KENNETH HORNE - a man of many talents.

[salymap]

Having paid respects to another Dad's Army loss, what about a thread on another great.

All my friends/relatives listened on the radio to his programmes.

My admiration for him stems from listening to 'Much Binding in the Marsh' as a youngster.

He was a genuine RAF Officer in WW2, as was Richard Murdoch, who with Sam Costa made up
the team at the rather disfunctional RAF station.

Any memories or favourite programmes of this talented man who also juggled with a career in 'Triplex Glass'.

Surely, like Joyce Grenfell, a talented amateur in the best sense of the word.

[umslopogaas]

I cant go quite as far back as 'Much Binding ...', but I have very fond memories of 'Round the Horne', without, alas, being able to remember a single joke, other than Kenneth Williams' catchphrase 'Hello, I'm Sandy and this is my friend Jules', which is completely unfunny on the printed page, you have to hear the volume of innuendo that Williams could put into 'friend'. Probably best matched these days by Julian Clary and 'Thank you, thank you, I do like a warm hand on my entrance.'

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

an unmissable part of Sundays ..... Round The Horne made an under appreciated contribution to the development of a more radical British sense of humour imv ...

[amateur51]

A case of the right man in the right place at the right time. His dark voice oozed benign authority but there was always a chuckle at hand as he attempted to keep his madcap Round The Horne and Beyond Our Ken team in line.He was of a generation that might have been expected to have baulked at the campery and innuendo of Julian & Sandy and Rambling Syd Rumpo but he took it all in his stride and his innocent weekly cry of "Hello my name is Kenneth Horne! Is anybody there?" whether he was entering Bona Law Solicitors ("Most of our time is taken up with a criminal practice") or Bona Charcuterie ("Charcuterie? Ah, you're butcher" "Oh thanks - must be the way I've had me hair done"), signalled a potential corruption of innocence

In industrial North Wales we were always mid-Sunday lunch (it was dinner in those days) when it came on and we all hooted with laughter at things which frankly none of us had much idea about exactly what was meant, although my Dad had been away in the war.

From all the Kenneth Williams books and interviews he came across as being deeply appreciative of the way in which Horne treated him in a fatherly professional way and of Horne's skill as the ring-master of the circus.

He was a one-off I think and as such is deeply loved by those who still laugh in anticipation at "Forward Smith!" and such like

[Hornspieler]

I cant go quite as far back as 'Much Binding ...', but I have very fond memories of 'Round the Horne', without, alas, being able to remember a single joke, other than Kenneth Williams' catchphrase 'Hello, I'm Sandy and this is my friend Jules', which is completely unfunny on the printed page, you have to hear the volume of innuendo that Williams could put into 'friend'. Probably best matched these days by Julian Clary and 'Thank you, thank you, I do like a warm hand on my entrance.'

One that I will always remember from 'Round the Horne'

... Next week, we shall be visiting an Apple-eating contest in Shepton Mallet for "The Week's Good Cores"

HS

[Pabmusic]

A case of the right man in the right place at the right time...

An excellent - if belated - obituary, Ams. I can clearly recall his passing, too, at the Baftas. He had just given an award to Barry Took and Marty Feldman (who by coincidence were the main RTH writers) when he dropped dead. He'd had a stroke several years before and was on a ton of drugs to help his circulation, but he'd allowed himself to be persuaded by 'alternative' medicine and had given up his regular drugs completely, with the inevitable result.

[Pegleg]

Kenneth Horne: deeply loved, much missed and under-rated. I was too young for "much binding .." , and only caught the last series of "beyond our ken", the pre-cursor of "Round the Horne". The central and anchoring role played by Kenneth Horne is highlighted by the weakness of "Stop Messing About" ( Williams, Paddock, Sims and Smith) which followed, but was cut after just two series. A ring-master par excellence.

The repeats of all these programmes on Radio 4 Extra is part of my staple diet and a reminder of the 2pm post Sunday lunch mirth of years ago.

For the record full listings of "Beyond our Ken" and "Round The Horne" can be found here:http://www.kennethwilliams.org.uk/ and "Stop Messing about" here: http://www.britishcomedy.org.uk/kwas/sma.html

[anotherbob]

There were those who saw KH as just a straight man in RTH. The error of this view was demonstrated by the awfulness of the show which followed his death "Stop Messin' About'. Much Binding was a regular in our pre-TV house though I'm not sure what I, as a child saw in the show. It was interesting that a man who appeared to epitomise the establishment was involved in a show which helped demolish the BBC "green book" of what may not be said on the air as comedy, incurring the ire of the dreadful Mary Whitehouse and her ilk.
Thanks to BBC Radio 7 (and now R4X) I have been able to collect every edition of RTH and it is regular bedtime listening for me.

[Ferretfancy]

When I first worked in radio I sometimes went to what had been the Paris Cinema in Lower Regent Street as a tape operator on Beyond Our Ken, and was able to see all the rehearsals, and quite a bit was rather naughtier than what finally got on air! The great thing was that even in those more formal days Kenneth Horne always looked the studiously polite business man in comparison with the more louche turnout of Williams and Paddick,no shirt sleeve order for him! This helped with the delighted reactions of the studio audience. It was also the first time I had witnessed the skill with which all the performers worked that audience and used the microphones so effectively.
I also had the chance to see Kenneth Williams at work with Tony Hancock at the Playhouse Charing Cross, another BBC studio back then.

There was a nice story told by KW of Sir John Gielgud directing an avant garde play in which he asked the whole cast to perform in the nude. Up popped an extra -" Does this include those who've only got small parts ? "

[amateur51]

There was a nice story told by KW of Sir John Gielgud directing an avant garde play in which he asked the whole cast to perform in the nude. Up popped an extra -" Does this include those who've only got small parts ? "

Great stories Ferret I can hear Williams' cackling laugh at the Gielgud story

[PJPJ]

I cant go quite as far back as 'Much Binding ...', but I have very fond memories of 'Round the Horne', without, alas, being able to remember a single joke, other than Kenneth Williams' catchphrase 'Hello, I'm Sandy and this is my friend Jules', which is completely unfunny on the printed page, you have to hear the volume of innuendo that Williams could put into 'friend'. Probably best matched these days by Julian Clary and 'Thank you, thank you, I do like a warm hand on my entrance.'

Wasn't it Hugh Paddick who opened those sketches with "Hello, I'm Julian, and this is my friend, Sandy.....", followed by KW " Oh, Mr Horne, how bona to vada your dolly old eek!"

Much Binding is before my time, as is Beyond our Ken, and I missed Round the Horne until repeats not that long ago. Thank goodness for R4 Extra.

I think I've heard (and recorded) all the surviving Much Bindings - and find them very, very funny. Would that more survived or come to light.

[Mary Chambers]

Happy memories! When I was a student we always used to gather round the radio in the kitchen for Round the Horne. I think it was the only radio programme we all (8 postgrads sharing a house) considered absolutely unmissable. I'm sure that in our relative innocence some of the innuendo went over our heads, but we got the general drift, and I remember it all very clearly - the voices, the characters, quite a lot of the words. I'm not sure now, though, what was Beyond our Ken and what was Round the Horne. Julian and Sandy and Rambling Sid stand out for me, and also the mock Noel Coward plays.

I think I can still sing the signature tune for Much Binding ("MUCH Binding in the Marsh"), but the content is mostly lost in the mists of time.

[jean]

There were those who saw KH as just a straight man in RTH.

That's exactly what I thought at the time

The error of this view was demonstrated by the awfulness of the show which followed his death "Stop Messin' About'.

And that's exactly how I realised how wrong I'd been!

[Globaltruth]

A wonderful thread - I echo the plea for more memories from FerretFancy.

Were you at this recording for example FF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9BdvYk9JwA

J. Peasmold Gruntfuttock and Ramblln Syd Rumpo (the Grungerman of Lowestoft) definitely did need the support of KH to be their liberated selves but he was definitely more than a straight man...

[Pabmusic]

We've all forgotten ... Douglas Smith, who had been a Third Programme announcer and was a classical musician. Dobbyroids springs to mind.