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THE NAVY LARK – SERIES FOUR VOLUME ONE COLLECTOR’S CD BOX SET Starring: Stephen Murray, Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips, Ronnie Barker Written by Lawrie Wyman Produced by Alastair Scott Johnson Reviewed by Ceri Laing THE EPISODES
For the first couple of series the characters were based on an island just outside Portsmouth. In an effort to keep the show fresh, and to give new ideas to writer Lawrie Wyman, from the start of the third series the regulars became entirely based on a frigate, HMS Troutbridge, and for this series the cast was joined by Judy Cornwell. This box features the first fourteen episodes of the twenty-six-episode fourth series, broadcast between September and December of 1961. These are: 1 Returning
From Leave THE CDs
Archive television and radio expert Andrew Pixley yet again has supplied some excellent sleeve notes for the release, explaining the background to the fourth series. These cover such things as the recording schedule and reasons why the BBC Transcription Service decided not to take the series (explaining, in part, why so many of the recordings here are sourced from off-air recordings.) The booklet also features scans of the Radio Times billings, which were published when the episodes were originally transmitted – a nice touch. Unfortunately, unlike the previous The Navy Lark CD Collector’s Box Set releases, there aren’t any extras included in this release, but Mr Pixley’s sleeve notes and Mr Kendall’s superlative restoration work more than make up for that. Hopefully, when the second half of the series gets the CD Collector’s Box Set treatment, more archive goodies may be included… SUMMARY
So... what about the episodes themselves? By this fourth series Lawrie Wyman had written sixty-three Navy Lark episodes, so it’s not altogether surprising that some of the ideas and jokes were coming a bit strained and repetitive. This did cause a re-think for the next series, and Andrew Pixley covers this transitional period in his notes. Incidentally, Lawrie Wyman also makes one of his occasional un-credited appearances in one of the episodes in this collection, Are Captain and Mrs Povey Married. Despite some signs of fatigue, this is still a very funny series! It didn’t last for eighteen years without good reason – the main characters are still strong and entertaining and Wyman does still find good situations to exploit. It’s impossible not to be impressed and entertained by the talent of Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips, Stephen Murray, and Ronnie Barker. If I were to single out one particular episode as a series highlight, it would be A Hole Lieutenant, which features Dennis Price making a return appearance. If you a fan of the show, radio comedy in general or any of the show’s stars this box set is going to provide you with a lot of entertainment!
In the not-too-distant future BBC Audiobooks will be giving similar CD
Collector’s Box Set treatment to The Goon Show, which is really good news,
and it’s heartening that the range is expanding again. Hopefully the range
will continue to expand and other classic shows, such as I’m Sorry I’ll
Read That Again, may get the same restoration work and attention to detail
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The Navy
Lark was a mainstay on BBC Radio for eighteen years, from 1959 to 1976,
with a special final broadcast in 1977. A legacy of the forces comedy
shows of the 1940s, The Navy Lark was created with three stars - Jon
Pertwee as Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, Leslie Phillips as silly-ass
Sub-Lieutenant Phillips, and Dennis Price as Commander Price. Price left
after the first series and was replaced by Stephen Murray as Commander
Murray, who stayed with the show until the end of its run. The supporting
cast featured the vocal talents of Ronnie Barker, Michael Bates, Tenniel
Evans, Richard Caldicot and Heather Chasen. The show was an immediate
success, popular not just with the general listening public but the Navy
as well. It’s distinctive nautical theme tune, characters and catchphrases
such as “left-hand down a bit” all become well loved.
This is a seven-disc set with two episodes on each disc.
The fourth episode, The Northampton Hunt Ball, has previously been
released (on the very first Navy Lark double cassette). This episode
was taken from a copy kept in the BBC archives. It appears that all the
other episodes are sourced from off-air domestic recordings. As ever Ted
Kendall is on restoration duties and makes the best of whatever material
is available. On the whole there are no sound quality issues with episodes
as presented, beyond a very slight muffling in some instances, but what
has been achieved is very good considering the nature of the original
recordings.
It’s very pleasing to see BBC Audiobooks continuing with
The Navy Lark CD
Collector’s Box Set releases when other box set series in the range
haven’t continued. As ever, the effort and commitment of Ted Kendall and
Andrew Pixley shine through in their contributions to the release. The
background notes continue to have a wealth of detailed information, The
off-air recordings that have been sourced for this release have never
sounded as good!