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With the arrival of 1960, The Navy Lark remained a popular item in the BBC Light Programme line-up with plenty of 'Left hand down a bit' and 'Everybody down!' from the hapless Island Draft. Running on Fridays at 7.31pm, the second series had already been extended at the end of 1959 after an initial disappointment for the show's producer, Alastair Scott-Johnston. On 9 November, Scott-Johnston asked for the decision to curtail the Home Service repeats after nine shows to be reversed, pointing out that his series had 'scored the highest figures of the day by quite a considerable margin.' Nevertheless, the Home Service dropped their Tuesday repeat at 8.30pm, and re-runs would not begin again until the new year when, from the thirteenth show onwards, the Light Programme repeated each episode at 6.30pm on Sundays from 10 January. However on 13 November, the BBC gave the go-ahead to commission another six programmes through to April 1960, which would again be recorded at the Playhouse Theatre at 8.30pm on Sundays. On 4 December, the series received two promotional items. The Light Programme's Roundabout show had Richard Murdoch interviewing Leslie Phillips, while the Radio Times had a piece entitled 'In the Stores' about Ronnie Barker. Barker's double-act as 'Fatso' Johnson with CPO Pertwee was noted to have 'gradually attracted a larger share of the audience's - and consequently the scriptwriter's attention', with Johnson now having his own catch-phrase, 'You're a rotten, you are!' From 7 December, the cast were recontracted for a further ten shows to be recorded from 24 January 1960. Phillips was shooting Carry On Constable at Pinewood, and had recorded a novelty single of The Navy Lark signature tune for Parlophone (45-R 4610). Stephen Murray, the new boy on the series, continued his serious acting with a BBC radio version of Macbeth while radio comedy stalwart Jon Pertwee was busy with his variety act on shows like Workers' Playtime, London Lights, Play the Game, and Midday Music Hall. On 22 December, the BBC confirmed that they would like an additional five programmes to bring the new season up to twenty-five shows, and Lawrie Wyman (still credited as Laurie at this point) was commissioned for the extra scripts. At the start of 1960 there was good news on the repeat front when on 28 January the Light Entertainment Department informed Scott-Johnston that delayed Home Service reruns of the series would air at 1.10pm on Saturdays from 23 April. 'This series seldom fails to give me a good laugh,' commented 'a Widow' in an Audience Research Report on the fourteenth episode compiled on 10 February; the report was generally positive, concluding with the representative remark: 'Tip-top as ever. I have nothing but praise for everything in this programme.' The audiences for the show remained steady st over two million, with a strong Appreciation Index of over 70. On 26 Febuary, the Light Programme asked for one further new show to bring the total up to twenty-six, conluding the run on Friday 8 April. Scott-Johnston agreed to this, but since the cast were only contracted up to Sunday 27 March, this meant that two shows would have to be recorded on this final day. As such, he would need somebody else to supervise his other Sunday recording, Variety Playhouse. The producer also asked his superiors, 'I would be extremely grateful for an indication of future plans for The Navy Lark of sufficient authority, at least in general terms, to pass onto the cast.' It was agreed that the last two programmes of the run would be taped at 8.30pm and 9.15pm on 27 March, and at the Paris Theatre rather than the Playhouse. In the Radio Times on 11 March, Scott-Johnston informed readers that a recent rehearsal was honoured by the presence of Sir Charles Lambe, the First Sea Lord, who attended with his wife and daughter. 'I gather that Sir Charles never misses a broadcast,' explained the producer proudly. 'He was introduced to the cast, laughed happily at the run-through and worried his PRO by staying forty-five minutes longer than was intended.' The twentieth show was the subject of a further Audience Research Report on 18 March, with the verdict being that 'the sample audience generally agreed that this edition was as hilarious as ever'. There were plaudits for the three stars, summarised in the comment: 'Every member of the cast appeared to be enjoying taking part as much as I enjoyed listening!' The later shows saw the return of an increasingly important character, Povey's formidable wife played by Heather Chasen, alongside other encounters with Potarneylanders (whose episodes were seldom selected for overseas sale via BBC Transcription Services) and appearances from Sir Willerby and Lady Todhunter Brown, Pierre, Commander Bracewell of Intelligence and Pertwee's extensive family members such as Uncle Ebeneezer. Sub-Lieutenant Phillips started reading stories of Enid Blyton's Noddy, CPO Pertwee enjoyed crooning Living Doll (Cliff Richard's much reissued 1959 chart hit), and the true owner of the island was revealed. Towards the end of the extended run, some of Wyman's scripts fell back on familiar material at times. The season culminated with another spell of leave for the Island Draft, and Wyman demonstrating his skill with pathos when writing for CPO Pertwee. The 21 April edition of The Listener saw Frederick Laws note in his radio column, 'Last week The Navy Lark went into retirement 'til the autumn, just as I was developing an addiction for it. This weekly nonsence maintains a very high standard of zany humour... Its subversive high spots and gang of familiar characters, whose catch-phrases are never quite over-worked, remind me of ITMA.' Repeats of the series began on the Home Service on 23 April and ran through to 17 September, omitting shows twenty-two to twenty-five; the fifteenth show received another repeat at 2.15pm on the Light Programme on 21 August as part of The Best of the Best. By now, it was several months since the third series had been confirmed. On 3 March, Jim Davidson, Assistant Head of Light Entertainment (Sound) had informed Scott-Johnston 'that the Light Programme will require a return of the above series in the Fourth Quarter, 1960. At this stage I cannot be more precise… but I think it will be sufficient for you to indicate to your people that we will require the series early October.' HMS Troutbridge and the Island Draft were guaranteed to be back for mayhem later in the year. Programme note, episode synopses and cast biographies researched and written by Andrew Pixley. |
