Take It From Here
Encyclopedia
Take It From Here was a British
radio
comedy
programme broadcast
by the BBC
between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir
and Denis Norden
, and starred Jimmy Edwards
, Dick Bentley
and Joy Nichols
. When Nichols moved to New York City
in 1953 she was replaced by June Whitfield
and Alma Cogan
. The show is perhaps most famous for introducing The Glums. Through TIFH Muir and Norden reinvented British post-war radio comedy — amongst other influences, it was one of the first shows with a significant segment consisting of parody of film and book styles, later used extensively in programmes such as Round the Horne
and many television programmes.
, and later wrote material for Edwards's radio character, a seedy public school headmaster; Denis Norden had been staff comedy sketch writer with the Kavanagh agency, and had written material for the Australian comedian Dick Bentley. The radio producer Charles Maxwell
had contracted Edwards, together with Joy Nichols and Dick Bentley, for the final series in 1947 of the radio show Navy Mixture for which Muir had provided some scripts, and after this show ended Maxwell received a commission for a new weekly comedy series to star Edwards, Nichols and Bentley. He introduced Muir to Norden, and asked them if they would collaborate to write the scripts. The result was Take It From Here and the start of one of the most enduring comedy writing partnerships. Muir and Norden were to continue collaborating for nearly 50 years, writing such comic masterpieces as Peter Sellers
' sketch Balham, Gateway to the South
, and appearing together on radio panel games My Word!
and My Music.
In the second series, Muir and Norden changed to a three-act format. Firstly there was a topical discussion, followed by music from The Keynotes close harmony
group. Then came what Muir termed a gimmick
, which might be Hamlet
done as a pantomime
, or an opera
tic weather forecast. Finally, after another song from Nichols or Bentley, there was a situation comedy
sketch worked up from the clichés of a literary or cinematic genre; for example, later TIFH programmes included a sketch about restoration
England, with Charles II
, Nell Gwynne and the Puritan
keeper of the Privy Purse
("anything TV can do, we can do later"); or a spoof spy story set on an international sleeper
from London
to Paris
("…as I moved through the train I gazed at a handsome film star, slumbering in his compartment, and a thought struck me — whether you're great or whether you're humble, when you sleep upright you dribble").
In addition, the character actor Wallas Eaton
was engaged to play minor male roles, replacing Clarence Wright from the first series.
In 1953 Joy Nichols married an American, and settled in New York City
in the hope of becoming a success in Broadway theatre
. Because she had been engaged both as singer and actor, she was replaced by Alma Cogan the singer, and June Whitfield the actress (Prunella Scales
was also considered as a replacement).
For the first episode of the next series, the TIFH Talking Point' segment featured a take-off of the sagas of 'nice' families such as the Archers
or the Lyons
that abounded on the BBC at the time. This introduced an uncouth dysfunctional family
called the Glums, with Mr Glum the archetypal chauvinist pig.
The premise of The Glums was the long engagement between Ron Glum and his long-term fiancée Eth. As a result of post-war austerity, long engagements were common in 1950s Britain. A typical episode would start in the pub
, with Mr Glum (played by Jimmy Edwards) talking to the barman (played by Wallas Eaton). It would be closing time, and Mr Glum would start telling the week's story to the barman as a ruse for obtaining another pint of beer (or two). The story would be about some recent episode in the lives of Ron, Mr Glum's dim son (played by Dick Bentley), and Eth, a plain girl for whom Ron represented her only chance of marriage (played by June Whitfield). Bentley, who played the son, was almost thirteen years older than Edwards, who played the father.
A short signature tune would herald a change of scene to the Glum's front room, where Ron and Eth would be sitting on the sofa. Eth would say, "Oh, Ron…!" — her catchphrase — and Ron would vacantly reply something like, "Yes, Eth?" and the week's story would begin in earnest. This opening formula was constantly varied slightly. For instance, in one episode, Eth says, "Oh, Ron, is there anything on your mind, beloved?", to which Ron, after a pause, replies, "No, Eth." Another example has Eth saying "Oh really, Ron, do you expect me to just sit here, like a lemon?", to which Ron responds "No thanks Eth, I've just had a banana."
Most weeks, after scene-setting comedy business between Ron and Eth, Eth would say something like, "Sometimes, Ron, you're so placid - I just wish you would have a little go!" which Ron would stupidly misinterpret as an invitation to a kiss and cuddle. Eth would resist, and Ron and Eth's grappling would be speedily interrupted by the entrance of Mr Glum with an "'Ullo, 'ullo!" and something like "All in wrestling - break clean!" or "Sorry to interrupt, but have you seen the garden shears? Mrs Glum wants to do her eyebrows."
The story usually involved some crisis in the relationship of the three protagonists. In several episodes this crisis followed from Ron's laziness, and his resultant inability to find employment. Some weeks it would be due to Mr Glum's refusal to let Ron and Eth marry (in one episode this is because he is not sure that Ron really loves Eth, in another Eth takes Mr Glum to court because he will not give his consent to the marriage). One story was about Eth getting into difficulties because she was accused of pilfering at the office where she was a secretary. Very often, the story arose from the consequences of some idiotic behaviour of Ron's, who was incapable of competently carrying out any simple task, even going to the fish-and-chip
shop (when he puts his change up his nose).
One of the constant sources of delight in The Glums, quite apart from the brilliant dialogue and beautifully conceived comic situations, was the voice which June Whitfield found for Eth. At once sincere and affectionate, yet full of the affectations of a girl of the 1950s lower-middle classes keen to keep up her standards in the face of considerable dissolution in her close acquaintances, she rendered Eth funny, and yet vulnerable and capable of great expression.
Another character, who never appears but who is sometimes to be heard incoherently behind the scenes, was Mrs Glum, the family matriarch. Alma Cogan, the singer, usually provided Ma Glum's off-stage noises. Although she never had a speaking part, Ma Glum provided comedy value by always being put upon by Mr Glum, and yet always getting her way (such as the episode where Mr Glum pawned
her false teeth). Alma Cogan also played other sundry feminine parts, such as occasional extramarital romantic interest for Mr Glum.
and Eric Merriman
for the 1959/60 season, but this was to be Take It From Heres last.
and many television programmes.
In one of the parody sketches, a take-off of the films of English north country factory owners, Muir claimed that they introduced the phrase "Trouble at t'Mill". For one series, Wallas Eaton portrayed an opinionated newspaper letter writer named Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
, another phrase that entered the language.
Many of the jokes and comic exchanges from Take It From Here were recycled in the series of Carry On films
when scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell
ran out of time, and Muir and Norden gave him some old TIFH scripts — for instance the line spoken by Julius Caesar on facing some would-be assassins: "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"
While the humour was undoubtedly parochially British, in his autobiography Frank Muir expressed gratification and wonder that the show was so well received in Australia — where TIFHs subtlety, and the show's implied confidence in the listeners' level of intelligence, were commented on in the Australian press as characteristics one would have expected to lead to the show's failure there!
's Big Night programme. Two series of The Glums were later made by London Weekend Television
, usually drawing on two original radio scripts each week. Ron Glum was played by Ian Lavender
and Eth by Patricia Brake
, while Edwards reprised the role of Pa Glum.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
programme broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
and Denis Norden
Denis Norden
Denis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
, and starred Jimmy Edwards
Jimmy Edwards
Jimmy Edwards DFC was an English comedic script writer and comedy actor on both radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in Take It From Here and as the headmaster 'Professor' James Edwards in Whack-O!-Biography:...
, Dick Bentley
Dick Bentley
Charles Walter "Dick" Bentley , born in Melbourne, Australia, was a comedian and actor. He starred with Jimmy Edwards in Take It From Here for BBC Radio....
and Joy Nichols
Joy Nichols
Joy Eileen Nichols born in Sydney, Australia was a comedienne and actress who worked in Australia, Britain and the United States. She is best known as a star of Take It From Here on BBC Radio....
. When Nichols moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1953 she was replaced by June Whitfield
June Whitfield
June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....
and Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan was an English singer of traditional pop music in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era...
. The show is perhaps most famous for introducing The Glums. Through TIFH Muir and Norden reinvented British post-war radio comedy — amongst other influences, it was one of the first shows with a significant segment consisting of parody of film and book styles, later used extensively in programmes such as Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
and many television programmes.
Genesis
Frank Muir had been writing material for Jimmy Edwards's appearances at Windmill TheatreWindmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre, later The Windmill International, was a variety and revue theatre in Great Windmill Street, London. The theatre was famous for its nude tableaux vivants...
, and later wrote material for Edwards's radio character, a seedy public school headmaster; Denis Norden had been staff comedy sketch writer with the Kavanagh agency, and had written material for the Australian comedian Dick Bentley. The radio producer Charles Maxwell
Charles Maxwell
Charles Carlton Maxwell was an American character actor who worked primarily in television.Maxwell frequently appeared as a guest star in Western shows such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and The Rifleman, among others. He appeared on Bonanza eight different times as eight different characters...
had contracted Edwards, together with Joy Nichols and Dick Bentley, for the final series in 1947 of the radio show Navy Mixture for which Muir had provided some scripts, and after this show ended Maxwell received a commission for a new weekly comedy series to star Edwards, Nichols and Bentley. He introduced Muir to Norden, and asked them if they would collaborate to write the scripts. The result was Take It From Here and the start of one of the most enduring comedy writing partnerships. Muir and Norden were to continue collaborating for nearly 50 years, writing such comic masterpieces as Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
' sketch Balham, Gateway to the South
Balham, Gateway to the South
Balham, Gateway to the South is comedy sketch parodying a short travel documentary about the south London suburb of Balham. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden for a 1950s BBC radio series called Third Division. The sketch featured the voice of Peter Sellers narrating, in a parody of the...
, and appearing together on radio panel games My Word!
My Word!
My Word! was a long-running radio panel game broadcast by the BBC on the Home Service and Radio 4 . It was created by Edward J. Mason and Tony Shryane, and featured comic writers Denis Norden and Frank Muir, famous in Britain for the series Take It From Here...
and My Music.
Early years
The first series of TIFH, broadcast in 1948, was set in a commercial radio station office. Although this first series was not a roaring success, Maxwell persuaded the management to persevere for one more series.In the second series, Muir and Norden changed to a three-act format. Firstly there was a topical discussion, followed by music from The Keynotes close harmony
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
group. Then came what Muir termed a gimmick
Gimmick
In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is typically thought to be of little relevance or use. Thus, a gimmick is a special feature for the sake of having a special feature...
, which might be Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
done as a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, or an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic weather forecast. Finally, after another song from Nichols or Bentley, there was a situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
sketch worked up from the clichés of a literary or cinematic genre; for example, later TIFH programmes included a sketch about restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
England, with Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, Nell Gwynne and the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
keeper of the Privy Purse
Privy Purse
The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's remaining private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £13.3 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2009. The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres held in trust for the Sovereign since 1399. It also has...
("anything TV can do, we can do later"); or a spoof spy story set on an international sleeper
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
("…as I moved through the train I gazed at a handsome film star, slumbering in his compartment, and a thought struck me — whether you're great or whether you're humble, when you sleep upright you dribble").
In addition, the character actor Wallas Eaton
Wallas Eaton
Wallas Eaton , sometimes credited as Wallace Eaton or Wallis Eaton, was an English film, radio, television and theatre actor....
was engaged to play minor male roles, replacing Clarence Wright from the first series.
In 1953 Joy Nichols married an American, and settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the hope of becoming a success in Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Because she had been engaged both as singer and actor, she was replaced by Alma Cogan the singer, and June Whitfield the actress (Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
was also considered as a replacement).
For the first episode of the next series, the TIFH Talking Point' segment featured a take-off of the sagas of 'nice' families such as the Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
or the Lyons
Life With The Lyons
Life with The Lyons was a British radio and television domestic sitcom dating from the 1950s .-Overview:Life with The Lyons was unusual in that it featured a real-life American family...
that abounded on the BBC at the time. This introduced an uncouth dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
called the Glums, with Mr Glum the archetypal chauvinist pig.
The Glums
The popularity of this sketch made Muir and Norden realise that they were on to something. They made one or two modifications to the characters, and The Glums became a regular part of Take It From Here.The premise of The Glums was the long engagement between Ron Glum and his long-term fiancée Eth. As a result of post-war austerity, long engagements were common in 1950s Britain. A typical episode would start in the pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, with Mr Glum (played by Jimmy Edwards) talking to the barman (played by Wallas Eaton). It would be closing time, and Mr Glum would start telling the week's story to the barman as a ruse for obtaining another pint of beer (or two). The story would be about some recent episode in the lives of Ron, Mr Glum's dim son (played by Dick Bentley), and Eth, a plain girl for whom Ron represented her only chance of marriage (played by June Whitfield). Bentley, who played the son, was almost thirteen years older than Edwards, who played the father.
A short signature tune would herald a change of scene to the Glum's front room, where Ron and Eth would be sitting on the sofa. Eth would say, "Oh, Ron…!" — her catchphrase — and Ron would vacantly reply something like, "Yes, Eth?" and the week's story would begin in earnest. This opening formula was constantly varied slightly. For instance, in one episode, Eth says, "Oh, Ron, is there anything on your mind, beloved?", to which Ron, after a pause, replies, "No, Eth." Another example has Eth saying "Oh really, Ron, do you expect me to just sit here, like a lemon?", to which Ron responds "No thanks Eth, I've just had a banana."
Most weeks, after scene-setting comedy business between Ron and Eth, Eth would say something like, "Sometimes, Ron, you're so placid - I just wish you would have a little go!" which Ron would stupidly misinterpret as an invitation to a kiss and cuddle. Eth would resist, and Ron and Eth's grappling would be speedily interrupted by the entrance of Mr Glum with an "'Ullo, 'ullo!" and something like "All in wrestling - break clean!" or "Sorry to interrupt, but have you seen the garden shears? Mrs Glum wants to do her eyebrows."
The story usually involved some crisis in the relationship of the three protagonists. In several episodes this crisis followed from Ron's laziness, and his resultant inability to find employment. Some weeks it would be due to Mr Glum's refusal to let Ron and Eth marry (in one episode this is because he is not sure that Ron really loves Eth, in another Eth takes Mr Glum to court because he will not give his consent to the marriage). One story was about Eth getting into difficulties because she was accused of pilfering at the office where she was a secretary. Very often, the story arose from the consequences of some idiotic behaviour of Ron's, who was incapable of competently carrying out any simple task, even going to the fish-and-chip
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
shop (when he puts his change up his nose).
One of the constant sources of delight in The Glums, quite apart from the brilliant dialogue and beautifully conceived comic situations, was the voice which June Whitfield found for Eth. At once sincere and affectionate, yet full of the affectations of a girl of the 1950s lower-middle classes keen to keep up her standards in the face of considerable dissolution in her close acquaintances, she rendered Eth funny, and yet vulnerable and capable of great expression.
Another character, who never appears but who is sometimes to be heard incoherently behind the scenes, was Mrs Glum, the family matriarch. Alma Cogan, the singer, usually provided Ma Glum's off-stage noises. Although she never had a speaking part, Ma Glum provided comedy value by always being put upon by Mr Glum, and yet always getting her way (such as the episode where Mr Glum pawned
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
her false teeth). Alma Cogan also played other sundry feminine parts, such as occasional extramarital romantic interest for Mr Glum.
Final year
In 1959, Muir and Norden decided to move into writing for television, and so stopped writing TIFH. The BBC brought in writers Barry TookBarry Took
Barry Took was an English comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View, a BBC TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast...
and Eric Merriman
Eric Merriman
Eric Hugh Peter Merriman was a prolific British radio and television writer, who provided material for comedians including Frankie Howerd, Terry Scott and Morecambe and Wise....
for the 1959/60 season, but this was to be Take It From Heres last.
Influence
The parody sketch, previously used in stage revues but brought to radio by Muir and Norden for Take It From Here, was very influential on comedy shows such as Round The HorneRound the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
and many television programmes.
In one of the parody sketches, a take-off of the films of English north country factory owners, Muir claimed that they introduced the phrase "Trouble at t'Mill". For one series, Wallas Eaton portrayed an opinionated newspaper letter writer named Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
, another phrase that entered the language.
Many of the jokes and comic exchanges from Take It From Here were recycled in the series of Carry On films
Carry On films
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres....
when scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell
Talbot Rothwell
Talbot Nelson Conn Rothwell, OBE was an English screenwriter.Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: town clerk, police officer, and Royal Air Force pilot....
ran out of time, and Muir and Norden gave him some old TIFH scripts — for instance the line spoken by Julius Caesar on facing some would-be assassins: "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"
While the humour was undoubtedly parochially British, in his autobiography Frank Muir expressed gratification and wonder that the show was so well received in Australia — where TIFHs subtlety, and the show's implied confidence in the listeners' level of intelligence, were commented on in the Australian press as characteristics one would have expected to lead to the show's failure there!
Television revival of The Glums
The Glums were remembered sufficiently for the format to be revived in 1978 as part of the unsuccessful Bruce ForsythBruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...
's Big Night programme. Two series of The Glums were later made by London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, usually drawing on two original radio scripts each week. Ron Glum was played by Ian Lavender
Ian Lavender
Arthur Ian Lavender , better known as Ian Lavender, is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.-Early life and career:...
and Eth by Patricia Brake
Patricia Brake
Patricia Ann Brake is an English actress.Her first prominent television role was as Julie Pinfield in The Ugliest Girl in Town , a short-lived sitcom made for the American ABC network...
, while Edwards reprised the role of Pa Glum.