Benny Hill: The Lost Years
The Good, The Bawd & The Benny

Benny Hill The Lost Years

Benny Hill: The Lost Years

This is a collection of three programs from the years that Benny was with the British Broadcasting Corporation. They cover a ten-year period from 1958 - 1968. They are all in B&W and each program runs just over an hour. Benny was using many of the routines and gags he would later use in his color shows for Thames Television. There are only a couple of people who worked alongside Benny in these programs that would go on to work with him in his color shows, including Patricia Hayes and Hugh Paddick. I did ask for permission from Warner Online Marketing to take screen captures, but was told I could only use the photos they provided. Unfortunately, these captures are of sketches/programs that are not in the Lost Years collection. At any rate I am still providing this review because we do get a look at Benny's earliest years in Television. Enjoy!

NOTE: I have now added William Brown's notes for this program. You'll find William's notes in brackets sprinkled throughout the review below. Many thanks to William for his tireless research!

The Good, The Bawd & The Benny

B&W

[71:54]

Opening Sequence
Opportunity Calls
Scuttle Air
Divorce, European Style
The Strolling Ones
Brandyball
Phantom Phone Call
Safari Lecture
Police - Friend Or Foe?
Laddyboys
Garden Of Love
End Credits

Cast: Benny Hill with (in order of appearance) Mandy & Vera, Jeremy Hawk, Roger Avon, Susan Clark, Gloria Paul, June Whitfield, Patricia Hayes, Hugh Paddick, Eileen Nicholas, Sandy Duke, Pam Beckman & Patsy Ann Noble.

Written by: Benny Hill.

Producers: Kenneth Carter.

Highlights: Phantom Phone Call, Brandyball, Laddyboys.

In the Opening Sequence Benny is sitting in the lobby of a hotel with his wife. Benny notices that each time an older, larger woman enters the lobby elevator, a young, beautiful girl emerges! This gives Benny an idea, but the results aren't too good! (I'm not sure, but this was probably from Nov. 6, 1965. I thought I saw Bella Emberg and Jim Tyson in this one. - William Brown). Then the main titles roll and in Opportunity Calls, Benny steps out to greet the audience and introduces a BBC talent show.

As with so many of Benny's best parodies, Benny plays all of the characters in this send-up. He is the obsequious host, Hughie Carleton Green, who talks to talent scouts who have brought in entertainers to appear on the show. First is Egbert Nogswith who sings "In The Papers". Next, it's the ventriloquism act of "Cheddar Cave & Gorgeous". Benny of course recites the alphabet and drinks a beer at the same time. Patricia Hayes brings out the beverage, (brought out by Nicole Shelby in the remake). They also sing "Me and My Shadow".

Then it's "Fred and The Debutantes" with Benny as a strong man and two girls dancing in tutus and black fishnets. Benny sings and attempts to do several balancing acts to display agility and skill. Naturally, the act is a disaster. (This sketch was remade in his Thames series as "Opportunity's Knocking", (also in B&W)." - A few notes: (1) This was also likely from Nov. 6, 1965. (2) The name "Hughie Carleton Green" was an amalgam of Hughie Green, the actual host of "Opportunity Knocks" which was parodied both here and later in the first of the B&W Thames shows (as you'd noted), and Hugh Carleton Greene who was the BBC's director general at the time. (3) The two girls in the Fred & the Debutantes number were Mandy & Vera, a dance duo. - William Brown). This sketch was remade in his Thames series as "Opportunity's Knocking", (also in B&W).

Next, Jeremy Hawk steps out to interview Fred Scuttle in Scuttle Air. This time Mr. Scuttle is the managing director of his own airline. (Judging from the film quality, this was probably from April 24, 1965. A variation of this was later redone in one of the B&W Thames episodes, with Nicholas Parsons as the interviewer. - William Brown). Divorce, European Style is a sort of documentary with Benny as the host, explaining that England will now have the easiest divorce laws in Europe. Taking a look at the rest of Europe, Benny plays several characters who explain their own marriages and their attitudes towards their spouses. (Actually called "Knockers World," a parody of "Whicker's World" whose host, Alan Whicker, was impersonated by Benny here. Originally from April 20, 1968. (Ironically, this was 24 years to the day before Benny was found dead in his flat.) I actually prefer this one to the "Monty Python" parody with multiple Whickers. - William Brown).

In The Strolling Ones Benny is a rock star who sings "Rose" and looks like Mick Jagger. Benny is also the drummer, the guitar player, the rest of the band, a man in the audience and a screaming girl. (From one of his 1965 shows; I'm not sure of the air date origin at this point. - William Brown). Brandyball is another fun send-up of spy films with Benny as a vain and conceited secret agent on a train meeting a female contact. (From May 8, 1965. The girl with whom Benny sits at a table at the start is Susan Clark - yes, THE Susan Clark who later costarred in the American sitcom "Webster"; Roger Avon is the waiter, and Gloria Paul appears at the end. - William Brown).

After a brief introduction by June Whitfield, we see one of the highlights of this collection, Phantom Phone Call with Benny as Cyril, an effeminate young man getting sexually suggestive phone calls from a woman. Benny has to figure out who is making the calls and this is one of the most original and inventive sketches that I've ever seen Benny do. (From April 20, 1968. Hugh Paddick also appeared in this sketch. The three girls who terrorise Benny in his own home are as follows: the darkhaired gal was Eileen Nicholas, the light blonde with the debauched look was Sandy Duke, and the other girl (probably a redhead) - the one who gets closest to Benny - was Pam Beckman, who I am convinced (and I would slow-mo frame each DVD to make sure) was also the nurse in the Nov. 19, 1969 "Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service" sketch who'd wrapped a blood pressure cuff around an old man's neck rather than his arm. I studied headshots of Ms. Beckman from both the Spring 1959 and Spring 1960 editions of "The Spotlight" and found they all correspond. One factor in I.D.'ing her in all cases was her ears.

This brings us back to Square One as to the question of who was the girl in the Shakespeare blooper from Oct. 28, 1970 (who "forgot [her] bloody lines") - that girl's ears were a bit smaller than Ms. Beckman's; that, and the hair color. - William Brown). Patricia Hayes then introduces Armand and Michaela Menace as the hosts of a nature program in Safari Lecture with Benny and Jeremy Hawk showing photos of their African Journey. Jeremy Hawk does the setups and Benny provides the punch lines. (The actual airdate was Nov. 6, 1965 not April 24, as the film quality seemed to indicate. The names of the characters Mr. Hill and Jeremy Hawk played, "Armand and Michaela Menace," were plays on the actual explorers Armand and Michaela Denis. - William Brown). Police - Friend Or Foe? starts with on-the-street comments from several citizens, all played by Benny commenting on the police's role. Then there is an interview of Chief Inspector Fred Scuttle by Jeremy Hawk. (This is likely from the May 8, 1965 telecast. Later remade as "Crime Does Not Pay" on one of the B&W Thames editions; Nicholas Parsons was the one who interviewed "Defective Inspector" Scuttle therein, with a graph chart as from the "Audience Research" sketch in "Bennies from Heaven." - William Brown).

In Laddyboys we get a look at the life of a pop star which starts with an interview with his family, the mother, father and brother all played by Benny himself, of course. Benny then appears as Tex Cymbal and sings "My Garden Of Love" with Patsy Ann Noble (Trisha Noble). The concept of this sketch was later expanded into the "Tex Cymbal: Golden Boy" sketch. The "Garden Of Love" song was also remade with Nicole Shelby. (This sketch originated from Jan. 8, 1966. - William Brown). Benny then says goodnight and the program closes with a still shot from the Laddyboys sketch in End Credits. (Which had the typo "Pasty Ann Noble." Though this was three decades after the fact, I suppose it's no wonder she became Trisha Noble. - William Brown).

Screen Captures

The Following images were provided by Warner Online Marketing. Unfortunately, these images are not taken from the "Lost Years" DVD, but from other programs that Benny did over the years with the BBC. For a larger version of each image, click on the thumbnails below and each image will open in a new window. Thanks to William Brown for the info on each image!

From left: Priscilla Morgan (as Maid) and Benny, from the "Benny Hill" episode "The Mystery of Black Bog Manor" (first aired Nov. 30, 1962)

From left: Joan Ingram (as Princess von Puffenberg) and Benny, from the "Benny Hill" episode "Cry of Innocence" (first aired Dec. 7, 1962).

From left: Moyra Fraser (as Lady Fenella Twinge) and Benny, from the "Benny Hill" episode "Mervyn's Christmas Pudding" (first aired Dec. 21, 1962).

From the "Benny Hill" episode "The Constant Viewer" (first aired March 9, 1962).

From left: Jennifer Browne(?) and Benny, from the "Benny Hill" episode "The Constant Viewer" (first aired March 9, 1962).

From Nov. 20, 1968; "Fire Brigade Choir" from left: unknown, Sue (of The Kaye Sisters), June Whitfield, Carol (of The Kaye Sisters), Henry McGee, Shan (of The Kaye Sisters), Benny & unknown.

From Nov. 20, 1968; from left: Henry McGee and Benny.

From Nov. 20, 1968; Benny as an executive script editor on the phone with a certain William Shakespeare.

From Nov. 20, 1968; "Fire Brigade Choir" from left: Benny, unknown, Sue (of The Kaye Sisters, a singing group who were among the musical guests of that show), June Whitfield (at the microphone), Carol (of The Kaye Sisters), Henry McGee, Shan (of The Kaye Sisters) & unknown.

From Nov. 20, 1968; from left: Benny and Henry McGee.

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