Comedy Playhouse (series 2)

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The second series of Comedy Playhouse , the long-running BBC series, aired from 1 March 1963 to 12 April 1963. All the episodes were written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

<i>Comedy Playhouse</i> television series

Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Meet the Wife, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, Up Pompeii!, Not in Front of the Children, Me Mammy, That's Your Funeral, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, and it is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting. The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed-contract staff are included.

Galton and Simpson

Ray Galton OBE, and Alan Simpson OBE, were an English comedy scriptwriting partnership. They met in 1948 whilst recuperating from tuberculosis at the Milford Sanatorium, near Godalming in Surrey. The sitcom Get Well Soon concerns their shared experiences at the facility. They are best known for their work with comedian Tony Hancock on radio and television between 1954 and 1961, and their long-running television situation comedy, Steptoe and Son, eight series of which were aired between 1962 and 1974.

Contents

Background

The second series, which was in black and white, consisted of six episodes, each of which had a different cast and storyline. None of the episodes made it to its own series. All episodes were aired on Friday; Our Man in Moscow at 8.45pm, And Here, All The Way From... and A Clerical Error at 8.50pm, Impasse at 8pm, Have You Read This Notice at 8.20pm and The Handyman at 7.50pm. Have You Read This Notice is the only episode of this second series which is listed as being lost. [1]

Black and white monochrome form in visual arts

Black-and-white images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of gray.

Wiping, also known as junking, is a colloquial term of art for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings (kinescopes), are erased, reused, or destroyed. Although the practice was once very common, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, wiping is now practiced much less frequently.

Episodes

TitleAirdateDurationOverviewIMDb link
Our Man in Moscow1 March 196330 mins Robert Morley played Sir William Hunter, the British Ambassador to Russia, who faces a problem when Nicolai (played by Patrick Wymark), a Russian tuba player, applies for asylum. Hunter's secretary Mortimer is played by Frank Thornton while the Russian Culture Minister Kulkinoff is played by Anthony Newlands.
And Here, All The Way From...8 March 196325 minsDistrict Commissioner Donald Lawrence (played by Eric Barker) goes all the way to Shepherd's Bush from Borneo to meet his brother Rodney (not seen) who is being honoured with a This Is Your Life show. However, when Donald finally gets there he discovers it has been called off because his brother disapproved. Also starring Erica Rogers as Pamela Lawrence, Terence Alexander as Robin Ampleforth, Roger Delgado and Roger Avon.
Impasse15 March 196325 minsTwo drivers, one in a Bentley the other in a small, rundown car, meet each other halfway down a narrow country lane. Both refuse to give way, and the situation becomes worse when both the AA and RAC arrive and begin to defend their respective members. Bernard Cribbins plays Mr Spooner, Yootha Joyce plays his wife, Leslie Phillips plays Mr Ferris, Georgina Cookson plays Mrs Ferris, Harry Locke plays the AA man, Duncan Macrae plays the RAC man and Campbell Singer plays the Police Constable. This was remade as the Pride segment in the anthology film The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins , and again for Paul Merton In Galton & Simpson's... in 1996.
Have You Read This Notice?29 March 196325 mins Frankie Howerd plays Norman Fox, who is coming back from a holiday in Switzerland and is plagued by conscience when going through Customs due to the watch he bought there. Also starring Bill Kerr as the first Customs officer, Edwin Apps as the aeroplane passenger and Graham Ashley.
A Clerical Error5 April 196325 mins John Le Mesurier plays a con man recently released from Wormwood Scrubs called Caleb Bullrush. Bullrush dresses up as a Vicar and goes to a pub to try and collect money for charity. Also starring Russell Napier as the Police Inspector, Yootha Joyce as Rita, Blake Butler, Andy Devine and John Caesar. A Clerical Error was remade for The Galton & Simpson Radio Playhouse and broadcast on 12 January 1999 on BBC Radio 4 and starred Keith Barron as Bullrush and June Whitfield as Rita.
The Handyman12 April 196325 minsLionel Hogg (played by Alfred Marks) is an unemployed, but highly qualified machine minder who is given a temporary job as handyman at a health clinic. Also starring Anthony Sharp as Dr Dennison, Damaris Hayman as Matron, Frank Williams as the Labour Exchange clerk, Edwin Apps as the first card player, Julian Orchard as the second card player and John Harvey.

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References

Mark Lewisohn English author and historian

Mark Lewisohn is an English author and historian, regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on the English rock band the Beatles.