The Navy Lark

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Comedy & Humour - The Navy Lark

The Navy Lark was (I think still is) the longest running radio comedy, running from 1959-1977. It was set on a Naval Base near Portsmouth, and featured probably the most devious, yet chronically incompetant, Naval crew in history! The show was created by Laurie Wylie (who actually appeared in someepisodes!) and written by him, occasionally with George Evans.

The first series starred Dennis Price (a familiar face in British films, most notably, perhaps, in "Kind Hearts and Coronets"); in subsequent series his place was taken by Stephen Murray.
The rest of the cast remained the same throughout the run - Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips, Heather Chases, Richard Caldicot, Tenniel Evans and Michael Bates, with (in the early series) regular appearences by Ronnie Barker. Others who appeared in guest roles included Juse Whitfield and Chic Murray.

The BBC has been pretty good at releasing recordings of the various shows - there are 15 double tape packs available at present (all listed below - with links to Amazon.co.uk if you feel like buying them!) - many of the recordings are also available on CD.

Troutbridge Quotes:

"Left Hand Down A bit!"
"Hwhaa-haa-ha!"

"Filthy swine!"
"Everybody Down!"

The Recordings

The BBC has issued a number of double packs (in both cassette and CD) - each pack contains 4 half-hour episodes of "The Navy Lark". They are not in chronological order - though some of the sets do keep running storylines in order where possible. Most of the sets feature Stephen Murray as the Number One - however, there HAVE been some sets from the very first series, featuring Dennis Price; these are marked (DP).

Clicking on the picture will take you to Amazon.co.uk, where you can order the relevant set.