A live musical play from the early post-war period.
This single play from the BBC’s live era featured a cast including Mrs Markham (Joan Young), Everett Markham (Sidney Keith), and Michêle (Lisa Daniely). Supporting players included Richard Waring as Gay Harcourt and Campbell Cotts as Pauncefoote. The popular bandleader Carroll Gibbons also appeared, playing himself. As a live broadcast from 1951, no recording of the programme is known to exist.
This unrecorded play was an example of light musical entertainment in early British television. The production was written by Spike Hughes, with a score built from the songs of prolific American composer Jimmy McHugh. The casting of the popular pianist and bandleader Carroll Gibbons as himself was a clear signal of the programme’s tone and intent. Without surviving scripts or recordings, the play’s historical significance lies in its format: a piece of ephemeral, transatlantic popular culture broadcast live from the BBC’s studios.
Broadcast: BBC, 1 Episode, Monday, 1 October 1951
Written by: Spike Hughes
Songs by: Jimmy McHugh
Director: Douglas Moodie
Main Cast: Joan Young (Mrs Markham), Sidney Keith (Everett Markham), Lisa Daniely (Michêle), Richard Waring (Gay Harcourt), Emma Trechman (Frances Montgomery), Campbell Cotts (Pauncefoote), Douglas Hurn (Customs Officer), Carroll Gibbons (Himself)
