A spoonful of Sandy Powell, a cup of Harry Worth, just a pinch of Laurel and Hardy. Marinade overnight in the lad from East Cheam and season sparingly with Professor Stanley Unwin. However, Count Arthur Strong is more than the sum of his ingredients. He's unique.
I recall listening to a wireless interview with Count Arthur just after one of his appearances on the Jimmy Clitheroe Show. Although a huge star, Arthur still took the time to give Jimmy a couple of jam jars and a chance to wash his car, all in aid of "bob a job" week. Some who were there said Jimmy was speechless. I can well believe it, I really do.
Sod Arthur Strong, I saw him in a chip shop in Bermondsey in 1954 (I'd followed him for at least 3 streets - even giving chase when he'd try running to lose me), once he was cornered in the chippy he flusteredly ordered chips as I stood there sweating, panting and grinning at him and as he went to leave I said "got your chips Arthur?" and he completely blanked me, just looked at the floor and shuffled by without a word, never meet your heroes
@@GuildfordGhost Black Books, The IT Crowd , Fr Ted , Brass Eye, The Day to Day , Big Train, Ted and Ralph just to mention a few. The man's got great comedic form, you'd have to concede.
I remember the row caught on the radio between Arthur Askey and Count Arthur Strong about who should have top billing at an upcoming variety extravaganza. Askey wasn't happy when Count Arthur told him that his ' Busy Bee' song should be cut from the show due to the very hot weather and the increase in bees swarming around London and the high numbers of people being stung. " People go to the theatre to forget the outside world and there you are, prancing around reminding them of the bee Pandemic. It's bloody ridiculous". There was a sudden thud and Askey could he heard saying " I thank you" as he left the studio. Count Arthur Strong could be heard mumbling : " Struck by a bloody midget" as Arthur English took over the show. Great memories
The count and I started out together, I recall I bought him a pen as a Xmas present but he took it back to the shop as he said it couldn't spell properly! Marvellous days they really were!
Blimey, people on here really have got their knickers in a twist. Both men are responsible for some of the funniest comic creations ever seen, just be grateful for what they’ve given us.
@@emobloommilder and more likable character on TV. More Harry Worth in the mix. But so much more savagely interesting on radio - as long as you mind that light fitting.
Just seen Arthur for the second time live on his current tour. Alive and Unplugged. Spoke briefly to Steve after the show. He really is a genuinely lovely top bloke and always has time for Arthur's army of fans!
I'm one of those rare people who prefers the TV Series. The input from the Father Ted writer has really improved the quality of the writing, making it less dependant on spoonerisms and given it a much stronger narrative than it ever had on radio. Plus I love the Michael character - he is a great counterpoint to Arthur's inspired lunacy. A great leap forward
Yes, I agree completely. Every year there are perhaps two or three programmes among the dross and political correctness which really make you value the BBC and this is one of them. Every member of the ensemble cast is wonderfully talented and the Delaney/Linehan partnership is inspired.
I concur. Some fans seem to think you're not a 'real' fan if you prefer the TV version but I love all of them. The problem with the radio one is that he's so unpleasant. At least the TV Count Arthur can be lovable - at times.
I like both the radio and TV versions. Classic line from the TV series: Count: "I refuse.. [to take part in a police line-up].. on the grounds that I may inseminate myself.."
The first time I saw his stage show, I went with a friend who hadn't heard him on the radio. At the end, he concussed himself, told the audience to go to bed and wandered away. After a while, my friend asked if he was coming back to take a bow. I said "No. If he's told us to go away, that's it." As I looked around I realised that the same conversation was happening all around, then everyone started laughing again at the situation he'd left us in. "When you started this comment, I thought you were going to start singing 'The First Time Ever I saw .. Whatever it Was I Saw" by Roberta Falk. Not Roberta Falk. Peter Falk ... He was Columbo. He didn't sing 'The First Time I Saw Your Whatever '. What are you talking about?"
just seen Count Arthur Strong doing his show on the wireless less in Taunton with Dave Mountjoy, Mel Gedroich, sorry if spelling wrong and the other chap. Very funny, worth the £3.50 per ticket!
Its a Brilliant Creation. But it does work better when it is on the radio. But after the 3rd sitting of the TV series which i did this afternoon Knowing the new series will start tonight. I am starting to enjoy it.. The setting and characters are very different and alot of the comedy which was Built in the mind of the listener has been lost. Second series from bbc 2 to bbc1 it must have got good Reviews. I will see the second series to see if any More changes have taken place and characters might have been cut out
Series 2 is getting better and better. By episode 4 there are whole chunks of Arthur's hilarious antics with a complete absence of the deeply unfunny Michael, who has his own chunks that can be fast-forwarded through. I doubt though that this is deliberate and will continue, but I can hope. Totally agree about the comedy being in the listener's mind. It stretches the radio listener's imagination and tests it with ambiguity. Example - radio s1e1: "Right then. I suspose I'd better, er, get me trousers on and..." gets a big, big laugh because the audience aren't completely sure whether he's just got back from the shops and then confused the TV licence man in his living room without any trousers on or whether it is the figure of speech meaning "I'd better put a decent pair of trousers on (as I'm going to my booklaunch)." TV s1e1: after the equivalent line there is no ambiguity as there is a shot of him scurrying down the hall in his shirt, vest and underpants - and it is not so much funny as creepy.
Z i agree - far too much michael and not enough of the count. it's so totally different from the brilliant radio show - there are moments of pure genius and i so wanted to like it but it just doesn't work too well - maybe as we've all suggested more arthur and less of the supporting cast!
Z I think Michael and Senims characters bring some lovely warmth into the show. I used to enjoy the radio show and found it hard to enjoy the tv show but after episode 6 of the latest series Im hooked. I really enjoy the show and Michael and his friendship with Arthur and the characters is a great part of that
+Sarah Parsons Well done. If he wasn't, he would be playing himself wouldn't he? And that is something only actors like, Sean Connery, erm, Michael Cane and Nicholas Cage and that other American who was a Godfather, what's his name ... oh yes, Robert Themoney do. And that is why they are not funny, because they take themselves far too seriously. You couldn't make it up! Wel,l you don't need to, because I just did.
Fabulous comic creation. 'Oh, you couldn't make it up!' But Steve Delaney did. The radio show is stronger than the television one, but Steve and Graham Linehan did say they adapted the character for television. I guess they know what works on the different media. It was good to see him on TV. Hope he does get a third series, or at least continues on the radio. Hope you all caught the 2015 Christmas Day radio special. Real classic Arthur was that.
Brilliant old fashioned comedy, come on BBC get it back on the telly, show the people of this country your not just for the middle class and wokey young. I wait in despair.
Best thing on TV since Only Fools the the bloody BBC take it of TV and give us more Open all bloody all hours,I don't care what they say its not a comedy.,like many who have know shop keepers like Barker and Jason there either dead or in 70s sitcom in the sky
I know some people are slating the TV show but IMO it was better than it could have been. Maybe they didn't nail it in series 1, but 2 & 3 had the tone right and were much funnier. The radio series, for obvious reasons, focuses more on the words Arthur uses, and the cleverness of all that. It really is a masterclass of radio comedy. Perhaps actually seeing Arthur on screen throws things off a little, in how he's 'wacky' looking from the get-go. Linehan bringing in the Michael character, as a sort of way of grounding the series, then makes the Count seem even more zany, and maybe just annoying in some of the episodes. The show, as a whole, was pretty good though! and at least it was a BBC studio sitcom, which there are very few of these days.
Bring back Count Arthur Strong.....you don't need all the other silly characters. Put Count Arthur Strong new and up dated situations....like going on a pensioner coach trip to Blackpool where he stays in Britannia hotel!!!!! Or a TV show where Count Arthur Strong does reaction videos on You Tube! Or I know, Count Arthur Strong does Van Life and each week downloads a video on You Tube..he wouldnt need TV Exec then or the BBC!. Be a You Tube phenomenon! Either way this would be comedy gold. I love the character Count Arthur Strong.....I did not think he needed all those other characters around. He could tour Britain in a Van similar to what Miriam Margoyles did in her trip for Austrailia but it would purely be a comedy show. Different and very much upto date. I want fees for the suggestion! Lol. Honestly though this would be so funny. Can you imagine Count Arthur Strongs reaction upon waking and seeing snow outside from his van window whilst snuggled up in his bed, going on about how glourious it looks and when he says it time to get up and start his day with a cup of tea, he gets out of bed and steps onto the van floor exclaiming 'it's bloody freezing' but the next take is him talking about how snuggly warm he is in his van! It would be so funny. Easy to research van life on You Tube and find the funny elements.
The TV series was very weak and not surprisingly canned compared to the superb radio series which I never tire of listening to. Most disappointing was the canned laughter which says it all.
If they had just filmed the radio scripts, and spent some serious money on good sets, to create the right atmosphere, Count Arthur would have gone down as one of the great comedy classics, but unfortunately the terrible TV version will be confined to the dustbin of mediocrity. I loved Father Ted, but unfortunately Graham Linehan didn’t understand The Count’s character at all, and completely changed him for the TV version. Everything about it is wrong, the set, the supporting cast, everything. I absolutely adore the radio series but cannot bear to watch the TV series, and I have tried. What a shame that someone with Linehan’s pedigree messed up so catastrophically, something that could and should have been so good.
Isn't it amazing.. when Lineham changed the format to suit the metrosexual, wokerati London TV audience... He actually managed to get Steve Cancelled from everywhere..?
That is absolute rubbish. For a start Graham didn't change the format. 'We' did. And it wasn't to suit anybody. There was no pressure put on us. We had a free hand. What am I supposed to do, just carry on writing the same thing for 30 years? Some career! Also, I've not been cancelled from anywhere. Stop bending the truth to fit whatever your agenda is.😀
