There I was, taking my usual morning walk across the fields, laughing my head off. If anyone had seen me, they would have thought I was crackers.
The reason was a CD I bought in the Hospice shop for £1 which I had put on my Walkman MP3 Player. I have got into the habit of listening through headphones while I walk and have gone through a couple of talking books and a week of Irish music. I was partway through Mozart's string quartets but I fancied a change.
Which is why I was listening to Round The Horne, the BBC radio show from 46 years ago. And it was hilarious.
Strait-laced Kenneth Horne manfully leads his audience through encounters with Daphne Whytethigh, Rambling Syd Rumpo, Dame Celia Molestrangler and Binkie Huckaback, and that trail breaking duo Julian and Sandy. Not forgetting the Armpit Theatre and a production of Moby Duck.
A wonderful cast includes Bill Pertwee, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden.
Round the Horne ran from 1965 to 1968 and was written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman. It was a sequel to Beyond Our Ken, which also starred Kenneth Horne, and which ran from 1958 to 1964.
The Goon Show had broken BBC barriers in the 1950s and the two Kenneth Horne series took full advantage.
I was prepared to enjoy a nostalgic chuckle.
What I was not ready for was the sharpness of wit, the cleverness of the double entendres and the hilarity of the performance.
This hadn't aged a bit and remains classic humour of the like radio is unlikely to ever see again.
Does anyone else miss those halcyon days of the wireless?
Now, where can I get more CDs?
