A British Radio Comedy Christmas Part Four Quiz

Answer: King Street Junior

'King Street Junior' was created by Jim Eldridge and ran for ten series between 1985 and 1998. It tells the story of the staff and students at a small junior school in an ethnically diverse area as they deal with the triumphs and tragedies of daily school life.

Despite being a very low-key programme, 'King Street Junior' proved very popular with Radio 4 listeners. It returned for four series between 2002 and 2005 when it was renamed 'King Street Junior Revisited'. The episode mentioned in the question is 'Is There A Father Christmas' and was broadcast in 1992 as part of the seventh series.

This episode featured a guest appearance from children's television presenter Michaela Strachan.

Answer: Brian Appleton's History of Rock 'n' Roll

'Brian Appleton's History of Rock 'n' Roll' was written and performed by Graham Fellows, who is perhaps best known for creating Sheffield singer and songwriter John Shuttleworth, and ran for one series and a Christmas special on Radio 4. Each episode of the normal series ran for fifteen minutes and described Brian Appleton's important roll in the history of rock 'n' roll and the ways in which his contribution has been cruelly overlooked, especially by the many pop stars who supposedly owe their success to him.

The episode referred to in the question is 'Brian Appleton's Christmas Single' and is twice as long as all of the other episodes. In this episode Brian performs a handy rap to teach us about the history of the Christmas number 1, reveals the hidden dark side of Cliff Richard, describes how he has still not been given credit for his pivotal role in the composition of Slade's Christmas hit 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and attempts to decipher the coded lyrics to 'A Spaceman Came Travelling' by Chris de Burgh. Brian ends the show with his own, somewhat bitter, take on Dickie Valentine's Classic festive ditty 'Christmas Alphabet'.

Answer: On Baby Street

'On Baby Street' ran for three series and charted the lives of three first-time mums from discovering they are pregnant, to giving birth and then dealing with the trials and tribulations of parenting. The three women at the centre of the show are Geraldine, a forty-year-old professional woman who discovers that she is pregnant shortly before she finds out her husband is having an affair and throws him out of the house. Shona and her husband Ian have been trying for a baby for years and, at the beginning of the series, Shona discovers that she is finally pregnant, unfortunately the tiny flat in which she and Ian live is far from suitable for their growing family.

The youngest of the new mums is Yvette, a teenager who is horrified to discover that she is pregnant by her married boyfriend.

The episode referred to in the question was part of series two and takes place a few months after the babies arrived.

Answer: Start/Stop

'Start/Stop' has run for three series between 2013 and 2016 and deals with the daily lives and conflicts of three couples. Barney and Cathy have been married for a long time and both seem dissatisfied with their marriage, Barney is constantly fantasising about Alice and Cathy is very aware of this.

Despite having frequent arguments, Fiona and Evan actually have a reasonably good relationship and still seem to love each other, despite being very aware of each other's faults. David is old enough to be Alice's father and he has realised that she has lost interest in him, his clinginess and neediness simultaneously repel her and make her feel too guilty to leave him.

The show's title comes from the fact that the action will stop while one of the characters delivers an aside to the audience about their thoughts on the situation before we go back to the scene.

The episode referred to in the question is 'Christmas', which was first broadcast as part of series two in 2014.

Answer: On the Hour

'On the Hour' ran for two series between 1991 and 1992. The news reader, Christopher Morris, as played by the comedy legend of the same name, was a wonderful parody of serious news anchors, delivering absurd news headlines in an utterly serious tone. 'On the Hour' briefly moved to television where it became 'The Day Today' and Chris Morris would later work on the spoof documentary series 'Brass Eye' which was something of a spiritual successor to 'On the Hour'.

The show also featured the first appearances of sports reporter Alan Partridge who would go on to helm his own spoof chat show, star in a sitcom about his life after being sacked from the BBC and be the subject of a hit movie.

Answer: Deep Trouble

'Deep Trouble' ran for two series between 2005 and 2007 and was set in the, then future, year 2012. The show was written by Jim Field Smith and Ben Willbond who played the captain and weapons officer respectively. Other members of the crew were played by Katherine Jakeways, Katy Brand, Rufus Jones and Alice Lowe. Given the expensive and powerful equipment they were charged with, the crew of the HMS Goliath seemed hopelessly unqualified and out of their depth leading to a number of amusing and potentially catastrophic situations.

Answer: I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' was a spin-off of the popular 1960s sketch show 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again', with Graeme Garden and Tim-Brooke Taylor appearing in both. The show was first broadcast in 1972 and has remained a fixture of the Radio 4 comedy schedule ever since.

The wonderful Humphrey Lyttelton hosted the show from its inception in 1972 until his death in 2007, after which the role was briefly shared between Stephen Fry, Jack Dee and Rob Brydon before Dee was given the coveted chairman's job permanently. for most of its first twenty years the show had an unchanging panel of Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Willie Rushdon.

After Rushdon's death in 1996 it was decided not to replace him with a permanent panellist so the fourth seat has placed host to a number of guests including Stephen Fry, Linda Smith, Jeremy Hardy, John Finnemore, Susan Calman, Sandi Toksvig and a selection of others.

The show involves a number of word and musical games as well as regular features such as 'sound charades' and the much-loved 'Mornington Crescent'.

The complicated scoring system is overseen by the eternally taciturn Samantha, who is the constant subject of outrageous double entendres from the chairman. Musical accompaniment is supplied by the long-suffering Colin Sell. Thanks to its incredible cast and the presenting skills of Jack Dee, 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' consistently remains one of the very funniest shows on radio. The episode referred to in the question is 2003's Sony Award-winning specially extended episode 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Christmas Carol'.

Answer: Genius

'Genius' ran for three series and a Christmas special between 2005 and 2008. In each episode members of the public would suggest an idea or an invention to the guest of the week who then has to question them on their concept and decide if it is a genius idea or not.

At the end of the programme the audience has to decide which of the inventions which have been declared 'genius' is the best and will win the coveted trophy. Some of the winning ideas have included helium-filled bubble wrap, miniature elephants as pets, parking meters that doubled as fruit machines, Lego prisons and socks being sold in trios rather than pairs.

Some of the show's celebrity guests were Germaine Greer, John Fortune, Stewart Lee, Richard Madeley, Johnny Vegas and Paul Daniels.

Answer: Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel

'Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel' ran for three series between 1990 and 1992 and starred Michael Roberts and Frank Lazarus who brilliantly performed the roles of Waldorf T. Flywheel and his assistant Emmanuel Ravelli, who were played by Groucho and Chico Marx respectively in the original American radio series. Roberts and Lazarus were both professional Marx Brothers impersonators and the cast also included Lorelei King and Spike Milligan.

The show was written by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman and was first broadcast on American radio in 1932.

It was not considered a great success and ran for only one season. Most of the episodes are lost and the scripts were considered to have been misplaced likewise, until a researcher came across them in the Library of Congress in 1988. Mark Brisenden adapted the scripts for a modern audience, often fusing ideas from several of the original episodes and Marx Brothers films together to form the basis of the remakes. Each episode involved a musical number performed by Roberts or Lazarus.

The show referred to in the question is ' Miracle on Eatwell Street' and was the last episode of the show to be broadcast on Radio 4.

Answer: Quando, Quando, Quando

'Quando, Quando, Quando' ran for one series in 1999. It was written by Rainer Hersch and Mark Maier who both also appeared in the show along with Catherine Tate and Stephen Greif. The Quando brothers are a hairdressing sensation and their salon attracts hoards of customers desperate to have their tresses styled by one of the Quandos.

The show takes its name from the pop standard 'Quando, Quando, Quando', which has been performed by numerous singers including Pat Boon and Engelbert Humperdinck. The episode referred to in the question is 'The Christmas Rush', which was the last episode of the series.