We listened avidly to
classic drama, current affairs and comedy and one of the now almost forgotten
gems we loved was a comedy series, written and performed by the hugely talented
Ronnie Barker, and entitled Lines from my Grandfather’s Forehead. Back
then Ronnie Barker was almost unknown, but the skilful and very funny short
sketches he wrote for the series foreshadowed the immensely popular
work he would later create as he became a household name.
Our absolute
favourite among those sketches is one we have never forgotten and despite our
increasingly unreliable memories, we can still recite chunks of it to each
other after all these years. Tonight, however, DH made my day by discovering
that it is now on YouTube, and I have just had the enormous pleasure of hearing
it again and finding it just as funny and as clever as I found it back in 1972.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please take your seats for the Three Minute Hamlet.
Thanks for this very different Hamlet. I don't know how I managed to miss this one.
ReplyDeleteJust love the vision of poor Ophelia floating out to sea.
On the whole though, I think perhaps Shakespeare's poetry is slightly better.
Ronnie Barker really was a genius wasn't he?
You're welcome, Ray. I was so pleased DH found it that I couldn't wait to share it. Yes, Ronnie Barker really was a comic genius, one of my favourites. I don't think many people know that he wrote most of his own material under a pen-name
DeleteIf I've got the right dude, Ronnie Barker was half (or so) of one of the funnier shows I ever watched, The Two Ronnies, as well.
ReplyDeleteEvery so ofter I check for them on Amazon, just in case.
Hi seybernetx, and welcome to my blog. How nice to meet you away from the Google "help" forums.:-)
DeleteYes, you have indeed got the right dude. Ronnie Barker was the big one. A wonderful mimic and he wrote most of the scripts too. You can find quite a lot of their best sketches on YouTube.
How delightful, Perpetua! And I must also say that to this day, I listen to a lot of radio! I find it relaxing to listen to radio dramas and readings, stories and many public radio offerings. The funny thing about that is that I have almost discovered radio later in life! I was raised with television and American television has always been very plentiful. Unfortunately for me, most of it isn't very interesting. Regarding my inability to leave comments before, I'm signing in without WordPress and I think that will work! :-) Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Debra. Your little adjustment worked and your other comment appeared too.
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed it. You have to listen carefully, because it is very fast, but he didn't leave any of the plot out. :-) I grew up with radio and listened to a great deal right up to the 1990s when we finally got TV. I'm afraid I don't listen very much now - too much time spent on the computer, I think
Hello Perpetua:
ReplyDeleteWe love it, and have never heard it before. Wonderful!!
Like you, we too were brought up on the 'wireless', mostly the Home Service or, occasionally, 'Friday Night is Music Night(!!), the Light Programme. And what wonderful things were served up and, to a degree with Radio 4, continue to be. Plays we have always enjoyed and, when in Brighton, we try not to miss 'Book at Bedtime'. Here we listen much less as we are only able to receive the BBC through the computer and so it is never quite as simple as switching on. But there is Bartók Radio, something approaching Radio 3 [The Third!!], to which we listen regularly and which has many goodly things in the way of music.
So glad you enjoyed it, Jane and Lance. I had a feeling not many people would know it, as it was first broadcast so long ago.
DeleteYes, the wireless (oh, that name takes me back!) was my constant childhood companion, even after the advent of a TV set at home. The Home Service for current affairs and drama, the Light Programme for music and comedy. I heard many future comedy stars take their first steps in broadcasting on the Light Programme.
Brilliant! I do love Ronnie Barker and it is wonderful that so much is available on You Tube! I do enjoy the radio, but have not got into the habit of listening to it -- which is entirely remiss of me as I am advised time and again by friends and family who are regular Radio 4 listeners.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Broad. I had a feeling Ronnie Barker's radio sketches wouldn't be well known, though they are being broadcast again from time to time on the digital channel Radio 4 Extra.
DeleteAs I said above, I'm afraid I've lost the habit of listening to the radio much, except when we're travelling. It's a shame, as there are many good programmes, but they somehow don't seem to fit into my life nowadays.
Dear Perpetua - our beginnings were very similar to your own, with the radio playing a big part in our lives.
ReplyDeleteWho can ever forget Alistair Cook's honeyed tones with his weekly Letter from America, and Sunday mornings with Roy Plomley and Desert Island Discs.
The radio is still very important to us especially music on Radio 3.
Rosemary, I think you and I must be representative of a lot of our generation, for whom life without the radio was inconceivable. You mention two of my favourite broadcaster there. For many years I would listen to Alistair Cook on the way to church and Desert Island Discs on the way home again. :-) Nowadays I tend to listen to music on CD rather than radio - but not always.
DeleteThis is brilliant, and I had never heard it before, so it has been a real treat thismorning. Ronnie Barker was a genius.....the fork handles/ four candles sketch has me giggling even just thinking of it. Thanks for such an amusing start to my day.J.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased to have brightened up your Monday morning like this, Janice. It's so very good and one can listen to it again and again for the sheer pleasure of the skill and wit involved. DH actually recorded it from the radio on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder, which is why we know so much of it by heart, but sadly the machine and the tapes are long gone. Long live YouTube!
DeleteMarvellous !!
ReplyDeleteThe radio is still a big part of my entertainment, I prefer it to wading through endless channels of absolute garbage to find something good on the telly.
Isn't it just, Jean! I agree with you about the amount of rubbish on TV and don't watch very much of that either, and what I do watch I'm very selective about. Actually I tend to read a lot - especially books and blogs, though radio makes a good background if I have some knitting to do.
DeleteAlthough a radio listener too, this one had passed me by....thank you, I enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteI still listen to radio via the internet - and not just Test Match Special - as it offers much better quality than most of the TV avsilable, where the standard of research and presentation would make one weep!
Well, it was a very long time ago, Fly, and I have a feeling it was first broadcast in the 10.30pm comedy slot that followed the news back then. Recently the shows have been broadcast again on Radio 4 Extra, which I'm sure you can get online. There was a wonderful take-off of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood which I would love to hear again one day. :-)
DeleteI'm very selective about TV, but there are some programmes which are really excellent, though you do have to search for them.
That was wonderful Perpetua. Sooo clever. Thanks for sharing it. Your post has just brought back lovely memories of listening to the wireless when I was a young child, with my grandparents in their very old house which was lit by gas mantles downstairs and candles upstairs. What wonderful times xx
ReplyDeleteIt's brilliant, isn't it, Ayak? Ronnie Barker was far more talented than many people realise, as he wrote scripts under the pseudonym Gerald Wiley, as well as under his own name.
Deletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4311356.stm
Gosh, your grandparents' house sounds like a very atmospheric place in which to listen to the wireless - positively Victorian, or at latest Edwardian.
Always loved Ronnie Barker but didn't know him from the Radio, only the tv a bit later on.He is brilliant, no doubt, because as well as writing such complex scripts, he can say them so well - difficult to get so much out with such absolute clarity. Like Janice, I remember the fork handles/four candles sketch. We watched 'The Two Ronnies' at my grandparents whilst my parents were busy in our fish and chip shop. Seems a long time ago now.
ReplyDeleteAxxx
LOL! This is one of those comments which remind me I'm of a different generation, Annie. :-) The Two Ronnies started in 1971 by which time I was 25 and had two small children and it finished 25 years ago in 1987 while you were still a slip of a girl. As you say, it's a long time ago, but they were so good they are still fondly remembered by so many people. You can watch the fork handles/four candles sketch on YouTube as I've just done. Enjoy.....:-)
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbvCRkl_4U
Enjoyed that very much - entirely new to me.
ReplyDeleteRonnie Barker is a sad loss.
You're very welcome, Mark. It's far too good to keep to myself, so I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Yes, I was so sorry when Ronnie Barker decided to retire, but what a legacy he has left us.
DeleteDear Perpetua, I do so want to be good so I'll "try hard not to stab my uncle"!!! The Polonius part had me laughing out loud and from there on I wore a wide grin on my face. Thanks so much for sharing this thriee-minute gem of humor. It's good to have you back. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee, I'm so glad you enjoyed this wonderful version of Hamlet. As you say, it's a true gem and makes me smile every time I think of it and laugh out loud when I listen to it. The Polonius bit is one of our favourites too. :-)
DeleteHilarious.
ReplyDeleteThere was no one like him. I wish he were still writing and performing and making me laugh, but alas, he's joined that great band of comedians of yore who are now creating havoc in heaven. The new bunch isn't anywhere near as funny.
Absolutely, Friko. He truly was one of a kind - that old-fashioned thing, a complete gentleman, with extremely intelligent writing, good acting, wonderful comic timing and basically kind humour. Most modern comedians barely raise a smile from me, if I can be bothered to watch them or can bear their language.
DeleteThis is so wonderful, Perpetua! So clever, so witty! I can just see you and DH regaling each other with quotes from it. Isn't that a special part of being in a long marriage?
ReplyDeleteIt is quite superb, Kathy, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much. DH and I loved it from the minute we heard it. We share the same sense of humour and a lot of our family catchphrases come from those old radio comedy shows that our children grew up with. (We didn't have TV when they were young)
DeleteOh, that was absolutely delightful to hear, Perpetua. I don't know how I've missed you this week, except my own bit of technical difficulties. At any rate, isn't it fun to find such treasures on youtube and other such places? I hope your new dishwasher is performing as well Ronnie Barker - and that the computer and such are in fine working order now. Welcome back, dear Perpetua. I've missed your posts.
ReplyDeletePenny, it's a touch of sheer genius and I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I've been revelling all week in having found it after so many years. Such fun!
DeleteThe dishwasher is doing its stuff in sterling style, thanks, and (touch wood) we think we've discovered what's been wrong with the phone line and broadband. I do hope your internet problems have been sorted out too.
Hello Perpetua
ReplyDeleteA wonderful memory of excellent entertainment. Radio drama and humour is to me much more entertaining than TV. I do remember Ronnie Barker from my time in Ireland. Thanks for bringing back this beautiful memory.
I did laugh when you said you and your husband would repeat the lines and use them for your own joy, this is all so familiar to our household.
Helenx
Hello Helen and welcome to my blog. Very glad to have stirred up such happy memories of past enjoyment. The late 1960s and early 1970s, when our children were young, had a number of wonderful radio comedy shows which we still remember with great fondness and whose catchphrases still pepper our conversation from time to time. It's all part of the fun of shared experience. :-)
DeleteHello Perpetua - Apologies for not visiting and commenting here for quite sometime. However, I'm finally taking advantage of a quiet Sunday evening to catch up on my blog reading & commenting.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I grew up listening to the 'wireless'. Using that nomenclature does show my age :-) And I'm also a Ronnie Barker fan but had never heard this piece previously. So thank you! I trust that your broadband problems are now solved but as for Blogger, I'm with several of your previous commenters in recommending WordPress. But I do appreciate that changing over would mean getting used to yet more new things :-)
No apologies needed, Ricky. I haven;t been the best of commentators myself recently and I know how busy life can be for you.
DeleteI'm glad to have given you a new piece by Ronnie Barker to savour. He was always one of my favourite comedians and is much missed. We think we've solved the broadband problem - at least the connection doesn't keep dropping out nowand the speed is better than it was. We're keeping ou fingers crossed that the improvement continues. As for WordPress - it's a real temptation, but, oh, the work involved to do it properly....
Perpetua, I'd never even heard of this, and it's utterly superb! This is so funny - but also genius. Definitely bookmarked! And thank you.
ReplyDeletePueblo Girl, how nice to see you here. :-) I'm so glad you like the Hamlet so much. As you say, pure genius and endlessly funny, even after 40 years. Some things are truly timeless.
Delete