Talk:The Navy Lark

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Leslie Phillips[edit]

  • The series made household names of Leslie Phillips, Jon Pertwee and Richard Caldicot.
Wasn't Leslie Phillips already quite a big name through his film work? --jmb 18:05, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


Leslie Philips is not the onlt last surviving cast member..... Judy Cornwell is still alive

As is Heather Chasen, who had a far bigger role in the series.165.225.80.225 (talk) 14:56, 10 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

AntiVandalBot vs 62.41.129.24[edit]

As far as I can make out 62.41.129.24's edits look legit so I re-instated them - anyone care to check the accuracy of those edits? --AGoon 01:39, 5 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Floggle toggle[edit]

Was "floggle toggle" (a placeholder name similar to thingamajig and widget) invented for the series or was it a real Royal Navy term? Dbromage 05:46, 15 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Intelligence[edit]

Am I right in thinking that this was the series where someone would occasionally have to phone the Naval Intelligence section? The phone would be answered by someone who announced themselves as "Intelligence", but the actor managed to convey, in that single word, a complete lack of the slightest spark of any intelligence at all. Anyone know who played the part of Intelligence (was it Ronnie Barker maybe)? It was brilliantly done, and the most concise joke in the show. Bluewave 10:24, 18 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it was this seriesGeorgeryall (talk) 23:15, 23 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Ronnie Barker played the part until he left the series, then Laurie Wyman took the role.165.225.80.225 (talk) 13:23, 12 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Commander Bell[edit]

The entry for Jon Pertwee claims he voiced Commander Bell. Is there a citation for that? Because either I have THE worst tin ear of all time, or Commander Bell was Ronnie Barker (and I'm not talking about vague memories of impressions formed years ago; The Navy Lark is my permanent and sole listening every time I go to the gym). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.33.128 (talk) 22:23, 23 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No-one's replied, but IMDb (http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0054985/otherworks) and the wikipedia entry for The Embassy Lark both agree with me, so I'm going to take a punt and make an edit.

I thought it was Pertwee too but may be wrong. It was one of a number of voices belonging to Admirals and others in the navy but seemingly they were all in the last stages of dementia as they babbled endlessly. In "The Slogan Contest" episode, Leslie Philips plays a representative of NATO, speaks like a Nazi and keeps shouting "Sieg Heil!". I don't know if these characters were supposed to be funny (they were anything but) or if this was someone airing their personal views on the Navy hierarchy in general. (84.236.152.71 (talk) 18:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC))[reply]
Commander Bell was indeed Ronnie Barker.165.225.80.225 (talk) 14:57, 10 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
For example, Ronnie Barker is credited as Commander Bell at the end of "A Deliberate Bashing".165.225.80.225 (talk) 17:54, 16 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Euphonium[edit]

I'm curious, was there a character who was known to play or at least own a euphonium? Fatso rings a bell there, but I cannot be sure. Just curious really. --Hellahulla 09:20, 28 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fatso had a harmonium which CPO Pertwee burnt. This may be what you're thinking of. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.91.77 (talk) 15:21, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:The-Navy-Lark-CD.jpg[edit]

Image:The-Navy-Lark-CD.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 02:51, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WRNS Re-union Special[edit]

Due to some confusion with the date "600511" I contacted the Association of Wrens to confirm if the special broadcast was the 11th May or the 5th of November. I received a scan of a book page which states that the Queen Mother was in attendance on this date, and quotes a letter which was read out to the assembled crowd, written by HM Queen Elizabeth II:

"Please convey to the three thousand two hundred and fifty Wrens and ex-Wrens assembled at their Re-union in the Royal Festival Hall my warm thanks for their kind message of loyal greetings which I have received with much pleasure."

It is dated 5th November 1960. Hope this helps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.91.77 (talk) 15:31, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]


The Court Circular in The Times (the UK national daily paper) of 7th November (available online via any good library) confirms that it was 5th November 1960, not May 11th 1960. 92.3.196.179 (talk) 18:43, 11 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What does this mean[edit]

Sorry if I am being dense but what is this sentence trying to say? "However, mainly due to public pressure, the production team of Alastair Scott Johnston and Lawrie Wyman managed to revert the show back to nautical capers, and episode ten of The TV Lark revealed that although CPO Pertwee had arranged to flog almost the entirety of HMS Troutbridge." - what comes next? 21st CENTURY GREENSTUFF 11:28, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The rest of the ship's crew realised that the move into TV was a Pertwee scam. He'd arranged to get them moved so he could sell the contents of the ship.165.225.80.225 (talk) 14:59, 10 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

TV Lark[edit]

BBC4extra is currently (feb 2012) broadcasting some TV Lark episodes but the episode titles don't match up

  • Opening Night is obviously Ep1
  • The Prestige Show is Ep2??
  • Z Ambulances is Ep5
  • House of Commons is Ep3
  • Back to Portsmouth is Ep4
  • On Safari is Ep6
 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.181.153.43 (talk) 12:29, 10 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Rebroadcasting again on R4.ex, October 2015. It is an awful series and one wonders how the public even managed to stand ten episodes. (80.31.144.16 (talk) 15:04, 16 October 2015 (UTC))[reply]
Times change... Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:37, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Terminology[edit]

The article used programme both for individual episodes and the show itself. It also used series to refer to individual seasons and the show itself. Not being British, I did the best I could and rewrote it to use programme to refer exclusively to the whole show, series for seasons, and episode for episodes. --Kitsunegami (talk) 07:04, 26 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Live audience[edit]

The phrase 'The revised show was recorded by them in front of a live audience' occurs in the section Sequels and adaptations. What does it mean? What other kind of audience would a radio programme be recorded in front of? 31.52.254.188 (talk) 17:14, 4 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It is a silly expression, isn’t it, but it was once in regular use. The tautology was a kind of emphasis, I guess, that emerged when pre-recording became possible and indeed prevalent, and was perhaps intended to assure the viewer that any response they heard from the audience was real and spontaneous (“live”) not dubbed. 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:50E9:FD7F:A555:704B (talk) 11:10, 17 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Laurie Wyman[edit]

It's surprising that Mr Wyman, as writer of such a successful series, does not have an article, but it seems very difficult to find any information about him - no interviews, biographies, or obituaries that I can find. A bit of original research suggests the possibility that he was born Lawrence Caulfield Herring in Brentford on 20 December 1923, and died in Lambeth on 25 March 1982. Without any supporting published evidence, that can't be included in this (or any) article - but, it may help guide future researchers. Or, it might be completely wrong (but I doubt it). Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:31, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Lieutenant Queeg[edit]

On the main page the voice for Lieutenant Queeg is given as Chic Murray and although it does sound like him it was in fact the brilliant Ronnie Barker who played many parts in The Navy Lark Bozz1954 (talk) 17:59, 19 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Ronnie Barker played Lt Queeg in the style and voice of Chic Murray. On one occasion Barker wasn't available but the BEEB managed to get the actual Chic Murray to play the part! 31.125.62.19 (talk) 18:55, 15 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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