Christmas Radio Comedies

(5 stars; 1 reviews)

Christmas comedies from past years . A selection of BBC radio shows for the Festive Season. Christmas Specials :  Two Christmas shows from Hello Cheeky starring Barry Cryer, John Junkin and Tim Brooke-Taylor;  a Christmas Special from Steptoe and Son starring Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell;  an Xmas edition of The Ken Dodd Show starring Ken Dodd;  and a 1965 Christmas show, Sid and Dora , starring Sid James and Dora Bryan. And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree (20 min) :  A cautionary tale for Christmas, written by Brian Sibley. Starring Penelope Keith, with Timothy Bateson. Loosely based on the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas . Saturday Night Theatre : Crisp and Even Brightly (75 min) :  Christmas comedy starring Timothy West. The "truth" behind the story of Good King Wenceslas, loosely based on the Christmas Carol. What is the true story behind the tale of Good King Wenceslas? Was the poor man gathering fuel really poor? Or was he really a Slavnik spy in disguise? Was Wenceslas's tramp into the forest with his ten-year-old page, carrying flesh and wine and logs, just a public relations exercise? Alick Rowe's award winning comedy. Timothy West stars as Good King Wenceslas. Directed in Bristol by Shaun McLaughlin. David Jason's Comedy Christmas (55 min) : David Jason serves up classic moments from an array of festive television and radio programmes past and present. Quotes are taken from "The Green Book", a 1949 BBC Variety policy guide for Writers and Producers, then looks at early forms of cheek and innuendo in "Round The Horne". He also considers how shows such as "Hancock's Half Hour" made the move from the wireless to the small screen; and how "'Til Death Do Us Part" incorporated social and political comment, as well as providing laughs. He celebrates the success of sitcoms "Dad's Army", "Steptoe And Son", and "Last Of The Summer Wine", and looks at how Morecambe and Wise became the kings of Christmas comedy. And he looks at other double acts which followed in their wake, including the Two Ronnies, Fry and Laurie, and French and Saunders. Featuring interviews with stars Bill Pertwee and Ronnie Corbett; writers Roy Clarke ("Last Of The Summer Wine"), Carla Lane ("Bread"), Galton & Simpson ("Hancock's Half Hour", "Steptoe And Son"); and producer Jon Plowman. The Christmas Jottings of Hinge and Bracket (60 min) :  A Festive Pantomime. Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket star in a special Christmas edition of the sitcom The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket . The predictable amount of chaos surrounds the annual Stackton panto, when the Stackton Players present Sleeping Beauty live from the picturesque village of Stackton Tressel in Suffolk. With special guest star Deryck Guyler.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.