Billy Bunter's Christmas Party

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Billy Bunter's Christmas Party
Billy Bunter's Christmas Party.jpeg
Book cover from the Cassell edition
Author Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children, Comedy
PublishedOctober 1949, Charles Skilton Ltd
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Preceded by Billy Bunter in Brazil  
Followed byBilly Bunter’s Benefit 

Billy Bunter's Christmas Party is a school story by Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards, using the characters and settings of the Greyfriars School stories published from 1908 to 1940 in The Magnet . The book's retail price was 7s 6d.

Contents

First published in October 1949 by Charles Skilton Ltd, London, [1] [2] [3] the fifth in a series of post-WWII hardback novels, it was subsequently reprinted by them in 1952 and 1957. [4] It was reprinted in hardback in 1993 by Hawk Books. [4]

A Greyfriars School holiday story, the novel has a colour dust jacket, frontispiece and black and white illustrations by R. J. Macdonald.

Origins

After the closure of The Magnet in May 1940 due to wartime paper shortages, author Charles Hamilton was contractually barred by the publisher, Amalgamated Press, from continuing to write Greyfriars stories. However, in 1946 publisher Charles Skilton negotiated the rights to publish new stories in book form. Hamilton, delighted, suggested a payment rate of £90 per book; but Skilton, short of capital, asked Hamilton to accept royalties instead. This proved to be greatly in Hamilton's favour: he received £1,000 instead of £90 for the first book. [5] [6]

Synopsis

Billy Bunter was better known for cadging holiday invitations than for offering hospitality himself, and it came as a great surprise to various members of the Greyfriars Remove to receive a cordial invitation from Bunter's Uncle Carter to spend the Christmas holidays at his country mansion, Tankerton Hall.

After some misgivings, six of Bunter's schoolmates accepted, including the Famous Five and the Australian Squiff, though it was not immediately apparent that the ofter was more unusual than they had thought! Not only were some of Uncle Carter's remarks distinctly puzzling, but before long there were queer noises and apparitions, and talk of the old miser, Sir Julius, who had once lived at the Hall. Did his ghost haunt the ancient apartments, and where was his fortune that had never been found? In addition, why had Bunter omitted to mention that Tankerton Hall is actually a boarding house?

These were some of the questions which interested the Removeites who spent Christmas with Bunter, his sister Bessie Bunter and Uncle Carter. Yet one person especially had cause to be grateful for the schoolboys' presence, for through their activities, Hubert, the friendly chauffeur, became possessed of his inheritance, and in so doing relieved six Remove members in a most pressing problem. [4]

Radio

An adaptation was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 13 December 1986 as part of Saturday Night Theatre. The production was dramatised by Rob Gittins. [7] [8]

Cast

Television

A television dramatisation, Bunter's Christmas Party, written by Charles Hamilton as Frank Richards, was broadcast as an episode of the first series of Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School on BBC television on 4 March 1952. [9] [10]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greyfriars School</span> Fictional English public school

Greyfriars School is a fictional English public school used as a setting in the long-running series of stories by the writer Charles Hamilton, who wrote under the pen-name of Frank Richards. Although the stories are focused on the Remove, whose most famous pupil was Billy Bunter, other characters also featured on a regular basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Campion</span> English actor (1921–2002)

Gerald Theron Campion was an English actor. He is best remembered for his role as Billy Bunter in a 1950s television adaptation of books by Frank Richards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Hamilton (writer)</span> English writer of school stories (1876–1961)

Charles Harold St. John Hamilton was an English writer, specialising in writing long-running series of stories for weekly magazines about recurrent casts of characters, his most frequent and famous genre being boys' public school stories, though he also wrote in other genres. He used a variety of pen-names, generally using a different name for each set of characters he wrote about, the most famous being Frank Richards for the Greyfriars School stories featuring Billy Bunter. Other important pen-names included Martin Clifford, Owen Conquest and Ralph Redway. He also wrote hundreds of stories under his real name such as the Ken King stories for The Modern Boy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bunter</span> Fictional schoolboy created by Frank Richards

William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly story paper The Magnet from 1908 to 1940. The character has appeared in novels, on television, in stage plays and in comic strips.

<i>The Magnet</i> UK weekly boys story paper

The Magnet was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues.

<i>The Gem</i> UK weekly boys story paper

The Gem (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pen-name of "Martin Clifford," the majority by Charles Hamilton. Many issues also included a shorter serial story ; these parts of the paper were not written by Charles Hamilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Merry</span>

Tom Merry is the principal character in the "St Jim's" stories which appeared in the boy's weekly paper, The Gem, from 1907 to 1939. The stories were all written using the pen-name of Martin Clifford, the majority by Charles Hamilton who was more widely known as Frank Richards, the creator of Billy Bunter.

Elizabeth Gertrude Bunter, better known as Bessie Bunter, is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton, who also created her more famous brother Billy Bunter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. H. Chapman</span>

Charles Henry Chapman (1879–1972), who signed his work as C. H. Chapman, was a British illustrator and cartoonist best known for his work in boys' story papers such as The Magnet where the character Billy Bunter appeared. He later illustrated Bunter cartoon strips and several Bunter books published in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Schoolgirl was a British weekly story paper aimed at girls. Published by Amalgamated Press (AP), The Schoolgirl ran in two series, the first from 1922 to 1923, and the second from 1929 to 1940.

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School may refer to:

<i>Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School is a BBC Television show broadcast from 1952 to 1961. It was based on the Greyfriars School stories, written by author Charles Hamilton under the pen name Frank Richards. Hamilton wrote all of the scripts for the television show.

<i>Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School</i> (novel)

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School is a school story by Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards, using the characters and settings of the Greyfriars School stories published from 1908 to 1940 in The Magnet. The book's retail price was 7s 6d.

<i>Billy Bunters Banknote</i>

Billy Bunter's Banknote is a school story by Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards, using the characters and settings of the Greyfriars School stories published from 1908 to 1940 in The Magnet. The book's retail price was 7s 6d.

School Friend was the name of two different British weekly publications marketed toward girls, both of which were pioneering in their respective categories. The first School Friend, published from 1919 to 1929, was the first story paper marketed exclusively to girls. The second School Friend, published from 1950 to 1965, is considered the first British girls' comic. Although both published by Amalgamated Press, and both marketed toward girls, the content of the two publications was not directly related.

<i>Billy Bunters Barring-Out</i>

Billy Bunter's Barring-Out is a school story by Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards, using the characters and settings of the Greyfriars School stories published from 1908 to 1940 in The Magnet. The book's retail price was 7s 6d.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. J. Macdonald</span>

Reginald James Macdonald, who signed his work as R. J. Macdonald, was a Scottish illustrator and cartoonist best known for his work in the boys' school stories in The Gem written by Charles Hamilton writing as Martin Clifford. After World War II from 1947 to his death in 1954 he provided colour and black and white illustrations for the Billy Bunter novels by the same author.

<i>Billy Bunter in Brazil</i>

Billy Bunter in Brazil is a school story by Charles Hamilton writing as Frank Richards, using the characters and settings of the Greyfriars School stories published from 1908 to 1940 in The Magnet. The book's retail price was 7s 6d.

References

  1. The Billy Bunter books (1947-1965), The Greyfriars Index
  2. Publishing History: Billy Bunter (Charles Skilton; Cassell; Armada; etc.) - Book Series List
  3. Frank Richards, Publishing history of the Billy Bunter books
  4. 1 2 3 Billy Bunter's Christmas Party, Friardale database
  5. "Cassell".
  6. Hamilton Wright, Una; McCall, Peter (2006), The Far Side of Billy Bunter: The Biography of Charles Hamilton, London: Friars Library, P223
  7. 1 2 Frank Richards: Billy Bunter's Christmas Party, BBC Radio 4, Internet Archive database
  8. 1 2 Billy Bunter 's Christmas Party, BBC Programme Index
  9. 1 2 Bunter's Christmas Party (1952) British Film Institute (BFI) database
  10. 1 2 Bunter's Christmas Party, Internet Movie Database (IMDb)