''Ray's a Laugh'' was a British

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

comedy series starring Ted Ray which ran from 1949 to 1961. According to latter-day historians of the era, the show was "hugely popular with the British public" and "one of the major hits of post-war radio comedy".

Background

Ted Ray's alter ego in variety had been Nedlo, the Gypsy Violinist. Ray's birth name was Charles Olden, but by 1949, he was appearing as Ted Ray (named after the golfer), and this was how he billed himself for his radio series, which was devised by

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 ...

producer George Inns. The show was

's replacement for ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other ch ...

''. Other names considered for the series were ''Hoo-Ray For Fun'' and ''Hip-Hoo-Ray''.

Format

For most of the show's run, ''Ray's a Laugh'' was a domestic comedy. However, it started off as an American-style three-'spot' show with songs and music. In some sketches, Ray worked for the Cannon Enquiry Agency, later joining the ''Daily Bugle'' as a reporter. Ray's wife was played by Kitty Bluett. From the third series onwards, the show was dominated by scenes featuring Ted and Kitty. Bluett left the show to appear in an unsuccessful spin-off in 1955, but returned the following year.

Cast

Regular cast members were: * Ted Ray * Kitty Bluett (series 1-5, 7-11) *

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. She is best known for playing the titular Edna in the ''Play for Today'', ''Edna, the Inebriate Woman'' (1971), for which she won the British Ac ...

(series 1-6) *

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

(series 1-5) *

Kenneth Connor Kenneth Connor (6 June 1918 – 28 November 1993) was a British stage, film and broadcasting actor, who rose to national prominence with his appearances in the ''Carry On'' films. Early life Connor was born in Highbury, Islington, London, t ...

(series 6-11) * Fred Yule (series 1-2, 4, 7) * Bob and Alf Pearson (series 1-2) * Leslie Perrins (series 1-2) * The Beaux and the Belles (aka The Keynotes) (series 1-2) * Jack Watson (series 3) * Charles Leno (series 3) *

John Hanson John Hanson ( – November 15, 1783) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Maryland during the American Revolution, Revolutionary Era. In 1779, Hanson was elected as a delegate to ...

(series 3) * The Kingsmen (series 3) *

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director, known for his close, personal friendship with Peter Sellers, appearance in several The Pink Panther films and Victor/Victoria.

(series 3) * Patricia Gilbert (series 4) * Charles Hawtrey (series 4-5) *

Diane Hart Diane Lavinia Hart (20 July 1926 – 7 February 2002) was an English actress in both films and West End theatre, political campaigner, and inventor. Early life Born in 1926, Hart was educated at various convents and then at Abbot's Hill Schoo ...

(series 6) *

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(series 6) * Pamela Manson (series 6) *

Laidman Browne Laidman Browne (13 September 1896 – 11 September 1961) was an English stage, radio and television actor. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1896, he was a founder member of the Newcastle Repertory Company in 1925, playing leading parts there until ...

(series 7-11) * Elsie Palmer (series 7) *

Pat Coombs Patricia Doreen Coombs (27 August 1926 – 25 May 2002) was an English actress. She specialised in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female, comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, ...

(series 11)

Music

Ray's signature tune was "

You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of old-time and country music and the state song of Louisiana. Its original writer is disputed. According to the performance rights organization BMI, by the year 2000 the song had been recorded by ...

", which prefaced the opening title song, named after the show and written by Ray. "You Are My Sunshine" closed the show until 1951. Music for the first three series came from Stanley Black and the BBC Dance Orchestra. For series 4 and 5, music was by Paul Fenoulhet and the BBC Variety Orchestra. In the first two series, songs came from an act known to listeners as the Beaux and the Belles, who were actually The Keynotes under another name. Bob and Alf Pearson provided another musical interlude, their signature tune being "We bring you melodies from out of the sky, my brother and I". In series 3, music came from

and The Kingsmen performing.

Catchphrases

A notable feature of the show was its catchphrases. The character of Ivy (played by Ted Ray) would show her devotion to Mrs Hoskins (Bob Pearson) by saying "you're a lovely woman, Mrs Hoskins!" The latter would remark in turn: "It was agony, Ivy!" This catchphrase was included in ''

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations ''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'' is the Oxford University Press's dictionary of commonly known quotations and proverbs in the English language and culture. The 1st edition was published in 1941. The 8th edition, expanded to over 1150 pa ...

''. Mrs Hoskins would mention "young Dr Hardcastle", to which Ivy would reply, "He's loo-vely, Mrs Hoskins, he's loo... ooo... vely!" Bob Pearson also played a little girl called Jennifer who, when asked her name, would reply: "Jen-ni-fer!" In addition, there was the adenoidal "If you haven't been to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, you haven't lived" from Tommy Trotter (Graham Stark). Another feature was the glamour girl who would do anything, but "Not until after six-o'clock!"

Broadcast

''Ray's a Laugh'' was a half-hour programme which ran from April 1949 until January 1961. It started on 4 April 1949, being broadcast on Mondays at 7.30pm 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 ...

. From June 1949 to June 1950, when the first series ended, it went out on Tuesdays. It was then usually broadcast on Thursdays until the end of series 6 in April 1954. The sixth series was the last to be broadcast on the Home Service. For the seventh series, beginning in October 1956, it was broadcast on the Light Programme. The next series moved to Fridays. This continued until the eleventh and final series, with the show ending on 13 January 1961. Over the course of the show's history, 361 episodes were broadcast, including three specials. Since 2010, archive episodes have been repeated on BBC Radio 7 and its successor,

Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital Radio broadcasting, radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary program ...

Home media releases

In 1990, a BBC Radio Collection double cassette of the series was released, featuring four episodes from 1949 and 1950.

References

{{reflist

External links

BBC Radio 4 Extra websiteBritish Comedy GuideBritish Classic ComedyThe lost BBC: Ray's a Laugh
BBC Radio comedy programmes 1949 radio programme debuts 1961 radio programme endings BBC Light Programme programmes BBC Home Service programmes 1940s British radio programmes 1950s British radio programmes 1960s British radio programmes