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''Stop Messing About'' was a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

series broadcast in 1969 and 1970. Forced by circumstance into being a follow-up to ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

'', it retained a number of key talents from the previous show, with

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

as the new show's main star. It was rewritten for the stage in 2009.

Radio series

The sudden death of ''Round the Horne'' star

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...

at the end of series four prompted a rewrite of the material intended for series five which then found its way into ''Stop Messing About'' alongside new sketches; ''Round the Horne'' writers

Johnnie Mortimer John Mortimer (2 July 1931 – 2 September 1992) professionally Johnnie Mortimer, was a British scriptwriter for British TV whose work, along with creative writing partner Brian Cooke, also served as inspiration for American television pro ...

and

Brian Cooke Brian Cooke (born 1937) is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer, wrote scripts for and devised many of the top television sitcoms during the 1970s, including ''Man About the House'', ''George and Mildred'', and '' ...

are therefore credited with series one of ''Stop Messing About'', while series two, which was entirely original, was written by

Myles Rudge Myles Peter Carpenter Rudge (8 July 1926 – 10 October 2007) was an English songwriter, known for writing the lyrics for novelty songs. His songs " The Hole in the Ground" and "Right Said Fred" were both British Top 10 chart hits in 1962, bo ...

. ''Stop Messing About'' was recast as a vehicle for

, who on the day of the first transmission wrote in his diary that "It was mediocre and played to a half empty house ... Joan said 'Let's face it dear, our careers are in the ash can...'" Of a later edition, however, he wrote that "It went like a bomb. I was very pleased with the marvellous reception ... and it's a triumph in the face of the terrible adversity of KH's death." The title was a catchphrase coined for Williams by Galton and Simpson back in the days of ''

Hancock's Half Hour ''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Galton and Simpson, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James, Sidney James; the r ...

''.

Hugh Paddick Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and "Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He and ...

and announcer Douglas Smith were retained from ''Round the Horne'', starring alongside

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran i ...

, who had already signed on for the fifth series of ''Round the Horne'' in place of

Betty Marsden Betty Marsden (24 February 1919 – 18 July 1998) was an English comedy actress. She is particularly remembered as a cast member of the radio series ''Beyond Our Ken'' and ''Round the Horne''. Marsden also appeared in two Carry On films, ''Carry ...

and therefore made a smooth transition to ''Stop Messing About''. The first episode was recorded at the BBC's Paris Theatre on Lower Regent Street (former home of ''Round the Horne'') on Monday 17 March 1969, and the final show was transmitted on 27 August 1970. Of the show's cancellation, Williams noted in his diary (1 September 1970) that "there'd been complaints about how dirty the script was etc" and described it as "a sad end to about 12 years of radio comedy."

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Horn ...

, co-writer of ''Round the Horne'', pointed out that the show was proof of the fact that Williams, though second to none as a grotesque support actor of undoubted comic genius, didn't have the requisite weight to anchor a show in the way Horne had done so effortlessly: "It was written by a sort of miscellaneous gang of writers who didn't really understand what they were doing. It didn't work. He illiamswasn't a leading man, it has to be said. I mean, he was a wonderful support. He was Montgomery to Kenneth Horne's Alexander."quoted in ''Kenneth Williams Unseen'' by Wes Butters and Russell Davies (HarperCollins 2008) During the summer of 2006 the digital radio station

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

gave ''Stop Messing About'' a regular slot, as a break from ''Round the Horne''. It was repeated during spring 2008.

Performers

* Douglas Smith was a BBC announcer who slowly began to work his way up to speaking parts in ''

'', and soon took on several parts in ''Stop Messing About''. *

, who also appeared in ''

'' and ''

Beyond Our Ken ''Beyond Our Ken'' is a BBC radio comedy programme first broadcast between 1958 and 1964. It starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee, and, as announcer, Douglas Smith. The title is a play on the ...

'', was a foil to

, as previously heard in the

Julian and Sandy Julian and Sandy were characters on the BBC radio comedy programme ''Round the Horne'' from 1965 to 1968 and were played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams respectively, with scripts written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman. According to a BBC Rad ...

routines in ''

''. *

is best known for her numerous performances in the

Carry On films The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcard ...

. She previously appeared in '' A Tribute To Greatness'', also with Kenneth Williams. *

interrupted ''

'' and ''Stop Messing About'' with often unscripted interjections. *Music was provided by the Max Harris Group.

Writers

Both Mortimer and Cooke had been latter-day contributors to ''

''. (Cooke was also the writer, over 30 years later, of the hit stage show '' Round the Horne ... Revisited''). *

The producer was John Simmonds.

Regular features

*Crack-a-Jackanory with Mother Time was a parody of the children's programme ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...

''.

would read a story, which slowly developed more adult topics.

Stage production

Forty years after the original broadcasts, ''Stop Messing About'' was rewritten for the stage, making an initial appearance at the

Rose Theatre, Kingston The Rose Theatre Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The theatre seats 822 around a wide, thrust stage. It officially opened on 16 January 2008 with ''Uncle Vanya'' by Anton Chekhov, with ...

in January 2009. The production was restaged in the West End at the

Leicester Square Theatre The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in Leicester Place, immediately north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town and The Venue. The theatre hosts st ...

in April, running for six weeks. The stage show, penned by

and directed by Michael Kingsbury, was based on selected material from the original radio show alongside a majority of material written by Mortimer and Cooke for other shows. It starred

Robin Sebastian Robin Sebastian is a British actor, best known for his portrayals of Kenneth Williams. A native of London, he has played Williams in recreations of ''Round the Horne'' and ''Hancock's Half Hour'' on stage, screen and radio. Personal life Raised i ...

, Nigel Harrison as

, Charles Armstrong as Douglas Smith and

Emma Atkins Emma Jayne Atkins (born 31 March 1975) is an English actress, best known for her role as Charity Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Atkins grew up in the village of Silverdale, Lancashire, and then went to study at the Uni ...

. The show came from the same team that had previously mounted the hugely successful ''Round the Horne ... Revisited'', using three of the same actors and even the same theatre. But it was welcomed by critics with less enthusiasm. In the ''Independent'', Michael Coveney headed his review "Carry-on that's short on laughs" and wrote: "'Infamy, infamy... they've all got it in for me!' It's typical of this so-called 'Kenneth Williams Extravaganza' ... that the funniest line actually comes from a Carry On movie." Kevin Quarmby of the ''British Theatre Guide'' called it "an evening of loud whistles and bangs, cringingly dated, sexist and, ultimately, sadly pseudo-homocentric banter." And in the ''Daily Telegraph'' - under the title 'Williams Misses His Horne' - Charles Spencer concluded that "Too many of the sketches here simply aren’t funny enough."

Footnotes

External links

*
Official stage show website

{{Cooke and Mortimer BBC Radio comedy programmes