Christmas With The Larkins

"And hark", proclaimed Producer Ken, "before the clock strikes Christmas Day, you will be visited by three podcasts!". 'Oh here we go' thought Scrooge, just wanting to get on. "You must learn from the pod of telly past, the pod of telly past and then the pod of telly past." Well, he'd expected repeats at this time of year, but Scrooge didn't argue because he'd looked through the Radio Times and hadn't even taken the top off his red marker...

Yes it's the first of the festive specials from The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour, and to set the scene the boys need to go right back to ITV's Christmas With The Larkins. Blazing a trail through the fledgling sitcom-market, Dame Peggy herself berates and bellows her way to a yuletide family gathering with all the farcical trimmings and mishaps we've come to expect over the intervening decades. What can go wrong? Oh, everything.

How many trombone wah-s are acceptable as the comedown to a punchline? How many household appliances can be used to defrost a turkey? And how many instances of imminent or actual violence need to be in a script before Peggs will greenlight it?

Look, you're not pressing Play right - let Peggy take over and find out...

[Bonus points and/or an extra Quality Street will be awarded to listeners who pick up on the Stewart Lee reference secreted in this episode]

WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING:

Programme: Christmas With The Larkins
Broadcast: Fri 26 December 1958, 22:15
Production/Channel: Associated Television, ITV
Writer: Fred Robinson
Music: Jackie Brown
Producer/Director: Bill Ward
Starring: Peggy Mount, David Kossoff, Ronan O'Casey, Ruth Trouncer, Hilary Bamberger, Shaun O'Riordan, Barbara Mitchell John Barrard, Charles Lloyd Pack, Norman Mitchell

You can Subscribe, Like, Follow, Rate and Review on:



The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour is a free podcast from iPorle Media, which holds production copyright. Opinions and recollections expressed are not to be taken as fact. The title and credit music is by Doctor Velvet, with additional live accompaniments by Ozzy Bognops. Audio segments from television programmes are presented for review and informational purposes only under fair use, and no ownership of these is claimed or implied by this show. Email enquiries to PeggyMountPod@gmail.com

The Transformers / The Larkins

It's early mornings and late nights this week on The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour, as our hosts test the theory that the greatest things arrive at either end of a day's scheduling.

The first stop on today's televisual trek comes hiding in plain sight, as TVAM's premiere episode of The Transformers comes in for some arch reminiscence and critical scrutiny. And later, what better way to round off a long week than with Peggy Mount boldly waving the flag for sitcoms still to come, as we meet The Larkins?

Have we voyaged far enough across the galaxy for a being shaped remarkably like a re-arranged Freightliner FL86 to finally fit in? Have we travelled far enough back in time to find A Farce™ that Doctor Velvet can stomach? And how far do we have to go before the most literal lavatorial humour ceases to be the easiest way to derail a pair of childish podcast hosts?

If you're absolutely sure your electronic device is really what it purports to be, then go ahead and press Play to find out...

You can download a special sheet to print out then safely collate your Peggy Mount Calamity Hour Quiz answers each week, here.:

WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING:

Programme: The Transformers
Broadcast: '1985'
Production/Channel: Marvel / Sunbow / Toei Animation, ITV
Writer: George Arthur Bloom, Henry Orenstein
Music: Johnny Douglas
Producer/Director: Nelson Shin, John Gibbs
Starring: Peter Cullen, Corey Burton, Scatman Crothers, Christopher Collins, Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Frank Welker, John Stephenson

Programme: The Larkins
Broadcast: Friday 19 September 1958, 22:15
Production/Channel: Associated Television, ITV
Writer: Fred Robinson
Music: Jackie Brown
Producer/Director: Bill Ward
Starring: Peggy Mount, David Kossoff, Ronan O'Casey, Frank Williams, Shaun O'Riordan, Ruth Trouncer

You can Subscribe, Like, Follow, Rate and Review on:



The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour is a free podcast from iPorle Media, which holds production copyright. Opinions and recollections expressed are not to be taken as fact. The title and credit music is by Doctor Velvet, with additional live accompaniments by Ozzy Bognops. Audio segments from television programmes are presented for review and informational purposes only under fair use, and no ownership of these is claimed or implied by this show. Email enquiries to PeggyMountPod@gmail.com