I was going to say mime was worse on the radio, because you can't see things on the radio...but I HATE MIME!

The R4 series of "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" was nothing special, and I gave the tapes away. It works better when they can do visual stuff as well. Also, Clive Anderson wasn't funny before he got his own chat show (not much cop as compere of "Cabaret Upstairs" either), funnily enough.

I should add: that's why BBC turned down the TV transfer, and C4 got it instead. They also got Delve Special ('This Is David Lander' - that was *slightly* better on the radio, mainly due to the originality of the format).

I genuinely think that 'The League of Gentlemen' was at its best on TV, as it never clicked for me on radio or stage.

I'd have to agree about LoG.

Never heard WLIIA on the radio.

How about Fist of Fun?

I didn't like their R1 series in 1994, apart from a few sketches. they only clicked for me when FOF was on TV.

Fools - they were ALL better on the radio!!!



Seriously, though, I never really liked Greg Proops on Radio 1, although I've always thought he was good on Whose Line etc...

Well, Radio 4 attempted a four-part radio adaptation of Only Fools & Horses a couple of years ago. (Actually it wasn't an adaptation, it was just broadcasting the sound from the TV episodes.) It didn't work, although, perhaps surprisingly, they didn't try to show Del falling through a bar.

There was also an attempt by Radio 2 to broadcast One Foot In The Grave, but it probably was alright.

Got one. Fantasy Football was a bit rubbish on Radio 5, because it really was about football (which I hate), whereas at least the BBC2 incarnation did away with most of it, and just had Skinner & Baddiel arsing around. Which was usually fine.

Yeah, I'm with you on Fantasy Football League...

Justin - the idea of re-using old TV sitcoms on R4 is an old one. Yes Minister and To The Manor Born were both done in the early 80s. The YM episodes were definitely re-performed by the cast in a radio studio (because in one ep. Bernard says "AWOL" as "awol" on the TV version but it becomes "A.W.O.L." in the radio one.

YM was also transmitted in Urdu translation on the World Service, apparently.

Steptoe and Son was another victim of this bizarre process, as was Morecambe and Wise in the seventies. Both were undoubtedly worse on the radio.

And during the 70s, Dad's Army was transferred to radio for a time.

Hang on a minute - I'm pretty sure To The Manor Born actually *began* on the radio, before moving to TV in 1979. Can anyone confirm this?

I _think_ it was scheduled to start on radio, but then transferred to TV at the last minute...

>I _think_ it was scheduled to start on radio, but then transferred to TV at the last minute...

*How* last minute, exactly? Did the pilot TV episode consist of the cast huddled round mike stands in the Paris studios?

AUDREY: Gosh, it feels strange to be coming back to... this side of the stage.

At the last minute they heard a country house with adjacent village were all available for the 3 months-worth of filming they'd need to do - so they jumped at the chance.

Well, maybe it did get re-routed straight to TV, but that would have delayed it by a year or so.

Hancock. Very disappointed by the BBC Radio Collection tape i bought, but maybe it was a duff one (there are so many episodes).

Yes, but Hancock buffs (and the writers, and the man himself, I think) always accepted some episodes weren't particularly good, on radio or TV.

The thing about the radio show was that in the early days it was braodcast live, and Galton & Simpson would sometimes have to finish writing the script after it had started going out on air. It was amazing they could still turn in some absolute gold. Those 11OCS writers don't know they're born...

Yeah, OK, to be fair 'Hancock' wasn't a topical show. Let's not start all that again.

Although some episodes had semi-topical storylines (eg. when broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy stood for Parliament, shortly after there was an episode in which broadcaster Tony Hancock stood for Parliament). But they never tried to keep up with the news of that week.

You seem to be having this conversation well enough on your own, Jon, I fell I shouldn't interrupt you.

Oops.

Difficult what to think of the LOG, the radio series was a great start and proved how versatile they were, the TV shows let them play with wardrobe like kids in a sweetshop and my mates have just come back from the Bristol gig and said it fucking rocked! Everybody is waiting for them to drop Royston Vasey soonest, and just do the
old tuxedo routine again.

Won't know myself till I see them live next week (and 5 more nights after that) just to be sure. But it could easily have gone wrong for them on TV, especially as the answerphone sketch was never included...