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Early British Television Comedy: A collection of scripts, photographs and recordings, 1950s,
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Early British Television Comedy: A collection of scripts, photographs and recordings,
comprising scripts, with some supplements/rewrites/prop requirements, for 'The Idiot Weekly-Price 2d', February-April 1956, 'A Show Called Fred', May 1956, 'Son Of Fred', September-November 1956, 'Yes, It's The Cathode Ray-Tube Show!', February/March 1957, 'Don't Shoot We're English', March 1958, 'The A.B.C. Hobbies Club', March 1959, 'Call Me Monty', August 1959, 'After Hours', 1958-1959, and 'Room At The Bottom', December 1959 (approximately 60); with a large number of black and white stills of the various productions, and related subjects; and a quantity of reel-to-reel tape in boxes, including sound effects for 'After Hours' and 'Son Of Fred'
Footnotes
The scripts for 'The Idiot Weekly-Price 2d' represent the first attempt to transfer the highly-successful humour of the The Goons' radio shows to television. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion in 1956 and was broadcast only in the London area. Written mainly by Spike Milligan, it featured Peter Sellers and the series was produced and directed by Richard Lester (director of the Beatles' first two feature films in the 1960s.) Follow-ups to the show were 'A Show Called Fred' and 'Son Of Fred'.
Other prominent names of British comedy featured in this collection include Michael Bentine, Eric Sykes, Dick Emery, Warren Mitchell, Clive Dunn, John Le Mesurier and Graham Stark.
This collection was formerly the property of Ron Walsby, who was Stage Manager for 'The Idiot Weekly'. Involved in the production of these various shows, he also appeared in them. He moved to New Zealand in the 1970s and was involved in the founding of TV2 television channel.




















