Murgatroyd and Winterbottom

The comedy act Mr Murgatroyd and Mr Winterbottom ("Two minds with not a single thought") was a popular feature of BBC radio in the 1930s and 1940s. It was written and performed by Ronald Frankau (Murgatroyd) and Tommy Handley.[1]

Handley's biographer Barry Took describes the act as "a sophisticated crosstalk of quickfire word and idea association"; the combination of the Old Etonian Frankau's patrician tones as Murgatroyd and Handley's fast-talking Scouse patter as Winterbottom became one of the BBC's most popular comedy features.[2] Took quotes a typical example of Murgatroyd and Winterbottom's rapid cross-talk:

Murgatroyd: How are you, Mr Winterbottom?

Winterbottom: I feel a bit funny.

Murgatroyd: Only a bit? Oh, I feel frightfully funny.

Winterbottom: Well, it ought to be a good act tonight.

Murgatroyd: It won't be appreciated by the audience in the studio.

Winterbottom: Why not?

Murgatroyd: Well, look at them – there's a fellow there eating a bit of cheese.

Winterbottom: Yes, he got in on the strength of that. They certainly don't look an intelligent lot.

Murgatroyd: No, obviously friends of the producer; but we must think of the listener.

Winterbottom: I'm thinking of her. There won't half be a row when I get home.

Murgatroyd: Why?

Winterbottom: I threw a shoe at her.

Murgatroyd: It isn't June yet.

Winterbottom: What's that got to do with it?

Murgatroyd: Ne'er cast a clout till May is out. Yes, Mr Winterbottom, we must always study the listener – the Mr and Mrs Everymans

Winterbottom: The Jones and Smiths.

Murgatroyd: The Robinsons and Browns.

Winterbottom: The Gilbert and Sullivans.

Murgatroyd: The Tristan and Isoldes.

Winterbottom: The Hengists and Horsas.

Murgatroyd: The Moodys and Sankeys.

Winterbottom: And the Darbys and Joans.

Murgatroyd: Cut out the Joans and let's think of the Derby. What have you backed?

Winterbottom: My car into a shop window. Joan a car?

Murgatroyd: Cut out the Joan and let's think of the Derby again.[3]

Murgatroyd and Winterbottom became so popular that the performers' wives – Jean Allistone and Renee Roberts – were invited to make several broadcasts of their own as "Mrs Murgatroyd and Mrs Winterbottom".[1] Frankau and Handley made more than 50 broadcasts as Murgatroyd and Winterbottom between 1935 and 1948.[1]

References

1. "Murgatroyd and Winterbottom", BBC Genome. Retrieved 12 June 2020
2. Took, pp. 31–32
3. Quoted in Took, pp. 31–32

Sources

• Took, Barry (1998). Laughter in the Air: An Informal History of British Radio Comedy. London: Robson Books. ISBN 978-0-903895-78-1.