Radio Review: 8 March

Tune into an enjoyable look-back at Britain’s funniest folk
Louis-Barfe-newBWIf you want to get a documentary commissioned by Radio 2, find a celebrity presenter. Never mind the subject, you won’t get anywhere unless a famous name is attached. This curious policy was explained to me by a friend who writes radio documentaries, shortly before asking whether I thought Charlie Dimmock’s History Of Salsa Dancing was a goer.

Sometimes, celeb and subject are woefully mismatched. I’ve heard programmes where the presenter could be reading a thesis on quantum mechanics for all that they understood the words they were saying. Not so Radio 2’s History Of British Comedy, narrated creditably by comedian David Mitchell. However, while the press release was Mitchell this, Mitchell that, he really is the least important element. What matters is choosing the right archive material and getting the right experts. With, among others, Michael Grade, Barry Cryer and CP Lee on board, writer/producer Phil Collinge clearly knew what he was doing.

The subject is my specialist area, so I’m super-critical, but part one of this series passed most of my stringent tests. There were no obvious howlers. Also, there is often a tendency in documentaries to rush, or concentrate on one area at the expense of others. However, with a full hour devoted to music hall, variety, silent cinema and pre-war radio, from Marie Lloyd to Bandwaggon, the pacing seemed about right.

Innuendo was well covered. Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow- Wow is pure fi th, and CP Lee told a lovely story of George Formby writing to his writers and declaring their work to be ‘disgusting and outrageous… I can’t believe you expect me to sing this. Keep them coming’.

I was surprised by the absence of The Crazy Gang, although the great Jimmy James made up for it. Also, I was befuddled by the presence of a section on the Glasgow Empire (described to me by the great Stanley Baxter as where ‘English comedians came to die quietly’) omitting the Mike and Bernie Winters story.

In brief, Mike came out playing the clarinet. After a while, Bernie popped his head through the curtain, with his trademark cry of ‘Eeeeeeee’. From the gods came a shout of ‘Oh f***, there’s two of them’.

History Of British Comedy, on Radio 2, Tuesdays at 10pm.
THE PARTING MONEY SLOT

The radio studios at BBC Television Centre, home to much of Radio 4's current-affairs output and Radio 5 Live for over a decade, transmitted their last programme on Sunday 24 February. The show in question was On The Money with Declan Curry.
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