82-485: Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh was a comedy show broadcast from 1944 to 1950 and 1951 to 1954 by BBC Radio and in 1950–1951 by Radio Luxembourg . It was written by and starred Richard Murdoch and Kenneth Horne as officers in a fictional RAF station coping with red tape and the inconveniences and incongruities of life in the Second World War . After the war the station became a country club and, for its last season,
164-657: A UK listenership on LW and therefore DAB Services allowed, by this popular demand, it to be now available 24/7 for this audience in better quality reception. BBC Radio services are broadcast on various FM and AM frequencies, DAB digital radio and live streaming on BBC Sounds , which is available worldwide. They are also available on digital television in the UK, and archived programmes are available for 30 days or more after broadcast on BBC Sounds; many shows are available as podcasts. The BBC also syndicates radio and podcast content to radio stations and other broadcasting services around
246-468: A bash". There were four characters who were regularly mentioned but never appeared: Horne's formidable wife Bessie, whose displeasure he strove to avoid ("Not a word to Bessie about this!"); Costa's wife, Emily, whose "twinges" were a regular problem; Edward Wilkinson, a mysterious and unexplained character to whom Murdoch and Horne frequently referred apropos of nothing: "By the way, have you seen anything of Edward Wilkinson lately?"; and Charlie Farnsbarns,
328-426: A brand new snooker set we've constantly been urged And yesterday this very startling fact emerged: We've only got the colours left, the reds have all been purged. At Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. Each week the closing music for the show consisted of four verses of the song, rising a semitone from one verse to the next. Over the years Horne and Murdoch wrote more than 500 verses for it, including topical material in
410-462: A cheerful cockney with an extreme and contagious glottal stop that infected the pronunciation of those around her. Mr Greenslade, played by Parsons, was an excitable and loquacious Bristolian , who spoke faster and faster as he became more excited. He always finished with his catchphrase, "Oh, I never let the grass grow under my feet". Fifi de la Bon-Bon, known as Mademoiselle Fifi, was the indoor games instructor; Barbara Valerie played her with, in
492-523: A consistent time; Much-Binding was eventually set to be regularly broadcast at 7:00 pm. Between January and June 1948 Murdoch wrote six instalments of The Chronicles of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh , a spin-off series, published monthly, in The Strand Magazine . The cast from series one returned and were joined by the sopranos Janet Davis and Gwen Catley . Catley, an established opera performer, left after six programmes as she thought her voice
574-778: A different service from the domestic audience the Corporation started the BBC Empire Service on short wave in 1932, originally in English but it soon provided programmes in other languages. At the start of the Second World War it was renamed The Overseas Service and is now known as the BBC World Service . Beginning in March 1964, Radio Caroline became the first of what would become ten offshore pirate radio stations that began to ring
656-477: A different view of Costa's character, calling him "the amiable chump who always got things wrong, driving his superiors mad". Denham's principal character was the eager, obliging, upper-class Dudley Davenport, always keen to please ("Dudley Davenport at your service"). Dudley became celebrated for his characteristic gurgling laugh (spelled in the script "Keogh-keogh-keogh!"), his enthusiastic expression of approval—"Oh, jolly D!"—which became well known and much used at
738-421: A dogsbody often mentioned by Costa. In the ten years of its run Much-Binding featured occasional appearances by many guest stars, including Jean Simmons , Glynis Johns , Richard Dimbleby , Alan Ladd , Joyce Grenfell , Maudie Edwards and Phyllis Calvert . The original idea for the show's signature tune, which became one of the best-known on BBC radio, was Horne's. He suggested to Murdoch that it would be
820-776: A few early programmes by Joyce Grenfell , and in October 1944 Sam Costa joined the cast and became a permanent fixture as the OR aircraftsman . In the early years Horne and Murdoch wrote in their office at the Air Ministry. Later they would meet either at Murdoch's house near Tunbridge Wells , Horne's flat in Kensington or the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall . They would toss ideas about and make notes of them; one of them would then turn
902-609: A few months prior to Radio London's closure, The Perfumed Garden got more fan mail than the rest of the pop DJs on Radio London combined, so much that staff wondered what to do with it all. The reason it got so much mail was that it played different music and was the beginning of the "album rock" genre. On Everett's suggestion, Radio London's PAMS jingles were commissioned to be re-recorded in Dallas , Texas , so that " Wonderful Radio London " became " Wonderful Radio One on BBC ". The BBC's more popular stations have encountered pressure from
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#1732868857518984-419: A good idea if they had a song that began: They worked out the shape of the rest of the tune and got their accompanist, Sidney Torch , to polish it and write it down in musical score. It consisted of an eight-line verse, of which a typical example is: At Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh Security has never been neglected. At Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, We're careful that our station's not detected. To camouflage
1066-420: A monologue outlining the news—ranging from incongruous to bizarre—from Much-Binding over the past week. This would be followed by the first musical interlude, after which Horne would enter, greeted by Murdoch with "Good morning, sir. It is good to see you", and then, as Barry Johnston , Horne's biographer, puts it, "they would be off, gradually bringing in the other characters one by one". In the seventh episode of
1148-658: A musical show to which comedy interludes were introduced. From this the BBC developed comedy shows aimed at each of the three branches of the armed forces: Eric Barker 's HMS Waterlogged for the Royal Navy , Charlie Chester 's Stand Easy for the Army and, for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh , Ralph Reader and his Gang Show and Café de NAAFI . All the programmes were largely written and performed by serving members of
1230-445: A new, civilian setting, although Murdoch was unavailable as he was about to start a national tour. They considered replacing him with either Eric Barker or Robb Wilton and moving the location from an RAF station to the "Much Binding Enterprises Ltd" factory or a crammer for backward schoolboys, but it was finally agreed that the two former Much-Binding officers, discovering their old station up for sale, should buy it and turn it into
1312-473: A professional actor and entertainer for twelve years before the war, was well known to listeners from his pre-war role as co-star with the comedian Arthur Askey in the show Band Waggon . On 4 January 1944 Horne and Murdoch appeared on a BBC programme for the armed forces, ENSA Half Hour , for a one-off show based on an idea from Horne based on life at "Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh", a fictional Royal Air Force station in remote rural England. Murdoch believed
1394-521: A purely digital format – they can be received via DAB Digital Radio , UK digital television (satellite, cable and Freeview ) plus live streams and listen again on BBC Sounds . The current stations are: The BBC also operates radio stations for three UK nations: Wales , Scotland , and Northern Ireland . These stations focus on local issues to a greater extent than their UK-wide counterparts, organising live phone-in debates about these issues, as well as lighter talk shows with music from different decades of
1476-405: A revolver". By the mid-1950s tastes in comedy had changed and many of the wartime favourites—including ITMA , Stand Easy and Waterlogged Spa —were no longer on air, replaced by programmes featuring a new generation of performers and writers. According to Johnston, "the gentle humour of Much-Binding now seemed rather old-fashioned" and the programme was not renewed. Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh
1558-820: Is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations covering the majority of musical genres, as well as local radio stations covering local news, affairs and interests. It also oversees online audio content. Of the national radio stations, BBC Radio 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 Live are all available through analogue radio ( MW or FM , also BBC Radio 4 broadcasts on longwave ) as well as on DAB Digital Radio and BBC Sounds . The Asian Network broadcasts on DAB and selected AM frequencies in
1640-457: Is partnered with Sirius Satellite Radio and British Airways as well as many other local radio stations. Throughout its history the BBC has produced many radio programmes. Particularly significant, influential, popular or long-lasting programmes include: The following expenditure figures are from 2012/13 and show the expenditure of each service they are obliged to provide: ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association ( ENSA )
1722-594: Is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays and simulcast on Radio 4 from 01:00-05:20 BST and Radio Cymru from 00:00-05:30 BST. It is politically independent (by mandate of the Agreement providing details of the topics outlined in the BBC Charter), non-profit, and commercial-free. The English language service had always had
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#17328688575181804-679: The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), with the CSE likewise re-branding as BFBS Live Events . The first big wartime variety concert organised by ENSA was broadcast by the BBC to the Empire and local networks from RAF Hendon in north London on 17 October 1939. Among the entertainers appearing on the bill were Adelaide Hall , The Western Brothers and Mantovani . A newsreel of this concert showing Hall singing " We're Going to Hang out
1886-463: The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 , which virtually wiped out all of the pirate stations at midnight on 14 August 1967, by banning any British citizen from working for a pirate station. Only Radio Caroline survived, and continues to broadcast today, though the last original offshore broadcast was in 1989. One of the stations, Radio London (also known as "Big L"), was so successful that
1968-479: The minor planet 19453 was discovered and named Murdochorne after Murdoch and Horne. 31 March 1944 12 May 1944 23 June 1944 4 August 1944 15 September 1944 27 October 1944 19 January 1945 2 March 1945 13 April 1945 25 May 1945 6 July 1945 21 July 1945 17 August 1945 11 September 1945 28 September 1945 19 October 1945 9 November 1945 21 December 1945 25 December 1945 11 January 1946 1 February 1946 BBC Radio BBC Radio
2050-563: The 1954 series of Much Binding Nicholas Parsons stood in for him, but did not attempt Denham's multiplicity of roles. In a history of British radio comedy Barry Took comments that Horne's "naïve, boring and foolish Senior Officer" was "the opposite of what he was in real life". He was given to asking, "Did I tell you about the time I was in Sidi Barrani ?" before attempting to tell a boring anecdote, usually headed off by Murdoch. The "quick-thinking, amusing and gentle CO" played by Murdoch
2132-436: The 2000s and 2010s, catering to the appetite from young audiences for recent nostalgia”; one from Radio 2, with “‘a distinctive take on pop nostalgia’ from the 50s, 60s and 70s”; and one from Radio 3 for “calming classical music”. In addition, Radio 1 Dance would launch on DAB expanded programming. The BBC today runs national domestic radio stations, six of which are available in analogue formats (via FM or AM), while other have
2214-486: The 20th and 21st centuries. Compared to the majority of the UK's commercially funded radio stations, which generally broadcast little beyond contemporary popular music, the BBC's "national regional" stations offer a more diverse range of programming. There are forty BBC Local Radio services across England and the Channel Islands , often catering to individual counties , cities, or wider regions. BBC World Service
2296-407: The BBC could be broken, other parties became attracted to the idea of creating a new commercial radio station specifically for this purpose. It was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in the United Kingdom. The onset of World War II silenced all but one of the original IBC stations, with only Radio Luxembourg continuing its nightly transmissions to Britain. To provide
2378-548: The BBC through its General Post Office , which had original control of the airwaves because they had been interpreted under law as an extension of the Post Office services. Today radio broadcasting still makes up a large part of the corporation's output – the title of the BBC's listings magazine, Radio Times , reflects this. On 1 January 1927, the British Broadcasting Company was succeeded in monopoly control of
2460-424: The BBC was told to copy it as best they could. This led to a complete overhaul by Frank Gillard , the BBC's director of radio output, creating the four analogue channels that still form the basis of its broadcasting today. The creator of Radio 1 told the press that his family had been fans of Radio London. The BBC hired many out-of-work broadcasting staff who had come from the former offshore stations. Kenny Everett
2542-512: The British coastline, mostly along the south-east coast. By 1966 millions were tuning into these commercial stations, and the BBC was rapidly losing its radio listening audience. This was largely due to the fact that even though they were fully aware of the problem, the BBC still only played a few hours of pop music records a week, as opposed to the pirates which broadcast chart music and new releases every day. The British government reacted by passing
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2624-782: The English Midlands. BBC Radio 1Xtra , 4 Extra , 5 Sports Extra , 6 Music and the World Service broadcast only on DAB and BBC Sounds, while Radio 1's Dance stream is available only online. All of the BBC's national radio stations broadcast from bases in London and Manchester , usually in or near to Broadcasting House or MediaCityUK . However, the BBC's network production units located in Belfast , Birmingham , Bristol , Cardiff and Glasgow also make radio programmes. The BBC's radio services began in 1922. The British Government licensed
2706-528: The Italian, Winston the dog, Gregory the sparrow, Group Captain Funnybone, Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Tansley-Parkinson and the receptionist at Much-Binding, Ivy Clingbine ("Oh, what have I sayed!"). Diana Morrison's characters included the negative Miss Catcheside (catchphrase "Naah"!); the landlady, Mrs Wimpole; the effusive Miss Gibbs (Gladys), whose amorous clutches Murdoch was anxious to avoid; and Annie Potter,
2788-483: The Much-Binding Country Club. The first series under the name Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ran for thirty-eight weeks from January to September 1947, and included a bank holiday special. After the signature tune (the "Much-Binding" tune, for orchestra only) and opening announcement, usually by Philip Slessor, "Much-Binding takes the air!", Horne would introduce "Your old friend, Richard Murdoch!", to deliver
2870-628: The Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Service (ORBS), which were transmitted to British forces in the Middle East. His work with ORBS brought him into contact with Flight Lieutenant Richard Murdoch ; with a great deal in common in their backgrounds and a similar sense of humour, the pair quickly formed a friendship. Horne informed Murdoch of a squadron leader vacancy in his section at the Ministry, and Murdoch became his colleague. Murdoch,
2952-495: The UK, a former British Royal Air Force captain and entrepreneur (and from 1935 Conservative Party MP ) named Leonard Plugge set up his own International Broadcasting Company in 1931. The IBC began leasing time on transmitters in continental Europe and then reselling it as sponsored English-language programming aimed at audiences in Britain and Ireland. Because Plugge successfully demonstrated that state monopolies such as that of
3034-511: The United Kingdom . To this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to "inform, educate and entertain". Although no other broadcasting organisation was licensed in the UK until 1973, commercial competition soon opened up from overseas. The English language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earliest commercial radio stations broadcasting to Britain and Ireland. With no possibility of domestic commercial broadcasting in
3116-572: The Washing on the Siegfried Line " accompanied by Mantovani and His Orchestra exists. Many members of ENSA later had careers in the entertainment industry after the war, including actors Terry-Thomas , Peter Sellers and Kenneth Connor . Tap and acrobatic dancer Vivienne Hole, stage name Vivienne Fayre, a civilian aged 19, was the only ENSA member killed in the war. On 23 January 1945 in Normandy , she
3198-552: The acronym ENSA was "Every Night Something Awful" . ENSA plays a modest role in the film Love Story (1944) in which Margaret Lockwood stars as a concert pianist who makes an ENSA tour to North Africa and the Mediterranean region. The film Desert Mice (1959) follows the fictional escapades of an ENSA troop with Sid James assigned to the Afrika Korps . The only known ENSA theatre to have survived in its original condition
3280-456: The aeroplane, instead of using net, The other day we painted it, and much to our regret, We did it so successfully we haven't found it yet, At Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. Alternatively, during the time of McCarthyism in the US, the lyrics went: At Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh We're nearly always short of filthy lucre. At Much-Binding-in-the-March We play a lot of after-dinner snooker, To get
3362-475: The airwaves by the British Broadcasting Corporation , under the terms of a royal charter . John Reith , who had been the founding managing director of the commercial company, became the first Director-General. He expounded firm principles of centralised, all-encompassing radio broadcasting, stressing programming standards and moral tone. These he set out in his 1924 autobiography, Broadcast Over Britain , influencing modern ideas of public service broadcasting in
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3444-405: The chairman of Twenty Questions . Much-Binding ran for one series of thirty-four shows on Radio Luxembourg between October 1950 and June 1951, recorded in studios off Baker Street , London, and broadcast at 3 pm on Sundays. The cast comprised Murdoch, Horne, Costa, Denham and Bryan. The programmes were compered by Bob Danvers-Walker , who announced the sponsor, Mars bars . Confectionery
3526-582: The characters and were unable to devise any new storylines that fitted with the format. The BBC decided to cut short the series and did not pick up the option of a further thirteen programmes. The place once held by ITMA and then Much Binding as Britain's most popular radio comedy was now occupied by Take It from Here . Although the BBC promised a new series for the following year to Murdoch, Horne and Costa to ensure they did not look for work elsewhere, they accepted an offer from Radio Luxembourg for £50,000 for one series. The BBC were angered and concerned by
3608-407: The commercial sector. John Myers , who had developed commercial brands such as Century Radio and Real Radio , was asked in the first quarter of 2011 to conduct a review into the efficiencies of Radios 1, 2, 1Xtra and 6 Music. His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings." On 30 September 1967: With
3690-418: The end of the previous series and was replaced by Dora Bryan , who joined the cast as Miss Gladys Plum, the newspaper's fashion expert. Costa played Prudence Gush, the radio critic, and Denham added more roles to his repertoire, including Mr Bubul the printer, Mulch the gardener and "the strip man—the chap who draws those thrilling adventures on the back page". He was not available after episode 23, and his place
3772-573: The final series (1953–1954) by the BBC Men's Chorus , conducted by Leslie Woodgate . When Horne and Murdoch left the BBC for Radio Luxembourg, the corporation were concerned that other popular variety performers could abandon the station in favour of commercial radio. They began searching for new performers and new styles to showcase, which led them to sign the Goons , whose show was first broadcast in May 1951. Both
3854-732: The globe, through its BBC Radio International business, which is part of BBC Studios . Programmes regularly syndicated by BBC Radio International include: In Concert (live rock music recordings from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, including an archive dating back to 1971); interviews, live sessions and music shows; classical music (including performances from the BBC Proms); spoken word (music documentaries, dramas, readings, features and comedies, mainly from BBC Radio 4) and channels, including BBC Radio 1. BBC Radio International also provides many services internationally including in-flight entertainment, subscription, and satellite services. BBC Radio International
3936-503: The idea could be developed into a sitcom and the two men worked together to produce more material. The producer of Merry-go-Round , Leslie Bridgmont, liked what they sent him and booked them to appear in the programme on 31 March 1944. "Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh" drew on the name of a real RAF station at Moreton-in-Marsh , Gloucestershire, along with the word "binding", Air Force slang for grumbling or complaining. Bridgmont pictured it as "a desolate, decrepit aerodrome with its one hangar,
4018-459: The increased rollout of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) between 1995 and 2002, BBC Radio launched several new digital-only stations BBC 1Xtra , BBC 6 Music and BBC 7 in 2002 on 16 August, 11 March and 15 December respectively – the first for "new black British music", the second as a source of performance-based "alternative" music, the latter specialising in archive classic comedy shows, drama and children's programmes. BBC Asian Network joined
4100-509: The lyrics. Over its ten years, the programme featured several singers in the musical numbers in mid-show. Among them were Marilyn Williams, Maudie Edwards , Joan Winters, Dorothy Carless, Binnie Hale , Vivienne Chatterton and Gwen Catley . In the early programmes the music was played by the RAF Orchestra, billed as "all-star", and numbering many of Britain's best young instrumentalists among its personnel. Torch conducted. The conductors of
4182-399: The most popular British radio comedy and was succeeded by Take It from Here and The Goon Show . After the show ended, its two stars returned to radio in several long-running series. During the Second World War radio comedy was an important feature of British national life. The fledgling television service started by the BBC in 1936 was suspended for the duration of the war and radio
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#17328688575184264-457: The move of the series to Radio Luxembourg, but as none of the performers were under contract to the organisation at that point, they were not constrained by the restrictive clause in most BBC contracts that stopped its performers working for the BBC's competitors. As they could not prevent Horne and Murdoch from working for Radio Luxembourg, the BBC withdrew its offer of a series the following year and did not renew its contract with Horne to return as
4346-592: The national DAB network on 28 October 2002. The stations had "Radio" added to their names in 2008. In 2011, BBC Radio 7 was renamed BBC Radio 4 Extra and the service was more closely aligned with Radio 4. At the start of the 2020s, two Radio 1 spin-offs were launched on BBC Sounds , BBC Radio 1 Dance in October 2020, followed by BBC Radio 1 Relax in April 2021. In February 2024, the corporation announced plans to launch three new spin-offs, pending public consultation and regulatory approval: one from Radio 1 for “music from
4428-422: The national popular press: Perhaps it is that Dickie Murdoch and Kenneth Horne can not only write a good script, but one which fits their own personalities like a glove. Here, obviously, are a pair of first-class scripticians (oh, my word!). Other artists might take the hint. The show continued to be broadcast as part of Merry-go-Round until February 1946. As the established star, Murdoch was given top billing in
4510-576: The new show. The 1947 billing reads "Richard Murdoch in Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh , with Kenneth Horne, Sam Costa and Marilyn Williams"; by 1954 the billing was "Richard Murdoch, Kenneth Horne and Sam Costa in Much-Binding ". In the first shows the only regular characters were Horne's ponderous but genial Air Officer Commanding and Murdoch's junior officer, intelligent, humorous and able to manipulate his dim-witted superior. They were joined for
4592-415: The notes into a script to be transcribed by Bridgmont's secretary. Typically, on the day of broadcast, the show would be rehearsed from 1 pm to 2.30, with a full run-through at 5 pm. The show would be given before a studio audience, broadcast live in the evening, and recorded for repeat transmission on home and forces networks later. Murdoch later described writing scripts with Horne as "pure joy", as
4674-635: The pair enjoyed the same sense of humour. In the early shows, under the Merry-go-Round banner, the first half, with comic dialogue and narrative, was set in Murdoch's office at Much-Binding, after which the scene moved to the canteen for a concert—a spoof of typical NAAFI entertainments. "Flight Officer Flannel"—played by Binnie Hale , Dorothy Carless or Doris Hare , according to availability—would sing, as would Costa. Murdoch would perform one of his nonsense lyrics to well-known classical tunes, Horne would play
4756-412: The parts of a whodunit (the butler, maid, Sir Anthony Dunkels, Lady Dunkels, their daughter and her boyfriend); he also provided the sound effects of a cocktail shaker, horse's hooves and a closing door, all completed within three minutes. Johnson described Denham's performance as "an incredible tour de force, switching from one voice to the other, until the play ended with all the characters being shot by
4838-431: The programme saw Murdoch and Horne pictured on the cover of The Radio Times and an interview with the cast inside. The show's premise changed to Murdoch inheriting the newspaper Sticklecrumpets Weekly , which was soon changed to The Weekly Bind . According to Horne, the paper's "circulation was only two when we took over—both elderly gentlemen who had somehow forgotten to cancel their subscriptions". Morrison had left at
4920-647: The respective services. The shows were broadcast in turn on a three-weekly cycle for each service, under the overall Merry-go-Round banner. In 1943 Kenneth Horne —a wing commander at the Air Ministry in London—was writing and broadcasting on Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer , a BBC radio show for the Air Force based on those who worked for the RAF Balloon Command . He was also broadcasting on other shows, including those on
5002-412: The royals were made during the programme and during the closing song Murdoch used his catchphrase "Good old Char-lee!" By the end of the series, the quality of the material "began to falter noticeably", according to Johnston. The fourth series ran for twenty-seven weeks, from March to September 1950. A former performer from ITMA , Diana Morrison , was added to the cast; her range of comic voices added to
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#17328688575185084-464: The saxophone, and the show would conclude with a lively piece from the orchestra. Later, the show followed the precedent of ITMA and other programmes by being divided into comedy sections interspersed with music. Much-Binding settled into a pattern of three comedy sections separated by two musical slots: the first for the orchestra alone and the second for orchestra with singer. The final edition of Much-Binding-in-the-March as part of Merry-go-Round
5166-483: The scripts from Anthony Armstrong and Talbot Rothwell . The Radio Times described Over to You as "a successor" to Much Binding ; the programme was due to have "rather more plot in each programme than in the previous series and a new ... equally catchy, topical jingle ... to close every show". The final series of the show was titled Much Binding and was broadcast for thirty-five weeks from July 1953 to March 1954, every Friday at 9:30 pm. The return of
5248-446: The scripts were mainly handled by Maurice Denham and Diana Morrison, with assistance from some of the singers in small speaking roles. Both Dehham and Morrison were already familiar to radio listeners, having appeared in ITMA , in which Denham's roles included the charlady, Lola Tickle; Morrison's principal ITMA character was the redoubtable Miss Hotchkiss. When Denham was unavailable during
5330-429: The series, Maurice Denham joined the cast playing multiple roles; such was his vocal dexterity that Murdoch described him as "a vocal chameleon". The second series ran for thirty weeks, from November 1947 to June 1948. The programme was broadcast on Wednesday evenings, but for several weeks the BBC moved the broadcast times, causing many complaints from listeners. Horne wrote to the BBC management to complain and ask for
5412-524: The show became the chronicle of a newspaper, The Weekly Bind . Among the supporting cast were Sam Costa as the officers' batman , Maurice Denham in a multitude of roles, Diana Morrison , Dora Bryan and Nicholas Parsons . Singers in the show's musical interludes included Gwen Catley , Maudie Edwards , Binnie Hale and Doris Hare . Among those appearing as guest stars were Phyllis Calvert , Richard Dimbleby , Glynis Johns , Alan Ladd and Jean Simmons . The show followed It's That Man Again as
5494-455: The solitary aeroplane, 'Cabbage White Mark II', that never got off the ground and the crude outdoor 'ablutions'". Horne's biographer Norman Hackforth writes that after the first broadcast in January 1944, the show "wasn't exactly an overnight sensation" but Bridgmont liked it enough to commission further episodes, and the show's popularity grew. By September 1945 the programme was being praised in
5576-472: The stars of Much Binding went on to later long-running BBC radio series: Horne to Beyond Our Ken (1958–1964) and Round the Horne (1965–1968) and Murdoch to The Men from the Ministry (1962–1977). Murdoch and Costa appeared on several episodes of Frost on Sunday in 1970, where they performed new topical lyrics to the theme tune. Murdoch also did the same in 1987 for Wogan's Radio Fun . In March 1998
5658-627: The time, and his usual exit line, "Oh, I say, I am a fool! "; his mother, Lady Davenport, was played by the singer and actress Babs Valerie. Denham also played some 60 more characters, including Mr Blake, the sexton , who spoke rustic nonsense in an impenetrable accent; Mr Bubul, the bumbling compositor of The Weekly Bind ; Ivy Plackett, the exuberant proprietress of the village shop at Little Binding; Fred, another obliging person, whose genteel mangling of vowels turned "yes" into "yays"; and Nigel, an ill-mannered silkworm, given to burping after munching his mulberry leaves. Denham's other roles included Luigi
5740-530: The variety of characters. The number of listeners dropped sharply after the ninth episode of the series, falling from 74 per cent of the audience in March 1949 to 39 per cent in late June. The drop caused consternation at the BBC. T. W. Chalmers, the Controller of the BBC Light Entertainment Programme, considered the public had tired of the programme because Horne and Murdoch were too tied to
5822-521: The various orchestras included Stanley Black , Billy Ternent , Harry Rabinowitz , Frank Cantell , Paul Fenoulhet, Robert Busby and Charles Shadwell . While on Radio Luxembourg, musical accompaniment for the first three programmes was provided by Woolf Phillips and the Skyrockets; the remainder of the series had music by the Squadronaires with Ronnie Aldrich as conductor. The orchestra was joined for
5904-452: The words of Denis Gifford , many a coquettish "Ooh-la-la!". The Hon Babs du Croix Fotheringham, known as Queenie for short, played by the singer Dorothy Carless, was one of the WAAFs stationed at Much-Binding. She had little dialogue but had her own catch-phrase, "Okay, ducks!" Miss Louisa Goodbody, played by Vivienne Chatterton, was a seemingly frail old spinster who was nonetheless ready "to have
5986-488: Was "a character very like himself", according to Took. His catch-phrases included "Have you read any good books lately?", when trying to change an awkward subject and, less explicably, "Good old Charlie-ee!" Costa's character was a sort of batman to the two officers; his usual opening line was, "Good morning, sir! Was there something?". Took describes the character as "the archetypal grumbling aircraftsman , brighter than his 'betters' and unhappy with his lot". Johnston takes
6068-674: Was a hit with Australian listeners, and in 1954 Murdoch was contracted by the Australian Broadcasting Commission for four months to provide a weekly variety programme Much Murdoch . He tried to persuade Horne to accompany him, but Horne was by then the sales director of Triplex Safety Glass and too busy to take a long break. Horne managed to travel to Australia to record eight shows of the series, which were retitled Much Murdoch and Horne for his appearances. Horne, Murdoch and Costa generally played their usual characters under their own names. The other characters appearing in
6150-559: Was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II . ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes . In 1946 it was re-named to Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) operating under the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), until 2 March 2020, when the SSVC re-branded to
6232-479: Was asked for input in how to run the new pop station due to his popularity with both listeners and fellow presenters. Tony Blackburn , who presented the first Radio 1 Breakfast show, had previously presented the morning show on Radio Caroline and later on Radio London. He attempted to duplicate the same sound for Radio 1. Among the other DJs hired was John Peel , who had presented the overnight show on Radio London, called The Perfumed Garden . Though it only ran for
6314-468: Was being driven between shows as a passenger aboard a truck carrying stage scenery which strayed into a minefield. She was buried with full military honours in Sittard War Cemetery. Despite many extremely talented entertainers working for ENSA, the organisation was necessarily spread thin over the vast area it had to cover. Thus many entertainments were substandard, and the popular translation of
6396-475: Was not suitable for the music. The third series ran for forty-three weeks, from September 1948 to July 1949. For the recording on 28 December 1948, the queen and a party of twelve were in the audience; included in the party were Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) who was on her first public appearance since the birth of her first son— Prince, now King Charles , six months earlier—and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . Several references to
6478-416: Was on 1 February 1946; the characters had been demobilised , and shook hands and went in separate directions outside the camp. By the end of the war, Much-Binding , sharing the Merry-go-Round slot with other shows, had appeared for just over twenty episodes, but was on its way to overtaking ITMA as the most popular British radio comedy. The BBC was anxious to continue the show under its own name and with
6560-563: Was still under rationing in the early 1950s, but the cast were given free supplies of chocolate by the sponsors, to the delight of their young families. Murdoch was not happy with the series and said, "It wasn't really a great success—even my mother said it was rotten, and she was my greatest fan". Returning to the BBC in September 1951, the show was titled Over to You for its first season; it ran for twenty-eight weeks between September 1951 and April 1952. Murdoch and Horne had additional input to
6642-428: Was taken by Nicholas Parsons . In one episode the paper ran out of the letter 'e' and Mr Bubul replaced all of them with the letter 'o', turning the paper into The Wookly Bind . The sports section included a report on the "crickot" that began "Aftor tho Tost match at Loods, tho Onglish toam was agrood by tho soloctors at a committoo mooting", and Betty Grable became "Botty Grablo". In another episode Denham played all
6724-423: Was the sole broadcasting medium, over which the BBC had a monopoly . The most prominent comedy show, It's That Man Again ( ITMA ), ran from 1939, and was reaching audiences of 16 million listeners by 1941. As well as broadcasting to the civilian population, the BBC had to provide entertainment for the armed forces . From early 1940 the BBC's General Forces Programme broadcast Merry-go-Round , originally
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