"It’s a difficult style of humour to describe. a slightly zany sort of comedy, a
taking-the-mickey-out-of-the-things-we-don’t-like humour"-Kenneth Horne
Beyond Our Ken is much less firmly etched on the minds of the public than its more
successful successor. However it ran for twice the length- a total of eight series spanning
seven years, with all of the cast members who later went on to star in Round The Horne
present, and differing little in style and content. In fact many of its characters later
metamorphosed into Round The Horne favourites. Together Took and Merrimen wrote 42 episodes of Beyond Our Ken. But their writing
partnership came to an end when Denins Norden and Frank Muir stopped writing for
another long-running radio show, Take it from Here. Took and Merriman were asked to
take over, but both wrote seperate parts of the show. Took stopped writing for Beyond Our
Ken and didn’t return to the Horne throng until Round The Horne’s conception in 1964.
Merriman continued writing Beyond Our Ken for another 100 episodes. Background Information Series Credits Cast and Characters Scripts Messageboard Audio Cassettes Rambling Syd's Ganderbag Beyond Our Ken Obituaries
Writers Barry Took and Eric Merriman saw Kenneth Horne as the perfect example of
respectability around which to devise a comedy programme. They began writing it in 1957
and it was first broadcast on Tuesday 1st July 1958.
It is frightening to think that the series never started (if it hadn’t then Round The Horne
would never have come into existance) owing to Kenneth Horne suffering a major stroke
in 1957 which caused him to lose the ability to speak. thankfully he made a speedy
recovery.
Beyond Our Ken’s cast was made up of Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh
Paddick, Betty Marsden, Ron Moody, Patricia Lancaster and Stanley Unwin. In 1959 both
Moody and Unwin left, and the cast was joined by Bill Pertwee. They quickly established
themselves as one of the most successful radio ensembles, and it was this core of actors
(with the exception of Lancaster) who went on to form Round The Horne after BOK’s
demise in 1964.
Instead of a signature tune the programme usually began with a short sketch. This was
usually a play on words which tied in with a film or play title, and which set the tone for
the next half hour:
1. Sixteen pounds ten shillings?!? That’s absolutely scandalous!
2. Allow me. I’ll check it for you sir. Oh I see that it’s for, if you pardon my whimsy, for
the current quarter. yes sir, it’s perfectly correct: Sixteen pounds ten shillings.
1. That’s monstrous!
2. Well I’m very sorry sir, but that’s the price of electricity.
Kenneth Williams: That was an excerpt from The Charge of the Light Brigade- another in
our series, A Film Worth Remembering, which is more than can be said for the next half
hour.
One major difference between Beyond Our Ken and Round The Horne was that in Round
The Horne regular characters cropped up throughought the episode. In BOK there was
only one part of the show in which the audience knew which characters would appear.
This part was called Hornerama, a direct parody of BBC1’s Panarama series. This section
of the show was so popular with audiences that a spin off series was planned, but the idea
was later dropped.
Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams regularly camped it up as Rodney and Charles.
ROD: Isn’t it hot in here? Honestly, it’s just like a furnace.
CHARLES: It is a furnace.
ROD: Well shut the door then.
CHARLES: All right, but wait a minute, I just want to get my chestnuts out first. Is that
better?
ROD: No, it’s still boiling.
CHARLES: Well it’s to be expected with the condition we have to work in.
ROD: Well all I can say is blast furnaces.
CHARLES: Roddy, what do you think of my asbestos suit?
ROD: Oh it’s divine. Did you sew those sequins on yourself?
CHARLES: Well I did asbestas I could.
The Honerama section also included a discussion on the country’s general state of affairs.
Taking part were Kenneth Horne as himself, with a panel supposedly representiong a
broad section of British society:
Hankie Flowered: The resident comedian who would often crack the most appalling
puns, who bore a startling resemblance to a well known comic by the name of Frankie
Howerd.....
Ricky Livid: This character was pure Paddick genius, a slightly dim pop star who had no
success. He often presented invaluable pearls of wisdom: "I think we are all agreed that
the reason a lot of the cinemas are empty these days is ‘cos the people ain’t there"
Fanny Haddock: Another subtlely named impersonation of a well known face, this time
of televison cook Fanny Craddock. She became Daphne Whitethigh in Round The Horne.
Arthur Fallowfield: A wise Somerset farmer whose answer to everything was "It lies in the soil".
Other recurring characters included Ambrose and Felicity, a doddering pair of idiots
played by Marsden and Williams, Cecil Snaith, the accident-prone roving reporter played
by Paddick, Seamus O’Toole, the poet played by Pertwee, and Stanley Birkinshaw, a
man whose ill-fitting dentures caused him trouble with his sibilants.
Email me at a.del-manso@virgin.net