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As
an engineer, Stanley was obviously involved with a whole load of
radio material, whether it was things he recorded for the BBC
itself or stuff he actually appeared in as a performer.
During
the 40s and 50s, his 'proper' work would involve recording
various items onto an acetate master with a sapphire
needle. Later, they'd press these up as 12" vinyl records -
BBC
'transcription discs' that were usually distributed across the
nation's radio stations and played over the air as part of the
progamming.
A
lot of these discs crop up for auction every now and then (on
eBay and the likes) and if you're lucky, you'll occasionally
come across an obscure Stan recording from way back. A couple I
came across recently (but didn't win. Bums) included a sketch from 'The
Spice of Life' and a two-way Oxford Union debate with Gerard
Hoffnung.
So
with this fairly arbitrary catalogue in mind, here are as many
Stan radio progs as I can summon up given the information
currently available.
If
you have any more stuff to add to the list or if any of this is
wrong, please get in touch. Thanks to all those who have
verified what's below (see credits).
The
Spice of Life - October 1956 (BBC)
This
was Stanley's entry into mainstream BBC radio entertainment. It
was a weekly radio vehicle for Ted Ray with a supporting cast that
included June Whitfield, Derek Guyler and Kenneth Connor,
and music from Harry Rabinowitz with the Revue Orchestra.
Almost
all of it was sketch based with the script being written by Gene
Crowley and production by old Stan mate Roy Speer. Stanley
appeared in the first dozen or so programmes, but you'd be hard
pushed to find any readily available recordings. top
Bernard
Braden - mid 50s (BBC)
One
person who Stanley had a hell of a lot of time for was Canadian
broadcaster Bernard Braden who became a fixture on British radio
during the 50s. Stanley appeared on a few of BB's radio shows
but I can't help you with any definitive ep guide, although they
might have appeared together either on 'Breakfast With Braden'
or 'Bedtime With Braden, or both.
Stanley
readily admitted they 'got on like a house on fire', saying BB
was a 'great feed'. He did, however, recognise the economic
agenda when the Beeb put them together: Stanley was already a
BBC employee so consequently he was cheap! top
Beyond
Our Ken - July 1958 (BBC)
Stanley
actually appeared in the first ever episode of Kenneth Horne's
original (and later to be long-running under various guises)
comedy series along with stalwarts Kenneth Williams, Hugh
Paddick and Ron Moody.
He played 'Mr Henry Spindlethroe of the International Atomic
Research Association' in a three-minute sketch where he answered
Ken's queries about atomic power in his own peculiar way.
Written
by Eric Merriman and the excellent Barry Took. top
Does
The Team Think? - June 1960 (BBC)
This
was a sort of tongue-in-cheek 'Brains Trust' kind of thing where
questions were fired off by chairman MacDonald Hoblay to regulars like Ted Ray and Jimmy Edwards,
who would come back with the
funny stuff.
Stanley
appeared in Series 4, programme 15, on 16 June 1950 along with
Edwards, Ray and Cyril Fletcher. top
Just
A Minute - May 1987 and May 1989 (BBC)
Bizarrely,
Stanley only ever appeared on two (count 'em) episodes of 'Just
A Minute'. Not only that, but the ones he was actually on were
some 20 years (count 'em) after the programme started. His
first appearance was alongside regulars Kenneth Williams,
Clement Freud and Peter Jones. His next (and last) was two years
later with Jones, Derek Nimmo and Tim Rice.
You'd
have thought Stan would have been a natural for this sort of
thing but if you have a scrat around in the (well worth a read)
'Kenneth Williams Diaries', there's an interesting entry under
'Tuesday 20 January, 1987' that might have explained why he
wasn't called up sooner:
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'J.A.M'
at the Paris [studios]. It was Peter Jones, Eleanor
Summerfield, Freud & me, and in the 2nd team it was
Stanley Unwin. Both games OK but Stanley was all over
the place! Poor man! I fear that he is no longer able to
cope with an audience.
top |
Quote...Unquote
- 1995
(BBC)
Long-running
(27 years!) panel game-ish programme hosted by Nigel Rees where
celebrity guests basically have to guess who said what, when and
why.
Stanley appeared on two episodes - programmes
5 and 10 of Series 19 in 1995. top
The
Smith Lecture - 2000 onwards
(BBC)
This
series of 'illustrated' monologues by crusty comedian Arthur
Smith featured quite a few interjections by his Stanship, but I
can't find an ep guide anywhere. I do know that the week Stan
died, AS was trailing a tribute programme as the final part of
his series but I either missed it or it was shifted to a
different date. top
Other
stuff
Hmmm.
He must have appeared on tons of radio over the last
50 years or so but the documentation has obviously gone a bit
agley along the way (surely there wasn't such a huge gap between
DTTT and JAM, for gawd's sake).
If
you can add anything to this page by filling in the gaps then please,
please drop me a line.
Awwww,
go on. top
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