Round the Horne Series 4

In the course of three years, Barry Took and Marty Feldman had written their way to success with Round the Horne ― which, by its third series in 1967, had become a British Sunday lunchtime institution. It was at this point, however, that Feldman decided to concentrate on his career as a television performer ― and to this end his Round the Horne writing partnership with Took came to an end. With Took and series producer John Simmonds keen to continue, two replacement co-writers were found in Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer, who had come to prominence through their work on the radio series The Men from the Ministry.

The first episode to be written by the new team of three was a second Christmas special, this one for broadcast on 24 December 1967.The writers then launched into what would become the fourth and - although no-one realised it - last series of Round the Horne. Barry Took continued to script Julian and Sandy's sketches himself, except for two occasions when Marty Feldman returned to assist him.

New budgetary constrictions within the BBC led to some painful sacrifices being made for this series. Bill Pertwee was not re-contracted, nor were the Fraser Hayes Four or Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers; in their place came the smaller Max Harris Group, who provided mid-show musical interludes in accompaniment to vocals by the regular cast. Preserved for posterity are two of the cast member's mixed impressions of Series Four.

Recording of the first episode on 5 February 1968 left Kenneth Williams decidedly unimpressed (‘one goes on and flogs it gutless and gets the rubbish by’, he wrote in his diary) yet by the following week. with episode two in the can, he was of the opinion that ‘the writing is really good I must say.’ Meanwhile, Kenneth Horne wrote in a correspondence, ‘Round the Horne got off to quite a good start (especially with a reformed writing team) and we record no. 3 on Monday 19th .. .’

On Sunday 29 April, having listened to that evening's broadcast episode, Williams told his diary that ‘all the humour in this show was anarchic or homosexual and it was all applauded… I cared about this world of ours I'd be really frightened…’

By August 1968 it was known internally that BBC Television had for some time wanted to produce a pilot of Round the Horne. The heads of Radio Light Entertainment had resisted such advances, however, acknowledging thelr fears ― and, apparently, those of the cast ― that a TV series might damage its radio parent. In September the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, wrote to the Head of Light Entertainment that, ‘although a serious offer from BBC TV could not be ignored, he hoped that Round the Horne on radio had another two years of life in it, at bast' It was around this time that the scripting of a further 16 radio prognmmes was agreed with Took, Cooke and Mortimer.

Tragedy struck just ten days before Round the Horne's fifth series was due to begin recording. On the evening of Friday 14 February 1969, whilst hosting the Guild of Television Producers awards ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel, Kenneth Horne collapsed on stage and died. He was aged 62. Newspaper obituaries appeared in the following days. ‘If ever I knew a gentleman,’ wrote Paul Jennings in The Sunday Telegraph, ‘it was Kenneth Horne.’.

For the Sunday Times Barry Took wrote, ‘Laughter came easily to Kenneth. He'd read a script and laugh, he'd listen to Kenneth Williams or Hugh Paddick and tears of laughter would roll down his cheeks.’ Took went on to add, ‘He had an amazing Churchillian quality of getting the absolute best out of his colleagues and associates. He won and earned the affection of everyone who came into contact with him.’ In the Evening Standard Brian Cooke was quoted as saying, ‘I never saw him lose his temper ― even under extreme provocation.’ Of Horne, the BBC itself said, 'His death is a great loss to broadcasting.'

Kenneth Horne's memorial service took place on 19 March at the Royal Parish Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, attended by many of his colleagues from the world of radio and television, including John Simmonds, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden. Kenneth Williams, who was filming Carry on Again Doctor at Pinewood Studios, was unable to attend.

The first three scheduled recordings of the new series were cancelled, but the heads of Radio Light Entertainment were keen that Round the Horne – or a version of it – should nevertheless continue without its late star. Some members of the cast were initially not keen, and talks with them and the Round the Horne writers came to nothing. What eventually materialised was Stop Messing About., written by Myles Rudge and starring Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Joan Sims. The first episode was recorded on Monday 17 March 1969, and that morning Williams wrote in his diary, ‘I do hope it goes well, 'cos we've got a lot to outlive.’ Two series, each of 13 episodes, were broadcast, but Stop Messing About was by no means as big a success as its predecessor.

Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams last reprised their roles as Julian and Sandy on BBC 1's Wogan show in 1987. Before that, in 1976, they had recorded The Bona World of Julian and Sandy, an LP on which radio sketches were reworked and performed in front of a live audience, with Barry Took taking the place of Kenneth Horne. Some years earlier, Kenneth Williams had made a similar LP of Rambling Syd Rumpo songs. Other spin-offs from Round the Horne have included three books of scripts; of these, Barry Took's book Round the Horne (The Complete and Utter History) was also recorded for BBC Radio Collection,

Programme notes researched and written by Michael Stevens