Sir Harry Whitlohn was a spoof character who appeared as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs and was interviewed as though he were real, by the presenter Roy Plomley, on 1 April 1963 - April Fools' Day. [1] [2]
Whitlohn was variously presented as a "man of affairs, musician, mountaineer, and mystic", an "88-year-old mountaineer, mystic and spy" and "the only man living who had collaborated with Brahms". [2] [3]
In reviewing the book "Desert Island Discs: 70 Years of Castaways" by Sean Magee for The Guardian in 2012, Stephen Moss wrote: [4]
Plomley's strong suit was his sense of the absurd, and his encounter with theatrical manager Sir Harry Whitlohn is especially memorable.
The role of Whitlohn was played by the actor Henry Sherek, himself a former castaway on the programme. [5] The character was originally to be called "Harry Whitlow". [5]
Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Lionel Blue was a British Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster, described by The Guardian as "one of the most respected religious figures in the UK". He was best known for his longstanding work with the media, most notably his wry and gentle sense of humour on Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He was the first British rabbi publicly to declare his homosexuality.
Betty Smith, known by the stage name Liz Smith, was an English character actress, known for her roles in BBC sitcoms, including as Annie Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared (1975–1979), the sisters Bette and Belle in 2point4 Children (1991–1999), Letitia Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley (1994–1996) and Norma ("Nana") in The Royle Family (1998–2006). She also played Zillah in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1984 film A Private Function.
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Francis Roy Plomley, was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the BBC Radio series Desert Island Discs, which he hosted from its inception in 1942 until his death.
Gerald Francis Priestland was a foreign correspondent, presenter and, later, a religious commentator for the BBC.
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Alfred Edward Matthews, known as A. E. Matthews, was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades. Already middle-aged when films began production, he enjoyed increasing renown from World War II onwards as one of the British cinema's most famous crotchety, and sometimes rascally, old men.
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Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was a popular British television game show which ran from 1952 to 1959. In the show, a panel of archaeologists, art historians, and natural history experts were asked to identify interesting objects or artefacts from museums from Britain and abroad, and other faculties, including university collections.
Major Charles John Morris was a British mountaineer, anthropologist and journalist, and controller of BBC Radio's Third Programme.
Ralph Wightman was an English lecturer, journalist, author, and radio and television broadcaster.
The Reverend Canon Wallace Harold Elliott was a Church of England clergyman and Precentor of the Chapels Royal, and a broadcaster on religious matters for the BBC, known as "the Radio Chaplain".
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Rae Jenkins, born Henry Horatio Jenkins was a Welsh violinist and later conductor of light music, notably with the BBC Midland Light Orchestra (1942–1946), the BBC Variety Orchestra (from 1946), and as principal conductor of the BBC Welsh Orchestra (1950–1965). In 1955 Hubert Clifford, Head of Light Music at the BBC, called Jenkins "the most gifted and experienced conductor of light music in the country".
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Sir Gavin Harry Laird was a Scottish trade unionist, who became General Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) and a Member of the Court of the Bank of England.
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