There two excellent sites which will tell you all about Jimmy Clitheroe. The first I have some input into so I am biased towards
-http://www.theclitheroekid.org.uk/
the second which is excellent by the way
-http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/clitheroe/
Now for the last mmmmteen years I have been trying to relive my childhood through Radio Comedy. My two favourite shows are The Navy Lark and The Clitheroe Kid. As a result of this strange addiction I have worked with several people to hunt down some of the missing episodes of The Clitheroe Kid. This year has see a natural halt to the work and the episodes have been made public globally free of charge. We have worked hard at improving the existing stock and many episodes have been rerecorded and mastered at much higher quality. Some are blooming awful! but collectors argue over the right to hear the only known copy of an episode even if its poor or over-recorded. Fortunately there are only a few of these! We have chosen the best audible copies for this set which has not always been the highest encodes – audio recorders note.
All the episodes are available on the links below. All can be downloaded as and when you want. Suggestion: if you want to ‘grab’ the lot you might like to invest in a small premium account as it will make the download process simpler and faster.
It is not essential though.
We would like to find the remaining episodes and continue to upgrade the poor ones. If you can help please contact us by emailing
Here are the show links
http://www.4shared.com/dir/14946973/96ee603a/TCKid_1959-1961.html
http://www.4shared.com/dir/14964965/b65f6fa5/TCKid_1962.html
1963
http://www.4shared.com/dir/14971409/ebd5ced9/TCKid_1963.html
1964
http://www.4shared.com/dir/14979913/df77ad3a/TCKid_1964.html
1965
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15001048/ccef15fb/TCKid_1965.html
1966
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15006144/594c0b5e/TCKid_1966.html
1967
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15011730/b55a343b/TCKid_1967.html
1968
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15016340/60c53299/TCKid_1968.html
1969
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15035864/31be876d/TCKid_1969.html
1970
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15050112/20d38a82/TCKid_1970.html
1971
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15071186/3400c1d7/TCKid_1971.html
1972
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15074600/272b085d/TCKid_1972.html
Extras
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15079338/f67cc99a/TCKid_Extras.html
Please leave a comment if any links fail and I’ll do my best to get them running again asap.
Tags: Old Time Radio, The Clitheroe Kid
November 1, 2009 at 4:41 pm |
The last couple of minutes is missing from
this:- TCKid – 1961.04.24 s04e10 – The wreck of the soppy sue.mp3
November 1, 2009 at 10:32 pm |
Thanks Max we were aware that on both the two copies we had Jims final epilogue was missing. The second copy someone had also added the music too. Hopefully one day we will be offered a more complete episode and I am sure you will find a few others with faults on too. One of the big problems of restoration was to deal with the variety of recording speeds and Jimmy’s voice often started off as such a high treble it would give you a headache!
Hope you enjoy the others and hopefully we will do another round Britian newspaper hunt in the coming year to see what other episodes may come to light – I’d like to find the TV series too!!
November 4, 2009 at 1:04 am |
The ends are missing from “The Not So Welcome Guest” and “The Keyhole Kid” as well – and there may be more. If the ends are missing it might be an idea to note this on the file notes to save frustration!
I also recorded a lot of BBC radio comedy shows (and other things) starting in the early 1970s. At the time people did not realise that thee BBC would destroy the masters! Good quality domestic tape recorders with low economical tape speed options were available from the 1950s and much may still therefore exist, but those who recorded it are doubtless now dying off and may not realise that the originals no longer exist. The BBC’s “Treasure Hunt” is long gone and was badly organised anyway – amongst other things, their telephone line was connected to their sports department for months in error and they only wanted those things which were important, but did not know what might be important!
Amongst other things, I am a recording engineer and notice many faults on the recordings which could be cleaned up. I have no time to do this, but I am sure the BBC could.
November 4, 2009 at 1:12 am |
P.S. I remember the TV series from when I was a lad. It was a disappointment. It was set on stage rather than as a sitcom which seemed a mistake at the time. Also, it did not really work because some of the actors, and Jimmy, looked too old. On radio, of course, it does not matter. Jimmy Clitheroe had the best comic timing of anyone I have ever heard – far better than Hancock in my view.
November 4, 2009 at 3:32 pm |
Max, sympathise with your comments on episodes still needing cleaning but we were being hounded to issue after 3 years by many of the people who had shared material with us. I also had a wife diagnosed with Terminal cancer which has cut down my spare time radically. As to adding qual comments to eps one has to ask where does one draw a line? We endeavoured to share the best that we could find but will be more than happy to recieve improvements.
The BBC contacted me about one year only of the material and were told what was available. That was many months ago and nothing further was heard from them. Clearly they are not desperate to hunt for further missing material and I understand that their archives already has more than sufficient material in need of their tender care. One day someone will clue in to the fact that radio is in fact an incredible part of our Island’s History and I hope that is sooner rather than later.
As to Jim on TV. I can remember being somewhat aghast at how old Jimmy Clitheroe was on screen. Totally ruined my radio image of him but despite that and 50 years on I’d still like to see one again!
My local art shop manager was telling me how he and his wife were eating a meal in Thailand in the middle of the jungle in a small village when over their heads on an old fashioned speaker the shrill tones of the Clitheroe Kid started to play………He’s all there with his Bamboo Shoots!
November 5, 2009 at 2:06 am |
You may have misunderstood. The only suggestion I made concerning comments for listeners was pointing out where the ends are missing.
Your comments about the BBC are not unexpected. Whilst they often have to clear copyright to rebroadcast there is clearly some embarrassment and defensiveness at the damage their predecessors did in destroying so much material. Whilst some BBC7 presenters admit that poorer quality recordings are rescued from the public, or overseas transcription discs, others cover up the source falsely blaming the poor quality on the age.
Are there any other series you are trying to locate apart from Clitheroe?