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Quiz about Classic BBC Radio Comedy Shows of Yesteryear
Quiz about Classic BBC Radio Comedy Shows of Yesteryear

Classic BBC Radio Comedy Shows of Yesteryear Quiz


A quiz on some of the classic BBC Radio comedy shows of yesteryear.

A multiple-choice quiz by Simon_Templar. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
276,048
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
1764
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 176 (7/10), Possum1 (8/10), Guest 82 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This BBC Radio comedy show ran from 1959 to 1977. It was all about the antics of Captain Povey and his absurdly hopeless crew aboard HMS Troutbridge. What is the name of the show? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Tony Hancock found fame throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s for his "Hancock's Half Hour" on BBC Radio and television shows. Who played his criminal sidekick who would frequently take advantage of Hancock's gullibility and naivety to his own advantage in the shows? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This BBC Radio comedy show ran from 1957 to 1972. It featured a man who was way older than the schoolboy character he played. A total of 289 episodes in 17 series told of the trials and tribulations of a schoolboy being raised in a north of England town. Can you name the show? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. "The Goon Show" was a classic BBC Radio comedy producing 251 episodes between 1951 and 1960. Of all the characters depicted in these shows there was only one regular female appearing in them, namely Minnie Bannister. Which 'Goon' played the role of Minnie Bannister? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, this BBC Radio comedy series ran between 1965 and 1968. The shows featured a series of sketches, several of them performed regularly such as that of "Julian and Sandy" and "Fiona and Charles". What is the name of this show? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Sixty Seven of the "Dads Army" television shows were successfully adapted for BBC Radio in the early 1970s. A further set of 14 shows were recorded in 1983-1984. These latter shows were based three years post-war and related to the purchase of Frambourne pier. What title did this latter series take? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This BBC Radio comedy series, which ran from 1962-1967 and had a total of 147 episodes in 14 series, was about a bunch of incompetent and bungling civil servants in the "General Assistance Department" of Whitehall. Their task was to help and support other government departments. What is the name of this show? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. A BBC Radio show brought much morale boosting humour to the folks back home in England during the Second World War. Tommy Handley was the mainstay of the show ably assisted by the likes of Jack Train, Deryck Guyler and a young Hattie Jacques. Colonel Chinstrap was a popular character in it. By what acronym was the show entitled? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Another BBC Radio comedy show commenced in 1950. Strangely for radio, the star was a ventriloquist, Peter Brough and his dummy! What was the name of the dummy? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1948 Frank Muir and Denis Norden wrote the first of over 300 episodes of a new BBC Radio comedy series. The stars were Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols, later joined by Alma Cogan and June Whitfield. It consisted of topical sketches and the odd song. The show introduced the fictional family "The Glums" to Britain. Do you know the name of the show? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 10 2024 : Guest 176: 7/10
Feb 26 2024 : Possum1: 8/10
Feb 25 2024 : Guest 82: 10/10
Feb 25 2024 : brenda_carriti: 9/10
Feb 22 2024 : PurpleComet: 7/10
Feb 21 2024 : bermalt: 9/10
Feb 15 2024 : pmarney: 10/10
Feb 14 2024 : Guest 147: 9/10
Feb 13 2024 : Guest 86: 9/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This BBC Radio comedy show ran from 1959 to 1977. It was all about the antics of Captain Povey and his absurdly hopeless crew aboard HMS Troutbridge. What is the name of the show?

Answer: The Navy Lark

"The Navy Lark" ran for a remarkable 245 episodes between 1959 and 1977. The main stars were Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Leslie Phillips as Sub-Lieutenant Phillips, Jon Pertwee ("Dr. Who") as Petty Officer Pertwee, Stephen Murray as Lieutenant Murray and Ronnie Barker as Able Seaman Johnson.

It was, and remains, the longest running British radio sit-com of all time.
Catch-phrase: "Left hand down a bit"- Leslie Philip's navigation left much to be desired and this phrase invariably spelt impending doom.
2. Tony Hancock found fame throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s for his "Hancock's Half Hour" on BBC Radio and television shows. Who played his criminal sidekick who would frequently take advantage of Hancock's gullibility and naivety to his own advantage in the shows?

Answer: Sid James

Sid James was an almost ever present in the radio shows and was the only regular to transfer to the later television series. Hancock decided to drop James from the last series as he feared that they were becoming typecast as a double act.

Kenneth Williams played in most radio shows and guest starred in several television shows. He played a large array of different characters as each script dictated.

This show was considered to be the first to break from the more traditional variety show of sketch and song format to develop more of a story theme.
It was in this show that Kenneth Williams first uttered his catch-phrase "Ooh stop messing about".
3. This BBC Radio comedy show ran from 1957 to 1972. It featured a man who was way older than the schoolboy character he played. A total of 289 episodes in 17 series told of the trials and tribulations of a schoolboy being raised in a north of England town. Can you name the show?

Answer: The Clitheroe Kid

Jimmy Clitheroe was in fact born in Clitheroe, Lancashire. He never grew taller than 4'3". He was thirty five years old when he started playing the role of the Clitheroe Kid aged 11 years. He would wear a school blazer and cap when recording shows in front of a live audience.

Guest appearances were made by Bob Monkhouse and curiously enough Judith Chalmers.

One of Jimmy's catch-phrases was "Ooh, don't some mother's have 'em", a line later taken as a title for the 1973 comedy series starring Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer.
4. "The Goon Show" was a classic BBC Radio comedy producing 251 episodes between 1951 and 1960. Of all the characters depicted in these shows there was only one regular female appearing in them, namely Minnie Bannister. Which 'Goon' played the role of Minnie Bannister?

Answer: Spike Milligan

Minnie Bannister (Modern Min) was the flirtatious elderly partner of Henry Crun, who played the saxophone - played by Sellers.
Her catch-phrases included "Henrrrrryyy!" and "We'll all be murdered in our beds".

Such was the power and influence of the "Goon Show" series that many references to them have been found in other mediums;
Jeff Raskin of Apple Computers once owned a company called "Bannister and Crun".
Marvel Comics (issue 148) used the character Minerva Bannister and Harry Crun.
The 2001 film "Shrek", names a constellation as "Bloodnok, The Flatulent.
A rock band named themselves after an episode - "Ned's Atomic Dustbin". Superman III used a schoolteacher character named Miss Bannister.
Monty Python make it very clear that "The Goon Show" was a huge influence on their later work.

Other noted fans include The Beatles and Prince Charles, who did a credible 'Eccles' impression on occasion.
5. Created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, this BBC Radio comedy series ran between 1965 and 1968. The shows featured a series of sketches, several of them performed regularly such as that of "Julian and Sandy" and "Fiona and Charles". What is the name of this show?

Answer: Round The Horne

Regular participants in the shows included Kenneth Horne, Bill Pertwee, Hugh Paddick, Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden and Douglas Smith. A fifth series was scheduled for 1969 but was cancelled due to Kenneth Horne's' unexpected death.

The show was innovative in that it propelled the concept of homosexuality into a hitherto ignorant British society through the double entendres of Williams, especially in the "Julian and Sandy" sketches.

Other popular characters included J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, Bea Clissold, Lady Counterblast and Rambling Syd Rumpo. The latter was Williams singing classic folk songs with new suggestive lyrics heavily laden with double entendres.
6. Sixty Seven of the "Dads Army" television shows were successfully adapted for BBC Radio in the early 1970s. A further set of 14 shows were recorded in 1983-1984. These latter shows were based three years post-war and related to the purchase of Frambourne pier. What title did this latter series take?

Answer: It Sticks Out Half A Mile

A pilot episode of "It Sticks Out Half A Mile" was made featuring Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring) who wished to buy the pier in the neighbouring town to Walmington-on-Sea in order to restore a piece of English heritage.

John Le Mesurier (Sgt. Wilson) this time is the bank manager to whom Mainwaring has to go for a loan. Sadly Arthur Lowe was in ill health when this pilot was completed and died shortly afterwards. The producers felt his slurred voice sounded drunk and the episode was scrapped.

The series was completed by re-starting with a combination of Ian Lavender (Pike) and Bill Pertwee (ARP Hodges) as the joint prospective purchasers of the pier.

Incidentally, "The Boy Who Saved England" was a one-off radio sketch in 1995 starring Pike, Hodges and the vicar from the original television series.
7. This BBC Radio comedy series, which ran from 1962-1967 and had a total of 147 episodes in 14 series, was about a bunch of incompetent and bungling civil servants in the "General Assistance Department" of Whitehall. Their task was to help and support other government departments. What is the name of this show?

Answer: The Men From The Ministry

The regular cast included, at one time or another; Wilfred Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler, Richard Murdoch, Norma Ronald and Roy Dotrice.

Remarkably the show was a huge success in Finland where it is called "Knalli ja Sateenvarjo ("Bowler Hat and Umbrella") and in South Africa where they made their own versions of the shows.
8. A BBC Radio show brought much morale boosting humour to the folks back home in England during the Second World War. Tommy Handley was the mainstay of the show ably assisted by the likes of Jack Train, Deryck Guyler and a young Hattie Jacques. Colonel Chinstrap was a popular character in it. By what acronym was the show entitled?

Answer: I.T.M.A.

"It's That Man Again" was a phrase born from pre-war observations of the regularity of Hitler's appearances in British newsreels in the build up to war.
300 episodes were transmitted between 1939 and 1949.

E.N.S.A. is the "Entertainments National Service Association" established in 1939 to provide entertainment for British servicemen during World War Two.
C.S.E is the "Combined Services Entertainment" which superseded E.N.S.A.

S.S.V.C. is the "Serves Sound and Vision Corporation" is the modern day equivalent of E.N.S.A. and incorporates C.S.E.

The character Colonel Chinstrap, played by Jack Train made two surprise re-appearances in a "Goon Show" episodes in 1957 and 1959.
9. Another BBC Radio comedy show commenced in 1950. Strangely for radio, the star was a ventriloquist, Peter Brough and his dummy! What was the name of the dummy?

Answer: Archie

"Educating Archie" drew a huge following of 15 million listeners at its peak and a fan club of some 250,000 members. The show introduced future stars such as Tony Hancock, Harry Secombe, and Benny Hill. Max Bygraves, Bruce Forsythe, Beryl Reid and Dick Emery also featured. The show even had a 13 year old Julie Andrews as a resident singer. The show switched to television in 1956.
10. In 1948 Frank Muir and Denis Norden wrote the first of over 300 episodes of a new BBC Radio comedy series. The stars were Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols, later joined by Alma Cogan and June Whitfield. It consisted of topical sketches and the odd song. The show introduced the fictional family "The Glums" to Britain. Do you know the name of the show?

Answer: Take It From Here

A good many of the "Take It from Here" scripts were passed to the "Carry On" film script writers. This resulted in many comic lines from the radio show later appearing in the "Carry On" films. The most famous example is perhaps the classic Kenneth Williams line "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy" ("Carry on Cleo" - 1964).

The show would feature a song in each episode from either Joy Nichols or Dick Bentley. When Joy emigrated to America following marriage it took two people to replace her, June Whitfield for the comedic element and Alma Cogan for the singing part. June Whitfield narrowly beat Prunella Scales ("Fawlty Towers") for the role.
Source: Author Simon_Templar

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor JuniorTheJaws before going online.
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