• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Situation Comedy

It seems the last post on this thread was mine, none since.
I pose this question (rather than call it a quiz):
What was in Compo's matchbox? It was a favourite party piece for him particularly with ladies, although I do think one or two men were given the opportunity to view.
I always believed it to be a spider, or maybe beetle.
 
I've really enjoyed reading through this thread and it's brought back so many T.V. memories. Two shows not yet mentioned which I used to enjoy were The Lovers with Richard Beckinsale as Geoffrey "Bobbles Bon Bon" and Paula Wilcox as Beryl who described romantic fumblings from from Geoffrey as "Percy Filth".
The second one was also about a young couple and that was Watching, the title taken from the young man's hobby of birdwatching.
 
I am sure most of you know about the TV channel "Talking Pictures". It is available on various platforms (Sky, Virgin etc, see web site below)

While it does show mostly films and historic documentaries it also features many old TV series, some of them comedy. Recently it has been showing "Get Some In" (Robert Lindsay) and "For the love of Ada" (Wilfred Pickles, Irene Handl).

For comedy fans it also shows many old comedy films from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, most of them British.

Great place to watch up and coming stars in small parts. I have seen Terry Scott, Tommy Cooper, Sid James, Dick Emery and many others in small parts in old comedy films.

They have also been showing old episodes of "Sunday night at the London Palladium" with many stars such as Bruce Forsyth, Jim Dale and loads of others.

There is also an interesting program called "Tell Me Another" where famous stars (Ted Ray, Arthur Askey, Barbara Windsor, Spike Milligan etc) tell humourous stories from their lives to Dick Hills (who used to write for Morecambe and Wise) - rememeber "Sid and Dick" - the Boom, Ooh ,Yatta ta sketch

See the sketch here


You can see the weekly schedule of Talking Pictures programs here:

 
Last edited:
Wilfred Pickles. to me was more associated with 'Have a go Joe', which it appears, unbelievably, ran for twenty one years!

There were catchphrases, 'give 'em the money Barney (Colehan)' and later 'Mabel (his wife) at the table', also 'are you courting?' He seems to have visited almost everywhere in the UK in those years. I remember him on a Town Hall balcony when he visited Brixham in Devon. I was not in the audience or a contestant. ;)
 
Haven't been completely through this thread but I did do a search and was surprised not to find Kelly Monteith, loved his TV show, was it in the 80's? Even saw him at the Hippodrome. Lots on You Tube.
 
Have a go was, I'm told once at the Clearwell village hall, my old friend here, a villager born and bred, always said Wilfred Pickles wasn't a very nice man. (Don't know why.)

His pianist was of course the lady who played Ena Sharples in Corrie.
 
Have a go was, I'm told once at the Clearwell village hall, my old friend here, a villager born and bred, always said Wilfred Pickles wasn't a very nice man. (Don't know why.)

His pianist was of course the lady who played Ena Sharples in Corrie.
The link I posted, in an earlier post, mentions that Violet Carson was one of four pianists over the twenty one years of the show.
I never met him so cannot say about his demeanour. Many high profile actors/artists do have two images: a private and a public one.
 
Alan,

I'll certainly vouch for your last sentence, from the people I worked with when a musician. I can think of two that were certainly not a pleasure to work with and one, a well known comedian in his day and a rich one too, who expected everyone to buy a round except himself. But for every one that got up your nose, there were many more that were a real pleasure, and two of the most friendly and professional guys were Bob Monkhouse and trumpeter Kenny Baker. Sadly both are no longer with us.

Maurice :cool:
 
To me Hancocks Half Hour will rule forever , as one of his peers said in a documentary after Hancocks death nobody could work silence like Hancock a raise of the eyebrow a smug smile said it all

With a big thanks to Galton and Simpson who wrote Hancocks Half Hour, for radio and TV. They got his "character" just right.

Sadly Hancock was never as funny without Galton and Simpson writing for him.

After he split from Galton and Simpson in 1960/1961 they went on write Steptoe and Son which became a huge comedy hit (and is still very funny today).

Hancock gradually discarded all his comedy "mates" Sid James, Kenneth Williams etc and got new writers but it was never as good without Galton and Simpson.

Saying "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times" sadly Hancock committed suicide in 1968.
 
With a big thanks to Galton and Simpson who wrote Hancocks Half Hour, for radio and TV. They got his "character" just right.

Sadly Hancock was never as funny without Galton and Simpson writing for him.

After he split from Galton and Simpson in 1960/1961 they went on write Steptoe and Son which became a huge comedy hit (and is still very funny today).

Hancock gradually discarded all his comedy "mates" Sid James, Kenneth Williams etc and got new writers but it was never as good without Galton and Simpson.

Saying "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times" sadly Hancock committed suicide in 1968.
Spot on with all your comments there, Sid James & Kenneth Williams never really forgave him. However the point of the reply is to say what an eyeopener the programme on BBC2 on Saturday night about John Le Meseuier was. Hancock & Le Meseieur were close friends, John divorced Hattie Jacques, married Joan, took Hancock in as a friend, Joan went off with Hancock who apparently treated her abysmally and after his death she moved back in with John, Well worth downloading and watching

Bob
 
Spot on with all your comments there, Sid James & Kenneth Williams never really forgave him. However the point of the reply is to say what an eyeopener the programme on BBC2 on Saturday night about John Le Meseuier was. Hancock & Le Meseieur were close friends, John divorced Hattie Jacques, married Joan, took Hancock in as a friend, Joan went off with Hancock who apparently treated her abysmally and after his death she moved back in with John, Well worth downloading and watching

Bob
I watched that programme too and thoroughly enjoyed it. What a lovely, gentle man he was and didn't deserve to be so unlucky in love.
 
With a big thanks to Galton and Simpson who wrote Hancocks Half Hour, for radio and TV. They got his "character" just right.

Sadly Hancock was never as funny without Galton and Simpson writing for him.

After he split from Galton and Simpson in 1960/1961 they went on write Steptoe and Son which became a huge comedy hit (and is still very funny today).

Hancock gradually discarded all his comedy "mates" Sid James, Kenneth Williams etc and got new writers but it was never as good without Galton and Simpson.

Saying "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times" sadly Hancock committed suicide in 1968.

I watched an interview with Sid James years ago he was recalling the last time he saw Mr Hancock , Sid was in a taxi central London. Tony was obviously in a bad way from drink , Sid went on to say if only he could have stopped the taxi things might have been different if he had got Tony into the cab . I got the impression that Sid was assuming part blame for what happened some weeks later. I think Sid's last look at Hancock was heart wrenching indeed , pathos at it's very greatest. I know nobody since Hancock has made me laugh as much, Radio 4e plays a lot of the old radio programmes Hancock included . Thanks for the laughs Tony
 
A few people on here have mentioned being fans of Tony Hancock.

If so note TODAY (Saturday 22nd August 2020) they are showing The Punch and Judy Man with Tony Hancock on the TV channel Talking Pictures.

Talking Pictures is available on most TV platforms - Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin, YouView etc

For more details on where to watch the channel see this web site


For those unaware Talking Pictures shows old movies and TV programs and documentaries.
 
It seems the last post on this thread was mine, none since.
I pose this question (rather than call it a quiz):
What was in Compo's matchbox? It was a favourite party piece for him particularly with ladies, although I do think one or two men were given the opportunity to view.
I always believed it to be a spider, or maybe beetle.
no one ever found out what was in there.
 
Back
Top