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Start giftingRound the Horne: The Complete Series One
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Learn moreKenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden and Hugh Paddick star in 16 episodes of the anarchic 1960s radio comedy.
Round the Horne arrived on BBC radio in 1965, bringing laughter to Sunday lunchtimes throughout the land. Over the course of sixteen weekly episodes it carved a niche in the history of broadcast comedy, a sketch show which prodded the boundaries of propriety and innuendo. At its heart was the suave and upstanding Kenneth Horne, around which revolved the multiple naughty personas of Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden, Hugh Paddick and Bill Pertwee.
Among the parade of regular characters were Julian and Sandy, the camp couple of resting thespians happy to turn their hands to anything, Rambling Syd Rumbo the musical cordwangler, Fiona and Charles the passionate duo, and J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock the world's dirtiest man. Meanwhile regular film parodies, spoof sagas and musical interludes peppered the mix.
Round the Horne earned its place in the annals of comedy history, and is fondly remembered today as a groundbreaking series that influenced many more to come. Here the entire first series can be enjoyed once again.
Content warning: the humour in this programme reflects the era in which it was broadcast and may not reflect current attitudes.
©2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Barry Took was born in London in 1928. An early career as a stand-up comedian and sketch writer led to his first radio script credit, for Beyond Our Ken. From there he went on to create Round the Horne with Marty Feldman, whilst on television he wrote for series including Bootsie and Snudge and The Army Game. Amongst a variety of later jobs in front of and behind the camera, Took wrote and presented Points of View on BBC1 and also chaired BBC radio’s The News Quiz. He wrote a number of books, including The Complete and Utter History of Round the Horne and his autobiography A Point of View. He died in 2002.