Band Waggon
Encyclopedia
Band Waggon was a comedy radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 show broadcast by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 from 1938 to 1940. The first season featured Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...

 and Richard Murdoch
Richard Murdoch
Richard Bernard Murdoch was a British comedic radio, film and television performer.Richard Bernard Murdoch attended Charterhouse School. He then appeared in Footlights whilst a student at Pembroke College, Cambridge...

. In the second season, Askey and Murdoch were joined by Syd Walker, and the third season added Diana Clare for two episodes.

Band Waggon was the first comedy show to be designed specifically for radio, and established the practice of broadcasting a regular comedy and music programme at the same time each week. The show ended in 1940, allowing Askey to pursue a career in film and Murdoch to join the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. A show of the same name and starring Askey and Murdoch with Tommy Trinder
Tommy Trinder
Thomas Edward Trinder CBE known as Tommy Trinder, was an English stage, screen and radio comedian of the pre and post war years whose catchphrase was 'You lucky people'.-Life:...

 was playing at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...

 when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 broke out. The following year another version - with Norman Evans
Norman Evans
Norman Evans , was a variety and radio artiste, born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England.Evans was discovered by fellow Rochdale entertainer Gracie Fields...

 in place of Trinder - played at the Blackpool Opera House.

Film version

In 1940
1940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....

, a film of the same name, based on the radio show, was produced, directed by Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel was a film director. He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France.Varnel started his working life on the Paris stage but soon became a director of musical comedies. In 1925 he moved to New York working as director in several Broadway operettas, musicals and dramas for the...

, again featuring the double act of Arthur Askey and Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. The plot involves the latter pair using unorthodox methods to get their show onto the BBC and running into enemy agents at a castle in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

. Arthur Askey, playing himself, in his first major film role, employs his trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

 catchphrase: "I Thank You" and songs: "Big-Hearted Arthur" and "The Bee". The film also features the music of Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton was a British band leader and impresario.He was born John Greenhalgh Hilton in the Great Lever area of Bolton, Lancashire, the son of George Hilton, a cotton yarn twister. His father was an amateur singer at the local Labour Club and Jack learned piano to accompany him on the stage...

, the singing talents of Patricia Kirkwood
Patricia Kirkwood
Patricia Kirkwood was a British stage actress who appeared in numerous performances of dramas, cabaret, revues, music hall, variety, and pantomimes. She also performed on radio, television, and movies...

, dancing girls and the clowning of Moore Marriot. In 1958, a television version was made, starring Askey and Murdoch, called Living It Up.

External links

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