Educating Archie
{{Short description|British radio comedy show (1950–1960)}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Educating Archie}}
{{Infobox radio show
| name = Educating Archie
| image = Peter Brough and Archie Andrews.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andrews
| format = Comedy radio
| runtime =
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| end_time =
| television = Educating Archie (1958–1959)
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| home_station = BBC Radio 4
| syndicates =
| presenter =
| starring = Peter Brough
Archie Andrews
| announcer =
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| writer =
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| senior_editor =
| narrated =
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| first_aired = {{start-date|June 1950}}
| last_aired = {{end-date|February 1960}}
| num_series =
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}}
Educating Archie was a BBC Light Programme comedy show which was broadcast for nearly ten years between June 1950 and February 1960, mostly at lunchtime on Sundays. The programme featured ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andrews.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/796be208-0b9a-4111-b249-13d630cb017e The Sunday Post: Ventriloquism.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204161934/https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/796be208-0b9a-4111-b249-13d630cb017e |date=4 February 2020 }} Andrew Martin, BBC Genome Blog, 20 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017. The show was very popular, despite its unlikely central premise of a ventriloquist act on radio. Educating Archie averaged 15 million listeners, and a fan club boasted 250,000 members. It was so successful that in 1950, after only four months on the air, it won the Daily Mail{{'}}s Variety Award.{{sfnp|Briggs|1979|p=714|ps=}}
Overview
The programme introduced comedians who later became well known, including Tony Hancock as Archie's tutor, who would greet Archie with a weary "Oh, it's you again" and always replied to any put-down from him with "flipping kids". Other "tutors" included Benny Hill, Harry Secombe, Dick Emery, Bernard Bresslaw, Hattie Jacques, and Bruce Forsyth – together with a young Julie Andrews as Archie's girlfriend. Later, Beryl Reid took this role, playing the St Trinian's School-esque Monica with such catchphrases as "jolly hockey sticks" and "as the art mistress said to the gardener". Reid also played young Brummie girl Marleen, whose catchphrase was "Good evening, each".{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}
Max Bygraves later played Archie's tutor, with the catchphrases "I've arrived, and to prove it, I'm here" and "That's a good idea ... son!". The duo recorded two songs from the show on the His Master's Voice label: "The Dummy Song" and "Lovely Dollar Lolly".{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}
Archie's the Boy was a spin-off series that aired from November 1954 to March 1955. The series ran for twenty half-hour episodes broadcast on the BBC Light Programme. It starred Peter Brough, Beryl Reid, Benny Hill, and Graham Stark.Lavalie, John. Archie's the Boy. EpGuides. 21 Jul 2005. 29 Jul 2005
ITV sitcom adaptation
In 1958, Educating Archie was adapted as a television sitcom produced by the ITV company Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast under the same name. This version, which was broadcast in 1958–9, featured the ventriloquist's dummy Archie Andrews taking on a life of its own, talking and walking all over its creator Peter Brough, aided and abetted by a housekeeper played by Irene Handl, a non-paying lodger played by Freddie Sales (later Ray Barrett), and a jack-of-all-trades played by Dick Emery. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051271/ IMDB: Educating Archie]
References
Notes
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation |last=Briggs |first=Asa |authorlink = Asa Briggs|title=The history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume IV: Sound & Vision |year=1979 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-212967-8}}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{BBC programme|b00fsb9w}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060524040730/https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/e/educatingarchie_1299001017.shtml BBC Comedy Guide article] (Archived copy)
- {{British Comedy Guide|tv|educating_archie}}.
{{Chesney Wolfe}}
Category:1950 radio programme debuts
Category:1958 radio programme endings
Category:BBC Radio comedy programmes
Category:1950s British sitcoms
Category:1958 British television series debuts
Category:1959 British television series endings
Category:BBC Light Programme programmes