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Whack-O!
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{{Short description|British TV series 1956β1960 and 1971β1972}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox television | image = Whacko title screen.png | caption = The title sequence emulated a chalk blackboard, with caricatures of Jimmy Edwards interposed with credits, often with letters the wrong way around. | genre = [[Situation comedy|Sitcom]] | runtime = 30 minutes | creator = [[Frank Muir]]<br/>[[Denis Norden]] | starring = {{plain list| * [[Jimmy Edwards]] * [[Arthur Howard]] (series 1β7) * [[Julian Orchard]] (series 8) * [[Kenneth Cope]] * [[Norman Bird]] * John Stirling * [[Peter Glaze]] * [[Edwin Apps]] (series 1β7) * Peter Greene (series 8) * David Langford * [[Keith Smith (actor)|Keith Smith]] * [[Brian Rawlinson]] * Gordon Phillot (series 1β7) * [[Harold Bennett]] (series 8) * Frank Raymond * Gary Warren (series 8) * [[Greg Smith (actor)|Greg Smith]] (series 8) }} | country = United Kingdom | language = English | network = [[BBC One|BBC1]] | first_aired = {{Start date|1956|10|04|df=yes}} | last_aired = {{End date|1972|02|26|df=yes}} | num_episodes = 60 }} '''''Whack-O!''''' is a British sitcom TV series starring [[Jimmy Edwards]]. It was written by [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]]. The series (in black and white) ran on the [[BBC]] from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Edwards took the part of Professor James Edwards, M.A., the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury [[Independent school (UK)|public school]] (described in the opening titles as "for the sons of Gentlefolk"). The Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to [[Sergeant Bilko]] as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best". In 1959 a film was made based on the show, called ''[[Bottoms Up (1960 film)|Bottoms Up!]]''. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971β72, retitled ''Whacko!''. In all, it ran for a total of 60 episodes, with 47 of black-and-white and 13 colour, of 30 minutes each. There were three special shorts. There was also a radio version with [[Vera Lynn]] starring as herself in the second episode. Many of these radio episodes were recovered by a BBC archivist from a listener's collection of tapes in 2012.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} The front of the historic house of [[Great Fosters]] near [[Egham]] in [[Surrey]] was used in the opening title sequence of the TV comedy series, behind the name of the fictional Chiselbury School.<ref>{{cite web|title = Whack-O! Opening titles, BBC TV|url = http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adults/whacko/whacko.htm|accessdate = 28 July 2008}}</ref> ==Cast== * Professor James Edwards played by [[Jimmy Edwards]] * Mr Oliver Pettigrew played by [[Arthur Howard]] in 1956β60 and [[Julian Orchard]] in 1971 * Mr F.D. Price Whittaker played by [[Kenneth Cope]] * Mr S.A. Smallpiece played by [[Norman Bird]] * Lumley (a pupil) played by John Stirling * Mr R.P. Tench played by [[Peter Glaze]] * Mr Halliforth played by [[Edwin Apps]] in 1956β60 and Peter Greene in 1971 * Parker played by [[David Langford (actor)|David Langford]] * Mr Forbes played by [[Keith Smith (actor)|Keith Smith]] * Mr Proctor played by [[Brian Rawlinson]] * Mr Dinwiddie played by Gordon Phillot in 1956β60 and [[Harold Bennett]] in 1971 * Mr Cope-Willoughby played by Frank Raymond * Matron played by Barbra Archer, [[Liz Fraser]] and by [[Charlotte Mitchell]] * Taplow played by Gary Warren in 1971 * Potter played by [[Greg Smith (actor)|Greg Smith]] in 1971 *Proctor played by [[John Clegg (actor)|John Clegg]] * [[Clodagh Rodgers]] appeared as herself during the colour series in 1972<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9fe1eec7951242cf8e981bcf54941861|title=Whacko! - BBC One London - 19 February 1972 - BBC Genome|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=20 September 2018}}</ref> * [[Max Bygraves]] appeared as himself in one episode in 1960<ref name="IMDB">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162833/fullcredits|title=Whack-O! (TV Series 1956β1972)|accessdate=20 September 2018|via=imdb.com}}</ref> * [[Vera Lynn]] appeared in one episode in 1959<ref name="IMDB"/> == Surviving episodes == Most of the show's episodes are missing, presumed lost. Six of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist today.<ref>[http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=be8e049e-8975-45cb-9e13-19eacbfd91f9 "Whack-O!"], Kaleidoscope website</ref> Only 6 episodes of the B/W version exist in the BBC TV archives, with 3 (out of the 6 remaining B&W episodes) having been rediscovered in December 2016. *Series 3 episode 5 (21 October 1958) *Series 5 episode 4 (1 December 1959) *Series 6 episode 4 (3 June 1960) *Series 7 episode 1 (22 November 1960) *Series 7 episode 5 (20 December 1960) ==Theme of school corporal punishment== {{Original research|table|date=February 2022}} TV comedy historians have written that the central theme of ''Whack-O!'' and ''Bottoms Up!'' was corporal punishment and specifically the caning of boysβ backsides. This however was largely absent from the revived series in 1971, as by that time corporal punishment was becoming less acceptable in Britain and was eventually banned in state and many independent schools in 1986. ''Whack-O!'' tended to glorify a ritualised form of punishment that had been an accepted practice in British schools, but by modern standards the popular humourizing of corporal punishment is an anathema, and it may seem somewhat perverted in the way it was featured in the series. The comedy of the series was built around whether boys would be caught and punished for minor misdemeanours, and the size and effectiveness of canes and the building of caning devices. In one episode a device and long cane was made so six boys could be punished together. In another a device was made so the teacher carrying out the caning did not see the boy, and it turned out that all the backside seen to be caned were that of deputy headmaster Pettigrew (when played by Arthur Howard). A feature of Edwards carrying out punishment was the clear enjoyment he exhibited. Both Jimmy Edwards and Arthur Howard were gay men and Anthony Slide, in his biography of Edwards ''Wake Up at the Back There! Itβs Jimmy Edwards'' (BearManor, 2018), has written: "I know Iβm a little perverse, but I cannot find it anything but fascinating and decidedly weird that two gay men were starring in a BBC series involving the use of a cane on the bottoms of young boys."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soares |first=Andre |title=Jimmy Edwards - Outed βConservativeβ Gay British Comedian: Q+A with Biographer Slide |url=https://www.altfg.com/jimmy-edwards/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Alt Film Guide, thinking cinema}}</ref> The BBC sums up this aspect of ''Whack-O!'' on its official website as: "Watching the series now is a little painful in one respect β we're too sensitive to find canings amusing β but it's right on the money in other ways, mainly because finding over-privileged kids vile hasn't gone out of fashion."{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} ==Details of radio adaptation== BBC Radio adapted the TV scripts into 45 thirty-minute shows, mostly with the original cast, of which 42 recordings survive. There were three series which originally ran on the [[BBC Light Programme]] from 23 May 1961 until 22 July 1963. They have been repeated on BBC Radio Extra since 2015 and the last airing was in 2020. *[https://www.radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=OTR-Comedy&series=Whack-O] Audio Download and Streaming *[https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/whack_o/repeats/] Dates of Airings ==See also== * [[List of films based on British sitcoms]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{IMDb title|0162833|Whack-O!}} *''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/whacko/ Whack-O]'' at BBC Online Comedy Guide *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b060c2nz/episodes/guide BBC Radio 4 Whack-O Episode Guide] *[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1092471/index.html British Film Institute Screen Online] [[Category:BBC television sitcoms]] [[Category:Lost BBC episodes]] [[Category:1950s British sitcoms]] [[Category:1960s British sitcoms]] [[Category:1970s British sitcoms]] [[Category:1956 British television series debuts]] [[Category:1972 British television series endings]] [[Category:Television shows adapted into films]]
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