Good evening. It's nice to be with you again. On the show tonight, we've got a
rather unusual snake charming act featuring the world's most mature
snakes. The act is called Abdul and his load of old cobras.
And we've got a bell ringer who will show you how to peel bells and a banana
ringer who will show you how to peel bananas.
But first, first the news.
Answering complaints about the high cost of a new £90 ,000 public lavatory built
recently in a Midlands town, a council spokesman said, it may sound a lot of
money for a public toilet, but we can assure ratepayers that it'll be worth
every penny spent.
In the World Plumbing Championships in Oslo today, the Dutch entry was flooded,
the Icelandic entry froze, and the Chinese entry was disqualified for
from right to left.
The British entry said that it would be round first thing in the morning.
And now, news of some unfortunate incidents at a circus in York this
The management took action against the human cannonball and fired him.
They said his act was over the heads of the audience.
And the police were called to the circus to arrest the whole of the Prague
trampoline team after complaints that six checks had bounced.
In the ensuing confusion, the lion escaped and threw the whole circus into
panic. The strongest man in the world fainted, and the India rubber man
completely erased the tattooed lady.
The thinnest man in the world had a narrow escape, and the bearded lady had
close shave.
And now a sketch, which we feel is one laugh from beginning to end.
But we're hoping for more.
There is a message for Admiral the Compost Heap. Will Admiral the Compost
please come to reception?
Was that Paul for you at all?
No, no, not my name. Was it for me?
Message for Admiral Secompost Heap. Will Admiral Secompost Heap please come to
reception?
Practically six bells.
I think I'll take a turn around the prom for you.
Turn around the prom.
Pull the other one. It's got six bells on it.
That would Admiral Secompost Heap.
No doubt about it. He was probably scared we were all going to laugh at his
rather extraordinary name.
As if we do a thing like that. I mean, it's not his fault he's called Compost
Heap.
It's his parents' fault for being called Compost Heap before him.
I mean, a man called Compost shouldn't be a woman called Heap.
It's not his fault, is it? It's not a thing we'd laugh at, is it?
Compost Heap.
Compost bloody Heap, eh?
I used to know a girl, actually, called Angela Compost Heap. She was one
of the Somerset Compost Heaps. There was a load of them down that way, yeah.
We have a telegram for Mr. Algernon Bedpan.
Will Mr. Algernon Bedpan please come to reception?
Just nipping off to the gents.
He's not going to the gents for his start -off.
He is Algernon Bedpan.
No need to go to the gents for a name like Bedpan.
There's a young lady at reception asking for Archdeacon Rumpel.
Archdeacon Rumpel, please.
Oh, well, sitting here.
Won't get the sermon written, will it?
No.
Rumpo by name and Rumpo by nature, eh?
I used to take out a girl once, you know, called Virginia Rumpo.
Very, very embarrassing. She eventually married a chappy called Henry Draws.
And now she's called... Oh, don't tell me. I can see it coming.
Lady Fosgrave. Yes.
We have an emergency call for Major Messer.
Major Messer, please.
All right.
I'm Major Messer. I'm not ashamed of it. What's in a name?
Messer be name and Messer be nature, eh?
Damn fine military name, Messer.
The mess -ups of every British battle since Agincourt.
I will, Mr.
Cornelius Vanderpuff. Please come.
Mr.
Cornelius Vanderpuff.
I wonder who this was for. Who is this Vanderpuff?
Well, off with the noggin, now I go.
Cheery -bye, my fellow Englishmen.
That's not an English mince.
He's a Dutchman and I'm a poof.
It's frankly awkward having embarrassing names, don't you think?
I must be, must be, yes.
I don't, um, don't actually think. I, uh, I caught your name.
No. No, you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have.
Will Mr. Ivor Big Nose please go to the kiosk where a message awaits him?
calling Mr.
Ivor Big Nose.
Ivor Big Nose, that's your name. No, no, no, no, I'm not Ivor Big Nose. No, no,
oh.
I'm awfully, I'm awfully sorry, but I did think for a moment there that your
name was Ivor Big Nose. Look, if I had a name like Ivor Big Nose, I wouldn't
come to a place with a bloody loud speaker, would I?
We have a...
message for Alderman Fat Pimple.
Will Alderman Fat Pimple please go to the foyer and meet Mrs. Fat Pimple?
Well, I must be going then.
Nice to have met you, Mr. Fat Pimple. I mustn't keep Mrs. Fat Pimple waiting or
all the little fatty, wacky pimples. Look, I can't help me name, can I?
I trusted love before Got mad and closed the door
But you said try Try just once more I took you
for the one Now I'm having so much fun You treated me so kind I'm about
to blow my mind You made me so Very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life
the
others were untrue but oh when it came to
loving you I'd spend my whole life with you
cause you gave me to control you were my very soul I wanna
show you that loving you is great That was You Made Me So.
I love you so much, you see, that you're even in my dreams. I can hear you.
I hear you call me.
I'm so in love with you.
All I ever wanted to.
so.
like to speak to you tonight about amusing things to do with loofahs.
But I'm a Ministry of Transport spokesman, so I can't.
So, I'm going to talk to you about transport.
Now, a lot of exciting changes are taking place in British transport.
Next week, for instance, we are introducing a new experimental
Chelmsford. There we are.
Now, if this roundabout is a success, we will introduce 400 more.
If it's a complete failure, we will introduce 500 more.
Now, how do you use it? Well, you avoid Chelmsford.
For those of you who can't avoid it, if you are coming towards London, follow
the arrows, and if you're coming towards Chelmsford, dodge the arrows.
If you live in Chelmsford, move.
And if you can't move, you've probably got cramp in your BRM.
In which case, give up driving altogether and do what Long John Silver
on a bus.
Take care not to stick your crotch through the window.
We're also introducing new experimental zebra crossings marked with an
experimental flashing zebra. Here is a zebra.
If the tail lights up, cross.
If the front lights up, don't cross.
If anything else lights up, fetch a vet.
And now something even more revolutionary.
Next week, the Minister of Transport in person, and he is in person, will open
Britain's first experimental drive -in swimming pool.
Now, we are building 200 of these, one in London, one in Birmingham, one in
Liverpool, and due to an administrative mistake, 197 in Watford.
So... So you will all be able to go for a nice swim
without getting out of your car and vice versa.
Advanced motorists, of course, will be able to drive into the pool off the high
board. Very advanced motorists will be able to do it backwards, and good luck
them.
We are also opening a new experimental Ministry of Transport safari car park,
where you will be able to see literally hundreds of cars in their natural
habitat, without ever getting off your elephant.
And on the back of your elephant, if you're brave enough, you can stick a
sticker which says, We've seen the lorries of Longleat.
Don't forget to stand well back.
Last year, in addition to all this, we built no less than 629 miles of new
And when we link it up to the old roads, you'll be able to use it.
But all this costs money.
Your money.
Nevertheless, we shall keep open every mile of our existing railways. The only
thing we're going to cancel will be the train.
But you will still be able to use the lines as footpaths.
There'll be picnic areas where you can sleep or eat or simply read between the
lines.
The fast service to Brighton will take 23 hours, and if your clothes get dirty,
you can always change at Hayward's Heath.
Oh, thank you.
And finally, here is the very latest up -to -the -minute news on the
exhilarating and exciting projects we at the Ministry have laid on for all of
you in the next ten years.
They're cancelled.
Now I'd like to end by giving you some impression of our new experimental
foghorn. Bye.
The trail of death and destruction that had dogged the footsteps of our
overweight hero, Piggy Malone, and his much maligned assistant, Charlie Farley,
continued relentlessly.
The beautiful Blanche Brimston, who was admired throughout the country, and
whose puppies had won prizes at crafts, was now the only surviving member of the
household. The latest victim of the killer was Pike, the butler, who had
discovered in the kitchen, hanging from the bell rope.
Malone returned to the dining room where Blanche and Charlie waited anxiously.
He was obviously preparing dinner when it occurred.
The rest of the staff left days ago. It's terrible, terrible.
What are we going to do?
Well, we could eat out.
Oh, yeah, that's an idea.
No, no, no, no, no. Don't worry.
I'll prepare dinner. You stay here and rest. You must be worn out, poor thing.
Do you think we ought to let her go on her own, Chief? Yeah, we'll have to risk
it, Charlie.
I'm starving.
Anyway, I want to talk to you.
Why should anyone want to murder Pike?
I mean, surely he wouldn't inherit the money, would he? That could be an
entirely different motive, Chief.
I've taken the liberty of drawing up one of my charts,
listing all the suspects, cross -referencing all the various motives,
the methods the crime could have been committed by.
Thank you very much.
Well, there we are, Chief.
You'll notice that I've used code words so that no one can understand it, you
know, should it fall into the wrong hands.
Good work.
I presume you can understand it, though, can you? Oh, yes, yes, it's all in my
mind.
Now, you'll notice that in this column, I've listed the various methods of death
that could possibly be used.
For example, balloon, trouble and strife, glug, glug, glug, gardens of
and over here... Hang on, hang on.
What's all that mean?
Oh, sorry.
Sorry about that. Yes, of course.
Balloons means blowing up.
Blow up. Balloons.
See? Trouble and strife.
Knife.
Glug, glug, glug.
Drowning, you see.
And the gardens of Babylon hanging.
Hanging gardens of Babylon.
What's that there?
Potatoes?
Oh, that's nothing, sir.
Nothing? No, that was just an empty space, and we'll never have got an empty
space.
And you really think this chart is going to tell us who's done all these
murders? Well, I think you'll find if we study it for long enough.
Yeah.
Sooner or later, the killer will emerge.
Then I'll be ready in 15 minutes.
Oh, sorry, did I interrupt something?
Not at all, madam.
Your entrance was very timely.
Very timely indeed.
Ah, good.
Perhaps you'll open a bottle of wine.
Good God.
Blanche Brimstone.
Why didn't I think of that before?
You mean that she committed those horrible crimes? Why not?
Well, what makes you think that?
Motive, opportunity, they're all there. But there's one reason which far
outweighs the rest, Charlie. What's that?
She's the only one that isn't dead.
Nothing but a big front.
Sticks out a mile, really, when you think of it.
I don't know how she keeps it up.
Charlie, there's a couple of points I'd like to discuss.
I'm talking about dinner. Do you realise it's in 15 minutes? Oh, good God, and
she's going to prepare it with her own fair hand.
Ever heard of poison?
Oh, my goodness, we'll have to eat it, you know. I mean, otherwise she'd
something.
Exactly.
I wonder what devilish concoction her warped mind is going to produce.
There we are.
Eat them all up, then you'll be lost.
No, no, no, really, no. That's far too many for me. You have those.
I'll have yours.
Nothing.
I wouldn't hear of it. Look, I insist.
They give me indigestion.
Oh, very well.
You like beans, do you, Charlie? Oh, yes.
Then you have this large helping.
I say, Chief, I think... I've got the bean you started with. Oh, good, yes,
that's right. There we are.
Let's heat up.
They'll be getting cold.
You know, it's slick.
I have my own plate back.
I remember the little crack on the side.
Come on.
Plenty more.
Heat up.
And so are... Two pathetic heroes ate a frightening three -course meal of beans,
beans and more beans.
And after a hair -raising cup of coffee, they all retired to bed with
indigestion. And outside, fog began to build up in the channel.
Well,
I'm not sleeping with her.
Well, I'm not. I'm having the camp bed. Oh, no, that's my camp bed. That's my
camp bed. I'm having that.
We'll have to go in with her. Look, whose idea was it to lug the camp bed up
here anyway?
Why, I'd rather take the camp bed all the way to Country House, you said.
Carrying coals to Newcastle, you said. Well, your coals have come home to
Roosemate, so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. You've burned your
boat, and I'm going to lie in it, so there.
What's going on, boys?
Oh, we're just, uh, just arguing about who's going to sleep with you.
Oh, why not both of you?
It's a very big bed, plenty of room for all of us.
And you did say you'd protect me. Oh, dear, I can't. Look, I haven't got any
pyjamas. Look.
Oh, you've got some pyjamas, Chief.
What? What about you? It'll have to be you. No, no, hang on, hang on. Don't
worry. I know what we can do.
Come with me.
Both of you.
I like wearing men's pyjama tops.
Don't you find it attractive, Charlie?
Well, it wouldn't matter much if I did, would it? Couldn't do much about it in
this lot, could I?
I think it's adorable.
Don't you, Mr Malone?
Don't ask me. Look, I feel ridiculous like this.
What's the deal?
All in a good cause.
Into bed.
Oh, I'll just clean my teeth. I shall be a moment.
Give me a hand into bed, then.
Oh, yeah.
Why have you got your hands inside the trousers, anyway?
If she attacks now, you'll defend this, ain't you?
No, I'm not.
I'm holding a blunt instrument inside of you.
What is it?
A brass candlestick.
Have you got your automatic?
Yeah.
It's tucked inside my matching briefs.
What the wreck is she doing in there?
We'd better put her in the middle, Charlie.
Yes. At least that way, Chief, we'll know where she is.
Anyway, I don't want to sleep next to you, and not while you're wearing that
nightie.
What are you talking about?
What's that?
Poisoned.
No doubt about it.
But how?
Exactly.
We all ate the beans.
And we all drank the coffee.
And no one ate or drank anything else.
We all came to bed.
She went to clean her teeth.
My God, the toothpaste!
Precisely.
The poison was in the stripes.
But you're dead!
It would appear not.
So the professor had not died after all.
Piggy Malone was stunned.
Charlie Parley's brain began to race.
Had the professor seen him?
Where had he left his blunt instrument?
Why hadn't he followed his mother's advice and become a window dresser?
One thing was certain.
There would be very little sleep for anyone that night.
I walk along the city streets.
You used to walk along with me.
And every step I take recalls how much in love we used to be.
Oh, how can I forget you?
When there is always something left to remember.
to love you.
And I will never be free. You'll always be a part of me.
When shadows fall, I pass a small cafe
where we would dance at night.
And I can't help recalling how it felt to kiss and hold your time.
Oh, how can I forget you?
When there is always something that you remind me.
Always something that you remind me.
I was born to love you.
Just make your way to that cafe where we would go, and I'll be there.
Oh, how can I?
Good evening.
Well, this evening, I'm going to tell you how to make Fanny Craddock.
Or, on second thought, I'll tell you a joke.
No, it's about a chap, actually, who went into a moneylender's and he said, I
want to borrow 20 pounds.
By the way, this parcel has nothing to do with this week's show.
Or, for that matter, next week's show.
Or any other show, really.
So, I might as well forget about it, really.
I actually only brought it out here because if I leave it back there, people
will muck about with it and look up it and one thing and another, you know.
So we'll just, you know, try to forget about it. Really, it's the best thing to
do. Try to forget about it.
And, you know, we'll just do that. Just sort of ignore it, really.
Pay very little attention to it and try not to look at it, you know, if you can
avoid it.
This chap goes into the moneylenders and he said, I'd like to borrow some money.
The moneylender said, oh, yes.
Because money lending is rather a depressing business. I mean, you've only
to stand out there near the tea machine for five minutes to know what it feels
like to be a money lender.
And this chap says, I'm going over to the continent for a few days and I'd
to borrow about 20 pounds. So the money lender said, well, if you've got some
sort of security.
So the chap said, well, I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll leave you my Rolls Royce, which is standing outside your front door. So the
money lender said, that sounds reasonable enough.
I'll put it in the garage.
And if you don't come back, it's mine.
Okay? So a week later, the chap comes back, claims his car, pays the money
lender £20 plus 50p interest, and he's just leaving, and the money lender said
to him, tell me something.
Why does a man like you, you know, with a big car, lovely suit, trip to Paris,
have to come to me to borrow £20 plus 50p interest?
And the man said to him, will you tell me somewhere else I can park a roll for
ten bob a week?
Right, if you must know, this is a little something I picked up in the war
surplus shop.
And it's the wife's birthday tomorrow, so I'm going to give it to her. I know
she'll be rather surprised, because she was expecting Sasha Distel.
Now, even now I'm not sure if I've done the right thing, but it did seem such a
bargain. You see, this cost £5 ,000 to make.
Slashed 30 bob.
Now, the man in the shop said to me, he said...
The man in the shop said to me, you're lucky, he said, I've just slashed that.
Actually, I never went to the war surplus shop to buy this at all, you
went in to ask if they'd got any ex -commander string vests to fit a five
-old.
And the man said they'd be getting some in.
Now, good heavens, the bargains I've had out of that shop. Now, look, this
watch, for instance, this watch, tells you the correct time in 27 different
countries.
Unfortunately, England is not one of them.
Good morning, Lagos.
And good night, Vienna.
I suppose, you know, meaning that, you know, this actually, I can tell the time
in Lagos and Vienna here from this watch.
And Birmingham.
And London, Shepherd's Bush.
By the way this is going, it's about four o 'clock in the morning.
Now, I suppose that my... I suppose there must be people among you who are
saying to themselves, why does he go around looking for bargains? He's on the
telly. He must be worth a fortune.
No, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Oh, wish I hadn't done that.
One of my eyes has come loose.
Now, please don't think the BBP don't pay us enough all this morning. It's the
tax people that are on to us. I mean, the old days were tax people. The old
when you could send them a fiver and two tickets for Z cars are over.
I mean, good gracious, I went to see my local taxman last week. I said, good
morning. He said, good morning, you little swine. Where's the money?
And it's no good pleading ignorance because they've got new methods.
They've got this enormous computer all along one wall, and they feed all your
facts in, and when it stops, they bang your head against it.
And they can get very nasty if you upset them, you know.
One fellow lost his P45.
They keep him in a jar.
I was discussing money troubles recently.
I was discussing money troubles recently with a chap who lives across the road
from me, and he said, you think you've got worries about money? He said, I am
the hands of a psychiatrist, he said.
I said, how can you be worried about money? He said, you've got a house twice
big as mine, three cars, a yacht, and your kids at a private school.
He said, that's it. I only earn 17 quid a week.
A river's flowing up the hill, it keeps moving, I keep still.
Some folks say that thinking makes you blind.
And when the wind is blowing from behind,
it blows my mind.
Painted girls and neon lights.
Lord, you made the darkness bright.
The hole in my blue jeans is hard to find.
But when the wind is blowing from behind, it
blows my mind.
A barrel organ's life is one long grind.
And when the wind is blowing from behind, it
blows.
there, everybody.
It sure is nice to be back here with you again. I'd like to take this
opportunity of introducing you once again to my old partner and buddy, Fat
Jones. Let's hear it, folks.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you, people. Thank you. Mighty glad, mighty glad to be back. Nice to
you. Real nice.
Of course, me and Fat Belly, we've traveled all over the world and parts of
Scotland, too.
A lot of folks, a lot of folks don't think that we're cousins, do they, Fat
Belly? No, they don't, Big Jim. No, that's true. They don't. No, they don't
know. I didn't know that myself.
No, we sort of have cousins, you know.
He's a cousin I ain't.
No, that's just one of my little jokes.
Wish I could think of one of my big ones.
I think maybe we'd better get stuck straight into the next song. This song
discovered by me and Fat Belly when we was walking across America.
Boy, that was quite a walk, wasn't it, Big Jim?
Yeah, we was in the state of Tennessee, weren't we? Right, right, right. Least
of ways, I was in the state of Tennessee. He was in the state of
And suddenly this athlete ran by, throwing these little bits of paper in
air, sort of paper chase, I guess you'd call it. Yeah, and it turned out to be
the manuscript of this song was all torn up into bits and thrown on the ground.
Yes, sir, it was just one of those songs that we just picked up as we went
along.
And here it is. It's all about a pretty gal who kept saying the wrong thing. Hit
it, fat belly.
Right, here we go.
My cousin Pauline was a Tennessee queen as pretty
a critter as you've ever seen. But she was so dumb that no matter how she
tried...
When she opened her mouth, she put her foot right inside.
We knew what she meant, we knew what she meant.
We heard what she said, but we knew what she meant.
She invited the preacher to her house, they say.
She said, it's a party, I'm 19 today.
Ma bought me a dress and a bonnet so cute.
So come round and see me in my birthday suit. We knew what she meant.
We knew what she meant. We heard what she said, but we knew what she meant.
She went to a dance hall one night on her own and smiled at a young man who
stood all alone.
He remarked that he'd not had the pleasure before.
Pissy answered, come on then, let's get on the floor.
We knew what she meant, we knew what she meant. We heard what she said, but we
knew what she meant.
One day she went into a department store and she said to the guy who was snoozed
by the door, I need some material to make a new belt.
Perhaps you can tell me where I... I can get built. Well, we're watchmen. We
knew watchmen.
We heard what she said, but we knew watchmen.
She said, I once met a guy with dark wavy hair. So we rushed off to Alaska
quick love affair.
But I came back disappointed with a cold and a cough.
We were both frozen stiff and I just broke it off.
We heard what she said, but we knew what she meant. We knew what
she meant. We knew what she meant. We heard what she said, but we knew
what she meant.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Phil. Thank you very much indeed,
ladies and gentlemen.
Well, I want to say it's been real nice of you to let us break into your homes
like this and steal a little of your time.
Now, we're going to move on. I want you to know we really appreciate being with
you a whole heap.
Oh, yes, sirree, Big Jim. Yes, sirree. A whole big steaming great pile. Yes,
sirree.
I'd just like to say goodnight and leave you with this little poem.
Last night I saw my grandma.
It seemed such a doggone shame.
She looked a million dollars, but we buried her just the same.
A little song called The Girl Who's Gonna Marry Me. Bye now. Bye now.
She can sew, she can hold, she can read, she can write, she can cook a man a
breakfast in the middle of the night. She can cut up a chicken, she can cut
a tree.
That's the girl who's going to marry me. She can pick, she can shake, she can
juggle, she can jump, she can drive a fella crazy with a wiggle of a rump. She
can stand in the saddle, she can sit on your knee.
That's the girl who's going to marry me.
She can joke, she can smoke, she can drink a dozen beers, she can move a
piano, she can move a man of tears.
That's the girl who's gonna marry me. She can fight, she can bite, she can
she can fool. She can shoot the mountain lion, she can shoot the little bull.
She's as fit as a bird and as fickle as me.
That's the girl who's gonna marry me. Now play that thing now, now, big Jim.
Yeah, that's it.
She's the girl who's going to marry me.
well that's all for this week but first some late news
A man was arrested on Beachy Head this evening for dropping a grandfather clock
off the edge of the cliff and narrowly missing his wife, who had passed by a
seconds earlier.
Said the man, that damn clock always was too slow.
And a chemist's shop in Eastbourne was broken into last night. The entire stock
was taken, except for quantities of hair cream and the pill.
Police are looking for a bald -headed Catholic.
And now a message from the police in Finchley.
They stated today that of the two rabbits stolen last month from the super
pet shop, only 14 have so far been recovered.
Next week we hope to bring you news of the 48 that are still at large.
We shall also be showing excerpts from the new BBC series The Cold It Story,
from a documentary about miners called The Cold Tips Story, and from a film
starring Raquel Welsh as an Eskimo.
which as yet has no title. Perhaps viewers may be able to think of one.
And so it's goodnight from me. And it's goodnight from him. Goodnight.