'Hello, my darlings'.
And with that greeting, would kick-off 'Charlie Drake'.
Charlie Drake was a small, chubby baby-faced little man with a shock of blonde curly hair. He had an entirely matching voice that was soft, and female-pitched. He rather resembled a child's doll that had grown too big, become animated, and wandered out of - or more likely been thrown out of - the nursery.
His show began with a suitably childish theme tune in which a line of half a dozen pictures of his face, sang the notes to the melody in a 'wa-wa-wa' delivery, at the same time rocking back and forth. Believe me; it was quite as silly as it sounds.
The show itself was a series of brief comedy set-pieces interspaced with guest spots. It passed for light entertainment back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. In many of the set-pieces, he was extremely roughly handled by someone driven to rage. The show was broadcast live and either in this series or the later 'Charlie Drake Show', he was thrown through a supposedly first-floor window. I do not know how far he fell, but the stunt knocked him unconscious. This was announced the following day. At the time, the thrower continued looking out of the window for an unreasonably long time, then the TV screen just went blank. After a minute or so, there was an announcement about programme difficulties, and in the meantime here is some music. No mention was made of poor Charlie.
I cannot imagine that these programs have survived. Even if they have they would hardly be worth anyone's while to watch - except the one were he got brained.
And with that greeting, would kick-off 'Charlie Drake'.
Charlie Drake was a small, chubby baby-faced little man with a shock of blonde curly hair. He had an entirely matching voice that was soft, and female-pitched. He rather resembled a child's doll that had grown too big, become animated, and wandered out of - or more likely been thrown out of - the nursery.
His show began with a suitably childish theme tune in which a line of half a dozen pictures of his face, sang the notes to the melody in a 'wa-wa-wa' delivery, at the same time rocking back and forth. Believe me; it was quite as silly as it sounds.
The show itself was a series of brief comedy set-pieces interspaced with guest spots. It passed for light entertainment back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. In many of the set-pieces, he was extremely roughly handled by someone driven to rage. The show was broadcast live and either in this series or the later 'Charlie Drake Show', he was thrown through a supposedly first-floor window. I do not know how far he fell, but the stunt knocked him unconscious. This was announced the following day. At the time, the thrower continued looking out of the window for an unreasonably long time, then the TV screen just went blank. After a minute or so, there was an announcement about programme difficulties, and in the meantime here is some music. No mention was made of poor Charlie.
I cannot imagine that these programs have survived. Even if they have they would hardly be worth anyone's while to watch - except the one were he got brained.
