''Monday Night at Eight'' ia a weekly

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

magazine and

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

programme that was broadcast live on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

, with

Ronnie Waldman Ronald Hartley Waldman (13 May 1914 – 10 March 1978) was a British radio presenter and television executive for the BBC. Biography Born in London, he was the eldest son of Michael Waldman OBE JP, a sometime Mayor of Hackney, and was educat ...

doing the interviews and announcements, produced by

Harry S. Pepper Harry Stephen Pepper (27 August 1891 – 26 June 1970) was a British pianist, songwriter, composer, actor, and BBC producer, whose career stretched from Edwardian era seaside entertainments to BBC television in the 1950s. Life Born at Putney,'' ...

. The programme was launched in April 1937 on the

BBC National Programme The BBC National Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing the earlier BBC's experimental station 5XX – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the Home Service, two days before the outbreak ...

under the title ''Monday Night at Seven'', running from 7pm to 8pm. In October 1939 it was changed to "Monday Night at Eight", with the start time being put back to 8pm and the show ran in this time slot until 1948. The change of time was due to longer working hours during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, thus enabling more people to listen. The formats for both programmes were similar. The first part consisted of interviews of all types of people; then there was a musical break, and the final part was a radio detective play. Initially it was ''Inspector Hornleigh Investigates'', but in 1942 a new series called ''Dr Morelle'' was introduced. Another feature that was started in ''Monday Night at Eight'' was Puzzle Corner, also used in later programmes, and the weekly 'Deliberate Mistake'. Popular comedians

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

and

Richard Murdoch Richard Bernard Murdoch (6 April 19079 October 1990) was an English actor and entertainer. After early professional experience in the chorus in musical comedy, Murdoch quickly moved on to increasingly prominent roles in musical comedy and rev ...

contributed "Chestnut Corner". One weekly comedy sketch was "The Dooms". These were a family of witches and warlocks who had strange adventures at home. When all was quiet at the end, Mrs Drusilla Doom (

Hermione Gingold Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...

) would ask her husband (

Alfred Marks Alfred Edward Marks OBE (born Alfred Edward Touchinsky; 28 January 19211 July 1996) was a British actor and comedian. In his 60-year career, he played dramatic and comedy roles in numerous television programmes, stage shows and films. His self- ...

) in a sepulchral voice - "Tea, Edmond ?" (pause) "Milluck ?" (i.e. milk). Another regular feature of each show was a record of the life of "Old Ebenezer", a night watchman sitting in front of his brazier in a road where repairs were taking place. Fantastic stories were recounted, after which Ebenezer would give way to his astonishment with his famous catch phrase, "Well I'll be jiggered!". "Old Ebenezer" was voiced by character actor Richard Goolden. Several actors and singers had their radio debut on ''Monday Night at Eight''. The singer Anne Shelton had her debut in 1940 and

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

appeared with her mother and stepfather in 1947. After the change of time, the lyrics of the

signature tune A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in th ...

at the beginning of the show were: ::It's Monday night at eight o'clock, oh can't you hear the chimes? ::They're telling you to take an easy chair, ::To settle by the fireside, take out your ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', ::For Monday Night at Eight is on the air. At the end of every programme: ::Produced by Harry Pepper, and Ronnie Waldman too, ::We hope the programme hasn't caused a frown ::So goodbye everybody, it's time to say goodnight, ::For Monday Night at Eight is closing down.

References

{{reflist BBC Home Service programmes 1937 radio programme debuts 1948 radio programme endings

See also

References