Channel
IT AL LA DD SU P
Like, Isuspect ,ag reat deal of you, math slessons were my leastfavou rite at school.It’s nott hatIhated thesubject it self,i nfac tIwas qu itet he fa nofa lgebra,Ijustfou nd thelessons andt heir delivery bori ng.
Howmuchb et tert hose le ss on s wouldh aveb eenh ad my math s teachers op en ly di splaye dt he enthusia sm th at they mu st have had fort he subjec twhent he ydec ided to ma ke al iv ingout of it .I fonlyt he yh ad af ract ionoft he energy th at Ti nk of aNumber’sJoh nnyB al lh ad in gett ing them at hs me ss ageacros s.
At thet imet hatJoh nnyw as in hi s pomp,f romt he late 70 stot he ea rly 90 s, Br it ishtelev isionw as aw ash with popu la rs cience andt echnolog y prog ra mmes andt heir re sp ec tive
commun ic ators. In addition to Tomorrow ’s World, Te GreatE gg Race andQED,wewerekepti nfor me dbyt he
li ke sofM ag nu sP yke, Ja me sBurke and Cl ai re Rayner.
Wh ilewes ti ll have prog ra mmes th at covert he se subjec ts ,t he most intere st ing, in my opin ion, ca nb e foundonC hi ld ren’sBBC .W hi le the idea of de dicate dchi ld ren’scha nnel s couldb es eena sgood th ing, it is a sh amet hatt heir prog ra mmes aren’t se en by agener al audience in thew ay Johnny’swere.
It wouldb efor thepublicgood if thel ikes of Horr ible Hi stor ie sa nd thehum an bodyshowO peration Ouch !werem adepar toft he BBC Ones chedules .I nf ac t, givenhow they ’rewor th thel icence fe ea lone,I’m su rpri se dt he Be eb ha sn’t done it yet.
PROGNOSTICATION
Cardinal Cox is readytorock… progressively
I’l ladm it that Il ikea bitof prog ressiverocknow andt hen. Gett ingi ntomusic in thelate 1970 s/ea rly8 0s it wa sone option in thebufet of rock at thet ime. Te En id played ou rlocal theatret hree or four ti mes. Later, Itookcoach trips to seeRush(at WembleyA rena)a nd Yesi nconcert (possiblyat theN EC in Bi rm ingham). If Irememberrig ht , rather than asupport ba nd,Yes showed acoupleofold Wa rner Bros ca rtoons
Oneofthe rootsfor prog that is of tensuggested is theBeatles with theirexperimentationsw ithsitars, orchestrasand back wardsrecording on tracks like Tomorrow NeverK nows. Iwou ld suggestthatthe infuence goes back onestepf ur ther to theproducer George Martin.Before work ingw ith theBeatles,Sir George hadhad success with arange of recordsstretching from sk ife, through jazz,tocomedy (Bernard Cribbins andPeter Sellers, for instance). It wasthiseclecticworkthat fedintothe Beat lesand theirquest for innovation
So,whena lbum sl ikeRevolverorSgt Pepp er ca me out, st udents at mu sic colleget hatm ig ht prev iously have lo oked at either orches tr as or teachi ng as ca re ers, couldnow lo ok to be comi ng ro ck mu sici an sa sa nopt ion. Te yt hen broughtwhatt he yh ad lear ne d, be it intere st ingt imesig natu re soru nu su al in st ru ment s, to popu la rmusic
Forv ar ious reas on s, ba nd s in frequent ly ca me to my city butI’ve be en luck yenoug htos ee Jeth ro Tu ll andGregL akewhent he yd id perfor m
here.R ickWakem an (pic tu re d) ha s pl ayed here fveorsix ti me s(the ru mour is th at hi sf avou rite sound engi ne er live dloc al ly), so I’ ds eenh im in perfor ma nces ra ng ingf romjus th im anda pi anouptoh im with af ul lband. Aver yt alente dmusic ia n, howe ver Ifou nd hi schatb et we en tr acks the th ingIenjoyed most .Hei sa racont eu r. Amongh is gigs th at I’ve be en to,w as a promot ione veni ng forh is frst Gr umpy OldRocks ta rmemoi r.
Acoupleofyea rs ago, therewas a rock fest ival al most with in wa lk ing di st ance of my home (I am la zy,so Isomet imes caug ht thebus)t hat included some excellentyou ng prog ba nd s.
Formet houg h, theb est prog ac tI have se en is theD utch ba nd Fo cu s. It wa squite an inti mate gigi nachu rch andwhi le therewereonlyt wo or ig in al memb ersf romt he ea rly70s li ne-up, thet wo youngerg uita ri st s were ever ybit as go od
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Thestory of navalbombdisposal expert John BabingtonQC.
naval b b d posal Babington QC.
Cover:JohnnyBallpicturedduringthe early 1990s, whilepresentinghis IT Vshow, Johnny Ball RevealsAll.
Photograph:ITV/Shutterstock
on thePast Learning newskillswithThe Francis FrithCollection.
the Past new skills with T Frith Collection.
city ’s theatres.
some of the cit y’s
AlookbackatChannel 4’s
A look back at Channel improvisation show.
Celebratingthe
Celebrating t popular r Round the Horne
Doctor WhostarColin Baker remembers.
Postbag
TheEditorwelcomeslet ters forthissection.Pictures areappreciated.Let ters maybeeditedsothatwecan includeasmanyaspossible
A Wombling DayOut
Dear Simon,
Your recent ar ticle on the 50th anniversar yof the Wombles (Remember, He’s aWomble, December) took me back to awonderful dayout Ihad in the early 1970s
Iwas a bigfan of the Wombles when Iwas about 9 years old and had all the recordsand posters on my bedroom wall, Wellington and Orinoco being my favourites.
On atripwith my parents to the Willesden and BrentShow in Roundwood Park in Harlesden,wheremygrandparents lived,tomysurprise Wellington womblewas there and Iwas able to have my phototaken with him.Ialsothink itwas in the local paper.Keep up the goodwork
Nigel Green Watford, Her tfordshire
AChangeof Temperature
Dear Simon,
Iwas interested to read that noteinthe ar ticle Never Eat Shredded Wheatinthe Januar yissue about conver ting from degrees Ftodegrees C.
Aformula that givesareasonableapproximation over weather temperatures is to subtract 30 from theFahrenheitreading, and
Floral Dance
Dear Simon,
Inot only had abook on The Language of Flowers but also acalendar whichmade me recall my days helping at my daughter’sforist shop, especially at busy times such as Valentine’s Day. Imostly carried outthe very local deliveries –the shops and ofces around the mall in Croydon town centre –while my son-in-lawwentfur ther afeld with the van.
Backwardsand forwards Iwouldgo. Theshop and officegirls wouldsqueal with excitementwhen handed a bouquetand holding them on my rounds broughtfor th sallies such as “Are those for me love?” from work men.
When Ieventually finished my deliveries,Iwould join my grandson and granddaughter in selling the last of the flowers.I twas hardwork. My daughterwas oftenthere all nightbeforeawedding Whoever wasidle made the teawhich wasgulpeddown while sweeping the floor or tak ing rubbish to the bins (usually me).
My daughterwas glad when the Covidlockdown in 2020 and 2021 finishedusoff but Imissed it,Christmas and Mothering Sundayaswell as Valentine’s Day. I’mglad Iwas able to make my contribution to afamily concern.
Maisie Dance Purley,Surrey
then halveit. Although notofcourse strictly accurate, this does give afigurethatisacceptable formostpurposes.
Yours sincerely
TimGenower Gospor t, Hampshire
ABlotonthe Landscape
Dear Simon,
Iapplaud Martin Broadribb’s letter (Postbag: ContrastingConstructions, Januar y) as,look ing at this picture, these do not blendseamlessly. TheGherkinis an eyesoreand the beautiful Towerof London should not be swamped by giant towerblocks.When Iwas on theRiver Thames lastyear,itwasn’t theview Iloved as achild
Both Portsmouth and Southampton have lost so much histor y. Ispoke to anicewoman fromBathwho tells me thateven in thatbeautiful place, student flats area blot on the landscape. Whycan’t our architects take a leaf out of the books of those in Poland and the Czech Republic wherethe newer buildings blend so well with the older ones
CanAny Reader Help?
Dear Simon,
Ihavetwo flms Ivividly remember and would love to see again but don’t know their titles and washoping Best of British could help.
Iremember watching an old black and whitefilm wheresome girlsdressed in their ballerina costumes went up on the roof of the building,when they went back down,the door slammedclosed behind them and the keyfell out into apot of paintbythe door.However,one of the
Lavender ’s Blue
Dear Simon,
To this day, the smell of lavender always jolts my memor yand this efectdates back to the pre-wardaysof1935-6 when Iwas living in theVauxhall area ofsouth London withmyparents and young sister,Jean. Ve ry similar to the re ce nt Covid epidemic,weh ad an outbreak of diph ther ia, ad isease of the throa tw it h ad re adful fe ve rt ha tk illed s om any. Th e di se as es tru ck my sister at the age of fo ur ye ars,a nd she wa sa dmitted to the local St Th omas’H ospital in L ambeth at a cr itical stage
She wasunable to breathe due to an infamed throatand,atone time,my parents feared forher life.
Facedwith so manyfamilies being hit with this deadly illness,the LCCand the local council did aremarkable thing –they hired an empt yboarding school at Broadstairs in Kentand advised ever y family in theareawho had adiphtheria worr ythatthe family could havetheir other children withdrawntojoina group
girlswas still on the roof and she couldn’t open the door,sowas stuck up there and ever yone waslook ing forher.That’s about all Ican remember and I’msureit’s aBritish film.
Theother film Ithink is American and probably from about30years ago. It starts with alady opening her fridge in slowmotion andanegg falls outon to the floor.During thathappening,she has apremonition of aplane crash and the next dayshe sees on the newsthata plane hadcrashed.She then hasanother
premonitionwheresome boys areplaying icehockey on alake andthe icecracks with someofthe boys falling in, so she tries to stop it beforeithappens. Then she has another premonition wherea lady is mugged in an alleyway, so she goes to tr y and stop it beforeithappens,and Ithink she turns out to be the victim. What Ican recall is it’s agood film and wondered if anyone know the films I’mtalking about Kind Regards
LynBowles
to spend twoweeks by the sea, cared for by medical staf and with afew teachers.
Iwas immediately nominatedfor a placeatthe age of six years and currently free of the disease.Wewereall givena kitbag fornightand dayspare clothes and set of to St Mark ’s church by Oval Underground station. Here, the crowdof children boarded three motorcoaches and of we went
On arrival, we were placed in the school dormitories,given ameal and senttobed In the morning,wewoke and realised we could see the Channel andbeautiful gardens and shrubs ever ywhere. We quick ly adjusted to lessons in the morning but ever yafternoon wasgiven over to lavender time.
Forthis,wehad to sit at small tables piled high with lavender twigsand fowers,gently shake the fowerheads outand pack them into small foweryenvelopes,which were then sealed and senttolocal charities for sale.Thiswas forevery afternoon forthe two weeks and the onlybreaksweretowatch the ferries and liners sailing down the Channel
We did get in to Br oadstairs fo ra fe w hours ,a nd Ic an re member our te acher poin ting out al ar ge hou se ca lled Bleak House ,w hich wa st he subj ec to fa st or y by am an Ih ad not hear do f, Char les Dickens
Thetime quick ly passed,and we were coached back to Vauxhall.Here, Ifound thatJean washome and on the road to recovery.Look ing back afterall these years, Iamcer tain thatLambeth Council were very far-seeing and savedthe lives of many children.
Mind you, Idoubt thatenough lavender sachets were made and sold to coverthe cost of our two-week holidaybythe sea.
Ron McGill Guildford, Surrey
Maggie Rickards Portsmouth, Hampshire
Portsmouth Historic Dock yard
Bankingon It
Dear Simon,
As the numberofbank branches reduces anew bank ing facility is on theincrease.Therewere 100 bank ing hubsaround the UK at the star tof Januar y2025. Afur ther 250 hubs areenvisagedto be in operation by the endof2029.
Thehubs arelocated wherethe last bank branch has or is to close soon and manyare in market towns.England has 62 hubs,Scotlandhas 22,Wales has 11 and NorthernIrelandhas five. Some areinpermanentlocationslike old bank branch buildings,and some arein temporar y locations such as communitycentres or libraries
TheLINK organisation considersrequests fora bank ing hub which is usually when thelastbank branch in alocation is to closedown. If approved, Cash Access UK Ltdorganises thenew hubwith the Post Officeproviding the counteroperation facilities.Amember of staff of thepar ticipatingbanks attends on one dayeach weekdaytoassisttheir customers.
Theexistenceofthe banking hubs allowscash and suppor t to be available to bank customerswho need these facilities to be available forthem. As banking becomes increasingly
Interesting
Dear Simon,
As adelayedFather ’s Daypresent, my son took me to an eventatBirmingham Town Hall inspiredbythe famous snooker match between SteveDavis and Dennis Taylor in 1985. That matchhad 18.5 million viewers (includingmyfamily and me) and went on into the early hours of themorningwith Dennis winning on the fnal black.This evening’s eventhad an audience in the hundreds and fnished before10pm
Dennis and Stevewerejoined by John Virgo, agood playerinhis daybut also known forhis jazzywaistcoatsand trick shots
John star tedthe evening’s entertainmentwith some of those trick shots.Hegot members ofthe audience to have agotellingthem wheretoaim so that the balls duly dropped into the appropriate pockets(most of the time).
Dennis and Steveplayedagame (which Dennis won) and then reconstructedthe last fewballs of the famous 1985 match explaining their thoughts at the time when they were tak ing those shots.
Therewas aphotooppor tunity, and Ienclose aphoto of my son and me with those famousplayers.Inthe photo, Iamthe oldest at 88 followed by the septuagenarians JohnVirgo and Dennis
Taylor with SteveDavis amere67, and my son as the only one under60. They signed the photoframe on the back. They raised somemoney forcharity with an auction of signed snooker cues.There wasalso aslot in the evening wherethey just chatted.Dennis told jokes.The others all laughed,soIguess they must have varied a bit foreachshow(or else John andSteve are
good actors). Stevereminisced about when he went to the palace forhis MBE and later his OBE.Healso explained howhegot his nickname “interesting”.
Thesame word could be usedto describe the evening,interesting
Don
Alcott Shirley,Solihull, West Midlands
digitised the hubs will help to provide avital ser vicetothe community.
John CPurser Coventry,War wickshire
AHiddenHero
Dear Simon,
Even in my time,shoplifting in Catford, south-east London was awell-known problem. TheGateway supermarket,however, hadaretired female policeofcer who patrolled theaisles while keeping an eyeopen forany customer helping themselves to items beforesecreting them and leaving thestore.
Nellie,the securityofficer,would tipmeoff so Iwas at thefront of the supermarket when the shoplifter wasleaving and where Nellie would warn thembeforeescorting themback inside.
This wasback in the 1960sand 70sand Nellie savedmy store from losing alot of stock and being rippedoff manytimes.One occasion comes to mind and it still give me asmile evenafter all theseyears
As Nellie passed me in the supermarket,she whispered: “He’s nicked some stuffsoget to the front now.I think he’ll do arunner.” This meantthe second she apprehendedhim, he’d take off What the thief did not know wasIwas playing football regularly foranamateur team in London and Iwas both fit and fast.Just as Iexpected, he took off when stopped but Iwas on histrack immediately
However, my acceleration wastobemyundoing.Myshoesole caughtthe topofhis heel,causing himtotumble and takingme with him. Isaw instantly thathewas abig man and he slapped his knuckle just under my chin. Forasecond things did not lookgood but suddenly an armwithasolidfistfound itsway from aboveme rightontohis stomach, followedby a loud gasp.
Amale customer had seen the incident, thankfully intervened andhad savedthe dayfor me.“Stay still,you,” the customer rasped into the shoplifter’sface. Luckily,Nellie had run across theroadto the policestation oppositeand had collaredanofficer who was already on the scene.The shoplifter, the policeofficer and Nellie made their waytothe station.
Ilooked around forthe herowho had savedthe dayfor me but he wasgone.Our unsung herohad chosentoslip away into the crowded pavementand move on. As forme, just another typical dayinmysupermarket in the 1960s…never boring
Colin MacLeod
Beauly,Inverness
AWinning Selection
Dear Simon,
Iborrowyour magazine fromtime to time at thelocal librar yasitis notwidelyavailable at the shops
Seeing the photoofthe Winning Post chocolatesonthe contents page and Treasures in the Attic in the 30thanniversaryissue (November 2024) broughtback manymemories.Somewhere along the line they disappeared from circulationbut IrecallDad buying them in the1960s and 70s.Weall enjoyedthem.
It wasareal delightto see thefamiliar green box. They were certainly widely availableand very popular in their heyday. The Nestlé factory wasin
Parnell,ver ynear central Auck land
Long mayyour mag continue
ShelleyGrant
Auck land,New Zealand
Canyou help?
Wa nted: 78r pm re co rd sby Bo ba nd Al fPear son, Ve ra Ly nn, SteveConway, Jessie Ma tthews, and Elsie and Do ri sWal te rs,i nc luding vo cal re fr ains with dance bands etc.
Theo Morgan, Tel: 07990 072700 Email: theo. morgan@gmail.com
Is thereanyone out there who took par tinthe Essex Senior Scout 4th European Expedition to Germanyin the summer of 1959? If so,I would love to hear from you; Ihaveanumber of photos but no other paper records of our frst ever visitabroad. David Sansom, Email: davidwsansom@yahoo. co.uk
Does anyone have any information of aDutch football team called KMVZ, aclub from Amsterdam. In par ticular,therewas a tour hosted by KMVZ and including my local team, Barkingside FC, in 1966, along with Witney FC. Any information on KMVZ and this tour would be greatly appreciated. Rob Meyers,123 Ashurst Drive, Bark ingside,Ilford, EssexIG6 1HA
Wanted:1950-1955 Ian Allan BritishR ailways combined engine number books with no markings and their original paper covers Brian Deamer,20East Drive, Sawbridgeworth, HertfordshireCM21 9EU Tel: 01279 725455
Ia mv er yi nt er es te di n Le yland Super Co met lor ri es an da mt ry ing to tr ack do wn an yo ne who migh th av ep hot os of the lo rri es th at they co uld supply me with . Michael Clanc y, 18 HampshireAvenue, Slough, Berkshire SL1 3AQ
Information and photos aresoughtonthe families who oncelived in the Layerthorpe area of York , an area thathas changed beyond recognition.I fyou onceresided or worked in this area or had relatives who did, we arelook ing to addtoour archiveand at the same time preser ve these photos forfuture generations Jane Burrows– Tang Hall LocalHistor yGroup,Tel: 07522 402945 Email: tanghallhistory@gmail.com
Iw ould like to hear fr om an yo ne wh oa tt ended th eT Re xc on ce rt at Has tings Pi er Pa vilion on 25 July 1975. Pr og ra mmes fr om th is or oth er TR ex gi gs wo uld also be in va luable as we ll as inf or ma tion about the run nin go rd er of songs If an yo ne has an or ig inal ticket av ailable ,I wo uld we lc ome it ,h av ing lost mine man yy ear sa go David Rudman, 8Carramup Circle, Port Kennedy,Western Australia Email: davidjon4@gmail.com
Requestsfor information, friendsand family searches andreunion announcementscan be included here free of charge.Sendany requests,written as conciselyaspossible,toCan YouHelp?, Best of British, MortonsMedia GroupLtd,Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle,Linconshire LN96JR or by emailto info@bestofbritishmag.co.uk
Sounding Important
De ar Simon,
Irecen tl yfound ar ai lw ay ticket da te dWedn es day7
De ce mber 1955. As ingle ticket from Ba th Green Pa rk st at ion to Po ole,D ors et .I tw as my ticket home.AsI han ded it in at Po ole,Irea lised Iwoul dn ever a ga in go to Ba th Green Pa rk . It wa smyl ast jour ne ya sam ember of the RA F. My two- ye ar Na tional Se rv icew as over,Iw as ac ivilia na nd Iw as no longer af igh te rp lotter ra dio oper ator assistan t.
Howd id Icome by this job? Wh en Is tar te dmyt wo ye ars, Ih ad no idea wha tIwoul dd o. Du ri ng my eigh tweeks of ba si ct ra ining at RA FWilm s lowi nC heshire, we had acou pl e of days with RA Fs taff to deter mine our future. We had to put down 10 occupa tions: fivewewerek ee no na nd fiveo th ers as re ser ve s.
Th eo fficer with me su ggested Ip ut d ow nf igh te rp lo tter to make up my 10. Ih ad it nin th on my list .H ep oin te do ut twoo fmytop fiveweren ot open to me as Id id no th avet he A- levels nee ded
He also poin te do ut the other three in my to pf iveh ad long tr aining per io ds and we re morel ikely to go to aregul ar signe do nfor three ye ars or morea s it wo uld be better va lue fo rt he RA Fa nd they wo uld get moreyea rs from hi m.
He also hin te dt ha ti fyou didn’t get yo ur fir st choi ce,you mig ht get potluck an de nd up as ag ener al dogs bod y. He said to think it over.O nmys econd day, Itook his advicea nd kn ocked out my or iginal to pf iveo cc up at ions.Fig hter pl otter wa sn ow fo ur th on my list
MagicMauretania
Dear Simon,
Seeing the pictureofthe Mauretania in the Cruising 50s Style article (Februar y) brought back memories of my Auntie Cissy who wasastewardess on the Mauri(as the crew referred to it) andthe Queen Mary Looking afterthe passengers,cleaning cabins and the odd clothing repair gave little time to enjoythe voyages.I am talking about the late 1940s, when Iwas about five years old
Of course,Britainwas still suffering from rationing but Auntie Cissy broughtback all sorts of goodies from the US. Clothes, tinned ham, chewing gum fromWrigleys, and chocolates.
Memorable wasthe “yardofcandy” from Gimbels departmentstore in NewYork. It really wasayardasthe boxcontaineda yardstick which is still in use aftersome 75 years.
It seemed therewerev acan cies in al lmys elec tio ns Howe ve r, al ot of pos itions we re in camps we ll aw ay from Po ole with no chanceo fg etting home on a4 8-ho ur pass as it wa stoo fa r. Al ot of va cancies wh eref igh te rp lotters we re needed we re in the south of En gl and.Iq uick ly m oved figh te r plotter to number one on my lis t. “G ood,” said the officer. “Well chosen. Yo ua re almos tcer tai ntog et th at tr ade.”
He wa sr igh t. Th el is tl ater we nt up.Therei tw as :“ DS im. Fi gh te rp lotter tr aining.R AF Mi dd le Wa llop.” Th is wa si nt he middl eo fS al is bu ry Pl ain .Aweek ’s leave,t he nfour we eks of tr aining,t hen of ftomyh ome fo r2 0m on th s( namely RA F Box, near Ba th).
Wh at wa sa fi gh te rp lotter? Yo us at with yo ur ear phones re ce iving the positions of planes,p laced th ei nfor ma tion on am ap on the table,a nd gave the ra dar oper ator the number of tha tp lane.N ot surew hy we we re called fi gh te rp lo tters as we plotted al lp lanes wh eth er mil itar y, co mmercial or pr iv ate. Mayb et he titl em ad ei ts oun di mpor tan t. Iw asn’t all tha tg ood at it but nobod ys eemed both ered.Wel l, it wa sn’t wa rt ime
Th ink ing back ,Ifelt Ih ad chos en figh te rp lot te ra tt he time but re alised la te rt he officer kn ew ex ac tly whe re peo ple wo uld be needed at acer tai nd ate. As Is at down, Ie xpe ct he already had me down to be af igh te rp lotter.H ej ust let me think it wa smyi dea.
David
Sim Normanby, Middlesbrough, Nor th Yorkshire
Presents forlittle Alan were alwaysAmerican based.Obviously Abattery train set,complete cowboyoutfit,fireengine that squirtedwater and apolicecar with sirenand flashing lights Do Ihavethem now? No,ofcourse not,theyare allinthe great
dustbin in the skybut the recollections arestill therestoredinmy 80-year-old memor ybank
Alan White Guildford, Surrey
Taking it Easy!Easy!
Dear Simon,
We’vebeen enjoying the Januar y and Februar yissues of Best of British –frstly reading the pieceabout wrestling (The BigDaddy of Them All), January).
Back in the 1970s,wewereregular ticket holders forall the matches held at the Portsmouth Guildhalland,apar t from being afan of Big Daddy,I was
TheBourneLegacy
Dear Simon,
Ihavebeen meaning to writefor some time on various ar ticles thathave appeared in Best of British over recent months but,asalways, time and other commitments have invariably precluded my doing so
However, Inow at last have an opportunitytoremedythatsituation so,first andforemostbut albeit rather belatedly, I must congratulate the magazine on its30th anniversar y. Ihavebeen areader,and,more importantly,havekept ever yissue sincethe very first all those years ago
As regards the variousarticles,I would par ticularly like to commentupon how muchI enjoyed that by David Brownon Raymond Mays (MrMotor Spor t, Januar y).
Ihavebeen an aficionado of BRM since my schooldays in the 1950s and,infact, Iamacurrent member of both the BRM Association and the ERAClub and,needless
alwaysimpressed by the Hungarian brothers Tibor and PeterSzak acs –they displayedalmost balletic sk ills in the ring,sodifferenttothe technique employed by GiantHaystacks, who would just stand thereand let opponents bounceoff him, usually to their detriment.
AlexandraWilde Rainham, Essex
to say, Ihavea copy of Raymond Mays’s book Split Seconds: My Racing Years.
It goes without saying,therefore, thatI found David ’s ar ticle ex tremely interesting and although he could not obviously include ever ydetail, Ishould like to mention the twoeventswhich have taken placein Bourne over relatively recent years to keep the memor yofBRM alive. Both of these events involved the closure of the centre of the town to enable ER As and BRMs to be put through their paces on the mainstreets and the first was in 1999 to recognise 65 years sincethe creation of English Racing Automobiles and,similarly,the 50th anniversar yof BRM. This eventalso coincided with the introduc tion of the limited-edition RoverBRM car which wasbased on the Rover 200 of the time and wasbuilt forjust one year in 1999.
Some 13 years later, on 7October 2012, the second eventtook placetocelebrate the Golden Anniversar yofBRM winning the GrandPrixWorld Championship in 1962 which wassecured by GrahamHill in the lastraceofthe season at the South African Grand Prix. In October 2012, Iwas fortunate in owning one of the rare Rover-BRMs and as a precursor to the event in Bourne,mycar was featured in an article in the newspaper Classic CarWeekly. Th ro ugh out the da yo nb oth oc casions in 1999 an d 2012, the str eets of Bo ur ne ech oed to th e
sound of ra cin ge ng ines with ,e specia lly, tha to ft wo V16 BRMs lit er ally “b ouncing” off th eb uildings lin in gt he high st re et –not hin gs hor to fa we so me .T he cr ow ds and the en thusias ts who had ga ther ed in this sm all Linc oln sh ir em ar ket to wn also had the oppor tunit yt om eet fo rm er BRM dr iv ers like Sir Jack ie St ew ar t, Jack ie Oliv er and others while Da mon Hi ll re pr esen te dh is la te fa th er,G ra ham.
To accompanythis letter,I enclose two photographs,the first of which is of my Rover-BRM taken in 2012 outside Eastgate House,the home of Raymond Mays.The second is morerecentand shows my wife outsideThe RaymondM ayspublic house, mentioned by David Browninhis ar ticle, in 2023. We visit Lincolnshire on an annual basis over aweekend in September to attend the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’sM embers’Day and it is nowde rigueur to stop in Bourne forlunch on our journey back to Essex.
John Goodman Witham, Essex
Th eR et ro TV Time s
Classic television on Freeview,Satellite, Cableand Online
Talking Pictures TV talk ingpicturestv.co.uk
SKY328 |FREEVIEW82 FREESAT306 |VIRGIN 445
Went the DayWell? (1942)
(Saturday1 March, 9.05pm)
War. Director: Alber to Cavalcanti. Starring: LeslieBanks,Mer vyn Johns and ThoraHird. English villagers stageafight back when visited by aplatoon of German troops
Suspec t(1960)
(Sunday2 March, 9.25am)
Drama. Directors: RoyBoulting andJohn Boulting.Starring: Tony Britton, Virginia Maskell, PeterCushing,Ian Bannen and Donald Pleasence. Ayoung scientist’spioneering work attracts the attention of the authorities
School forSecrets(1946) (Monday3March, 9.05pm)
Wa r. Direc to r: Pe te rUsti nov.
St ar ri ng: Ra lph Ri chardson, David To mlinson ,R ay mond
bbc.co. uk/iplaye r
Morning in the Streets
Winning theaward forthe best television documentar yfilm in the Italia PrizeContest,Denis Mitchell’s 1959 documentar y is full of evocativeimages of a Liverpool still recovering from the postwargloom.
Comic Roots: Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams explores his roots in and around London’s St Pancras,wherehegrewup.
When Snooker Ruled the World Alook back at the heroes and villains thathelped snooker become the UK’s number one televised spor tofthe 1980s
Hun tley,Fin layCur ri e, Ri chardAttenborou gh ,J ohn Laur ie and Mi chael Horder n. Du ri ng Wo rl dWar Two, on the eveo f the Ba ttle of Br itain ,B ri tish scie nt is ts devel op th ef irst ra dar systems.
Go Kar tGo(1963) (Saturday8March,10.25am)
Family.Director: Jan Darnley-Smith. Starring:Dennis Waterman, Frazer Hines and Melanie Garland.The DamsonStreet Gang race their homemade go-kartinthe local derby despitethe unsporting tactics of their rivals,the Craven Gang
CarryOnAbroad
Dublin Nightmare(1958) (Saturday8March, 3.55pm)
Thriller.Director: John Pomeroy. Starring: William Sylvester,Marla Landi and RichardLeech. A photographer investigatesthe murder of his friend during a bank robber y.
TheOctober Man(1947) (Saturday8March, 9.05pm)
Crime.Director: RoyWard Baker.Stars: John Mills and Joan Greenwood.Aman is suspected of murder and,due to abrain injur y, begins to doubt his own innocence.
Carr yOnAbroad
It’s holidaytime forKenneth, Sid,Joan and the rest of the ragtag bunch in this brilliantcomedy.Descending on Elsbels resort,there’sdefinitely something fishyabout the staff.
Neverthe Twain
Apair of feuding fathers and antiques dealers find outthatafamilyproblem drawsthem together.
TheDarlingBuds of May
David Jason, PamFerrisand Catherine Zeta-Jones star in this comedy drama adapted from HE Bates’ books.Maand Pa Larkinand their six children lead an almost “per fick ”lifein50s Kent
FREEVIEW41, SKY148, FREESAT137, VIRGIN 149
TheTerrornauts (1967) (Friday7March, 11am)
Joe Burke (SimonOates) heads aradio telescope projectata
British obser vator y, hoping to pick up signsoflifefromanother planet; thus far,the team hasreported nopositiveresults.But just when the projectisabout to be cancelled,Burke discovers afaint signal,the same mysterious signalthat intrigued and hauntedhim as achild, and decides to respond.
Island of Terror (1966) (Sunday16March, 4.35pm)
When the inhabitants of Petrie’s Island succumb to amysterious disease, doctors Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing) and David West (EdwardJudd) are asked to investigate.Puncturemarks on the corpses reveal thehorrifying truth: the islanders and their animals arebeing killed not by adisease,but
by astrange type of silicate organism thatsucks the bone from their bodies
Horror Express(1972) (Wednesday19March,1.35pm)
Christopher Leeand PeterCushing star as rivalturn- of-the -centur y anthropologists transpor ting afrozenmissing link aboardthe Trans-Siberian Express.But when the prehistoric creaturethaws and escapes,itunleashes abrain-scar fing spree thatturns its victims into the eye-bleeding undead.
SKY110, VIRGIN 124, TALKTALK 310, NOWT V
Paul Whitehouse’s Sketch Show Years (Saturday1 March, 10.20pm)
The1990s We head into the 1990s when Paul Whitehouse arrivedonscreen with pals Harry Enfield and Vicand Bob, alongside Victoria Wood,The Real McCoyand Goodness Gracious Me
Dad’s Army (Monday3 March, 7.40pm)
TheMan and the Hour First-everepisodeofthe classic wartime comedy.Captain Mainwaring assumes command of the Local DefenceVolunteers
FREEVIEW/YOUVIEW/BT/ TALKTALK 20, SKY143, VIRGIN 130, FREESAT158 NewTricks (Wednesday5March, 10pm)
TheJigsawMan (1983) (Thursday27March,9pm)
Sir Philip Kimberley (MichaelCaine), the former chief of Britain’s Secret IntelligenceSer vicewho defected to Russia, is givenplastic surger yand assigned back home by the KGBto retrievevital intelligencedocuments. Escaping his Soviet handlers,hesets outonbusiness of his own, leading M16 and the KGBona huntfor him and the documents
ADeath in theFamily Amystery forBritain’s favouritedetectives and it ’s time to sayfarewell to Jack Halford( James Bolam).The team have 24 hours to solvea100-year-old murder
Classic Bergerac (Friday7March,3.10pm)
NicePeople DieinBed Thehead of afamine charity is found dead in his hotel suite, but an autopsy confirms he didn’t die in bed
DreamCar Fixers (Sunday2March,11pm)
FREEVIEW/YOUVIEW/BT/ TALKTALK 27, SKY155, VIRGIN 129, FREESAT 159
Dolomite Sheldon and Petertry to completetheir client’sTriumph collection by hunting down and restoring the last remaining model –a Triumph DolomiteSprint.
AntiquesRoadshow (Friday7March,1pm)
Newcastle Civic Centre Fiona Brucepresents from Newcastle’s Civic Centre,whererarediaries reveal the stor yofVictorian heroine GraceDarling and her missiontosavelives at sea.
WatchD
Channels maybeunavailable in certain regions.Ifyou arehaving trouble viewing channels,gotofreeview.co.uk/ freeview-channel-checker or call the Freeview Advice Line on 03456 50 50 50 (MondaystoFridays,9am-5pm).
Paul Whitehouse’s Sketch Show Years
BRITAIN NOW
TOPICAL SNIPPETS FROM AROUNDTHE NATION
SettingSail
AfeetofDunkirklit tleships areto sail from Ramsgate to Dunkirktocommemorate the 85th anniversary of OperationDynamo, the rescue of more than 338,000British andAllied troops from thebeaches of Dunkirkinlate Mayand June of 1940.Takingplace over the late MayBankHoliday weekend, 21-26May, therewillbe74Dunkirk little shipsinthe feet, alarge number notpreviouslyseeninthe modern era. Organisedby theAssociation of DunkirkLit tleShips (adls.org.uk), thecrossing will be escorted by theRoyal Navy andthe RNLI,withaspectator feet of modern craf t presentinRamsgateand Dunkirk, while commemorativeeventswillbe held in Dunkirk. SailingfromRamsgateRoyal Harbouron21 Mayand arriving 10 hourslater in Dunkirk, this will be thefrst time thelit tleships have made thecrossingsince 2015,asthe 2020 eventwas cancelleddue to thepandemic.
Say Hello, Helios
Heritage Handover
Aseven metreindiametersculpture that combines audio andvisualartistr yincluding thesound of thesun captured by Nasa hasbegun atourofNationalTrust proper ties (nationaltrust.org.uk). Createdbyinternationally renowned ar tist Luke Jerram,Heliosfollows on from hisprevious astronomical ar tworks Museum of theMoon, Gaia andMars. Having alreadybeendisplayed at Bath Assembly Rooms, Helios will be at Seaton DelavalHall, Northumberlandfrom 19 Marchto6April,the Ickwor th Estate,Sufolkfrom2-5 and 8-11 May, andD yfrynGardens, Vale of Glamorganfrom23-26 Mayand 30 May-2 June.Helioswill then be installed at some of the charit y’smost breathtaking locations, including Fountains AbbeyinNor th York shireand KedlestonHall in Derbyshire, whereitwillbe afocal pointfor thepropert y’s popularDiwali celebrations.
Aplaque commemorating the1913royal visit to CreweWorks hasbeendonated by NetworkRail to CreweHeritage Trust, following amulti-millionpoundsignalling upgradeon theWestCoast Main Line Followingthe decommissioning of itsformersignal box, theplaque commemorating thevisit by George Vand QueenMar y, alongwithsomeblock instruments, were donatedtoCrewe Heritage Centre (01270 212130,crewehc.co.uk)which is sited on theoriginalCrewe Work sland. Gordon Heddon,chair of CreweHeritageTrust,said: “We’re thrilled to be able to accept this importantitemwhich represents yetanother facetofCrewe’s signifcant industrial heritage.Welook forward to puttingitonpublicdisplay at CreweHeritage Centre in time forour newseasonopening on 20 March.”
CreweHeritageTrust waspresented with thehistoricplaquefollowing a £191mdigital overhaul at oneofBritain’s busiestrailway junctions.
Artist Luke Jerram with hissculpture Helios in Bath Assembly Rooms.
Seve nt y-fo ur Du nk ir klit tl es hi ps ar es ch ed ul ed to se ts ail fr om Rams gate as part of events to mark th e85t hanniver sary of Op er atio nD yn am o.
Bourne Again
A200 -year- ol df or me rtow nhall an dcourthouse buil ding hasb ee n aw ard ed a£ 3. 3m gr antf ro mthe Nati onal Lotter yH er it ag eFun d. Th e fundin gw ills ee Bo ur ne ’s Ol dTow nH all (b ourn etow nhall.org.uk )res to re dand tr ansf or me dintoa he rita ge an dculture hub, of er in garegular programm e of ente rt ainm entand educ atio nf or alla gesand inte rest s. This aw ard re pres ents asigni fc anta chieve me nt fo rthe Bo ur ne Town Hall Tr us t, an organisati on fo rm ed in 2017 with th e go al of raising th ef un ds to restore an do pe rate this impo rt anth er it ag e
buil ding fo rthe be ne ft of th ep eo pl eof th eLin co lnshire town
Th is fu nd in g, ma de po ss ib le th an ks to Na ti on al Lo tt er yp laye rs ,w il le na bl e th eG eo rg ia nG ra de II -l is te db ui ld in g to be co mp le te ly re st or ed ,t he cl oc k to we rr econ st ru ct ed ,a nd th eo ri gi na l 20 0- ye ar-o ld cl oc kr ecom mi ss io ne dt o op er at ea ne wd ia la nd ch im et he hou rs . In te rn al ly,t he sp aces wi ll be re st or ed to th ei rf or me rg lo ry,w it ht he add it io no f li ft sa nd fa ci li ti es to ma ke th eb ui ld in g acce ss ib le to al l.
Thenew designsaim formaximum sustainability,and includeimproved insulation,solar panels anda heat pump
In the April Issue of Best of British
By George Atribute to George & Mildred’sBrian Murphy
technology,all contributing to bringing thebuildinguptodatethrough increased efficiency andcontributing towardscarbonneutralit y.
Asignifcantpar tofthe projec tisthe trust’sCommunity Ac tivity Plan which includesheritageresearch, heritage outreach andeducation alongsideevents such as exhibitions, poetry,craft markets, flm, live musicand talk ssupportingthe vision alreadycreated within thebuilding andbringingideas aimedatdeveloping newpar tnerships andnew audiencesas thebuildingisrepaired, openingaccess to alland bringing thebuildingbackinto dailyuse at theheart of Bourne
firestation,shamblesmarket,
andculture
That’llBethe Day
We chattoactor turned author Karl Howman
When BritainRocked Remembering the Fast Moving Beat Show Wonder Clay The history
Your letters and memories in Postbag and YesterdayRemembered, Treasures in the Attic, Food andDrink, Window on the Past,Back in Time With Colin Baker andloads more
from 27 March
Left:Built in 1821,the GradeII-listed OldTownHallhas served thepeopleofBourneasa sessions house,
town hall andcouncil offices. Right: In addition to itsrestoration,the building is to be transformedintoa heritage
hub.
Help celebratea worldofbooks
If youhavekids or grandchildren, then the first ThursdayinMarch is one of those ‘markiton your calendar ’dates... and has quickly become a specialone formillionsofyoungsters.
And this year marks the 30th anniversar yof WorldBook Day, an eventwhich has seenschool pupils dress up in amazing and creativeoutfits (some moretenuous in their links to literature than others), as schools celebratereading.
From its humble beginnings on April 23,1995 WorldBookDay,also knownas International Dayofthe Book,isnow an annual eventorganised by UNESCOtopromotereading andpublishing
But it’s adatenot just forthose of school age,it’struly an eventfor all,and hereare some publishers we believeyou will enjoy...
Think Again
SimonStabler talkstoatelevisionmaths andscience legend abouthis previous life in comedy andasthe drummerwho stoodinfor RingoStarr
Alt houg hb es tk nown for ma ki ng lear ni ng fu n through prog ra mmes such as Pl ay Scho ol,C abbage s andK ings andT in kof aNumber, John ny Ba ll had, to quot e thet it le of hi snew autobiog raphy, a prev ious li fe in come dy.
Born in Br istoland educ ated in hisf ather ’s native Bolton, Johnnyw as re cognised by theheadofmaths at Bolton County Grammar Scho ol as possessing “a br illiantmathematical brain”.
“Right from childhood,Ihad ver y fe wbooks ,” recallsJohnny, “but my dad bought me achildren’s encyclopaedia, and Ireadthatbecause Ihad nothing else to read before tele vision.”
Afan of radio comedy and modern jazz ,hehad ambitions to be adrummer and would practise hisdrumming for24 hoursaweek, learning Te Drum Suite, a1956album featuring four distinctive drummers ,byheart .
About 20 years ago, Johnnygot in touchwiththe Roland Corporation to enquireabout buying an electronic drumkit ,whichled to an invitation to demonstrate thekit onthe Roland stand at Music Live, Birmingham NEC’s festival of music making
“After practising foranhour ever y dayfor sixmonths, Iplayedfve of the sixDrumSuite tracks,and about four Buddy Rich tracks from Big Swing Face. Tere were200 drummers present, and Ibegan by telling them: ‘WhenIstarted playing ,I didn’t even ownapairofsticks. Iusedtouse rolled-up newspapers.So today, I’mgoing to play Bristling from Te Drum Suite,’and Itookout my rolled-up newspapers.Tey couldn’t believe it.
“Rolled-upnewspapers, Ifnd, areslightlybetterthan brushesona synthetic kit. So,I openedwithBristling but then changedtosticks forthe rest .I did 45 minutes ,and they went wild.”
Afterleaving school, Johnnyjoined theDeHavilland AircraftCorporation as an apprenticecostand works accountant and wasanenthusiastic memberofa localamateur dramaticsgroup. When National Servicecame calling ,hesigned up forthree years as aregular inthe RAF. Joining theR AF West Kirby station band, he would drum in frontof4,000 peopleatthe CombinedForcesB oxing Championships, while in Germany, was part of atriothatplayedthe sergeants’ mess ever ySaturdaynight
In thesummer of 1960, following demob, Johnnybecame aButlin’s Redcoat at Pwllheli. Here hisdutiesincluded
supervising snooker contests and drumming in theRedcoat Show.Playing a residencyatthe camp wereLiverpoolband Rory Stormand theHurricanes, whose drummer at thetime wasRingo Starr.
“I metRingo, and we became great friends. In fact ,acouple of timeshe didn’t getbackfor thefrst half of the Sunday gig, so Iplayedthe frst set before Ringo came back .”
At theend of theseason, Johnnyhad a shortstintatBlackpoolPleasureB each, before heading to Liverpool. Armed with Ringo and Rory ’s phone numbers , he discovered that theHurricaneswere in Hamburg, but wasinvited to stay in Rory ’s room until theband’sreturn.
Just as Ror yStorm and theHurricanes returned from Hamburg, Ror y’ssister, Iris,wentoftorehearsea pantomime, allowing Johnnytostayat“Stormville” a littlelonger,and it washerethathemet another Liverpool band, theBeatles.
“All theB eatles’old housesare now museums ,whichishysterical, as they seemedtonever go home. Te ywere alwaysatStormville, Ror yStorm’s open
Top: Johnny Ball made theteachingof mathsand scienceenjoyable through programmes such as ThinkofaNumber andJohnnyBall Reveals All.
house, becausetheir parentsweresaying: ‘You’rewasting yourlife, you want to get aproperjob.’
“I got on with George themost. Paul always had hisleft-handedguitaron hislap,and John wasjustactive and ver yoften standing up.Heusedtorun ever ything ,and if he wastalking ,you all listened,hewas ver ystrong ,but no question, they weregoing places.”
Working as aclerkina“Dickensian” shipping office, Johnnywouldsoon spend Friday,Saturdayand Sunday nightsinaNew Brighton dancehall, drumming with aband with fve singers , oneofwhom wasFreddie Starr.
Afteranother summer season at Butlin’s Pwllheli, Johnnyspent thewinter at thecompany ’s MetropoleHotel in Blackpoolwherehebegan performing standup comedy forthe frst time.
With thehelpofanother comedian, Johnnycreated hisfrst actand during histhirdand fnal summer season at Pwllheli, would step out from thedrums during theRedcoat Show to deliver his ne wmaterialtoanappreciative crowd.
Returning to Liverpool, he founda day jobwiththe National AssistanceBoard (“An amazing experienceand aneducation in itself ”) and, having signedupwithan agent, wassoonperforming comedy spots at clubsaround Merseyside.
In Januar y1964, he turned professional and begantravelling to venuesacrossthe north of England. Soon he washired as thecompere forDusty Springfeld’s nationwide tour,whichwas supportedbythe likes of BrianPoole
and theTremeloes,DaveBerry and the Cruisers,and Herman’s Hermits.
“Tat wasadream, Dusty wasgreat andwehit it of together.She probably would have been happier had shebeena lad. She could do all theG oonvoices and we had tremendouslaughsonthe coach together.Dusty wassofunnyand atruly tremendousperson.”
Atour with theRolling Stones followe dbut Johnny re alised that he prefer re dplaying to come dy audiences as opp osed to hordes of scre aming girls.
As well as performing at thebest northernvenueslikeBatle yVariety Club and Wakefeld Teatre Club, Johnny securedatriptoCyprus, Libyaand Malta ,entertaining British troops ,and wassoonoftoSingaporewithHarry Secombewho became aclose friend
He wasdoingradio workinManchester when an invitationtoaudition for children’s television came along.Believing it to be forCrackerjack! (“Crackerjack!” –Editor), Johnnywas surprised to discover he wasauditioning forPlaySchool, BBC Two’sprogramme forunder-fves.
“Tey talked me into an audition, and Ithought: ‘I’m in thewrong placehere.’I wasinatailor-made suit and all theother actors wereout ofworkand in scruf order.But Igot laughs inthe audition.
“PlaySchoolpaidquitewellasyou did showsinsetsoffve,and it kept me out of therougher clubs. If fellas asked: ‘You still doing Play School,John?’ Iwouldsay:‘Yes. Youstill watching it,are you?’”
Johnnyw as to stay with Play Scho ol for17years .Ittur ne dout to
Acoupleoftimes, Ringodidn’tget back forthe first half of the Sunday gig, so I’dplayed thefirstset.
be ap er fe ct expe dient, as he le ar ne d tele vision from theinside, whichled to wr iting hisown shows.
Trough hisworkatthe BB C, he pitched theideaofCabbagesand Kings, afun children’shistory series ,similar to today’sHorrible Histories, whichhe wroteand starredalongside Play School colleaguesDerek Griffiths (“alovely rogue”) and Julie Stevens
“For CabbagesI ne eded lot sof histor ic infor mation, so thefrst thing Ib oughtw as Churchill’s four volume Histor yofthe English-Spe aking Pe oples. It wa sane ducation in it self, as Isaw that fore very chapter, hisfrst two lineswereg re at as werethe chapter’s fnal ‘pay of ’lines. It is exactlythe same when you arew riting come dy.You gettothe pointver yquickly, hit the audienceand getout .”
Afan ofthe popular mathematics writer Martin Gardner, Johnny,now living in London, wasabletohelphis neighbour’s children getbackintomaths, so much so that one of them became a“wrangler” –aseniormathematics studentatthe University of Cambridge.
“Teir dad, Basil, wassecretary of theResearchand De velopmentSociety that metatthe Royal Societyabout eight timesayear. Istarted going to the meetingsand he said:‘Howdoyou do it? Te y’re all talking fnanceand it’s all ver y dull. Suddenly you saysomething about theactualscienceortechnology and the whole meeting suddenly perksup. You shouldn’tbedoing comedy ;you should be doing mathsand scienceontelly.’
“So, one dayI gathered my BB C producers together and said: ‘I want to do ashow on maths.’Teir jaws dropped but they gave me apilot show and, at the technical run, thedozen or so people theregavemea standing ovation fora 24-minutenon-stopmonologue.
“I now realised that all my comedy training wasperfect forwriting factual information. Exactlythe same rules apply,but it is thecomedytraining that teachestight editing ,cutting out waffle. Youkeepe verything tight ,withnodead or wasted lines.”
So beganJohnny’sBBC series Tink of aNumber, whichimmediatelywon aBafta
Left:Anaccomplisheddrummer,JohnnylearntThe Drum Suitebyheart .Right:While work ingasaButlin’sRedcoat,Johnnyper formed hisfrststandup comedy routine.
forbestfactual children’s programme, followedbyTink Again, whichwas nominatedfor an International Emmy.
Turning downanofertoworkwith JimHensoninCanada, Johnny’sT V career continuedwithTinkIt ... Do It! and then, forITV,JohnnyBall Reveals All. Butfromaround 1985, themajority of hisworkwas outside tele vision, as the corporate world beat apathtohis door.
Hisroleasapopular scienceand maths communicator ledtoJohnnyworking with theNational Grid, writing Te Michael Faraday ALLELECTRICRoadshow, which toured UK theatres forthree years, and other educational musicalsincluding Energy Champions forNorweb– “Several people have said that it changedtheirlives.” Ten,in2000, Johnnystarred in Talesof Mathsand Legend, forthe Departmentof Education, while BAE’sWithYourMind andTomorrow’sTechnology, Anythingis Possible sold out in theMillenniumDome forthe entireyear.
Of his10pre viousbooks ,Tinkof aNumber won theBlueRibboninthe US and is in theChicago Depositor y of GreatB ooks and,along with Mathmagicians :How Maths Applies to Ever ything ,has appeared in more than 40 languages. Histor yof Maths –Wonders Be yond Numbers, ledto aseriesoftouring theatredates and manyschoolvisits, whileJohnnyBall: My PreviousLifeinComedy is already touring and oftenfeatureshis daughter, broadcasterZ oe Ball, as hisinter viewer.
Johnnyhas just completedthe second part of hisautobiography,JohnnyBall –Stories TatMustB eTold!,among whichisthe tale of “the senior royalwho suggested wife swapping .But that stor y you’ll have to wait for, and it’s acracker.”
While it’s clearthatChildren’s BB Cprogrammessuchas Horrible Historiesand Operation Ouch!are heirs to Johnny’sstyle of getting aweighty subjectacrossthroughcomedy,it seems that thereare thoseinthe comedy world who also owe him adebt.
“I wenttosee PeterKay afew weeks ago at theO2. He endedupworking to 20,000 people, whereasthe nightbefore, I’dworkedata club near Dovertojust 32 people. Isaid: ‘Where am Igoing wrong?’ But we had alongchat, he knew me from my tele vision days and it’s clear, without saying anything ,thathe’sa great fanand it’s lovely.”
JohnnyBall:MyPreviousLifeinComedy is published on 28 MarchbyThe Book Guild (0116 2792299, bookguild.co.uk)
AWINDOW FORIDEAS
KevinG eddes looksbacktotelevision’s 1940sprecursor to Dragons’ Den
Wea re used today to televi sion prog ra mmes beingresurrected, repackaged and relaunched fornew audiences. Te latest series of Glad iators on the BBChas broughtt he show –a nd the “contender ready! ”catchph ra se –a ll theway back from theg lory days of the199 0s to nost algicv iewers and newSat urdayn ig ht spec tators al ike. Te format of Glad iators is it self perhapsarei nvention,oratlea st a development, of prog ra mmes such as It ’s aK nockout, encourag ing ordi na ry viewerstocompete in sortof Olympict rial s. Glad iators may have encouraged at ra nsformat ionof thesecha llenge-based entert ai nment prog ra mmes,f romTot al Wipeoutto Ni njaWarrior,beg gi ng thequest ion: “I st here noth ingnew on televi sion anymore? ”Panel ga me showssucha s WouldI LietoYou?owe more than a qu icknod to Ca ll My Bluf.
Back when television itselfwas fairly new, theBBC established a fewseriesofprogrammesdesigned to collect avid viewers into “clubs” , watching,discussing,participating in and becoming theordinaryfaces of postwar television. Teyhad exercise clubs, cookeryclubsand tele clubs(for teenagers), all hoping to hook in new audiences,and keep them. Everyone wantstobeinaclub, right? Onesuch club mayseemfamiliar to fans of Dragons’ Dentoday,maybe with adash of Te Apprenticethrownin– the Inventors’ Club beganbroadcasting on a Tuesdayevening in April1948, running successfully until December 1956. Giving inventors an unprecedentedshop window fortheir ideas,the club aimedto bring amateur and professional inventors together on screen to introducetheir inventions to an esteemedpanel ofexperts,who would judge their efectivenessbeforebeing unleashedon theviewing public to give their verdicts, too. Even if you werenot abrilliant
inventoryourself, you could still join the club as part of theaudiencecommittee, or perhapssuggest something you had always wished someone would invent.
Leslie Hardernpresidedover theclub, selecting theweeklyinventions which would be exhibited,and requesting that audiences addresstheir inquiries, comments and feedback about them, to him. Originally,LordSempill, himself aleading light in theworld of aviation, actedaschairman, and Dame Caroline Haslett, directorofthe Electrical Association forWomen, joinedhim as ajudge. Other panellistsbrought their ownexpertise in invention to thetable each week .Eventhe presswas invited into thestudio to scrutinise activitieson behalf of theaudiences at home.
HardernbelievedGreat Britain had moreinventivetalent than anyother countr yand that people weregiven fartoo littleencouragement.Until his owntelevision invention, naturally.He wasdeterminedother wise-neglected inventions would at last seethe light of dayand have thechancetobebrought to marketinBritain. In itsfrst sixyears of broadcastalone, Inventors’ Club attracted morethan 7,000 ideasfor examination, with morethan 500 of theseinventions selected to be shownonscreen. Hardern claimedthatmorethan aquarter of thesenew ideas werethentaken up by manufacturers,and made their waytothe market, making largesums of moneyfor theinventors and manufacturers
Hardernhad theideafor theclub while presenting on theBBC LightProgramme’s Woman’s Hour,encouraging listeners to come forwardand take agreater interest in thedesignofthe equipmenttheyused in thehome. Womenwrote to Hardern to complain about theproductstheyhad accumulatedand telling him all about the improvements they themselveswould make, given half thechance. Among theseletters werethe occasional new and unexpectedidea, rather than design improvements,and Hardernthought: “Why not encourage small inventors on television?”