''The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town'' was a 1971 episode of LWT's '' Six Dates with Barker'' that was written by

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

and later adapted by Ronnie Barker for '' The Two Ronnies'' sketch show. Set in

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

London, it featured a Jack the Ripper–style madman who stalked the streets and killed or stunned his victims by blowing them a raspberry. The title was preceded by the words "Chopper Films Presents", a parody of

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

, and the writing of the serial was credited to "Spike Milligan and a gentleman". The "Gentleman" listed as the co-writer was Gerald Wiley, the pseudonym used by Ronnie Barker as a comedy writer. The story was originally conceived as a TV special for Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, and Spike Milligan, to be produced by Peter Eton, their old '' Goon Show'' producer. Plans for the project were cancelled due to Peter Sellers' Hollywood commitments. The Phantom finally saw the light of day in an episode of '' Six Dates with Barker'', broadcast on 15 January 1971, with Alan Curtis playing the role of the Phantom. Despite some sources claiming that Milligan provided the raspberry of the title, it was actually Barker's co-star from '' Open All Hours'', David Jason, who was responsible for this sound effect - Jason confirmed this in his 2013 autobiography. One episode featured Ronnie Corbett as the diminutive yet domineering Queen Victoria and Barker as her browbeaten son "Edward, Prince of Wales", which was a parody of the recent TV series '' Edward the Seventh'' starring Timothy West. A stage version ran at the

St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...

in London from 30 October to 1 November 2015, with the premiere in aid of

The Princes Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

. It was adapted by Lee Moone, with the addition of comedy songs. The format was as a live radio show, complete with sound effects. Each evening a different mystery guest was cast as the Phantom and could be heard offstage until the reveal in the closing scenes. The guests were John Culshaw, John Challis and Danny Baker. The director was Dirk Maggs.

References

External links

IMDb.com entry on ''The Phantom Raspberry Blower'' episode of ''Six dates with Barker''BBC 2's ''I Love 1971'' reference to David Jason providing the voice of The Phantom
1976 British television series debuts Works by Spike Milligan 1976 British television series endings Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on television Cultural depictions of Edward VII {{BBC-tv-prog-stub