [[Creative Commons]] with white background.}}
{{tr|1=[[Creative Commons]]'dan beyaz arka plana sahip yeni "Atıf" simgesi.}}
|date=2006-12
|source=Reference icons : https://creativecommons.org/about/licenses and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/fr
|author= {{U|Sting}}
|permission=See https://creativecommons.org/policies for trademark restrictions.
|other versions=transparent background : {{F|Cc-by_new.svg}} former icon : {{F|Cc-by_white.svg}}
|other fields={{Igen|Adobe|+|s=i}}
}}

=={{int:license-header}}==
{{PD-ineligible}}
{{trademarked}}

==See also==
===White Creative Commons icons===
[[Image:Cc-by white.svg|32px|Creative Commons Attribution icon (outdated)]]
[[Image:Cc-by_new_white.svg|32px|Creative Commons Attribution new icon]]
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[[Image:Cc-sa white.svg|32px|Creative Commons Share Alike icon]]

===Transparent Creative Commons icons===
[[Image:Cc-by.svg|32px|Creative Commons Attribution icon (outdated)]]
[[Image:Cc-by_new.svg|32px|Creative Commons Attribution new icon]]
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[[Image:Cc-nd.svg|32px|Creative Commons No Derivative Works icon]]
[[Image:Cc-sa.svg|32px|Creative Commons Share Alike icon]]

===Color Creative Commons icons===
[[Image:CC BY.png|32px|Creative Commons Attribution icon]]
[[Image:CC NC.png|32px|Creative Commons Noncommercial icon]]
[[Image:CC ND.png|32px|Creative Commons No Derivative Works icon]]
[[Image:CC SA.png|32px|Creative Commons Share Alike icon]]

[[Category:Black on white]]
[[Category:Icons with white background]]
[[Category:Plain black SVG people icons]]
[[Category:Plain black round SVG icons]]
[[Category:SVG attribution sign]]

File:Cc-sa white.svg

2026-06-04T17:50:48Z

Kurt: /* {{int:license-header}} */

== Summary ==
=={{int:license-header}}==
{{PD-textlogo|simple}}

File:Cc-sa white.svg

2026-06-04T17:50:36Z

Kurt: =={{int:license-header}}== {{PD-textlogo|simple}} {{trademarked}}

== Summary ==
=={{int:license-header}}==
{{PD-textlogo|simple}}
{{trademarked}}

File:CC some rights reserved.svg

2026-06-04T17:48:31Z

Kurt:

== Licensing ==
{{PD-textlogo}}

File:The Goon Show 1951 - 1960.jpg

2026-06-04T17:45:25Z

Kurt: Brushed metal plaque erected on 28th May 2011 at The Grafton Arms, 2 Strutton Ground, Westminster, London SW1P 2HP

== Summary ==
Brushed metal plaque erected on 28th May 2011 at The Grafton Arms, 2 Strutton Ground, Westminster, London SW1P 2HP
== Licensing ==
{{cc-by-sa-4.0}}

Main Page

2026-06-04T17:39:28Z

Kurt:

<center>
= Welcome to the Goon Show Depository's very own Wiki. =
</center>
<table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="20px">
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="450px">The main purpose of this wiki is to document as much about [[The Goon Show]] as is possible. 

Generally speaking that is close to impossible for one person to achieve. Initially it was my intention to allow anyone to edit the wiki. However a couple of incidents occurred to change my mind. As a result I've closed off user account creation and anonymous no-account editing. However, should someone really, really want to edit/correct/create then please contact me, either on my talk page or via email (kurt@thegoonshow.co.uk) and I can create an account for you.
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="270px">
[[File:The Goon Show 1951 - 1960.jpg|thumb|250px|frame|center|Brushed metal plaque erected on 28th May 2011 at [[The Grafton Arms]], 2 Strutton Ground, Westminster, London SW1P 2HP]]
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="450px">
The wiki's secondary purpose is to also document classic British radio comedy (with some TV shows and films thrown in for good measure) from, roughly, the 40s to the 90s.

There is still very much work to do.

Other British Radio Comedy…
*[[Beyond Our Ken]]
*[[The Clitheroe Kid]]
*[[The Embassy Lark]]
*[[Hancock's Half Hour]]
*[[It's That Man Again]]
*[[The Men from the Ministry]]
*[[Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh]]
*[[The Navy Lark]]
*[[Parsley Sidings]]
*[[Round the Horne]]
*[[Take It from Here]]
 
Plus many more...
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top">
* [[The Goon Show]]
* [[List of The Goon Show episodes]]
* [[The Goon Show music]]
* [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters]]
* [[The Goon Show CDs]]
* [[The Goon Show Compendiums]]
</td>
</tr>

</table>

*'''Please note: Any ''blue'' links that refer to people, events, films, radio shows, TV shows etc that don't relate directly to classic broadcast British comedy (up to roughly 2000) are redirects that will take you to the relevant English language Wikipedia article.'''

*'''The same is also true for any people who are still alive. The reason for the latter being that there aren't enough hours in the day for one person to keep those articles up to date. It's also to prevent legal liability for things like any possible defamatory statements.
'''
{{clear}}
<center>
[[File:CC BY-SA icon.svg|50px]] Some content in this Wiki was copied from [http://en.wikipedia.com the Wikipedia Wiki], which is licensed under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license].</center>

Main Page

2026-05-21T20:14:12Z

Kurt:

<center>
= Welcome to the Goon Show Depository's very own Wiki. =
</center>
<table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="20px">
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="450px">The main purpose of this wiki is to document as much about [[The Goon Show]] as is possible. 

Generally speaking that is close to impossible for one person to achieve. Initially it was my intention to allow anyone to edit the wiki. However a couple of incidents occurred to change my mind. As a result I've closed off user account creation and anonymous no-account editing. However, should someone really, really want to edit/correct/create then please contact me, either on my talk page or via email (kurt@thegoonshow.co.uk) and I can create an account for you.
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="270px">
[[File:The Goon Show 1951 - 1960.jpg|thumb|250px|frame|center|Brushed metal plaque erected on 28th May 2011 at [[The Grafton Arms]], 2 Strutton Ground, Westminster, London SW1P 2HP]]
</td>

<td rowspan="2" valign="top" width="450px">
The wiki's secondary purpose is to also document classic British radio comedy (with some TV shows and films thrown in for good measure) from, roughly, the 40s to the 90s.

There is still very much work to do.

Other British Radio Comedy…
*[[Beyond Our Ken]]
*[[The Clitheroe Kid]]
*[[The Embassy Lark]]
*[[Hancock's Half Hour]]
*[[It's That Man Again]]
*[[The Men from the Ministry]]
*[[Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh]]
*[[The Navy Lark]]
*[[Parsley Sidings]]
*[[Round the Horne]]
*[[Take It from Here]]
 
Plus many more...
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top">
* [[The Goon Show]]
* [[List of The Goon Show episodes]]
* [[The Goon Show music]]
* [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters]]
* [[The Goon Show CDs]]
* [[The Goon Show Compendiums]]
</td>
</tr>

</table>

*'''Please note: Any ''blue'' links that refer to people, events, films, radio shows, TV shows etc that don't relate directly to classic broadcast British comedy (up to roughly 2000) are redirects that will take you to the relevant English language Wikipedia article.'''

*'''The same is also true for any people who are still alive. The reason for the latter being that there aren't enough hours in the day for one person to keep those articles up to date. It's also to prevent legal liability for things like any possible defamatory statements.
'''
{{clear}}
<center>
[[File:CC BY-SA icon.svg|50px]] Some content in this Wiki was copied from [http://en.wikipedia.com the Wikipedia Wiki], which is licensed under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license].</center>

Dream On (TV series)

2025-06-08T03:30:32Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Dream On (TV series)

#REDIRECT [[w:Dream On (TV series)]]

Michael Collins (Irish leader)

2025-06-08T03:28:29Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Michael Collins (Irish leader)

#REDIRECT [[w:Michael Collins (Irish leader)]]

Mary Kenny

2025-06-08T03:28:10Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Mary Kenny

#REDIRECT [[w:Mary Kenny]]

The Princess Bride (film)

2025-06-08T03:27:49Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:The Princess Bride (film)

#REDIRECT [[w:The Princess Bride (film)]]

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

2025-06-08T03:27:21Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

#REDIRECT [[w:Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]

Kim Wilde

2025-06-08T03:26:57Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Kim Wilde

#REDIRECT [[w:Kim Wilde]]

Bob Goody

2025-06-08T03:26:06Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Bob Goody

#REDIRECT [[w:Bob Goody]]

Alias Smith and Jones

2025-06-08T03:24:16Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Alias Smith and Jones

#REDIRECT [[w:Alias Smith and Jones]]

Crucible Theatre

2025-06-08T03:23:39Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Crucible Theatre

#REDIRECT [[w:Crucible Theatre]]

File:Mel Smith.jpg

2025-06-08T03:22:44Z

Kurt: Kurt uploaded a new version of File:Mel Smith.jpg

Mel Smith

2025-06-08T03:22:09Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox comedian
| name = Mel Smith
| image = Mel Smith.jpg
| caption =
| alt =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Melvyn Kenneth Smith
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1952|12|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Chiswick]], London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|07|19|1952|12|03|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| medium = Film, television
| active = 1979–2013
| genre = [[Political satire]] and sketch comedy
| subject =
| spouse = {{marriage|Pamela Gay-Rees|1 May 1988}}
| children = 2
| domesticpartner =
| notable_work = ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]''
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| baftaawards =
| britishcomedyawards =
}}

'''Melvyn Kenneth Smith''' (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the [[sketch comedy]] shows ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' and ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'' with his comedy partner, [[Griff Rhys Jones]]. Smith and Jones founded [[Talkback (production company)|Talkback]], which grew to be one of the United Kingdom's largest producers of television comedy and light entertainment programming.

== Early life ==
Smith's father, Kenneth, was born in [[Tow Law]], [[County Durham]], and worked at a coal mine during the [[World War II|Second World War]]; looking after the [[pit pony|pit ponies]]. After the war ended, he moved to [[London]] and married Smith's mother, whose parents owned a [[greengrocer]]s in [[Chiswick]]. When the government legalised high street betting with the [[Betting and Gaming Act 1960]], he turned the shop into the first [[betting shop]] in Chiswick.<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2013}} {{cite web|url=http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2001/7/22/164851.html |title=Newcastle one, Hollywood nil (From ''The Northern Echo'') |publisher=Archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk |date=22 July 2001 |access-date= 8 December 2010}}</ref>

Smith was born and brought up in Chiswick.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=107066|title=Smith, Melvyn Kenneth [Mel] (1952–2013)}}</ref> He was educated at Hogarth Primary School, Chiswick, and at [[Latymer Upper School]], a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private school]] in [[Hammersmith]]. He studied Experimental Psychology at [[New College, Oxford]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Cavendish, Dominic |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3653973/Im-hoping-to-cover-my-air-fare.html |title=I'm hoping to cover my air fare |work = [[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=22 July 2006 |access-date= 24 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="bfi_bio">{{cite web| url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/526237/ |title=Smith, Mel |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] | access-date= 20 July 2010}}</ref>

==Career==
Whilst at Oxford University, Smith produced ''[[The Tempest]]'', and performed at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe]] with the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society]]. One year they shared a venue with the [[Footlights|Cambridge Footlights]], directed by [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]]. His extra-curricular activities while at university led to his joining the [[Royal Court Theatre]] production team in London, and then [[Bristol Old Vic]]. He was also associate director of [[Sheffield]]'s [[Crucible Theatre]] for two years. Later, he directed a theatre production of ''Not in Front of the Audience''.<ref name=debretts>{{cite web|title=Mel Smith Biography |url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/13598/Melvyn%20Kenneth%20%28Mel%29+SMITH.aspx |publisher=Debretts |access-date=20 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225174318/https://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/13598/Melvyn%20Kenneth%20%28Mel%29%2BSMITH.aspx |archive-date=25 December 2013 }}</ref>

John Lloyd later gained the opportunity to develop the idea that became the [[satire|satirical]] [[BBC]] [[television]] series ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''. This was followed briefly by ''[[Smith and Goody]]'' (with [[Bob Goody]]) and then the comedy sketch series ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'', co-starring [[Griff Rhys Jones]], its title being a pun on the name of the American television series ''[[Alias Smith and Jones]]''. In 1982, he starred as the lead role in ITV drama ''Muck and Brass ''where he played Tom Craig, a ruthless property developer. In 1984, he appeared in the ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' episode "A Star Is Gorn" playing the character Cyril Ash, a record producer. He also guest-starred on ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'' episode "[[Animals (The Goodies)|Animals]]".<ref name="BFI1">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/90644?view=credit&page=2|title=Smith, Mel: Filmography|publisher=[[BFI Film & TV Database]]|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129062022/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/90644?view=credit&page=2|archive-date=29 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the end of the 1980s, he played the title role in the sitcom ''[[Colin's Sandwich]]'' (1988–90), playing a [[British Rail]] employee with aspirations to be a writer.

In 1981, Smith and [[Griff Rhys Jones]] founded [[Talkback (production company)|TalkBack Productions]], a company that produced many of the most significant British comedy shows of the following decades, including ''[[Smack the Pony]]'', ''[[Da Ali G Show]]'', ''[[I'm Alan Partridge]]'' and ''[[Big Train]]''. In 2000, the company was sold to [[Pearson plc|Pearson]] for £62 million.<ref name="BBCPearson">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/791303.stm|title=Pearson TV buys TalkBack|date=14 June 2000 |publisher= [[BBC News]] |access-date= 23 January 2009}}</ref> Dressed as [[Custodian helmet#History|bobbies]], Smith and Jones introduced [[Queen (band)|Queen]] on stage at [[Live Aid]] in July 1985, with Smith removing his helmet before shouting into the microphone, "her majesty, Queen!"<ref>{{cite book |title=Live Aid: The Greatest Show on Earth |date=1985 |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson |page=118}}</ref>

Smith co-wrote and took the lead role in the space comedy ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' (1985), but the film failed to make much impact. His next cinema effort was better received as director of ''[[The Tall Guy]]'' (1989), giving [[Emma Thompson]] a major screen role. Perhaps his best-known film in America is ''[[Brain Donors]]'', the 1992 update of the [[Marx Brothers]] film ''[[A Night at the Opera (film)|A Night at the Opera]]'', starring Smith as a cheeky, opportunistic cab driver turned ballet promoter. [[Paramount Pictures]] considered this film the outstanding comedy of the year, but when the producers left Paramount for another studio, Paramount withdrew its support for the film.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brain Donors|url=http://tagsgf.com/2010/08/04/lost-reel-review-brain-donors/|work=Lost Reel Review|publisher=tagsgf.com|access-date=20 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904003840/http://tagsgf.com/2010/08/04/lost-reel-review-brain-donors/|archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref>

In 1987, Smith recorded a single with [[Kim Wilde]] for [[Comic Relief]]: a cover of the Christmas song "[[Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]" with some additional comedy lines written by Smith and Jones.<ref name="WL">{{cite web|url=http://www.wilde-life.com/lyrics/00108/|title=Rockin' around the Christmas tree|work=Wilde Life: Lyrics|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125222320/http://www.wilde-life.com/lyrics/00108/|archive-date=25 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The pairing of Smith and Wilde was a comic allusion to the duo [[Mel and Kim]]. The song reached number three in the UK charts.<ref name="Omnibus">{{cite book|last=Warwick|first=Neil|author2=Kutner, Tony |author3=Kutner, Jon |title=The Complete Book of the British Charts|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2004|edition=3rd|page=1012}}</ref> The same year he appeared in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as the Albino.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cast of The Princess Bride: Where Are They Now?|url=https://time.com/3503598/the-princess-bride-cast-photos/|website=time.com|date=14 October 2014}}</ref>

Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their earlier television series in ''The Smith And Jones Sketchbook''. Smith joked: "Obviously, Griff's got more money than me so he came to work in a Rolls-Royce and I came on a bicycle. But it was great fun to do and we are firmly committed to doing something new together, because you don't chuck that sort of chemistry away. Of course, I'll have to pretend I like [[Restoration (TV series)|''Restoration'']]."<ref name="metro.co.uk">{{cite web| author = Chadwick, Alan | url=http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/edinburgh/interview/article.html?in_article_id=18177&in_page_id=33 |title=Mel Smith | work = [[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] |date= 7 August 2006 |access-date= 16 August 2013}}</ref>

In August 2006, Smith returned to the theatre stage after some 20 years, appearing at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe]] festival in ''Allegiance'', Irish journalist and author [[Mary Kenny]]'s play about [[Winston Churchill|Churchill's]] encounter with the Irish nationalist leader [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] in 1921.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/07/22/btmel22.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027064441/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2006%2F07%2F22%2Fbtmel22.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 October 2007 | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | title=I'm hoping to cover my air fare | first=Dominic | last=Cavendish | date=22 July 2006 | access-date=12 May 2010 }}</ref> The play initially caused some controversy, with Smith proposing to flout the Scottish ban on smoking in public places, but the scene was quickly adapted after gaining the required amount of publicity. The play was directed by [[Brian Gilbert (director)|Brian Gilbert]] and produced by [[Daniel Jewel]].<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489635/| publisher = [[Internet Movie Database]] | access-date = 21 July 2013 | title = Allegiance (2005)}}</ref> In 2006, he also appeared in [[Hustle (TV series)|Hustle]] as Benjamin Frasier, a pub landlord who was scammed by the Hustle team when his on-screen son Joey tried to launch a rap career.

In autumn 2006, Smith starred opposite [[Belinda Lang]] in a tour of a new comedy ''An Hour and a Half Late'' by French playwright [[Gérald Sibleyras]], which was adapted by Smith. He then directed a West End revival of ''[[Charley's Aunt]]'' starring [[Stephen Tompkinson]]. From October 2007 to January 2008, he played the role of Wilbur Turnblad in the London production of ''[[Hairspray (musical)|Hairspray]]'' at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Mel Smith to make West End debut|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6958780.stm|access-date=20 July 2013| publisher = [[BBC News]] |date=22 August 2007}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Smith was married to Pamela ({{nee}} Gay-Rees), a former model, who grew up in [[Easington, County Durham|Easington]] and [[Durham, England|Durham.]] The couple had houses in [[St John's Wood]], [[London]], and the hamlet of [[Great Haseley]], [[Oxfordshire]],<ref>{{cite news|last=White|first=Roland|title=Alas, Mel Smith is moving on|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/My_Place/article419199.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226020037/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/My_Place/article419199.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 December 2013|newspaper= [[The Sunday Times]] |date=17 October 2010}}</ref> as well as a property in [[Barbados]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Globetrotter Travel Pack – Barbados|author=Shales, Melissa|publisher=New Holland Publishers|date=29 June 2007|isbn=978-1845375607}}</ref>

==Health==
Smith was hospitalised in 1999 with [[Peptic ulcer disease|stomach ulcer]]s, following an accidental overdose of over 50 [[Ibuprofen|Nurofen Plus]] tablets in one day, after previously admitting an addiction to [[Hypnotic|sleeping pills]]. Smith said at the time that the pressures of film work were a contributing factor, along with a desperate need to ease the pain caused by [[gout]]. Partly as a result, he agreed to sell [[Talkback (production company)|Talkback Productions]]. On 31 December 2008, Smith appeared on ''[[Mastermind (British game show)|Celebrity Mastermind]]'' whilst suffering from severe [[pharyngitis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/01/02/8061/mel_smith_health_fears_allayed |title=Mel Smith health fears allayed |publisher=Chortle.co.uk |access-date= 18 February 2011}}</ref>

==Death==
On the morning of 19 July 2013, the [[London Ambulance Service]] was called to Smith's home in [[NW postcode area|north-west London]]. Smith was confirmed dead by the ambulance crew, with a later post-mortem confirming death from a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]].<ref name=BBC23390982>{{cite news|title=Mel Smith dies of a heart attack aged 60|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23390982|access-date=20 July 2013|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=20 July 2013}}</ref>

==Television shows==
===Producer===
* 2000 ''Too Much Sun'' television series, six episodes
* 1995 ''Tough Target'' television series, one episode

===Director===
* 1994 ''[[Dream On (TV series)|Dream On]]'', one episode

===Performer===
* 1979–1982 ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''
* 1980 ''[[Smith and Goody]]''
* 1981 ''Fundamental Frolics''
* 1982–1998 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones|Alas Smith and Jones/Smith and Jones]]''
* 1982 ''Muck and Brass''
* 1984 ''[[Weekend in Wallop]]''
* 1984 ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]''
* 1985 ''[[Live Aid]]'' (comedy sketch and intro to rock band [[Queen (band)|Queen]])
* 1986 ''Comedians Do It on Stage''
* 1987 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#The World According to Smith and Jones (1987–1988)|The World According to Smith and Jones]]''
* 1987 ''[[Filthy Rich & Catflap]]''
* 1987 ''[[The Grand Knockout Tournament]]''
* 1988–1990 ''[[Colin's Sandwich]]''
* 1989 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#Smith and Jones in Small Doses (1989)|Smith and Jones in Small Doses]]''
* 1991 ''Amnesty International's Big 30''
* 1991 ''[[Comic Relief]]''
* 1995 ''The Night of Comic Relief''
* 1996 ''A Gala Comedy Hour (Best of the Prince's Trust)''
* 2005 ''[[Comic Relief#2005 event|Comic Relief 2005]]''
* 2006 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#The Smith and Jones Sketchbook (2006)|The Smith and Jones Sketchbook]]''
* 2006 ''The Sittaford Mystery'', an episode of ''[[Agatha Christie's Marple|Marple]]''
* 2006 ''[[Hustle (TV series)|Hustle]]''
* 2008 ''[[Mastermind (British game show)|Celebrity Mastermind]]''
* 2010–2011 ''[[Rock & Chips]]'' (two episode)
* 2012 ''The Ones: Series 1: The One Griff Rhys Jones''
* 2013 ''[[Dancing on the Edge (TV series)|Dancing on the Edge]]''

=== Writer ===
* 1979-1982 ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''
* 1980 ''[[Smith and Goody]]''
* 1984 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'', two episodes
* 1984 ''[[Weekend in Wallop]]''
* 1986 ''Comedians Do It on Stage''
* 1991 ''Amnesty International's Big'' 30
* 1994 ''Smith and Jones: One Night Stand''
* 1996 ''A Gala Comedy Hour (Best of the Prince's Trust)''

== Filmography ==

=== Executive producer ===
* 2003 ''[[Blackball (film)|Blackball]]''

===Director===
* 1989 ''[[The Tall Guy]]''
* 1994 ''[[Radioland Murders]]''
* 1997 ''[[Bean (film)|Bean]]''
* 2001 ''[[High Heels and Low Lifes]]''
* 2003 ''[[Blackball (film)|Blackball]]''

=== Writer ===
* 1985 ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' co-written with Griff Rhys Jones

=== Actor ===

* 1980 ''[[Bloody Kids]]'' as Disco Doorman
* 1980 ''[[Babylon (1980 film)|Babylon]]'' as Alan
* 1983 ''[[Bullshot (film)|Bullshot]]'' as Crouch
* 1983 ''[[Slayground]]'' as Terry Abbatt
* 1984 ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' as Cyril Ash
* 1985 ''[[Restless Natives]]'' as Pyle
* 1985 ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' as Bernard
* 1985 ''[[National Lampoon's European Vacation]]'' as London Hotel Receptionist
* 1987 ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as The Albino
* 1988 ''[[The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (film)|The Wolves of Willoughby Chase]]'' as Mr. Grimshaw
* 1989 ''[[Wilt (film)|Wilt]]'' as Inspector Flint
* 1991 ''[[Father Christmas (1991 film)|Father Christmas]]'' as Father Christmas
* 1992 ''[[Brain Donors]]'' (aka ''Lame Ducks'') as Rocco Melonchek
* 1994 ''[[Art Deco Detective]]'' as Porno Movie Director
* 1996 ''[[Twelfth Night (1996 film)|Twelfth Night: Or What You Will]]'' as Sir Toby Belch

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0809321}}
* ''Rockin' around the Christmas tree'' at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927064835/http://www.kimwildetv.com/kim-wilde-tv-video.php?RVCode=RATCT(1987-UK-Videoclip) kimwildetv.com].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mel}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century English writers]]
[[Category:21st-century English male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century English writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:British male television writers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from London]]
[[Category:Comedians from London]]
[[Category:Comedy film directors]]
[[Category:English comedy writers]]
[[Category:English company founders]]
[[Category:English film producers]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male musical theatre actors]]
[[Category:English male Shakespearean actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English male voice actors]]
[[Category:English television producers]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:English theatre directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from London]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:People educated at Latymer Upper School]]
[[Category:People from Chiswick]]
[[Category:People from St John's Wood]]
[[Category:Television personalities from London]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]

Mel Smith

2025-05-28T13:11:10Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox comedian
| name = Mel Smith
| image =
| caption =
| alt =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Melvyn Kenneth Smith
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1952|12|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Chiswick]], London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|07|19|1952|12|03|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| medium = Film, television
| active = 1979–2013
| genre = [[Political satire]] and sketch comedy
| subject =
| spouse = {{marriage|Pamela Gay-Rees|1 May 1988}}
| children = 2
| domesticpartner =
| notable_work = ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]''
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| baftaawards =
| britishcomedyawards =
}}

'''Melvyn Kenneth Smith''' (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the [[sketch comedy]] shows ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' and ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'' with his comedy partner, [[Griff Rhys Jones]]. Smith and Jones founded [[Talkback (production company)|Talkback]], which grew to be one of the United Kingdom's largest producers of television comedy and light entertainment programming.

== Early life ==
Smith's father, Kenneth, was born in [[Tow Law]], [[County Durham]], and worked at a coal mine during the [[World War II|Second World War]]; looking after the [[pit pony|pit ponies]]. After the war ended, he moved to [[London]] and married Smith's mother, whose parents owned a [[greengrocer]]s in [[Chiswick]]. When the government legalised high street betting with the [[Betting and Gaming Act 1960]], he turned the shop into the first [[betting shop]] in Chiswick.<ref>{{dead link|date=August 2013}} {{cite web|url=http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2001/7/22/164851.html |title=Newcastle one, Hollywood nil (From ''The Northern Echo'') |publisher=Archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk |date=22 July 2001 |access-date= 8 December 2010}}</ref>

Smith was born and brought up in Chiswick.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=107066|title=Smith, Melvyn Kenneth [Mel] (1952–2013)}}</ref> He was educated at Hogarth Primary School, Chiswick, and at [[Latymer Upper School]], a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private school]] in [[Hammersmith]]. He studied Experimental Psychology at [[New College, Oxford]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Cavendish, Dominic |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3653973/Im-hoping-to-cover-my-air-fare.html |title=I'm hoping to cover my air fare |work = [[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=22 July 2006 |access-date= 24 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="bfi_bio">{{cite web| url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/526237/ |title=Smith, Mel |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] | access-date= 20 July 2010}}</ref>

==Career==
Whilst at Oxford University, Smith produced ''[[The Tempest]]'', and performed at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe]] with the [[Oxford University Dramatic Society]]. One year they shared a venue with the [[Footlights|Cambridge Footlights]], directed by [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]]. His extra-curricular activities while at university led to his joining the [[Royal Court Theatre]] production team in London, and then [[Bristol Old Vic]]. He was also associate director of [[Sheffield]]'s [[Crucible Theatre]] for two years. Later, he directed a theatre production of ''Not in Front of the Audience''.<ref name=debretts>{{cite web|title=Mel Smith Biography |url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/13598/Melvyn%20Kenneth%20%28Mel%29+SMITH.aspx |publisher=Debretts |access-date=20 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225174318/https://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/13598/Melvyn%20Kenneth%20%28Mel%29%2BSMITH.aspx |archive-date=25 December 2013 }}</ref>

John Lloyd later gained the opportunity to develop the idea that became the [[satire|satirical]] [[BBC]] [[television]] series ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''. This was followed briefly by ''[[Smith and Goody]]'' (with [[Bob Goody]]) and then the comedy sketch series ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'', co-starring [[Griff Rhys Jones]], its title being a pun on the name of the American television series ''[[Alias Smith and Jones]]''. In 1982, he starred as the lead role in ITV drama ''Muck and Brass ''where he played Tom Craig, a ruthless property developer. In 1984, he appeared in the ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' episode "A Star Is Gorn" playing the character Cyril Ash, a record producer. He also guest-starred on ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'' episode "[[Animals (The Goodies)|Animals]]".<ref name="BFI1">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/90644?view=credit&page=2|title=Smith, Mel: Filmography|publisher=[[BFI Film & TV Database]]|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129062022/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/90644?view=credit&page=2|archive-date=29 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the end of the 1980s, he played the title role in the sitcom ''[[Colin's Sandwich]]'' (1988–90), playing a [[British Rail]] employee with aspirations to be a writer.

In 1981, Smith and [[Griff Rhys Jones]] founded [[Talkback (production company)|TalkBack Productions]], a company that produced many of the most significant British comedy shows of the following decades, including ''[[Smack the Pony]]'', ''[[Da Ali G Show]]'', ''[[I'm Alan Partridge]]'' and ''[[Big Train]]''. In 2000, the company was sold to [[Pearson plc|Pearson]] for £62 million.<ref name="BBCPearson">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/791303.stm|title=Pearson TV buys TalkBack|date=14 June 2000 |publisher= [[BBC News]] |access-date= 23 January 2009}}</ref> Dressed as [[Custodian helmet#History|bobbies]], Smith and Jones introduced [[Queen (band)|Queen]] on stage at [[Live Aid]] in July 1985, with Smith removing his helmet before shouting into the microphone, "her majesty, Queen!"<ref>{{cite book |title=Live Aid: The Greatest Show on Earth |date=1985 |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson |page=118}}</ref>

Smith co-wrote and took the lead role in the space comedy ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' (1985), but the film failed to make much impact. His next cinema effort was better received as director of ''[[The Tall Guy]]'' (1989), giving [[Emma Thompson]] a major screen role. Perhaps his best-known film in America is ''[[Brain Donors]]'', the 1992 update of the [[Marx Brothers]] film ''[[A Night at the Opera (film)|A Night at the Opera]]'', starring Smith as a cheeky, opportunistic cab driver turned ballet promoter. [[Paramount Pictures]] considered this film the outstanding comedy of the year, but when the producers left Paramount for another studio, Paramount withdrew its support for the film.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brain Donors|url=http://tagsgf.com/2010/08/04/lost-reel-review-brain-donors/|work=Lost Reel Review|publisher=tagsgf.com|access-date=20 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904003840/http://tagsgf.com/2010/08/04/lost-reel-review-brain-donors/|archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref>

In 1987, Smith recorded a single with [[Kim Wilde]] for [[Comic Relief]]: a cover of the Christmas song "[[Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]" with some additional comedy lines written by Smith and Jones.<ref name="WL">{{cite web|url=http://www.wilde-life.com/lyrics/00108/|title=Rockin' around the Christmas tree|work=Wilde Life: Lyrics|access-date=23 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125222320/http://www.wilde-life.com/lyrics/00108/|archive-date=25 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The pairing of Smith and Wilde was a comic allusion to the duo [[Mel and Kim]]. The song reached number three in the UK charts.<ref name="Omnibus">{{cite book|last=Warwick|first=Neil|author2=Kutner, Tony |author3=Kutner, Jon |title=The Complete Book of the British Charts|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2004|edition=3rd|page=1012}}</ref> The same year he appeared in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as the Albino.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cast of The Princess Bride: Where Are They Now?|url=https://time.com/3503598/the-princess-bride-cast-photos/|website=time.com|date=14 October 2014}}</ref>

Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their earlier television series in ''The Smith And Jones Sketchbook''. Smith joked: "Obviously, Griff's got more money than me so he came to work in a Rolls-Royce and I came on a bicycle. But it was great fun to do and we are firmly committed to doing something new together, because you don't chuck that sort of chemistry away. Of course, I'll have to pretend I like [[Restoration (TV series)|''Restoration'']]."<ref name="metro.co.uk">{{cite web| author = Chadwick, Alan | url=http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/edinburgh/interview/article.html?in_article_id=18177&in_page_id=33 |title=Mel Smith | work = [[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] |date= 7 August 2006 |access-date= 16 August 2013}}</ref>

In August 2006, Smith returned to the theatre stage after some 20 years, appearing at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh Fringe]] festival in ''Allegiance'', Irish journalist and author [[Mary Kenny]]'s play about [[Winston Churchill|Churchill's]] encounter with the Irish nationalist leader [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] in 1921.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/07/22/btmel22.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027064441/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2006%2F07%2F22%2Fbtmel22.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 October 2007 | work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | title=I'm hoping to cover my air fare | first=Dominic | last=Cavendish | date=22 July 2006 | access-date=12 May 2010 }}</ref> The play initially caused some controversy, with Smith proposing to flout the Scottish ban on smoking in public places, but the scene was quickly adapted after gaining the required amount of publicity. The play was directed by [[Brian Gilbert (director)|Brian Gilbert]] and produced by [[Daniel Jewel]].<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489635/| publisher = [[Internet Movie Database]] | access-date = 21 July 2013 | title = Allegiance (2005)}}</ref> In 2006, he also appeared in [[Hustle (TV series)|Hustle]] as Benjamin Frasier, a pub landlord who was scammed by the Hustle team when his on-screen son Joey tried to launch a rap career.

In autumn 2006, Smith starred opposite [[Belinda Lang]] in a tour of a new comedy ''An Hour and a Half Late'' by French playwright [[Gérald Sibleyras]], which was adapted by Smith. He then directed a West End revival of ''[[Charley's Aunt]]'' starring [[Stephen Tompkinson]]. From October 2007 to January 2008, he played the role of Wilbur Turnblad in the London production of ''[[Hairspray (musical)|Hairspray]]'' at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Mel Smith to make West End debut|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6958780.stm|access-date=20 July 2013| publisher = [[BBC News]] |date=22 August 2007}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Smith was married to Pamela ({{nee}} Gay-Rees), a former model, who grew up in [[Easington, County Durham|Easington]] and [[Durham, England|Durham.]] The couple had houses in [[St John's Wood]], [[London]], and the hamlet of [[Great Haseley]], [[Oxfordshire]],<ref>{{cite news|last=White|first=Roland|title=Alas, Mel Smith is moving on|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/My_Place/article419199.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226020037/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/My_Place/article419199.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 December 2013|newspaper= [[The Sunday Times]] |date=17 October 2010}}</ref> as well as a property in [[Barbados]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Globetrotter Travel Pack – Barbados|author=Shales, Melissa|publisher=New Holland Publishers|date=29 June 2007|isbn=978-1845375607}}</ref>

==Health==
Smith was hospitalised in 1999 with [[Peptic ulcer disease|stomach ulcer]]s, following an accidental overdose of over 50 [[Ibuprofen|Nurofen Plus]] tablets in one day, after previously admitting an addiction to [[Hypnotic|sleeping pills]]. Smith said at the time that the pressures of film work were a contributing factor, along with a desperate need to ease the pain caused by [[gout]]. Partly as a result, he agreed to sell [[Talkback (production company)|Talkback Productions]]. On 31 December 2008, Smith appeared on ''[[Mastermind (British game show)|Celebrity Mastermind]]'' whilst suffering from severe [[pharyngitis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/01/02/8061/mel_smith_health_fears_allayed |title=Mel Smith health fears allayed |publisher=Chortle.co.uk |access-date= 18 February 2011}}</ref>

==Death==
On the morning of 19 July 2013, the [[London Ambulance Service]] was called to Smith's home in [[NW postcode area|north-west London]]. Smith was confirmed dead by the ambulance crew, with a later post-mortem confirming death from a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]].<ref name=BBC23390982>{{cite news|title=Mel Smith dies of a heart attack aged 60|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23390982|access-date=20 July 2013|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=20 July 2013}}</ref>

==Television shows==
===Producer===
* 2000 ''Too Much Sun'' television series, six episodes
* 1995 ''Tough Target'' television series, one episode

===Director===
* 1994 ''[[Dream On (TV series)|Dream On]]'', one episode

===Performer===
* 1979–1982 ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''
* 1980 ''[[Smith and Goody]]''
* 1981 ''Fundamental Frolics''
* 1982–1998 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones|Alas Smith and Jones/Smith and Jones]]''
* 1982 ''Muck and Brass''
* 1984 ''[[Weekend in Wallop]]''
* 1984 ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]''
* 1985 ''[[Live Aid]]'' (comedy sketch and intro to rock band [[Queen (band)|Queen]])
* 1986 ''Comedians Do It on Stage''
* 1987 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#The World According to Smith and Jones (1987–1988)|The World According to Smith and Jones]]''
* 1987 ''[[Filthy Rich & Catflap]]''
* 1987 ''[[The Grand Knockout Tournament]]''
* 1988–1990 ''[[Colin's Sandwich]]''
* 1989 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#Smith and Jones in Small Doses (1989)|Smith and Jones in Small Doses]]''
* 1991 ''Amnesty International's Big 30''
* 1991 ''[[Comic Relief]]''
* 1995 ''The Night of Comic Relief''
* 1996 ''A Gala Comedy Hour (Best of the Prince's Trust)''
* 2005 ''[[Comic Relief#2005 event|Comic Relief 2005]]''
* 2006 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones#The Smith and Jones Sketchbook (2006)|The Smith and Jones Sketchbook]]''
* 2006 ''The Sittaford Mystery'', an episode of ''[[Agatha Christie's Marple|Marple]]''
* 2006 ''[[Hustle (TV series)|Hustle]]''
* 2008 ''[[Mastermind (British game show)|Celebrity Mastermind]]''
* 2010–2011 ''[[Rock & Chips]]'' (two episode)
* 2012 ''The Ones: Series 1: The One Griff Rhys Jones''
* 2013 ''[[Dancing on the Edge (TV series)|Dancing on the Edge]]''

=== Writer ===
* 1979-1982 ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''
* 1980 ''[[Smith and Goody]]''
* 1984 ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'', two episodes
* 1984 ''[[Weekend in Wallop]]''
* 1986 ''Comedians Do It on Stage''
* 1991 ''Amnesty International's Big'' 30
* 1994 ''Smith and Jones: One Night Stand''
* 1996 ''A Gala Comedy Hour (Best of the Prince's Trust)''

== Filmography ==

=== Executive producer ===
* 2003 ''[[Blackball (film)|Blackball]]''

===Director===
* 1989 ''[[The Tall Guy]]''
* 1994 ''[[Radioland Murders]]''
* 1997 ''[[Bean (film)|Bean]]''
* 2001 ''[[High Heels and Low Lifes]]''
* 2003 ''[[Blackball (film)|Blackball]]''

=== Writer ===
* 1985 ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' co-written with Griff Rhys Jones

=== Actor ===

* 1980 ''[[Bloody Kids]]'' as Disco Doorman
* 1980 ''[[Babylon (1980 film)|Babylon]]'' as Alan
* 1983 ''[[Bullshot (film)|Bullshot]]'' as Crouch
* 1983 ''[[Slayground]]'' as Terry Abbatt
* 1984 ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' as Cyril Ash
* 1985 ''[[Restless Natives]]'' as Pyle
* 1985 ''[[Morons from Outer Space]]'' as Bernard
* 1985 ''[[National Lampoon's European Vacation]]'' as London Hotel Receptionist
* 1987 ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as The Albino
* 1988 ''[[The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (film)|The Wolves of Willoughby Chase]]'' as Mr. Grimshaw
* 1989 ''[[Wilt (film)|Wilt]]'' as Inspector Flint
* 1991 ''[[Father Christmas (1991 film)|Father Christmas]]'' as Father Christmas
* 1992 ''[[Brain Donors]]'' (aka ''Lame Ducks'') as Rocco Melonchek
* 1994 ''[[Art Deco Detective]]'' as Porno Movie Director
* 1996 ''[[Twelfth Night (1996 film)|Twelfth Night: Or What You Will]]'' as Sir Toby Belch

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0809321}}
* ''Rockin' around the Christmas tree'' at [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927064835/http://www.kimwildetv.com/kim-wilde-tv-video.php?RVCode=RATCT(1987-UK-Videoclip) kimwildetv.com].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mel}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century English writers]]
[[Category:21st-century English male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century English writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:British male television writers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from London]]
[[Category:Comedians from London]]
[[Category:Comedy film directors]]
[[Category:English comedy writers]]
[[Category:English company founders]]
[[Category:English film producers]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male musical theatre actors]]
[[Category:English male Shakespearean actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English male voice actors]]
[[Category:English television producers]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:English theatre directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from London]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:People educated at Latymer Upper School]]
[[Category:People from Chiswick]]
[[Category:People from St John's Wood]]
[[Category:Television personalities from London]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]

Ying Tong Song

2025-05-24T02:07:44Z

Kurt:

{{Infobox song
| cover = Ying Tong Song.jpg
| artist = [[the Goons]] with Maurice Ponke and His Orchestre Fromage
| A-side = Bloodnok's Rock 'n' Roll Call
| released = {{Start date|1956|09|20|df=y}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = *[[Novelty song|Novelty song]]
*[[nonsense song|nonsense song]]
| length = 3:29
| label = [[Decca Records|Decca]]
| writer = [[Spike Milligan]]
| producer = [[Marcel Stellman|Marcel Stellman]]
}}
The "'''Ying Tong Song'''" (also known by its refrain, which is variously either "'''Ying tong diddle I po'''" or "'''Ying tong yiddle I po'''" rather than the oft-quoted but apparently absent "'''Ying tong iddle I po'''") is a [[novelty song|novelty song]] written by [[Spike Milligan]] and performed by [[the Goons]], usually led by [[Harry Secombe]]. It is a [[nonsense song|nonsense song]], consisting of small verses interspersed by a completely nonsensical chorus. The origin of the title is said to have come from Harry Secombe's mispronunciation of the name of Milligan's war-time friend and fellow jazz musician, Harry Edgington. When Secombe repeatedly called him "Edgerton", Milligan replied, "it's Edgington, Edgington" and emphasized the point by saying "Yington, Yington".<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary of Harry Edgington |newspaper=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |publisher=[[w:Independent Newspapers|Independent Newspapers]] |location=Wellington, New Zealand |date=2 December 1993}}</ref>

==The Goons==
Secombe usually spoke the lead vocals, accompanied by [[Peter Sellers]] and Spike Milligan, who would sing along as [[The Goon Show cast members and characters|various ''Goon Show'' characters]]. As Secombe was signed to [[Philips Records|Philips Records]], he did not sing on any of the Goons' [[Decca Records|Decca]] recordings of the 1950s, including this song, only speaking his words.<ref>Harry Secombe speaking at the [http://www.thegoonshow.org.uk/ GSPS] convention in Brighton in October 1997</ref>

Milligan claimed that he wrote this song as a bet, with his brother, that he could not get a song into the hit parade that had only two chords (in this case G and D7).<ref>Spike Milligan speaking at the GSPS convention in Brighton in October 1997</ref>

It was a hit in the UK on two occasions: its highest position was No. 3 in the [[UK Singles Chart|UK Singles Chart]] in 1956<ref name=chart /> (the original [[A-side and B-side|A-side]] was "[[Major Bloodnok|Bloodnok]]'s Rock 'n' Roll Call") on Decca Records (catalogue no. F 10780), performed by The Goons featuring Major Dennis Bloodnok, Roland Rockcake and His Wholly Rollers, with "The Ying Tong Song" on the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] performed by The Goons with Maurice Ponke and His Orchestre Fromage. "The Ying Tong Song" reached a position of No. 9 in the UK when re-issued in 1973.<ref name=chart /><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book |editor-first= David |editor-last= Roberts |year=2006 |title=[[British Hit Singles & Albums]] |edition=19th |publisher=[[Guinness World Records|]] |location=London |isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=232}}</ref> The guitar was played by the session musician [[Ivor Mairants|Ivor Mairants]]. The song peaked at number 57 in Australia in 1973.<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=128}}</ref>

It was used as the title of the [[Roy Smiles|Roy Smiles]] play about Spike Milligan and ''The Goon Show'': ''Ying Tong - A Walk With The Goons'' which was staged in the [[West End theatre|West End]] in 2005 and a radio play on [[BBC Radio 4|BBC Radio 4]] in 2009.

In the fourth volume of his war memoirs (''[[Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall|Mussolini, His Part In My Downfall]]''), Milligan mentions that his friend and fellow soldier Edgington was often referred to as Edge-Ying-Tong.

==Later versions==
In the satirical TV sketch show ''[[Spitting Image]]'', in which news figures and celebrities were lampooned in the form of grossly-caricatured rubber puppets, it was not uncommon for [[Prince Charles|Prince Charles]] to be seen leaving a room quietly singing the "Ying Tong Song" to himself. This was a reference to the fact that Prince Charles is a fan of [[The Goon Show]].

The song was the first track of a 1979 comedy album, ''Primeval Slime'' by actor Ying Tong John.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Ying-Tong-John-Primeval-Slime/release/5949607 |website=discogs.com |title=Ying Tong John – Primeval Slime }}</ref>

The song gave its name to the 2008 stage show ''Ying Tong: A Walk With the Goons''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wren |first=Celia |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030700950.html |title='Ying Tong'? Why, That's English for Postwar Silliness |newspaper=[[w:The Washington Post|The Washington Post]] |department=Arts & Living |issn=0190-8286 |date=2008-03-09 |location=Philadelphia |access-date=2016-08-22}}</ref>

[[The Muppets|The Muppets]] also did a version of the "Ying Tong Song" in season 5, episode 20 of The Muppet Show.

[[Jon Anderson|Jon Anderson]], former lead singer for the [[progressive rock|progressive rock]] group [[Yes (band)|Yes]], recorded a short version, released in 2005 on his ''[[State of Independence|State of Independence]]'' EP.

==Charts==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1956)
!Peak position
|-
{{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|3|artist=The Goons|artistid=3680|song=The Ying Tong Song|refname=chart|access-date=9 February 2020}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Goons|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:The Goon Show]]
[[Category:British songs]]
[[Category:Decca Records singles]]
[[Category:Novelty songs]]
[[Category:1956 singles]]
[[Category:1956 songs]]
[[Category:1973 singles]]
[[Category:The Goon Show songs]]

The Evening Post (New Zealand)

2025-05-24T02:03:08Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:The Evening Post (New Zealand)

#REDIRECT [[w:The Evening Post (New Zealand)]]

Ivor Mairants

2025-05-24T02:02:30Z

Kurt: Redirected page to w:Ivor Mairants

#REDIRECT [[w:Ivor Mairants]]