The World of Beachcomber

"The World of Beachcomber" was a surreal television comedy show produced by the BBC. It was inspired by the Beachcomber column in the Daily Express newspaper.

The show, like the column, consisted of a series of unrelated pieces of humour. Links between the items were provided by Spike Milligan, dressed in a smoking jacket and cap, as in the cartoon logo above the newspaper column. The other actors were a Who's Who of British comedy of the time, excluding only the top performers such as Benny Hill and Terry Scott, but encompassing almost every supporting player seen or heard in comedy, not excepting midgets and dwarves. Likewise the writing staff included Milligan, Barry Took, John Junkin, Neil Shand and others, all of whom had already and would continue to extend the boundaries of comedy. The producer was John Howard Davies.

19 episodes were produced beginning in 1968. They were mostly shown on the new BBC 2 channel, which broadcast in colour using the 625-line PAL standard. BBC 2 was a minority-appeal culture channel, and thus allowed greater stretching of the boundaries of the art. Unfortunately, like many shows of the time, the episodes were wiped from videotape in order to save money, and have consequently been lost to posterity.

Recurring items

* Courtroom sketches featuring Mr. Justice Cocklecarrot, played by Clive Dunn, and Twelve Red-Bearded Dwarves, played by "Little People" suitably made up. One case involved the Dwarves suing themselves, so Mr. Justice Cocklecarrot rendered a judgement that they should apologize to themselves. The sketch ended with the dwarves singing a song by Billy Eckstein, "I apologize" at the tops of their voices.
* Readings from the lists of Huntingdonshire Cabmen, wherein Michael Redgrave solemnly walked to a lectern, donned his reading glasses and read the names, in alphabetical order, with great seriousness, as one might read the names of the dead at a war memorial.
* Odd inventions explained by Dr. Strabismus (whom God preserve) of Utrecht (Spike Milligan with a high quavering German accent).
* Spoof commercials for "Snibbo", usually a washing soap with a tendency to remove stains, buttons and skin, and, with a sung jingle, "Threadgold's Thorough-grip Garterettes".

Cast

This list is inevitably incomplete.
*Ann Lancaster
*Frank Thornton
*Spike Milligan
*Clive Dunn
*Michael Redgrave
*Julian Orchard

The producer was John Howard Davies, a former child actor best known for his appearances in Oliver Twist and The Rocking Horse Winner, who became a successful producer for the BBC.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/w/worldofbeachcomb_1299002088.shtml BBC page about "The World of Beachcomber"]
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