It was the manic, bearded disc jockey Kenny Everett who dubbed the corporation “Auntie Beeb”; Goon Peter Sellers elongated her to “the Beeb Beeb Ceeb”, while the reassuring calm of Terry Wogan cheekily revealed the old girl’s bloomers.
Now, celebrating 100 years of educating and entertaining, from November 1922, the BBC’s comedy legacy is a world-beating gold standard. The fragments of Television Centre still echo to endless cries of: “You silly old moo!”, “Don’t tell him, Pike!”, and “I don’t believe it!” but it all started with a scant few of the population gathered around tiny wooden wireless sets, transfixed as much by the murky yellow glow as the quavering comic voice of Billy Beer, the very first comedian to perform on the then British Broadcasting Company.
Broadcasting on 16 November 1922, just the second ever day of broadcasts, Beer’s style was a rambling comic monologue: The Parish Magazine, a wry, sideways look at life in his sleepy village. Hilarity ensured.
Less than a fortnight later, the rotund Norman Long performed a selection of his silly songs on the variety show The Cat’s Whisker. Long was a hit and was swiftly invited back.
Before long, the great and the good of variety turns from the music halls were queuing up to perform their funnies: ageing pros such as John Henry and Robb Wilton dusting off tried-and-tested stage routines, and awkwardly delivering them into a BBC branded microphone. For those tuning in at home, it was live entertainment within their own sitting room.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2022-Ausgabe von Best of British.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2022-Ausgabe von Best of British.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom