King Street Junior

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King Street Junior
Genre Radio comedy
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited 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 release25 March 1985 (1985-03-25) 
2 November 1998 (1998-11-02)
No. of series10
No. of episodes76
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.

Contents

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).

Cast

Episodes

Series 1

Broadcast in 1985

All episodes written by Jim Eldridge

Series 2

Broadcast in 1987

Series 3

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.

Series 4

Series 5

Broadcast in 1990

Series 6

Series 7

Broadcast in 1992

Series 8

Back after a few years in 1995

Series 9

Series 10

Broadcast in 1998

Broadcast History

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.

Critical reception

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."

[5]

Multimedia

The ten series of the show are published by Penguin and available to purchase at Audible. [6]

Book

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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References

  1. Roy Fisher; Ann Harris; Christine Jarvis (2008). Education in Popular Culture: Telling Tales on Teachers And Learners. Routledge. p. 7. ISBN   9780415332415.
  2. Slide, Anthony (1996). Some Joe You Don't Know: An American Biographical Guide to 100 British Television Personalities. Greenwood. p. 57. ISBN   9780313295508.
  3. 1 2 "Jim lifts the lid on top radio drama". Cumberland News. 26 May 2006. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013.
  4. Elmes, Simon (2009). And Now on Radio 4: A Celebration of the World's Best Radio Station. Random House. p. 132. ISBN   9781407005287.
  5. "King Street Junior: radiohaha". radiohaha. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  6. "King Street Junior". Penguin. Retrieved 10 December 2019.