Waggoners' Walk

Last updated

Waggoners' Walk
Waggoner's Walk street sign.jpg
Waggoners' Walk street sign illustration used by Radio Times in April 1969
Other namesWaggoners' Walk NW
Genre Soap opera
Running time15 minutes (4:30 pm 4:45 pm)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home station BBC Radio 2
Created by
Written by Peter Ling, Barbara Clegg, Terry James et al
Original release28 April 1969 (1969-04-28) – 30 May 1980 (1980-05-30)
No. of episodes2,824 [1]

Waggoners' Walk was a daily radio soap opera, set in the fictional cul-de-sac of Waggoners' Walk and its environs in Hampstead, north London. It was broadcast daily on BBC Radio 2 from 1969 to 1980, in the form of 15-minute episodes on weekday afternoons with a repeat the following weekday morning. The programme came to a sudden end in May 1980 as part of a number of economies made by the BBC.

Contents

History

Waggoners' Walk was introduced as a successor to the long-running The Dales (1948–1969) which had been cancelled due to the illness of the lead actress Jessie Matthews. [2] The programme was created by writers Jill Hyem and Alan Downer; its origins lay in their Saturday Night Theatre production of The Ropewalk, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1969. [3] This play featured some of the same characters, actors and theme tune of Waggoners' Walk with the story centring on three women who share a flat in Hampstead. [4]

Waggoners' Walk was designed to move away from the "cosy" world of The Dales and feature "fast-moving stories" and have "few taboo subjects". [5] During its run, the storylines tackled issues such as illegitimacy, homosexuality, abortion, child custody and murder. [6] The first edition was broadcast on the afternoon of 28 April 1969 [7] with a repeat the following morning. Early editions were given a title, the first edition billed as "Moving Pictures" for instance, but this was dropped after just three weeks. Initially the programme had an audience of two million listeners [8] but by 1974 was achieving four million. [6]

Most of the storylines involved the tenants of No. 1 Waggoners' Walk, a large townhouse divided into several flats. Other settings included the local pub The Waggoners, the offices of the Hampstead Herald, Minden Road and the nearby Belsize Park. Hyem and Downer continued to produce scripts for the programme throughout its run and were joined by other writers including Peter Ling, [9] Barbara Clegg and Terry James. The directors included Piers Plowright, who later became the programme's executive producer, [10] David Spenser, Glyn Dearman, Anton Gill, David Johnston and Kay Patrick.

In 1974, listeners were invited to submit their own plots in a "Write Your Own Storyline Competition", [11] with the winning story submitted by Albert Kenyon broadcast in November 1974. [12]

A Sunday-afternoon omnibus edition was added to the schedule in January 1980, though heard only on Radio 2's medium wave transmitters.

As part of a series of cost-cutting initiatives by the BBC in 1980, Waggoners' Walk came to an abrupt end on 30 May 1980 [13] [14] with a cliffhanger ending in which George Underdown proposes marriage to Sophie Richmond and assures her that "you have all the time in the world" before the closing theme comes in. [15] The Corporation received more than 1,000 letters of protest [16] about the ending of the programme. It rejected a request from Capital Radio to take it over.[ citation needed ]

Cameo appearances

A number of famous people made cameo appearances on the programme:

Principal characters

This is a list of some of the main characters that appeared over the 11-year run. In some cases more than one actor played the part. [22] [23] [24] [25]

Other actors appearing in the programme included Peter Tuddenham, Michael Troughton, Norma Ronald, Barry Creyton, Jeffrey Segal, Harry Fowler, Patrick Allen, Hattie Jacques (appearing briefly in 1969 as sisters Harriet and Tilly Gibbon), Nigel Lambert, Christian Rodska, Robert Beatty, Saeed Jaffrey, Bruce Alexander, Gillian McCutcheon, Pik-Sen Lim, Harry Towb and Elaine Stritch.

Theme music

The original theme tune, titled "Bees and Honey", was composed by Derek Hilton under the pseudonym of John Snow. [26] [27] Several arrangements of the theme were used throughout the programme's run. In 1971, an EP of songs featured in the programme, including one called Waggoners' Walk, and credited to Trane, was issued by BBC Records. [28]

Related Research Articles

Valerie Singleton is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series Blue Peter from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 PM programme for ten years as well as a series of radio and television programmes on financial and business issues including the BBC's Money Programme from 1980 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Mitchell</span> English actress and poet (1926–2012)

Charlotte Mitchell was an English actress and poet.

<i>Mastermind</i> (British game show) British quiz show

Mastermind is a British television quiz show for the BBC, currently presented by Clive Myrie. Its creator, Bill Wright, drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The show features an intimidating setting and challenging questions. Four contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round.

Marti Webb is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, "Take That Look Off Your Face", a UK top three hit, with the parent album also reaching the top three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sallis</span> British actor (1921–2017)

Peter John Sallis was a British actor, mainly known for his work in television.

Mrs Dale's Diary was the first significant BBC radio serial drama. It was first broadcast on 5 January 1948 on the BBC Light Programme, later BBC Radio 2; it ran until 25 April 1969. A new episode was broadcast each weekday afternoon, with a repeat the following morning. A few days after the final episode, a new serial drama, Waggoners' Walk, took over the time slot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Shelley</span> British actor

Norman Shelley was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral Browne</span> Australian-American actress (1913–1991)

Coral Edith Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress. Her extensive theatre credits included Broadway productions of Macbeth (1956), The Rehearsal (1963) and The Right Honourable Gentleman (1965). She won the 1984 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC TV film An Englishman Abroad (1983). Her film appearances included Auntie Mame (1958), The Killing of Sister George (1968), The Ruling Class (1972) and Dreamchild (1985). She was also actor Vincent Price's third wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Robbins</span> English actor and comedian (1930–1992)

Michael Anthony Robbins was an English actor and comedian best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the TV sitcom and film versions of On the Buses (1969–73).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Cadell</span> English actor

Simon John Cadell was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy Hi-de-Hi!.

Jill Hyem was a British actor, and radio and television writer.

Top of the Form was a BBC radio and television quiz show for teams from secondary schools in the United Kingdom which ran for 38 years, from 1948 to 1986.

<i>Dr. Finlays Casebook</i> Television series

Dr. Finlay's Casebook is a television drama series that was produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1962 until 1971. Based on A. J. Cronin's 1935 novella Country Doctor, the storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s. Cronin was the primary writer for the show between 1962 and 1964.

Michael Spice was a British character actor who appeared in television roles.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1980.

This is a list of events in British radio during 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockwood West</span> British actor (1905–1989)

Harry Lockwood West was a British actor. He was the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West.

The Organist Entertains was a long-running music programme broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The 30 minute programme focused on the organ in its many guises, and played recordings and live broadcasts of theatre organs, pipe organs and electronic organs around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.

Ronald Mason was a director and producer of drama for the BBC, a BBC executive in his native Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, the Head of BBC Radio Drama as successor to Martin Esslin and was active in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Know Your Place was a short-lived BBC Radio 2 sitcom from the early 1980s, set in Worthing Court, a rundown Edwardian block of flats in Bloomsbury, London. The storyline centred around a series of conflicts - and the longstanding frisson - between the elderly caretaker 'the remarkable' Ramsay Potts and his assertive cleaner Elspeth Spurgeon. They are further frustrated by management demands and occasional brushes with tenants. The title refers to the UK's enduring class system, with the associated deference of the cleaner to the caretaker and in turn, the caretaker to the management. Actors who appeared in more than one episode included Pat Coombs, Jon Blythe, Jon Glover, John Graham, Norma Ronald and James Taylor.

References

  1. Starkey, Guy (2014). Radio in Context (second ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 182. ISBN   978-1-137-30225-0 . Retrieved 24 September 2017 via Google Books. The 2,824 episodes of BBC Radio Two's Waggoners' Walk ran from 1969 to 1980...
  2. I'm Rather Worried about Jim (Radio broadcast). BBC Radio 4. 16 January 2012.
  3. "Saturday-Night Theatre: The Ropewalk". Radio Times . Vol. 182, no. 2356 (London & South East ed.). BBC Publications. 2 January 1969. p. 9. Retrieved 29 January 2020. The Ropewalk is a stout Edwardian house long since converted into flats situated in a part of London where there is always a fair amount of 'comings and goings.' The play covers the lives of the inhabitants over one weekend – and, most particularly, one coming and one going.
  4. Deacon, Nigel. "Jill Hyem Radio Plays". Diversity Website. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  5. Waggoners' Walk – the swinging soap that time forgot (Radio broadcast). BBC Radio 4. 30 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 Crook, Tim. "British Radio Drama- A Cultural Case History". Independent Radio Drama Productions. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  7. "Waggoners' Walk NW: Moving Pictures". Radio Times. Vol. 183, no. 2372 (London & South East ed.). BBC Publications. 24 April 1969. p. 20. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  8. BBC Handbook 1970. BBC Publications. 1970. p. 60. ISBN   978-0563092865.
  9. "Peter Ling". 11 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  10. Street, Seán (4 August 2009). Woronoff, Jon (ed.). The A to Z of British Radio. The A-Z Guide Series. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press. p. 208. ISBN   978-0-8108-6847-2 . Retrieved 29 January 2020. An attachment to BBC Radio Drama in 1973 led to a permanent post for Plowright the following year as executive producer for the Radio 2 serial, Waggoners' Walk.
  11. Kingsley, Hilary (1988). Soap Box. London: Papermac. p. 431. ISBN   0-333-46949-6.
  12. "Waggoners' Walk NW". Radio Times. Vol. 205, no. 2663 (London ed.). BBC Publications. 21 November 1974. p. 52. Retrieved 29 January 2020. Written by Barbara Clegg from a storyline by Albert Kenyon, winner of the Waggoners' Walk 'Write Your Own Storyline' competition.
  13. "Waggoners' Walk". Radio Times. Vol. 237, no. 2950 (England ed.). BBC Publications. 22 May 1980. p. 70. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  14. "Waggoners' Walk". Radio Times. Vol. 237, no. 2950 (England ed.). BBC Publications. 22 May 1980. p. 50. Retrieved 29 January 2020. After 11 years the plot continues in this the last week of Waggoners' Walk. Listen to the final episode on Friday 30 May!
  15. James, Terry (1982) [First published 1980]. Waggoners' Walk: The Story Continues. London: Corgi Books. p. 11. ISBN   0-552-11927-X.
  16. BBC Annual Report and Handbook 1982. BBC Publications. 1981. p. 38. ISBN   0-563-20049-9.
  17. "BBC Genome Project". Waggoners' Walk NW, 30 October 1969. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  18. "BBC Genome Project". Waggoners' Walk NW, 5 April 1971. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  19. "BBC Genome Project". Waggoners' Walk, 24 January 1975. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  20. Galton, Ray; Simpson, Alan; Ross, Robert (2002). Steptoe and Son. BBC. p. 213. ISBN   0-563-48833-6.
  21. "BBC Genome Project". Waggoners' Walk, 7 June 1977. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  22. "Waggoners' Walk". UK Soaps Yahoo Group. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  23. "BBC Genome Project". Waggoners' Walk. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  24. Clegg, Barbara; Downer, Alan (1975). Waggoners' Walk. BBC. pp. 9–11. ISBN   0-563-12855-0.
  25. James, Terry (1982). Waggoners' Walk:The Story Continues. Corgi Books. ISBN   0-552-11927-X.
  26. Cox, Michael (27 August 2005). "Derek Hilton - Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  27. "Discogs". Take It Easy. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  28. "Discogs". Waggoner's Walk. Retrieved 31 March 2021.

Further reading