Old Time Radio : Billy Bunter


(5 stars; 3 reviews)

Recordings related to Billy Bunter , a fictional character created in 1908 in a boy's weekly story paper in England. The recordings feature Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School , known as 'The Fat Owl of the Remove', a fictional character created in 1908 by Charles Hamilton (writing under the pen name Frank Richards) for the boys weekly story paper The Magnet , published in London by the Amalgamated Press from 1908 until 1940. These recordings include old time radio shows based on stories from The Magnet ; documentaries about the characters who appeared in those stories; and recordings made by Bunter's creator, Charles Hamilton, from an LP titled Floreat Greyfriars issued following his death in 1961. Good Old Greyfriars 22 September 1981 19:50-20:35 BBC Radio 4 FM The fat owl of the Remove, still hungry, still in trouble, still waiting for that mythical postal order. Forty years ago 'The Magnet' ceased publication, but the Greyfriars Men go marching on. A portrait by NORMAN LONGMATE of the famous school and its creator Frank Richards. Narrator DAVID MAHLOWE Reader GEOFFREY WHEELER The voice of FRANK RICHARDS from the disc 'Floreat Greyfriars' The school song specially recorded by boys of MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL Producer STANLEY WILLIAMSON BBC Manchester Contributors - Written by Norman Longmate Presented by David Mahlowe Reader Geoffrey Wheeler Interviewee Frank Richards Saturday-Night Theatre: Billy Bunter's Christmas Party by Frank Richards Dramatised by Rob Gittins Saturday 13 December 1986, 19:00 BBC Radio 4 FM A holiday with Bunter's family? The Famous Five can think of nothing worse. But the fat owl outflanks them once again, and they're booked for Christmas at Tankerton Hall, where a malevolent ghost is the least of their concerns. Directed by Adrian Mourby BBC Wales Stereo   William George Bunter ... Hugh Thomas Bessie Bunter .................. Erica Eirian Bob Cherry ...................... David Parfttt Harry Wharton ................ Simon Hewitt Quelch/Brown ................. Philip Bond Uncle Carter ................... Ivor Roberts Squiff .............................. Lee Galpin Nugent ............................ Paul Wilce Bull/Smith ...................... Spencer Banks Hurree Singh .................. Sam Dastor Hubert/Mauly ................ Cornelius Garrett The Billy Bunter Stories The recordings made by The Goodies in the 1990s. Tim Brooke-Taylor , Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie read six Billy Bunter stories by Frank Richards. A Rewind Production for BBC Radio 2, broadcast in 1993. 1. Bunter the Hero :  The fat owl, the old fat foozler, the immortal chump of Greyfriars School, William George Bunter, and his chums from the Remove, are brought back to life by another group of pranksters in this story from Bunter The Bad Lad . 2. Billy Bunter Afloat :  Billy Bunter and his chums are spending the holidays on the river Thames. Someone has lent Bunter a boat -- or have they? 3. Billy Bunter On Trial :  William George Bunter of Greyfriars School faces a form trial. With Lord Mauleverer presiding as judge, will the Fat Owl of the Remove get off? 4. Bunter in Brazil :  The immortal chump and his form mates from Greyfriars School join Lord Mauleverer on a trip to Brazil. 5. Bunter's Night Out :  Billy Bunter and his chums in the Remove decide to take a short cut through Popper Court Woods -- forbidden territory to pupils at Greyfriars School.  Extracted from Billy Bunter and the Blue Mauritius . 6. Chunkley's Stores :  Bunter is on the trail of tuck. The Owl of the Remove is about to pull off the greatest wheeze ever attempted at Greyfriars School. Whatever Happened to Horace Henry Samuel Quelch Saturday 2 July 1994, 10:00-10:30 BBC Radio 4 FM Comedy. A spoof documentary, made in 1994. Purports to tell the story of Mr Quelch, Bunter's form master, after he retired from teaching, and the post-Greyfriars careers of Bunter and some of his classmates. Did Henry Samuel Quelch, the scourge of Greyfriars School, really become a secret agent? Stars Nigel Davenport and Andrew Sachs. Written by Adrian Mourby Producer Brian King Quelch ........................  Andrew Sachs Major Vernon Smith .... Nigel Davenport Lord Bunter of Hove ... Gerald Campion Harry Wharton MP ...... Peter Woodthorpe Sir Johnny Bull ............ Cyril Shaps Alonzo Todd ................ Jonathan Tafler Prof Edwin McHatter ... Kerry Shale Dr Anna Safanner ......... Eva Haddon High Quality files The following recordings in this collection have recently been upgraded to better quality (higher bitrate) versions --   •  Saturday Night Theatre - 1986-12-13 - Billy Bunter's Christmas Party   •  Whatever Happened To - 1994-07-02 - Horace Henry Samuel Quelch Recent Additions The following radio recordings have recently been added to this collection. Each of these recordings features Gerald Campion , the actor who played Bunter for ten years in the BBC television series Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School , which ran on tv from 1952 until 1961. These files are listed under the heading ' TV Series features '.   •  Start The Week with Richard Baker - 1980-05-05 - Guest: Gerald Campion      Other guests :  Gyles Brandreth, Nicholas Parsons   •  Famous For 15 Minutes - 1991-04-30 - Gerald Campion   •  Brief Lives - 2002-07-21 - Gerald Campion (Obituary) Note : Gerald Campion's final appearance as Bunter, in 1994, is also included in this collection: he plays Lord Bunter of Hove in the spoof documentary Whatever Happened to Horace Henry Samuel Quelch (above).

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

Chapters

Good Old Greyfriars - 1981-09-22 - Documentary 41:45
Floreat Greyfriars - Personal Reminiscences of Frank Richards (LP, 1965) 47:33
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 01 - Greyfriars School Song 0:48
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 03 - Harry Wharton's starting school 0:49
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 05 - How Bunter was invented 0:54
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 07 - Bunter's stupidity 0:25
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 10 - Bunter's fondness for food 0:14
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 12 - Bunter's telling lies and basic characteristics 1:43
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 14 - Introducing Hurree Singh to Greyfriars 1:16
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 17 - On Fisher T Fish's character 0:34
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 20 - Herbert Vernon-Smith's character 0:25
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 23 - What Frank Richards read as a boy 3:17
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 25 - Travelling abroad 1:28
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 27 - Need to experience gambling to warn others 0:50
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 30 - Quelch is Frank Richards' favourite character 0:45
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 32 - Editors sometimes suggested the subject 2:18
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 34 - Magnet artists and the use of illustrations 1:19
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 36 - Character's name must indicate the type of char… 1:07
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 38 - If you want to write for boys, don't patronise … 0:55
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 39 - Current occupations 0:54
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 40 - Greyfriars is a life of innocence, and so it sh… 2:05
Floreat Greyfriars - Track 41 - Reflections on old age 4:05
Saturday Night Theatre - 1986-12-13 - Billy Bunter's Christmas Party 1:27:33
TV Series features - Brief Lives - 2002-07-21 - Gerald Campion 4:41
TV Series features - Famous For 15 Minutes - 1991-04-30 - Gerald Campion 14:43
TV Series features - Start the Week with Richard Baker - 1980-05-05 - Gerald Ca… 21:44
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-07-13 - No1 - Bunter The Hero 15:28
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-07-20 - No2 - Billy Bunter Afloat 15:30
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-07-27 - No3 - Billy Bunter On Trial 15:40
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-08-03 - No4 - Bunter in Brazil 14:56
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-08-10 - No5 - Bunter's Night Out 15:06
The Billy Bunter Stories - 1993-08-17 - No6 - Chunkley's Stores 15:15
Whatever Happened To - s01e04 - Horace Henry Samuel Quelch 27:34

Reviews

Good collection for fans of The Goodies


(5 stars)

This intriguing collection of Bunter stories and memoirs may be of special interest to fans of The Goodies, the award-winning TV show starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie in surreal comedy sketches. The six BIlly Bunter Stories included here are read by those same three; moreover, they had all previously performed in a Bunter spoof as members of the cast of the BBC radio comedy show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again (ISIRTA S08 E05 Billy Bunter Of Greyfriars School).

Billy Bunter


(5 stars)

I always enjoyed the Bunter books since the 1950's and was very impressed by the TV series starring Gerald Campion, who was the perfect Bunter. Kynaston Reeves was great as Quelch, in spite of fluffing his lines. Amazing how the author wrote so many books/stories. I understand he was in the Guinness Book of Records, for writing so many. I still read them occasionally, in my 70's as they're good stories and still laugh at some of the humour.