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Arthur Askey Arthur was born in Liverpool in 1900 and joined a touring concert party in
1924. Two years later, and for the next four years he became one of Fred
Wilton's Entertainers at the Oval, Cliftonville. He started to make a name for
himself in 1930 when he appeared with Powis Pinder's 'Sunshine'. In 1937 he
compered 'The Coronation Revue' with Sir George Robey and in 1938 he became a
household name when he starred with Richard Murdock in radio's 'Bandwaggon'. The
first show was broadcast on 5th January 1938 and the show ran for three series,
until 2nd December 1939. Askey and Murdoch provided the comedy which soon came
to dominate the show. Many sketches featured them sharing a top floor flat in
Broadcasting House along with Lewis the goat and several pigeons. Bandwaggon was
the first radio show to popularise catchphrases, which were repeated until they
caught on with the listeners. Arthur's catchphrases included 'Big hearted Arthur
that's me', 'Hello playmates', 'Ah happy days' and 'Ay thang yew'. There was
also a film version of Bandwaggon released in 1939 by Gainsborough. The plot
involved Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch running a pirate TV station in a
ghostly castle and rounding up a gang of spies. A special edition of 'Bandwaggon'
called 'Jubilee Show' to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the BBC was broadcast
on 13th November 1947.
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