23 Matches Found
The Sooty Show is a British children's Puppet series which aired on the BBC from 1955 to 1967 and ITV from 1968 to 1992. It follows the adventures and comedic day to day life of puppets Sooty, Sweep and Soo with their owner Harry Corbett, and in later years, his son Matthew.
A UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.
Crackerjack was a British children's comedy/variety BBC television series. It started on 14 September 1955 and ran for over 400 shows, first in black and white and later in colour, until 21 December 1984. It was revived in 2020 on CBBC.
'The Larkins' is a British television sitcom which was produced by Associated Television and aired on ITV. It aired for four series between 1958 to 1960. An additional two series aired from 1963 to 1964.
Hancock's Half Hour is a BBC television comedy series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock with Sid James. The final series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone. Comedian Tony Hancock starred in the show, playing an exaggerated and much poorer version of his own character and lifestyle, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, a down-at-heel comedian living at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings in East Cheam. The series was influential in the development of the situation comedy, with its move away from radio variety towards a focus on character development.
The Good Old Days was a popular BBC television light entertainment programme which ran from 1953 to 1983. It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed by present-day performers in the style of the original artistes. The audience dressed in period costume and joined in the singing, especially "Down at the Old Bull and Bush" which closed the show. The show was compered by Leonard Sachs. In the course of its run it featured about 2,000 performers.
Follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional group of soldiers and their National Service conscription into the British Army during the post war years.
A half-hour anthology series.
The Errol Flynn Theatre is a short-lived anthology series presented by Errol Flynn, who would also play the lead in every fourth show. His then-wife Patrice Wymore and son Sean also made appearances. It was shot in England at Bray Studios but was made for the American market.
Beginning in 1959 as Bruce's Show, mixing music, dancing and comedy in the time honoured tradition, this series focused on laughter, glamour and big name guests.
Life with the Lyons is a British radio and television domestic sitcom dating from the 1950s.
Dick and the Duchess is a rare 1950s CBS situation comedy shot and set in London; it was one of the earliest of filmed television series in the UK. A multinational insurance company stationed American Dick Starrett in London as an investigator and adjuster. His wife, Jane, daughter of an English earl, and her family were less than enchanted with her marriage to a commoner — and an American at that. Jane feels that she had been 'Americanised' by movie and television crime stories enough to be a detective, so she often tries to help with Dick's investigations, although she usually causes more problems by doing so.
Bunter is up to his usual pranks; falling asleep in class, stealing jam and cakes from other boys' lockers, chalking rude things on the blackboard, getting six of the best from Mr Quelch, failing to turn up for cricket, scuffling with the local vagrant and even being threatened with expulsion.
Comedian Arthur Askey and his buddy Stinker reside in a flat on top of Associated-Rediffusion's Television House in Aldwych, getting into all sorts of comedic situations. The series was based on the BBC radio comedy Band Waggon. Produced for the ITV network by Associated-Rediffusion, all nine episodes survive in the archives.
The Tony Hancock Show was a black-and-white British sketch show starring Tony Hancock that was broadcast for two series from 1956 to 1957. It was written by Eric Sykes, Larry Stephens, John Jose and Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. All the episodes were shown live.
A gala programme broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972 and also revived in 1994. It was hosted by a leading star and featured specially made short, seasonal editions of the previous year's most popular sitcoms and light entertainment programmes.
The Artful Dodger was a short-lived black-and-white British sitcom starring Dave Morris and Gretchen Franklin. It ran for one series in 1959. It was written by Frank Roscoe and Dave Morris.
Son of Fred was the successor series to The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d and A Show Called Fred. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in the London area, Midlands and Northern England. It was the third and final in a series of sketch comedy shows attempting to translate the humour of The Goon Show to television. Spike Milligan concentrated on writing and only made small walk on appearances, leaving the lead acting to Peter Sellers. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester.
The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d was the first serious attempt to translate the humour of The Goon Show to television. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion during 1956 and was broadcast only in the London area. It combined elements of a sitcom and sketch comedy with Peter Sellers as the editor of a tatty Victorian newspaper, The Idiot Weekly. The headlines of the paper were used as links to comedy sketches. Although written mainly by Spike Milligan, there were many contributions from members of the writers' co-operative Associated London Scripts, including Dave Freeman and Terry Nation, with Eric Sykes credited as the script editor. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester. It was followed by A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred. The title was revived by Spike Milligan for the Australian radio series The Idiot Weekly.
The adventures of a helicopter crew based on the fictional aircraft carrier, HMS Aerial.
A Show Called Fred was the successor series to The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in London area. It was 25 minutes plus adverts. It was predominantly a sketch comedy attempting to translate the audio antics of the The Goon Show into visual antics in bizarre and often surreal comedy sketches which just suddenly ended with a new sketch beginning. Many performers played small parts in the shows like Ernest Clark, Jon Jon Keefe, Patricia Driscoll, etc. Famous people of the day like Hans and Lotte Hass were parodied. Canadian star, Patti Lewis had a singing spot about the middle of the show, and Max Geldray a music spot later on. There were few taboos with sketches showing people in various states of undress, cameramen, behind the scenes workers and the studios. The Ying Tong song was sung for no apparent reason at various times. The series was written by Spike Milligan and produced and directed by Richard Lester. It was followed by Son of Fred later in 1956. A half hour special Best of Fred was broadcast on 18 September 1963 combining surviving sketches from A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred. The 1995 convention of the Goon Show Preservation Society was billed as A Weekend Called Fred.