Dick Emery - The Driving Test Centre

Comedy sketch shows are pretty much the rage these days. But the pioneer as far as British TV was concerned was almost certainly Dick Emery. His show ran throughout the 60's and 70's in prime time slots, largely on BBC and at the very end ITV. Emery was a brilliant character actor and produced some highly memorable and funny figures, such as Gaylord (the Bovver Boy), Clarence (Honky Tonk), Hettie, Mandy (Ooh you are awful) and the toothy vicar. These hugely ridiculous people appeared weekly, with others, creating many famous catchphrases for the British public to adopt.The show was snappy, full of innuendo, and a right good laugh. The format of this kind of show has been used many times since, notably by Kenny Everett, Harry Enfield and Catherine Tate. But the master remains Dick Emery, shown here in this clip at his very best.

Mike Reid - RIP

Born : Hackney, London 19 January 1940

Died : Marbella, Spain 29 July 2007

The Comedians, EastEnders

Blog Gallery # 2

Three faces from earlier postings. Left : Colin Sell, piano player without equal, from I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (5 May), Middle : Fast food lover DC Robert Kray from The Thin Blue Line (16 June), Right : Nigel Hawthorne, smooth talking civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleton from Yes, Prime Minister (21 February).

My First Car

I learnt recently of the death of Jack Odell. I must immediately admit that I had never heard of this man but when I read his story I realised I must acknowledge the influence he had on my childhood.

Jack Odell was partly responsible for the greatest of all toys..................the 'Matchbox'. And I had a bucket full of them, mainly cars, and played with them for thousands of hours. Strangely I have no recollection of having them bought for me, though I must assume I received some as Christmas or birthday presents. I think they were more likely given to me by someone who had grown out of playing with them. I kept them in a metal kitchen bin. I would tip them out onto the floor and 'drive' them to all corners of the room, and indeed all around the house. They were battered and scratched and some had various parts missing. But oh how I loved them. I had some favourites............I particularly remember the Coca Cola lorry with its carefully stacked crates. And a little brown/maroon coloured van, which has left me with some vague re-collection that it had an advert for cocoa on the side. I used to push them from the top of the stairs, the winner being the one that got closest to the bottom. On other days it was a knock-out competition - the one closest to the top being eliminated, culminating some hours later in a 'grand final'. I also remember Matchbox producing a folding cardboard race track, complete with hairpin bends and a pit lane. I would painstakingly push my cars and trucks around the circuit, sometimes for hours on end. I have no idea what force actually determined the winner, it was probably quite simply whichever one I felt worthy of the trophy on the day! It was fantastic witnessing the snazzy sports car being out manoeuvred on the final bend by the excavator. It was to be my own version of Wacky Races. I don't know exactly what happened to them nor the bucket. I did pass them down to my nephew and I seem to remember they were often buried in the back garden and dug up again a few days later. I would love to have them now, not that they would have any particular value given the condition they were in.

Jack Odell was 87 when he died. He was an engineer by trade who, after World War Two, joined a business owned by Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. The company was called Lesney Products ( taking the first three letters of one of the Smiths' christian names and the second three from the other) and they made parts for real cars. In 1952, Odell made a red and green steam roller for his daughter. She wanted to take it to school but to do so it had to be small enough to fit into a matchbox. Her schoolfriends thought the toy was marvellous and soon Odell was knocking out more steam rollers. Lesney thereby decided to market these finely detailed toys, and soon added a Land Rover, London bus ( I had one of them), bulldozer and a fire engine (had one of them too). In 1954 Matchbox produced their first car - the MG TD Roadster. By 1962 they were making a million cars a week. They were affordable to buy and kids collected them with great passion and enthusiasm. They were popular all around the world and there was never any let up in the attention to detail in order to get as close to the real thing as possible.Lesney eventually hit bad times and went into receivership in 1982. The Matchbox brand has continued since, albeit it the hands of various other companies.

Title Music # 3 - Terry and June

Originally Broadcast : 24th October 1979 to 31 August 1987

Channel : BBC

Written By : John Kane

Produced By : John B Hobbs, Robin Nash, Peter Whitmore

Starring : Terry Scott, June Whitfield, Reginald Marsh, Rosemary Frankau

Episodes : 65

Said In Jest # 3

'' Titter ye not '' - Frankie Howerd.

'' You is a bunch of poofs '' - Battery Sgt Major Williams in It 'Ain't Half Hot Mum.

''Luvvly jubbly'' - Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses.

''I will tell you this. I will tell you this'' - Rab C Nesbitt.

''You stupid woman'' - Rene Artois to his wife in 'Allo 'Allo.

''The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking'' - Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.

You're Gonna Die Ives

Possibly the shortest clip you will ever see on this blog...................from the superb BBC series Porridge and featuring 'Orrible Ives who has poison in a rather delicate place - his bottom. Being the most detested inmate at Slade, there were no volunteers to help him with his little problem and Fletch has no problem giving him the bad news ! Ronnie Barker needs no introduction, Ives was played by scouse actor Ken Jones. Fans of the show will remember he started most conversations with 'ere listen' and he remains one of my favourite characters from the series.

I Laughed My Socks Off...........

..................when I first heard this.

“If we're not supposed to eat animals, how come they're made out of meat''

Tom Snyder.

Charles Hawtrey

Sentences containing the words Charles and Hawtrey often also include 'comic', 'legend' and 'icon'. Certainly there have been few people in the history of mankind who could more easily and instantly bring a smile to my face. As a youngster, I would watch Carry On films, and the characters portrayed by Charles Hawtrey, were often the funniest and most memorable. I am not altogether certain what was so funny about him. Maybe the vulnerability......... he was of course scrawny and wimpish visually. Or his ineptitude to get things right. Probably it was his absurdity. With his posh voice and stubborn but camp disposition, I used to love the appearance of Charles Hawtrey into a Carry On scene because suddenly the laughter possibilities were endless. He was a superb comedy foil, most especially to Sid James whose nature was a complete opposite. This was never better witnessed than in Carry On Cabby in 1963, with Hawtrey playing the willing but largely incompetent Terry 'Pintpot' Tankard, alongside James' typically aggressive and opportunistic character, taxi company owner Charlie Hawkins. Perhaps the memory that stuck with me the longest was his part in Carry On Doctor (1967) in which he played Mr Barron, who was in hospital because he thought he was having a baby!!

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In all, Charles Hawtrey appeared in 23 Carry On films between 1958 and 1972. Other roles in the series that I have enjoyed were as Eustace Tuttle in Carry On Abroad in 1972 ( the last time all the regulars appeared together) and as Professsor James Widdle in Carry On Up The Khyber in 1968. The writers were always generous in the gags handed to Hawtrey. He provided some of the best one-liners from the series. I remember a great gag from Carry On Don't Lose Your Head. He played the Duc De Pommfrit, who ,when at the guillotine and about to get be-headed, was told an urgent letter had just arrived for him. He replied 'Oh, drop it in the basket. I'll read it later'. However, he was never top of the bill, usually appearing fourth or fifth on the film publicity material. 'Abroad' was to prove to be his final Carry On appearance. Hawtrey was disillusioned with not being top of the bill and after a drink fuelled argument with producer Peter Rogers, was never again seen in a Carry On film.

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Being the age I am, I can only remember Charles Hawtrey from the Carry On's. He had though been a child star. He was born in November 1914 in Hounslow, Middlesex. His real name was George Frederick Joffre Hartree. He took the name Charles Hawtrey from a celebrated and knighted actor of the time and encouraged rumours that he was his son in an attempt to further his own chances in the business. His father had in fact been a mechanic. The Charles Hawtrey we all know and love started his career as a boy soprano, making records and appearing on the radio in Children's Hour. He was in fact a very good musician. Aged 11 he made his stage debut in Boscombe, playing a street Arab. He was to go on to appearing at the London Palladium. As far as films were concerned, he was in Tell Your Children as early as 1922. His first prominent roles were alongside Will Hay in Good Morning Boys (1937) and Where's That Fire (1939). Hawtrey also produced a film in 1945, Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco, starring Flora Robson, in 1945. His TV career took off in 1957 when he appeared as Private 'Professor' Hatchett in The Army Game, with Alfie Bass, Bill Fraser and Bernard Bresslaw. In 1960 he played Simon Willow, a council official in Our House, a sitcom also starring Carry On favourites Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims (as well as Hylda Baker).

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The Carry On period was to prove to be the pinnacle of Charles Hawtrey's life, both personally and professionally. After 1972 he made a handful of TV appearances, but was largely reduced to playing pantomime roles, using his enormous former popularity to great effect. But his private life took on a darker side as he turned increasingly to drink. He retired to Deal in Kent, where he gained the reputation of being a lonely and unpredictable man. He had never hidden his homosexuality, and alcohol and cigarettes led him to an unhealthy and promiscuous lifestyle. Any publicity he received often portrayed him as a broken and pathetic figure. In 1988, ironically following a fall in a Public House, he faced the reality of having to have his legs amputated. He refused an operation and died a month later, aged 73.

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Back to happier times. Charles Hawtrey will go down in comedy history. He was much loved by the British public because of his Carry On connection. Anyone around at the time and those who have caught the series since will remember his voice, his snooty mannerisms, his campness, his granny glasses and his mummy boy ways.They may simply remember him saying 'Oh. Hello' and giggling. He was a natural comic, funny just entering the room. Regrettably, his private life would suggest he had much emotional turmoil. It is quite probable we never saw the real George Frederick Joffre Hartree.

I Didn't Know That # 5

You stumble across all kinds of things you didn't know whilst researching for a blog..................

Frank and Betty Spencer's cat in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is called Cleopatra.

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The last known whereabouts of Mr Bean was Moscow. In the final episode, Hair By Mr Bean Of London, he hides in a mail bag at a railway station, which is then loaded onto a train destined for the Russian capital.

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Coventry, Northampton and Leamington Spa were the primary locations used in the filming of the hit BBC comedy, Keeping Up Appearances.

Jake Thackray

Sometimes people slip out of your life for a lot of years. This happened with me and Jake Thackray. I remembered him from the early 70's with his appearances on That's Life, the bad company bashing, consumer help programme. The particular shows went out late on Saturday nights, after Match Of The Day, and Jake Thackray would have a three or four minute slot in which he sang a song. And Jake Thackray songs were like nothing else before or since.

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I have often mentioned Jake Thackray to other people of a similar age to me and drawn a complete blank. His fame, in truth, was more deeply rooted in places other than TV...........folk clubs, civic halls and pubs. As a man of Leeds, he was very popular and well known in Yorkshire and in the 60's this spread nationwide thanks to his appearances in shows such as The Frost Report, Braden's Beat (which I also remember watching late on Saturday nights so it might well have been here I first caught up with JT), and Beryl Reid Says Good Evening. His mix of satire, attitude and irreverence was not to everyone's taste. In fact, I think it safe to say you either loved him or hated him. He had the most unique delivery ; a truly down to earth bloke singing in a chanson style (that is, a song with French words and strong on lyrics) but in English. And most of his songs contained big dollops of innuendo and sometimes were simply rude and provocative. Class, sex, family relationships, religion, animals and observations of the odd world in which we live were his lyrical targets.

Jake Thackray was born in 1938, grew up as a Roman Catholic, and was a clever man who graduated from Durham University and looked destined for a teaching career. In fact, he used his musical talents on his kids in class as an aid to educating them. He subsequently spent four years living in France, hence the Gallic influence of his later work. He went on to make over 1000 TV and radio appearances and numerous albums. He had a significant following, though his style did go out of favour. In his later life he was disillusioned with 'showbiz', and crippling nerves disallowed performing in public. He moved to South Wales and became increasingly more religious. Jake died on Christmas Eve 2002, news of which led to a revival of interest in his work.

As I said, Jake Thackray disappeared from my life for a long time. But his clever wit and inimitable material is still funny and I am very pleased to have caught up with him again. A brilliant performer, of that I have no doubt.

An example of the great man's work can be found on the post Jake Thackray - I Stayed Off Work Today March 27th 2010.