Genre | Radio comedy |
---|---|
Running time | 30 minutes |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
Starring | Peter Davison (series 1—2) Karl Howman (series 3—10) James Grout |
Created by | Jim Eldridge |
Written by | Jim Eldridge (66 episodes) Paul Copley (3 episodes) Richard Stoneman (3 eps) Martin Davies (2 episodes) Andy Rashleigh {1 episode} Ivan Shakespeare (1 ep) |
Produced by | John Fawcett Wilson |
Original release | 25 March 1985 – 2 November 1998 |
No. of series | 10 |
No. of episodes | 76 |
Website | King Street Junior at BBC Radio 4 Extra |
King Street Junior is a radio comedy which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between March 1985 and November 1998. [1] The show ran for ten series and the cast included Peter Davison, [2] James Grout and Karl Howman. The series is written by Jim Eldridge.
Research for the show was done at Newtown Road School in Carlisle. [3]
A continuation series aired in 2002 and was named King Street Junior Revisited .
Episodes closed with a children's choir singing "See the Farmer Sow the Seed," a hymn written by Baptist minister Frederick Arthur Jackson (1867-1942).
Broadcast in 1985
All episodes written by Jim Eldridge
Broadcast in 1987
Broadcast in 1988. Peter Davison's character is no longer in the show, having taken a position at another school; from here on is Karl Howman as Philip Sims.
Broadcast in 1990
Broadcast in 1992
Back after a few years in 1995
Broadcast in 1998
For most of its run, it was broadcast in Radio 4's lunchtime comedy slot at 12.27, with later series moving to a morning broadcast. [4] Repeats have also been aired on BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 Extra.
The series was described as follows:
"An unassuming Radio 4 institution, this character sitcom-cum-light drama serial followed the working lives of a group of teachers at a small junior school in a multiracial area, and came from the pen of Jim Eldridge, himself a former teacher."
The ten series of the show are published by Penguin and available to purchase at Audible. [6]
Jim Eldridge, who created the show and wrote 87 episodes, also wrote a 2006 book, King Street Junior – The Inside Story, describing the history of the show including the behind-the-scenes conflicts. [3]
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