It Sticks Out Half a Mile
It Sticks Out Half a Mile is a British radio sitcom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 from 1983 to 1984. The series starred John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee and Vivienne Martin, and was written by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles, and produced by Martin Fisher. The series served as a sequel to the television wartime sitcom Dad's Army, for which Snoad and Knowles had written radio adaptations.
| Genre | Sitcom |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 2 |
| Syndicates | BBC Radio 4 Extra |
| Starring |
|
| Written by | |
| Produced by | Martin Fisher |
| Original release | 13 November 1983 – 15 January 1984 (episodes 1-9), 21 August 1984 – 2 October 1984 (episodes 10-13) |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
Plot Edit
The year is 1948, and former ARP Warden Bert Hodges (Bill Pertwee) arrives in the fictional seaside town of Frambourne-on-Sea (located not far up the coast from Dad's Army's Walmington-on-Sea,[1] on the South Coast of England) with a plan to restore the town's near-decrepit pier back to its former glory. To achieve this goal, Hodges meets former Home Guard Private Frank Pike, now twenty-two and working at Woolworths, to convince him to enter a partnership to raise the needed funds. Pike's "uncle" (actually Pike's father[2]), the former Home Guard Sergeant Arthur Wilson, is now the bank manager of the Frambourne branch of Swallow's Bank, so Hodges convinces Pike to ask Wilson for the £5,000 loan needed to purchase the pier. When Wilson refuses to invest such a sum of money in a such a venture, Pike blackmails Wilson over an affair that occurred when Wilson first moved to Frambourne. Wilson reluctantly agrees to give Hodges and Pike the loan, and the pier's renovation begins, but not without its challenges. The trio are met with opposition from Fred Guthrie (Glynn Edwards), the lone chief attendant in charge of supervising the pier, while Wilson must ward off the advances of Miss Perkins (Vivienne Martin), the chief cashier at Swallow's Bank, who is in love with him.
Cast Edit
- John Le Mesurier as Arthur Wilson
- Ian Lavender as Frank Pike
- Bill Pertwee as Bert Hodges
- Vivienne Martin as Miss Perkins
The original pilot Edit
The original pilot episode, set in 1948, involved former bank manager and Home Guard Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) deciding to renovate a decrepit seaside pier, built by Eugenius Birch, in the fictional town of Frambourne-on-Sea, only to find when applying for a bank loan that the manager of the local branch is his former chief cashier and Home Guard Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier).
The pilot, recorded in July 1981, was not used and Lowe died in April 1982, ending production; however, Lowe's widow had enjoyed the show and persuaded the writers to start again with a new cast. The original pilot was eventually broadcast on BBC 7, and later BBC 7's successor, BBC Radio 4 Extra.[3]
The series would never have been made had Arthur Lowe lived. The BBC rejected the 1981 pilot, on the grounds that his illness had affected his voice. Although the slur in his speech was actually due to illness, the BBC worried that it made him sound as if he was drunk, and ruled his performance as unacceptable for transmission.[citation needed]
Episodes Edit
Original pilot (1981) Edit
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Recorded [4] | Original air date [5] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Loyal Support" | 19 July 1981 | 29 May 2004 | |
| Episode produced by Jonathan James-Moore. Guest cast: Josephine Tewson (Miss Baines), Timothy Bateson (Guthrie), Anthony Sharp (Charles Hunter), Duggie Brown (Stephen Rawlings), Sydney Bromley (Percy Short), Haydn Wood (the Man) | |||||
Series 1 (1983-84) Edit
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Recorded [6][7] | Original air date [8] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Business Proposition" | 11 September 1982 | 13 November 1983 | |
| Series produced by Martin Fisher. Guest cast: Edward Burnham (Mr Short), Robin Parkinson (Mr Hunter), Gordon Peters (Mr Rawlings), Spencer Banks (Council Employee) | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Bank Loan" | 19 February 1983 | 20 November 1983 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Michael Bilton (Mr Johnson) | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Who Owned the Pier?" | 23 February 1983 | 27 November 1983 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Barrie Gosney (Mr Watkins/the Electrician), James Bryce (Bank Cashier/the Librarian); Stuart Sherwin (Electricity Showroom Assistant) | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Inspecting the Piles" | 23 February 1983 | 4 December 1983 | |
| Guest cast: N/A | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Pike in Love" | 19 February 1983 | 11 December 1983 | |
| Guest cast: Carol Hawkins (Avril), Janet Davies (Mrs Pike), Gordon Salkilld (the Telephone Engineer) | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Friends of Frambourne Pier" | 26 February 1983 | 18 December 1983 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Michael Knowles (Ernest Woolcot), Hilda Braid (Mrs Briggs) | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "The First Meeting" | 5 March 1983 | 1 January 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Michael Knowles (Ernest Woolcot), Hilda Braid (Mrs Briggs), Michael Bilton (Elderly Man), Madi Hedd (Woman), Jill Lidstone (Young Lady) | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "Marooned" | 8 March 1983 | 8 January 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Paul Russell (Derek). | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Fancy Dress Night" | 5 March 1983 | 15 January 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Janet Davies (Mrs Pike), Michael Knowles (Ernest Woolcot), Hilda Braid (Mrs Briggs), Gordon Clyde (Willoughby Smallpiece), Miranda Forbes (Waitress) | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Builder" | 26 February 1983 | 21 August 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Stella Tanner (Myrtle Spivy), Gordon Clyde (Mr Fisher), Carol Harrison (the Builder's Receptionist), Katherine Parr (Irish Nun) | |||||
| 11 | 11 | "War Damage" | 8 March 1983 | 4 September 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Reginald Marsh (Sir Wensley Smithers), Michael Bilton (Mr Thorndyke/Civil Servant 3), Gordon Clyde (Civil Servant 1 and 5), Jon Glover (Civil Servant 2 and 4) | |||||
| 12 | 12 | "The Pin Up Girl" | 15 March 1983 | 18 September 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Robin Parkinson (Mr Hunter), Christopher Biggins (Dudley Watkins) | |||||
| 13 | 13 | "Hidden Treasure" | 15 March 1983 | 2 October 1984 | |
| Guest cast: Glynn Edwards (Guthrie), Betty Marsden (Madame Zara) | |||||
Broadcast Edit
Due to the death of Arthur Lowe, the original pilot was not broadcast and the tape wiped, but co-writer Snoad retained a copy which he later returned to the BBC. A short excerpt was played on a documentary entitled The Archive Hour: Radio's Lost Property on 1 November 2003, with the complete programme heard on a BBC 7 compilation entitled Some of Our Archives Were Missing on 29 May 2004. It was broadcast for a second time on 17 June 2008, as the first episode in a rerun of the entire series.
The series proper was first broadcast on BBC Radio 2, at 1:30 pm on 13 November 1983[9] and ran for 13 episodes. It was subsequently repeated again on BBC Radio 2, but an apparent mix-up between different BBC departments resulted in most of the broadcast tapes being wiped. The series featured some of John Le Mesurier's last performances.
The BBC's Treasure Hunt unearthed off-air recordings of It Sticks Out Half a Mile, and the digital radio archive channel BBC 7 has broadcast the recovered copies of the series.[citation needed]
BBC Radio 4 Extra has begun repeating the whole series, including the pilot, in June 2020. Since 30 June 2020, all fourteen episodes have been made available for listening on Spotify.
Inconsistencies with Dad's Army Edit
Pike's age is incorrect in this series. In the first episode of the second series of Dad's Army, titled "Operation Kilt" and set in 1940, Pike states that he is seventeen. However, eight years later in It Sticks Out Half a Mile (which is set in 1948), Pike is stated by Wilson in "The Business Proposition" as being twenty-two, when he should actually be twenty-five.
In addition, Hodges's first name in Dad's Army is stated as being William, but in It Sticks Out Half a Mile, his first name is Bert.[10]
Media releases Edit
The original pilot and the first three episodes of the series were released in September 2010, on a compact disc titled Classic BBC Radio Comedy: It Sticks Out Half a Mile. A second CD, containing the next four episodes and titled It Sticks Out Half a Mile: Continued, was released in February 2012. Both were also released as audiobooks. The whole series, including the original pilot, was subsequently released as an audiobook in October 2019.[11]
The original pilot was also released on the Dad's Army: The Complete Radio Series: Series 3 compact disc in May 2015, and the collector's edition of series three, released in March 2004.[12]
Television adaptations Edit
There were two attempts to adapt the show for television, without the Dad's Army characters. The first was a BBC pilot titled Walking the Planks, starring Michael Elphick. The BBC did not commission a series. Knowles and Snoad took the concept to Yorkshire Television who produced a seven-part series under a new title, High & Dry. In the role previously performed by Elphick, Bernard Cribbins was cast. Richard Wilson and Vivienne Martin appeared in both versions.
References Edit
- ^ McCann, Graham (2012). Do You Think That's Wise?: The Life of John Le Mesurier. London: Aurum Press. p. 287. ISBN 9781845137908.
- ^ Braxton, Mark (27 July 2018). "Dad's Army 50th anniversary: Ian Lavender looks back at the making of a comedy classic - Radio Times". Radio Times. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
At the end of the last episode, I said to David Croft, 'I just have to ask you one thing: is Uncle Arthur my father?' And he looked at me and said, 'Of course he is!'
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 Extra – It Sticks Out Half a Mile, Pilot – Loyal Support".
- ^ "It Sticks Out Half A Mile Pilot - Loyal Support - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 3 September 2023
- ^ "BBC Genome – Some of Our Archives Were Missing". BBC. BBC Genome Project. 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023
- ^ "It Sticks Out Half A Mile". Dad's Army Appreciation Society. Retrieved 3 September 2023
- ^ Pertwee, Bill (2009). Dad's Army: The Making of a Television Legend. London: Conway Publishing. pp. 178–180. ISBN 9781844861057.
- ^ "BBC Genome – It Sticks Out Half A Mile". BBC. BBC Genome Project. 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023
- ^ Radio Times
- ^ He is first called this name from "The Bank Loan" onwards.
- ^ "It Sticks Out Half A Mile Shop - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 17 September 2023
- ^ "Dad's Army (Radio) Shop – British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 17 September 2023
External links Edit
- RadioListings broadcast guide
- It Sticks Out Half A Mile episode guide
- BBC Treasure Hunt page – with sound clip