''Danger – Men at Work!'' was a British radio comedy programme, broadcast by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

over seven series between 1939 and 1947. The show was written and produced, at first, by

Max Kester Max Kester Dodgson (11 December 1901 – 14 December 1991), known professionally as Max Kester, was a British scriptwriter and lyricist. Biography He was born in Leeds, the son of James Dodgson, an artist who drew cartoons for ''The Yorkshire ...

and Anthony Hall, with later series by Kester alone. It was the first British radio comedy in the "crazy" style of the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

, and centred on the attempts of wealthy widowed hotel owner Mrs Ponsonby (played by Doris Nichols) to have work done by men who would invariably try to trick her out of her money. The workmen were played in the first series by American

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

Van and Allen; in the second series by

Jack Train Jack Train (28 November 1902 – 19 December 1966) was a British comic actor best known for his appearances as a variety of eccentric characters in the BBC radio series ''It's That Man Again'' (''ITMA''). Life and career Train was born in ...

and

George Moon George Moon (19 March 1909 – 17 December 1981) was an English stage, film and television actor. During the late 1950s he appeared as Ginger Smart in the television series '' Shadow Squad'' and its sequel ''Skyport''. Moon's largest tele ...

; and in later series by Haver and Lee (Clay Keyes and Frank Tully), as the characters Eggblow and Duckweed. A recurring character was Nikolas Ridikoulos, played by

Jacques Brown Jacques Brown (first name pronounced "Jakes") (23 August 1900 – 3 April 1975) was a British radio producer. He produced ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh'', ''The Goon Show'', ''Beyond Our Ken'' and others for BBC Radio. He was born Solomon Jacob Bro ...

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B. T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , p. 65 The show was later described as "... relentlessly fast-paced (on one occasion a live transmission ended ten minutes early) ... surreal, innovative and inspired ... groundbreaking in its use of sound effects and insult comedy."Andy Foster and Steve Furst, ''Radio Comedy 1938–1968: A Guide to 30 Years of Wonderful Wireless'', Virgin, 1996, , pp. 24–27 After five series totalling 29 episodes in 1939–40, the show was revived for 1946–47, with Tully replaced by Charlie Irwin. "Danger – Men at Work!", ''BBC Genome''
Retrieved 5 April 2021

References

BBC Radio comedy programmes 1939 radio programme debuts 1947 radio programme endings 1930s British radio programmes 1940s British radio programmes {{BBC-radio-stub