by Tony Lang (reprinted from LAUGH MAGAZINE #13, 1995)
The 1960s marked what many describe as the end of the great era of radio comedy. This had started in the 1940s with shows such as ITMA, and had continued through the 1950s with Take It From Here, The Goon Show and Hancock’s Half Hour. The 1960s saw Beyond Our Ken, I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again and of course Round The Horne.
Barry Took had been scriptwriter for around forty programmes of Beyond Our Ken with Eric Merriman, before leaving to work for Granada Television with Marty Feldman. Then early in 1965 Took and Feldman were contacted by John Simmonds who had taken over production of Beyond Our Ken from Jacques Brown. He informed them that Eric Merriman wanted to give up writing the show, and asked if they would be interested in taking over the job.
They arranged to meet at the headquarters of BBC Light Entertainment, The Aeolian Hall in Bond Street. With him to discuss the idea were Roy Rich (Head of Light Entertainment), Edward Taylor (the Script Editor, who had originally suggested Took and Feldman for the role), and Kenneth Horne.
Initially, the writers considered that they were under too much pressure from other work and turned down the offer. After the meeting they changed their minds and agreed to write the scripts for a trial series of six shows.
Beyond Our Ken had been extremely successful, and Took and Feldman were reluctant to change the format of the show. However, they felt that the show should have a new name to reflect the new writing team, and so Round The Horne was born.
The cast was to be the same as before with Kenneth Horne as the central character around whom a team of crazy characters would revolve. He had started his radio career in 1940 as question master in the radio quiz show Ack Ack Beer Beer (named after the Anti Aircraft Barrage Balloon branch of the armed forces).
During and after the war he spent a long spell as one of the stars of Much Binding In The Marsh with Richard Murdoch, at first on the BBC and then later on Radio Luxembourg. He was also chairman of Twenty Questions. He combined this work with a successful career in industry (he had read economics at Cambridge and was Sales Director of Triplex Glass and held other City Directorships).
In 1957 he suffered a stroke which led to his retiring from industry to concentrate on showbiz. His massive avuncular personality, rich ‘plummy’ voice and almost straight man roles, pictured him as a figure of old world authority, lending an air of respectability to Round The Horne. Many jokes were made about his baldness leading to his being named the uncrowned head of the show”.
Kenneth Williams was well known as a comedy actor, probably best remembered for his parts in the Carry On films. He was one of the stars of the legendary radio show Hancock’s Half Hour where he supplied most of the funny voices, character roles and catchphrases. He had a bawdy sense of humour which seemed to conflict with his aesthetic attitude to life.
His autobiography, Just Williams was published in 1985, three years before his death. In Round The Horne he frequently complained that the writers were not servicing him properly, leading to outbursts of mock outrage that stopped the show. In fact he had some of the funniest lines in the scripts and provided most of the best remembered characters.
Many of the more dramatic roles were provided by Hugh Paddick. This well known actor had originally studied law but he soon found that he preferred the theatre.
Most of the female voices were provided by Betty Marsden. She had studied at the Italian Conti Stage School, followed by a spell with ENSA during the war. Betty has appeared in a wide range of roles from Blake’s Seyen to The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie.
Other roles were provided by Bill Pertwee, who made his show-business debut as a concert party impressionist in 1955. Apart from Beyond Our Ken/Round The Horne, his best known role is as the self important air raid warden Hodges in Dad’s Army.
Many BBC comedy shows had comic announcers and Round The Horne was no exception, the job being filled by Douglas Smith. He joined the European service of the BBC in 1946 and went on to become a Radio 3 announcer and television newsreader. Interestingly, he was also a specialist in classical music. Douglas’s characters were mainly assorted inanimate objects such as inflatable rubber rafts and volcanos.
His other duties included linking the various sketches, and providing verbal sound effects along the lines of chug chug, splot, pissssst and bang. In the fourth series he went a stage further and stepped up to the microphone to sing Nobody Loves A Fairy When She’s Forty. He died of cancer in 1972.
The musical break was provided by The Fraser Hayes Four. This close harmony group was formed inthe fifties and worked together in clubs TV and radio until i967, when Tony Hayes foged another group called the Skylarks and Jimmy Fraser left to follow a solo career in the US.
Incidental music was provided initially by Paul Fenoulhet and the Horneblowers, until replaced by Edwin Braden from the sixth show in the first series onwards. For the second Christmas special and later episodes, The Max Harris Group took over responsibility for the incidental music and the musical break was dropped.
Trying to keep everything under control was the producer, John Simmonds. He had started as a sound effects boy and worked his way up to the Head of Department. His job was a hard one on Round The Horne, due to the problem of BBC censorship. This had always been quite strict. The Goon Show in the 1950s had pushed the barriers back a little, but Round The Horne almost tried to demolish them.
The show developed a reputation for double entendres, which led to the BBC receiving a large number of complaints. One recurring objection was that the cast put a strong emphasis on certain words. Luckily the BBC shared the attitude of the scriptwriters and cast – that if there was a degree of ambiguity in the script and it was made clear enough, then it was permissible. If the listeners wanted to attach a particularly vulgar meaning to some word or phrase then that was up to them.
Two of the most frequent complainers were the self-appointed censors of the day, Mary Whitehouse and Sir Cyril Black. When they took umbrage at some indiscretion, the writers counter attacked using the words of their complaint in the next show. The censors only won one round of the war when they registered disapproval of the quasi-biblical phrases used by J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, and made the writers stop using such language.
Barry Took described in his recent book of scripts that the head of the BBC Light Programme, Dennis Morris didn’t enjoy the show, and whenever there was a question of taste, the script would be sent to the Director General, Hugh Greene, who always returned the script with the note ‘I see nothing to object to in this’. He later admitted that he ‘liked dirty shows’.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, television started to compete more strenuously for the attention of the public. In order to stay competitive, radio shows tightened up their production schedules to make them more economic. One of the ways to achieve this was in the advance preparation of sound effects, music and scripts, leading to much reduced rehearsal times. A typical 1950s radio comedy show would have been rehearsed and recorded in around six hours. Round The Horne achieved the same result in three hours.
The shows were all rehearsed and recorded at the Paris Studios in Regent Street, and followed a similar format to that started in the 1950s with Take It From Here. First there were the introductory items, followed by a longish story such as Moby Duck or the Three Musketeers (introduced as presentations of Armpit Theatre, Movie Go Wrong or The Kenneth Horne Theatre of Suspense). Some of these, such as The Muffplaster Saga and the Admirable Loombucket (a send up of The Admirable Crichton), ran for more than one episode.
In the first three series, this was followed by a song from The Fraser Hayes Four, which in turn was followed by either Trends or the Colour Supplement. A few special shows such as The Gruntfuttock Saga strayed from this formula.
The first series of sixteen shows started on the 7th March 1965, and included the initial instalments of three ongoing segments – the backroom boys of the BBC, the Clissold Saga in which Kenneth Horne talked to the much married and much divorced Lady Beatrice Counterblast nee Clissold (Betty Marsden) and her loony Butler Spasm (Kenneth Williams), and Trends, in which the cast discussed items of interest such as fashion, art and music.
The Clissold Saga introduced the first two of the many catchphrases used in the show – “Many, many, times” (first uttered by Lady Counterblast when asked how many times she had been married), and “We be doomed, we all be doomed”, the favourite phrase of her butler. Many more catchphrases were to follow, despite Feldman and Took originally deciding not to use such devices. Apparently the cast kept pencilling them in until they eventually gave up.
The second show in the series included the answers to a nonexistent quiz (which had supposedly been set the previous week), an item which soon become a regular feature of the programme.
Episode four marked the first appearance of Julian (Kenneth Williams) and Sandy (Hugh Paddick) as a pair of out of work actors filling in by working for a domestic agency called Rent-A-Chap. They were two extremely camp gentlemen, named after Julian Slade and Sandy Wilson who separately wrote two of the biggest stage hits of the 1960s – Salad Days and The Boy Friend.
The characters had quite different personalities. Julian was an introvert who had had several embarrassing experiences in the past. He was the submissive and vulnerable one, particularly about his friend Gordon (occasionally played by Bill Pertwee). Sandy, on the other hand, was more of an extrovert who wanted to ‘bring it all out into the open’. They were very popular and again had a language all of their own, this time taken from the world of costumiers and window dressers.
They turned up every week with yet another part time enterprise, such as ‘Bona Performers’ or ‘Bona Law’ (“You name it, we’ll do it, ducky”). Each had his own selection of catchphrases, including “Oh hello, I’m Julian and this is my friend Sandy”, “That’s your actual French” (supposedly invented by Peter Cook) and “Ohh bold! Very bold!”. It was the first time that overtly gay characters had been portrayed on British radio (with the possible exception of Flowerdew in The Goon Show), but these two made few bones about their, then illegal, inclinations.
The fifth show included the first appearance by J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock – the walking slum (played by Kenneth Williams). This dilapidated wreck started his radio career in Beyond Our Ken as the man who had been doing everything for 35 years, and developed into the sometimes King of Peasemoldia – a kingdom somewhere just off the Balls Pond Road.
He was a persistent letter writer to the show, supplying answers to quiz questions such as “complete the following song title: I’m gonna sit right down and.. . .. “, and guided by the voices who manifest themselves from a pig’s head in a butcher’s window. His wife Buttercup (Betty Marsden) comes from an even lower class background, although a later episode describes her as Dame Bella Goatcabin.
Show six saw the first change of personnel when Edwin Braden took over the Horneblowers from Paul Fenoulhet, and the first of many detective/spy story send-ups was launched, here entitled ‘Inspector Horne’s Casebook’.
Charles (Hugh Paddick) and Fiona (Betty Marsden) arrived with episode eight and introduced us to two melodramatic characters played in innumerable cinematic triumphs of the thirties and forties by Dame Celia Molestrangler and ageing juvenile Binkie Huckerback. Their films included such epics as Brief Ecstasy, In Which We Serve and The Hasty Nose, all played in the best tradition of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter.
In show nine, Kenneth Horne first crossed paths with Chou en Ginsberg MA (Failed) (Kenneth Williams), a fiendish Japanese mastermind who never managed to outwit his adversaries. Their first encounter was entitled ‘Kenneth Home, Counter Agent – The Spy Who Came In With A Cold’.
Chou was joined in the next show by his neurotic concubine, Lotus Blossom (Hugh Paddick) who was, in the words of her master, common as muck, and who has been described by Barry Took as like ‘a depressed Derek Jameson’.
Another character to make his debut in this show was Rambling Syd Rumpo (Kenneth Williams). This doyen of folk singers, roamed the countryside seeking ‘traditional airs’ and then pulled his ditty from his gander bag each week in the studio. His offerings were sung to the tunes of well known numbers and featured a language all of their own with words such as nadger, cordwangle, grussetts and moulie. (For those who wonder about such things, a mooli is in fact a type of large radish – honest).
The songs were designed to sound obscene without actually being so. The majority of the audience, judging by their dirty laughter, gave them very suggestive meanings indeed, aided by Kenneth Horne’s mock serious support. The producer preferred his own lily-white meanings, or so he said; which may be why the script writers often said that Round The Horne would never have got on the air but for his innocence.
Rambling Syd first burst forth with an old Hebridean goat whirdling song and a Norfolk shree picking song. These sound quite tame compared to his later ditties, which rapidly became longer and more dubious sounding. An LP of a Rambling Syd Rumpo concert was later released and became a best seller.
Show twelve was the only edition to be recorded twice, the second version (on 22nd July 1966) for the BBC Transcription Service, who required a slight doctoring to remove topical references.
The series ended on June 20th with a patriotic song and a short thank you speech.
The second season of thirteen programmes began on 13th March 1966 with a format much as before. The main addition was The Seamus Android Show, a loosely disguised parody of well known chat shows. The host was a send-up of Eamonn Andrews and the epitome of all inept TV interviewers, who had apparently not only kissed the blarney stone but had been battered senseless with it. His guests in forthcoming segments included such well known personalities as Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, Rabid Daily, Michael Bain, Barbara Cartload, Gladys Runt and Daryl F. Cliffhanger IV.
The fourth programme of the series featured a new role for announcer Douglas Smith. Due to the low rate of pay at the BBC he has decided to slip in adverts for Dobbiroids, the magic horse rejuvenator (which formed a running joke during the next few shows).
The seventh show was a special – Dobbiroids Theatre of the Air presented Dr McKinley’s Scrapbook, a musical send up of television’s Dr Finlay’s Casebook.
Programme eight included the first appearance in Round The Horne of an unnamed character, listed in the scripts as ‘Dentures’ (Hugh Paddick using his Stanley Birkershaw voice from Beyond our Ken) whose sibilants gave a shower bath to everyone nearby.
The final edition of the series was broadcast on June 5th, and six months later a special seasonal offering was broadcast on Christmas Day 1966. This show is notable as being the only Round The Horne without Kenneth Horne (who missed the programme due to illness).
Two new characters made their debuts in this show. The first was Daphne Whitethigh, a hoarse voiced, thinly disguised send up of television chef Fanny Craddock. Her mouth-watering recipes included baboon in the hole, moose stroganoff and best end of rhino (it doesn’t taste very nice but the crackling is fantastic!) She also provided amazing fashion tips with her comments being almost as crazy as the real thing.
The other new character was Brad Smallpiece (Hugh Paddick) who outlined current and forthcoming events. The magazine segment Trends was replaced by The Colour Supplement (same section, new name!).
The third series of twenty shows started on February 12th 1967 , again with a similar mix of sketches.
The eighth edition featured the first appearance by the Gypsy fortune teller Madame Osiris Gnomeclencher (Hugh Paddick), whose predictions about the future seemed highly reminiscent of those seen in most magazines.
The series departed from its usual format for the ninth show – a special entitled The Gruntfuttock Saga. This epic tale told how Gruntfuttock fought in two world wars and became klown as Gruntfuttock of Arabia. He described his later political career, and his memoirs published by Bona Press (Julian and Sandy). The show ended with the anthem “Gruntfuttock – ‘Tis Of Thee”.
By the middle of the season each episode began with a review of activities taking place to celebrate some important event, such as “Unzip a Hyena for Peace Week”, “Smear a Traffic Warden in Bloater Paste for Asia Day” and “Festoon a Gnome in Bacon Rind Day”. Frequent participants in these events were the Over Eighties Nudist Basketball Team.
The series ended with the twentieth show, broadcast on June 25th 1967. This was the last to include Bill Pertwee and The Fraser Hayes Four. Marty Feldman also left the writing team at this point, to concentrate on films and television, although he still made the odd contribution to later scripts.
Another Christmas special was broadcast on Christmas Eve 1967, with Kenneth Home throwing a party for the other characters in the show.
The fourth (and last) series of sixteen programmes started on February 25th1968. Barry Took was still writing the scripts, and he was now joined by Johnnie Mortimer, Brian Cooke and (for the first seven programmes) Donald Webster. The Max Harris Group took over the job of supplying the incidental music, and the cast performed a mid-show musical break in place of The Fraser Hayes Four.
A regular feature of this season was Radio Balls Pond Road, with its resident DJ Simon Dee… (followed by ceased, cayed, praved and other similar endings).
The sixth show featured the first appearance of Julie Coolibar (Betty Marsden) – the invention of Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke. She was a neurotic Australian who saw something obscene in everything Kenneth Horne said.
Gerald Monkshabit (Hugh Paddick) made his first appearance in the seventh episode. This intrepid reporter commented on the week’s events from such far away places as Washington and Antarctica. Unfortunately his reports were sent in via shortwave radio and suffered from interference which blotted out certain words.
The last edition was broadcast on June 9th 1968. A note-worthy inclusion is Julian and Sandy’s surprise announcement that they are in fact both married – to Julie (Betty Marsden) and Sandra. It was a rousing send-off for the series and, as fate would have it, for the show itself.
Kenneth Horne died of a heart attack (on stage at the SFTA awards ball) on 14th February 1969, aged 61. The BBC had been planning a fifth series of Round The Horne, and the project was subsequently revamped as Stop Messing About’ with Kenneth Williams as the star. Barry Took was approached as scriptwriter, but felt unable to continue. Hugh Paddick and Douglas Smith stayed with the show, with Joan Sims replacing Betty Marsden (who also felt that the time had come to move on).
On television, the scriptwriters turned their attention to other successes such as Took And Co and At Last! The 1948 Show (see accompanying file for a summary of Feldman’s career). Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke created such TV favourites as Father Dear Father, Man About The House and George and Mildred.
A documentary entitled Round And Round The Horne was broadcast on Radio 4 in 1978. This was subsequently released on disc by the BBC Transcription Service for overseas broadcast.
The characters from Round The Horne could also be heard elsewhere. Chou en Girsberg appeared in a series of adverts for Funai video recorders on ILR in 1985, Charles and Fiona recorded an advert for British Rail on ILR in 1985, and Hugh Paddick was later spotted using his Dentures character on Children’s television.
Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick resurrected Julian and Sandy for the BBC1 programme Wogan’s Radio Fun on the 28th December 1987. Their routine was very successful, and the material had to be cut in half as it was over-running due to the laughter of the audience. There was even talk of a new series, but this was scrapped when Williams died.
Round The Horne has proven to be a great success in many countries, including America and Australia, with most of the episodes being released by the BBC Transcription Service on disc for overseas stations to broadcast. They also issued four discs of extracts from the shows. These were Rambling Syd Rumpo (one disc with 20 sketches), Julian and Sandy (two discs with 28 sketches) and Charles and Fiona (one disc with 15 sketches). These were for use in DJ programmes, in magazine programmes of general interest or as fillers.
After releasing several editions as commercial LPs, the BBC eventually issued box sets containing every episode from all four seasons. There have also been cassette and CD collections of Rambling Syd Rumpo, Movie Spoofs and Julian and Sandy highlights.
EPISODE GUIDE
Series 1: BBC Light Programme March 7 to June 20 1965 (16 eds.)
1/1 Trends In Art/Musicals of Lemule Garth/The Clissold Saga – The Millionaire
1/2 The Father Of The Doorknob/Trends – Private Ear Nose & Throat/The Clissold Saga – The Aviator
1/3 What Does Kenneth Horne Look Like?/Kenneth Williams Suicide/Sound Effects/Trends In The Home/The Clissold Saga -Pantomime Horse
1/4 Inventor Of Toad In The Hole/Censors/Rentachap/The Clissold Saga – The Archaeologist
1/5 Father Of The Christmas Pudding/BBC Personnel/The Clissold Saga – Early Films/Trends-Medicine/Butch Boutique
1/6 The Crumpet/Complaints/Inspector Horne’s Casebook – The Tapdancing Monk/Trends – Marriage/The Faggot And Peas
1/7 Bird Man Of Potters Bar/Audience Research/Pirate TV/Horne’s Law – Edwin Braden Is Missing
1/8 Talent Spotters/Horne’s Law – Who Killed The Amazing Proudbasket?/Trends In The Theatre/Bona Tours
1/9 The Shuddering Brethren/Kenneth Horne, Counter Agent – Spy Who Came In With A Cold/Tourist Tips/Bona Bouffant
1/10 King Gruntfuttock Of Peasmoldiai/K. H. Master Spy – Turning Into Animals/Rambling Syd Rumpo – Hebridean Goat Whirdling Song & Norfolk Shree Picking Song/Fabe Homes
1/11 Return Of King Gruntfuttock/K. H. Master Spy – From Russia With Love/Blithe Laughter/Rambling Syd – Old Gypsy Clothes Peg Peddler Lament/Bona Homes Estate Agents
1/12 King Gruntfuttock again/Kenneth Horne, The Man With The Golden Thunderball/Relaxation/Rambling Syd – Sea Shanty/Bona Homes And Fabe Gardens
1/13 Ex-King Gruntfuttock/K. H. Special Agent – Stolen Eiffel Tower/Present Encounter/Rambling Syd – Cornish Lummock Woggling Song/Bona Pets
1/14 K. H. Secret Agent – Pirate Radio/The Glass lntermezzo/Rambling Syd – Sea Shanty #2/The Studio Bona
1/15 Brother Gruntfuttock/K. H. Special Agent – Haitian Rocket Site/Bitter Laughter/Rambling Syd – Grummit Tinkers Song/Bona Seats
1/16 Gruntfuttock nee Count Rory O’Thighblast/K. H. Special Agent – Outer Space Traffic Wardens/Rambling Syd – Soldier Soldier/Forbidden Encounter/Bona Prods/Anthem
Series 2: BBC Light Programme March 13 to June 5 1966 (13 eds.)
2/1 Kenneth Horne Master Spy – Big Ben Is Missing/Rarnbling Syd – Hoary Old Folk Song/Seamus Android – Gladys Runt & Paddy Handbell/Bona Drag/Police Message
212 K. H. Master Spy – Missing Big Ben (part 2)/Rambling Syd – Gander Boggling Song/Seamus Android – Gladys Runt & The Earl Of Bedlam/Bona Books/Appeal
213 K. H. Master Spy – Escaped War Criminal/Bona Tottoos/Seamus Android – Gruntfuttock, Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, Rabid Daily and Daryl F. Cliffhanger 1V/What Is It?
2/4 Dobbiroids Advert/K. H. Master Spy – Stolen World Cup/Teenage Scene/Seamus Android – call from Frank Sinatra, Poltergeist, Cliffhanger, Lena Horne/Shipping Message
2/5 K. H. Master Spy – Nuclear Banana/Astrology/Rambling Syd – Song Of The Orangoutang/Seamus Android-Michael Bain, Poltergeist, Cliffhanger
2/6 K. H. Master Spy – The Joke Thief/Douglas Smith Sings/Astrology/Rambling Syd – Ballad Of The Royal Scottish Pretender/Seamus Android-Barbara Cartload, Bain/What Is It?
2/7 Doctor McKinley’s Scrapbook (special musical edition)
2/8 The Twilight Sanctum – The Giant Mouse/End Of The Pier Show incl. Gruntfuttock, Rambling Syd – Irish Bog Wanderer, Julian & Sandy Telepathy/Suggestions & Complaints
2/9 Curse Of The Blackstumps/Balls Pond Road Arts Festival – Gruntfuttock, Rambling Syd – Fly Little Bird, Bona Ballet
2/10 Portrait Of Florian Thrust/Rambling Syd – Hebridean Mouth Music/The Hasty Nose/Bona Promotions
2/11 The Gaylords/Rambling Syd – Cornish Scrumpy Dance/War Film/Bona Beat/Riddle Me Ree
2/12 Smith v Batman/Dr. Fu Man Chou En Ginsburg/Rambling Syd – Sussex Courting Song/War Film 2/Bona Relations
2/13 Moby Duck/Wartime Film 3/Rambling Syd – Runcorn Splod Cobbling Song/Bona Performers/What Is It?
* The B.B.C. Transcription Service rerecorded programme 1/12 (with script changes) on July 22 1966
Christmas special: BBC Light Programme December 25 1966
Swinging London -Daphne Whitethigh, Brad Smallpiece/Colour Supplement – Rambling Syd – Clacton Bogle Pickers Lament, Christmas At B.B.C., Exchanging Gifts/Annpit Theatre – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (*Kenneth Horne absent)
Series 3: BBC Light Programme February 12 to June 25 1961 (20 eds’)
3/1 Armpit Theatre – The Plastic Max/Seamus Android At Pinewood/The Horse/Rambling Syd – The Somerset Nog/Julian & Sandy Complain
3/2 The Three Musketeers (part I) /Judge/Rambling Syd – Song Of Australian Outlaw/Brief Ecstasy/Bona Law/Mystery Noise
3/3 The Three Musketeers (part 2)/The Sea/In Which We Serve/Rambling Syd – Sea Shanty #3/Julian & Sandy – World Cruise/Riddle Me Ree
3/4 Lipharvest Of The River/Seamus Android – London Airport/Art/New Constable/The Moon And Fourpence/Rambling Syd – The Toddle Groper’s Dance/Bona Antique
3/5 How the bullet proof vest was won/Lady Chatterly’s Lover/Rambling Syd – A Lummockshire Air/Bona Soulmates
3/6 Trilby/Seamus Android – Rock Catalogue/The British Press/Rambling Syd – The Ballad Of The Woggler’s Moulie/The Daily Polare
3/7 The Adnirable Loombucket (part 1)/The Home/Rambling Syd – Song of the Hobo/Bona Caterers
3/8 The Admirable Loombucket (part 2)/Madam Osiris Gnomeclencher/Medicine/The Wayward Streptococcus/Bona Nature Clinic/Rambling Syd – Highland Lament/Late News
3/9 The Grunttuttock Saga (special)
3/10 Gaslight, Son Of Flicka/Seamus Android-London Airport (again)/Naval War Film/Bona Prods/Rambling Syd – Song Of The Bogle Clencher
3/11 The Phantom Of Bogmouth Hip/Money/Leg Insurance/Bona Tax Consultants/Rambling Syd – Old Cordwangler’s Song
3/12 A Man Is Two Foot Tall/Travel/Rambling Syd – The Bogler’s Lass In The Balls Pond Road/Bona Bijou Tourettes
3/13 Young Horne With A Man/The Occult/Rambling Syd – The Black Grunger Of Houslow/Bona Seances
3/14 The Maltese Brass Monkey/The English and Animals/Where No Hippos Fly/Rarnbling Syd – De Ye Ken Jim Pubes/Bona Hunt
3/15 The Nude Cyclist Of Polperro/The Big Top/Eating/Rambling Syd – The Pewter Woggler’s Bangling Song/Le Casserole De Bona Gourmet
3/16 The Muffplaster Saga – The Discovery Of America/Film Of Ulysses/Doctor At London Zoo/Big Ben/Rambling Syd – The Sweet Lass Of Hackney Wick/Guided Tripettes
3/17 Muffplaster Saga – The Boxer/Gruntfuttock At Cinema/Rambling Syd – The Drunken Nurker/Bona Guest House
3/18 Muffplaster Saga – The Bullfighter/TV Commercials/Bona TV Limited
3/19 The Palome Ranger/Gruntfuttock – Scriptwriter/Rambling Syd – Green Grows My Bogling Fork/BBC Wardrobe Dept.
3/20 The Head Of BBC Who Came In From The Cold/The Body/Rambling Syd – The Girl I Left Behind Me/Body Bona
Christmas special: BBC Radio 2 December 24 1967
Armpit Theatre – Cinderella/Kenneth Horne’ s Party/Rambling Syd – Good King Borroslav/Julian & Sandy – Camp Fire Songs
Series 4: BBC Radio 2 February 25 to June 9 1968 (16 eds.)
4/1 Movie Go Wrong – Doctor Doosweet B.A./Rambling Syd – On The Bonny, Bonny Nerds Of Ben Nevis/Radio Balls Pond Road – Far From The Madding Julie Cbristie/Lazy Bona Ranch
4/2 Thoroughly Modern Willy/Rambling Syd – There Is A Nadger In The Town/Simon Deeceased/The Forsooth Saga/The Amazing Grotty/Bona Gurumat/Motto
4/3 Frankenstein’s Monster/There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner/Simon Deehydrated/Theatrical Agent/Rambling Syd – The Grungerman Of Lowestoft/Portrait Of A Marriage/Bona Indoor Ski School
4/4 The Knights Of Camelot/I Remember It Well/Simon Deefunct/Phone-Ins/Rambling Syd – Knick Knack Gander Back/Bona Rags/Motto
4/5 Relatively Grand Prix/Songs For Swinging Epicures/Simon Deecayed/Phone-Ins/Rambling Syd – As I Was Going To Goosenadger’s Fair/Bona Male Model Agency
4/6 Big Broads Don’t Squeal/Thank U Very Much/Simon Deepraved/Good Food Guide/Julie Coolibar/Rambling Syd – Oh No John, No John, No/Bona Gift Boutique
4/7 The Celluloid Jungle/Oh Lucky Jim/Gerald Monkshabit (from Washington)/Julie Coolibar – Cricket/Rambling Syd – Irish Troubles/Bona Academy Of Ballroom Dancing
4/8 Around The World In Ten Minutes/Sing Us One Of The Old Songs George/Forum Of The Air/Rambling Syd – My Grandfather’ s Grunge/Julie Coolibar – Temp/Bona Songs
4/9 Listeners’ Hobbies/Gerald Monkshabit (from Washington)/Julie Coolibar – Information Desk/Poor Old Father/ Journey To Uranus/Rambling Syd – The Grunger And His Daughter Spotty Lill/Bona Books
4/10 Gerald Monkshabit (from Antarctica)/Julie Coolibar – Menswear Shop/Song Of The Hair Restorer/Apache Story/Rambling Syd – Some Folks Do/Keep Britain Bona
4/11 Charles And Fiona – On Bus/Julie Coolibar – Where She Comes From/Tongue Twisters/Escape From Stalag Limpwrist/Rambling Syd – Let The Grunge Flow/Bona Abbey
4/12 Ken’s Week/Brief Re-Encounter/Medical Help/Among My Souvenirs/I Showed Them In Fleet Street/Rambling Syd – ‘Twas On A Monday Morning/Bona Detective Agency
4/13 Gerald Monkshabit (from the Sahara)/Julie Coolibar – Phone Directories/Nobody Loves A Fairy When She’s Forty/Continuum Medi cum Romanum/Rambling Syd – Sally /Bona School Of Language
4/14 Gerald Monkshabit (Greenland) /Rhymes/Rambling Syd – Early One Morning/Julian & Sandy – Efficiency Experts
4/15 Nudist Olympics/Julie Coolibar – Engaged/The Mobile Grocer/Bona Prince Charlie/Rambling Syd – Here’s A Grunge Unto Your Artifacts/Bona Ads
4/16 He, Son Of She …/End Of Series Buffet/Rambling Syd – Ballad Of Loombogler’s Boom/Julian & Sandy-Married
RECORDINGS
Round The Horne
Pye LP NPL 18291
edited versions of editions of May 14 and June 18 1967
(with extracts from editions of April 23 and June 11 1967)
The Best of Round The Horne
B.B.C. LP REH 193
extracts from the editions of March 28, May 23 and June 13 1965, May 15 1966 and April 30 1967
Down in the sewers/last week’s quiz answers/Forgotten men of British science – Robert Capability Lackwind, the inventor of toad in the hole/Kenneth Williams complains/The backroom boys of the BBC – The cersors/Trends – Fashion – The home – Rent-a-chap/Rambling Syd Rumpo – Sea shanty/The Clissold Saga part four.
The story so far – Rasputin/Last week’s quiz answers/Brother Gruntfuttock/Kenneth Horne Special Agent – Rocket site/Trends -Society – Theatre, Excerpt from The Hasty Nose(Charles and Fiona) – Rambling Syd Rumpo, Bogler’s lass in the Balls Pond Road/Bona Seats
Round The Horne (Volume 2)
B.B,C. LP REH 240, CD ZBBC I742CD
edited versions of the shows of April 16 1967 and June 5 1966
Round The Horne (Volume 3)
B.B.C. LP REH 296
edited versions of the shows of March 12 and February 19 1967
Round The Horne – 1
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1010
contains material previously released on LPs REH 193 and REH 240
Round The Horne – 2
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1092
contains 3/4. 3/11 , 3/7 and 3/8
Round The Horne – 3
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1093
contains 3/5,3/2,3/6 and 3/19 (details on inlay are incorrect)
Round The Horne – 4
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1222
contains l/7, 1/8, 1/11 and 1/13
Round The Horne – 5
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1326
contains l/9, 1/14, 1/15 and 1/16
Round The Horne – 6
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1463
contains 3/l, 3/3, 3/9 and 3/13
Round The Horne – 7
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1609
Round The Horne – 8
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1885
Round The Horne – 9
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 2013
Round The Horne – 10
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 2186
Round The Horne – 11
B.B.C. double-cassette 0563 552867
Round The Horne – 12
B.B.C. double-cassette 0563 447601
Round The Horne – 13
B.B.C. double-cassette 0563 535679
Round The Horne – 14
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD 0563 536276
contains 2/2, 2/3, 2/9 and 2/10
Round The Horne – 15
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD 0563 494808
contains 2/5, 2/11, 3/12 and 3/20
Round The Horne – 16
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD 0563 524316
contains 1/5, 1/10, 1/12 and 2/12
Julian & Sandy
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD ZBBC 1415
Rentachap
Bona Pets
Studio Bona
Bona Books
Bona Seats
Bona Performers
Bona Homes and Landscape Gardens
Bona Mindreaders
Ballet Bona
Bona Promotions
Bona Beat Songs Ltd
Bona Dance
Bona Caterers
Bona Nature Clinic
Bona Prods
Le Casserole de Bona Gourmet
Bona Gift Boutique
Bona Academy of Ballroom Dancing
Bona Seances
Keep Britain Bona
Bona Abbey
Bona Private Detective Agency
Bona Bijou Tourettes
Bona Song Publishers
Rambling Syd Rumpo
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1746
The Bona World of Julian and Sandy
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD ZBBC 1767
Movie Spoofs
B.B.C. double-cassette ZBBC 1681
The Complete and Utter History of Round The Horne
B.B.C. double-cassette/2 CD ZBBC 2166
The Very Best Episodes
B.B.C. 2 CD 0563 504536
contains 1/5, 1/10, 1/9 and 1/13
Julian and Sandy – 1
B.B.C. CD 0563 495618
Round The Horne – series 1
B.B.C. CD boxed set 0563 535687
contains all 16 shows
Round The Horne – series 2
B.B.C. CD boxed set 0563 536268
contains all 13 shows, plus the TS remake and Christmas 1966
Round The Horne – series 3
B.B.C. CD boxed set 0563 528257
contains all 20 shows
Round The Horne – series 4
B.B.C. CD boxed set 0563 528265
contains all 16 shows, plus Christmas 1967
On July 3 1967, Kenneth Williams performed a selection of Rambling Syd Rumpo songs at E.M.I.’s Abbey Road studios in front of an invited audience of 200 people.
Recordings from the session were subsequently released as a single, two EPs and (three years later) an LP …
The Ballad Of The Woggler’s Moulie/Green Grow My Nadgers, Oh!
Parlophone single R 5638
Rambling Syd Rumpo in Concert
Parlophone EP GEP 8965
The Song of the Bogle Clencher
The Sussex Whirdling Song
The Pewter Woggler’s Bangling Song
The Drunken Nurker
The Runcorn Splod Cobbler’s Song
The Terrible Tale of the Somerset Nog
Rambling Syd Rumpo in Concert – part 2
Parlophone EP GEP 8966
The Song of the Australian Outlaw
A Lummockhire Air
The Black Grunger of Hounslow
The Ballad of the Royal Scottish Pretender
Tinker’s Lament
The Clacton Bogle Picker’s Lament
The Best of Rambling Syd Rumpo
Regal/Starline SRS 5034
(* also issued in the U.S. as What’s His Name’s Greatest Hits on Stanyan LP SR 10038)
Song of the Australian outlaw
Song of the bogle clencher
Sussex whirdling song
Tinker’s lament
The ballad of the Royal Scottish pretender (Postlewaite lament)
Pewter woggler’s bangling Song
Runcorn splod cobbler’s song
The ballad of the woggler’s moulie
Sea shanty Medley
Clacton bogle picker’s lament
A Lummockshire air
The terrible tale of the Somerset Nog
Soldier soldier
The black grunger of Hounslow
Green grow my nadger’s oh!
On September 6 1976, Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick recreated a number of Julian and Sandy routines (with Barry Took taking over the Kenneth Home parts) at a special recording session in front of an invited audience at the Pye Studios in London …
The Bona Album Of Julian And Sandy
D.J.M. LP DJF 20487
Intro
Bona Books
Bona prods
The world troll
The Ballet Bona
Bona Grapplers
La Casserole de Bona Gourmet
Fabe Homes and Bona Gardens
Bona Law
Bona Pets
Bona Palare
Bona Musicals
B.B.C. TRANSCRIPTION SERVICE issues
(not available to the public)
In the late 1960s (while Round The Horne was still in production), most of the episodes were made available to overseas radio stations for leasing. They were slightly edited from their original British running lengths (to allow for the insertion of commercials).
Twelve editions were not released … 1/5, 1/10, 1/12, 3/9, 3/11, 3/13, 3/14, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 4/14 and the 1966 Christmas special.
In addition, a new version of 2/7 was specially recorded for inclusion in the package.
In 1978, the special Round and Round The Horne (hosted by Frank Bough and Kenneth Williams) was offered to overseas outlets.
In mid-1981, packages of Round The Horne character segments were also made available …
Rambling Syd Rumpo
Cornish Lummock Woggler’s song
Grummet Tinker’s song
The Ganderboggling Song
An Orang-Utan Who Would A-Wooing G o
The Posselswaite Lament
The Herring Fisherman’s Sea Shanty
The Pewter Woggler’s Bangling Song
The Cornish Drinking Song
The Essex Grauncher’s Song
The Australian Outlaw Song
The Lummockshire Air Of The Spume Pickers
The Highland Lament of the Turve Croppers
The Song of the Bogel Clencher
Bogler’s Lass Of The Ballspond Road
The Cornish Scrumpy Dance
The Old Sussex Courting Song
The Runcorn Splod Cobbler’s Song
A Tinker’s Courting Song
Somerset Ditty
Good King Boroslav
Julian and Sandy and Charles and Fiona
Julian and Sandy
Rent-A-Chap
Bona Waiters
Bona Tours
Bona Bouffant
Bona Pets
Bona Seats
Bona Productions
Bona Drag
Bona Tattoo-ists
Bona Disguise
Bona Dance
BonaAntiques
Charles and Fiona
Charles the window cleaner
Charles in hospital
Charles the liftman
Charles and his dog
Charles and his haircut
Charles and Roger
Charles the sailor
Charles the peeping tom
Charles and the stars
Charles hits the jackpot
Charles the discoverer
Charles on leave
Charles and London
Charles Marries
Charles the artist
Julian and Sandy
Bona Gardens
Bona Mind Readers
Bona Ballet
Bona Wrestlers
Bona Songs
Bona Relations
Bona Law
Bona Tripettes
Bona Reporters
Bona Caterers
Bona Nature Clinic
Bona Films
Restaurant Bona
BOOKS
Round The Horne
by Barry Took and Marty Feldman
Woburn Press 1974 (Futura paperback 1975)
contains the scripts of 1/4, 2/l, 2/8, 2/12, 3/7, 3/11 and 3/20
The Bona Book of Julian and Sandy
by Barry Took and Marty Feldman
Robson Books paperback, 1976
contains the Julian and Sandy scripts:
Bona Books
Bona Prods
Bona Bijou Tourettes
La Casserole De Bona Gourmet
Bona Hunt
Fabe Homes And Bona Gardens
Bona Tattoos
Ballet Bona
Bona Grapplers
Bona Law
Bona pets
Bona Palare
Bona Performers
The Best of Round The Horne
Selected and introduced by Barry Took
Equation Books, 1989
contains the scripts of 1/5, 1/13, 2/3, 2/4, 2/9, 2/l0, 2/13, the special Transcription Service remake, 3/I, 3/4, 3/6, 3/10, 3/12 and 3/14
reference to Round The Horne will also be found in ..
Solo For Horne
by Norman Hackforth (Angus And Robertson, 1976)
Laughter In The Air
by Bany Took (Robson Books, 1976, updated paperback 1981)
Nigel Rees Book of Slogans and Catchphrases
by Nigel Rees (Unwin Paperbacks, 1984)
A Point Of View
by Barry Took (Gerald Duckworth and Co., 1990)
Round Mr. Horne – The Life of Kenneth Horne
by Barry Johnston (Aurum, 2006)
Laughterlog.com 