with humour and songs
John Pitman
BLHS Monthly Meeting Saturday, 11th June 2022
at 7.00 pm, United Reformed Church (above Iceland), Bitterne Precinct
John Pitman grew up during WW2 on a farm near Winchester and like many places in those days his home had no electrical supply and the radio was powered by an accumulator. The “wireless” was then the main form of information and entertainment.
In 1920 the first radio news was broadcast by the Marconi Experimental Station at Writtle near Chelmsford in Essex followed two years later by regular entertainment programmes. The British Broadcasting Company, whose main station was 2LO, morphed into the Corporation in 1926 becoming the BBC.
Many memories will be stirred as old radio programmes are recalled:
ITMA (It’s That Man Again – Hitler during the war) with Tommy Handley and Mrs Mop asking “Can I do you now sir”;
Worker’s Playtime, broadcast from factory canteens;
Have a Go starring Wilfred Pickles with Mabel at the Table and in later series Violet Carson, of Ena Sharples fame, playing the piano;
Ray’s a Laugh with Ted Ray, the fastest joke teller on radio; Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, with Kenneth Horne and Richard Murdoch, broadcast from a fictitious RAF station;
Hi Gang in the war became in peacetime Life with the Lyons with American Ben Lyon with his English wife Bebe Daniels and Vic Oliver;
Take it from Here with ‘Professor’ Jimmy Edwards, Alma Cogan, with Dick Bentley and June Whitfield playing the dim witted couple whose famous phrase was “Oooh Ron. Yes Eth?”;
Dick Barton Special Agent was on every weekday evening;
Journey in to Space with Jet Morgan was on Monday evenings;
In Town Tonight was a Saturday teatime current affairs and personality show “We stop the roar of London’s traffic to see who is in town tonight”.
Two Way Family Favourites with Cliff Michelmoore in London and Jean Metcalfe in Germany;
The Billy Cotton Band Show which opened with the phrase “Wakey Wakey”;
Educating Archie! starring a puppet with Peter Brough and stars of the day, like Beryl Reid as Monica – “Good evening each, my name’s Marlene” and Max Bygraves – “I’ve arrived and to prove it I’m here” and “Good idea, son”.