It's Been Terrific

An Autobiography

by Ralph Reader

In a crowded, exhilarating life, Ralph Reader has achieved not one successful career - but three. He is the founder of the remarkable event - the Scout Gang Show - which was supported by the late King when he was Duke of York and made the first and only amateur contribution to a Royal Command Performance . . . It's Been Terrific reveals his intense understanding of young people and the story takes us from his childhood in Somerset, to New York, and back to the West End theatre, with scores of new anecdotes about celebrities. It's Been Terrific is the story of a modest and invigorating man who has joyfully made the best of his three worlds.

Mid Green boards / Gold inscribed spine

Jimmy Edwards - take it from me

An Autobiography

by Jimmy Edwards

Few men write an interim autobiography at the age of thirty-two. But then few men have done enough by that age to justify such an act. “Professor” Jimmy Edwards is one of them. A Master of Arts at Cambridge University, where he won a Choral Scholarship, distinguished war service with the R.A.F. (he won the D.F.C. for his gallantry in flying operations over Arnhem), starting his post-war professional career as leading comedian at the Windmill Theatre, teaming up with Joy Nichols first in Navy Mixture and then with her and Dick Bentley in the fabulous Take It From Here and finally being elected Rector of Aberdeen University where his inaugural address was justly praised by the whole Press - Jimmy Edwards has packed into a few short years successful events that would take most men a lifetime to achieve - if ever.

Navy Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine

Jimmy Edwards - take it from me

An Autobiography

by Jimmy Edwards

An autobiography written by Edwards at the age of 32 by which time he had obtained a Masters at Cambridge, distinguished war service in the RAF (he won the D.F.C. for his gallantry in flying operations over Arnhem) and was leading comedian at the Windmill Theatre.

Now in Take it From Me the reader can meet the real Jimmy Edwards. Whether he is nursing his trombone on the stage or addressing a learned audience, cracking gags on the radio or riding to hounds, the “Professor” is a unique character and his book reveals his personality.

This is the Gang Show

by Ralph Reader

Ralph Reader, in his exuberant style, tells the story of the growth of his own Gang Show, which is more than a mere entertainment. It has become over the years an international idea in show business, openly and lovingly imitated by small troops in remote villages as well as in big provincial theatres at home and overseas. To read it is, as it were, to absorb the secret of the Gang Show success, which is a matter, as Ralph Reader shows, as much of spirit as of technique-but the technique is there. The clever and cunning script-writing, the brilliant production flashes, and above all the ability to handle large groups of boys, never forgetting that they are all individuals. Everyone who has ever worn the famous red scarf of the Gang Show will want to own a copy and indeed everyone who has ever seen a Gang Show or worked back stage to make one a success.

Red boards / Gold inscribed spine

Filling The Gap

by Terry-Thomas

This is the autobiography of Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens), who was a jobbing cabaret artiste before wartime work in the Stars in Battledress troupe made his name, postwar he appeared in variety and on radio and TV as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, playing himself in early films such as Helter Skelter where he performed his famous Technical hitch sketch. He went on to star in classic comedies such as Private's Progress, I'm All Right Jack and Carlton-Browne of the FO, and developed his catchphrase, You're an absolute shower!.

Terry-Thomas Says -

I called it Filling The Gap because everything that has been printed about me is lies. I'm not suggesting the writers were lying, I was.
Terry-Thomas's interest in people comes through clearly in these pages. He says, I find them just as peculiar, as they find me.

Black boards / Gold inscribed spine and front board

Radio and Television Diary 1960

Containing portraits and biographical notes of many favourite stars

Compiled and produced by D. Harper & Co. Ltd

The following is all of what's written about Hancock (below his portrait), in this diary and listed under the month of December

The deadpan droll of radio and TV, Birmingham-born Tony Hancock (thirty-five) started in the Civil Service but stuck it only a few weeks. Got his first stage job at a camp show in Hampshire in 1941. The only laugh he got that time was at the end - he fell flat on his face. And ever since, Poor Old 'Ancock has been the little man battered by circumstances. Shows equal mastery of comedy situations on sound and TV. Highlights in his clowning career was the straight part of Hlestakov in the Gogol comedy The Government Inspector on B.B.C. TV in 1958. Married to an ex-model. Hobbies: golf, squash and cricket.

Red leatherette boards / With dust jacket

Television close-up - BBC tv

by British Broadcasting Corporation

On the 25 anniversary of the BBC Television Service we present this picture book of some of the leading programmes, events and people you see on BBC-tv.

People make television. Stars - like Tony Hancock who can captivate fifteen million viewers by appearing on the screen alone for twenty-five minutes. Actors - like Rupert Davies who accurately personifies Simenon's immortal detective of fiction, Chief Inspector Maigret. Personalities - like Cliff Michelmore, who five nights a week conducts the affairs of Tonight. Teams of performers - like the Black and White Minstrels who, from George Mitchell down to the call-boy, work together to make their show the best in the world...

My Crazy Life

An Autobiography

by Bud Flanagan

It's all here, the hardships, triumphs, happiness and prosperity in Bud Flanagan's wonderful full and entertaining life.

The first-hand story of an eventful life which led from dishwashing to hob-nobbing with royalty. Here is the record of Bud Flanagan's early music-hall days, his marriage, the birth of his hit-songs, and of the partners he had before he teamed up with Chesney Allen. Naturally, he talks about his years with the Crazy Gang, and there are dozens of stories to tell about its members and their behind-the-scenes fun as well as their dramas. He also chats about such great shows as Knights of Madness, Jokers Wild, and Ring Out The Bells, and about the Gang's relationship with the Royal Family. Things just happened to Bud Flanagan such as . . . well, perhaps you'd better read the book.

Steptoe and Son

by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson

Includes the following 6 scripts:

The Offer | Sixty-Five Today | The Stepmother | Holidays | The Economist | The Bath

Ray Galton and Alan Simpson met in hospital in 1947. Three years later they sent a script to Gale Pedrick, at that time B.B.C.'s first script editior, and have never looked back. Among their many successes have been scripts for Tony Hancock, Comedy Playhouse, and the inimitable Steptoes.

That Magnificent Air Race

by John Burke

Based on the film Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. Illustrated with 8 pages of photographs from the film.

This book is a tie-in from the film, which is currently available on video - click here and check it out!

Opportunity Knocked

by Hughie Green

Hughie Green's abilities as a television quiz organiser are known to millions, but just what sort of initiative and talent he possesses in other fields have until now remained untold. Behind the engaging smile of this energetic star is the acumen which gained him a pilot's licence as long ago as 1937 and the ability to bring Britain thousands of dollars in export deals.
By 1955 he had established himself as a radio and T.V. star with Opportunity Knocks and Double Your Money, but his legal action against the B.B.C. saw him reduced in funds, so it was back to flying for a while. Returning to T.V. he quickly climbed to the top of the entertainment world, obtaining the highest television contract ever awarded to a single performer on British T.V. and the largest-ever commercial advertising contract awarded in Britain. His export activities, involving the selling of aircraft components, have gained nearly half a million dollars for Britain.
But Opportunity Knocks is not merely a catalogue of Hughie Green's achievements; it is brimful with lively anecdote and the sort of background stories that really reveal what makes Hughie Green tick.

Lime Green boards / Gold inscribed spine

The Small Screen

A Liberal Studies Book

by Alan Hancock

The Small Screen:
Television reaches almost every home in Britain and is for most people the major source of news and entertainment. The author's aim in this lively book is to stimulate the viewer to watch critically and with an understanding of how television programmes are mounted. He also discusses the place of television in our society. Special features include the reproduction of actual camera scripts, suggestions for discussion and further activities, and four pages of half-tone plates.

The Author:
Alan Hancock produces schools and further-education programmes for the B.B.C., and has written several books on general studies.

The Wrong Box

by Robert Louis Stevenson & Lloyd Osbourne

The Wrong Box is black comedy at its best, with fast-paced action, outrageous characters, and a generous portion of unconventional British humour - guaranteed to keep you laughing right to the very last page.

This book is a tie-in from the film, which was released on video - click here to see the video...

Here is the News

by Richard Baker

In Here is the News, newsreader, interviewer and commentator Richard Baker gives us a vivid glimpse behind the ubiquitous screen into the creative chaos of Ally Pally. Partly it is a personal story about his own job and what it involves. But he also writes about the fascinating history of television news and its many pioneering techniques; of the drama and excitement when big stories break - the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Revolution, the deaths of Kennedy and Churchill, to name only a few; of the hazardous life of reporters and cameramen in the field; and also of the humour that comes almost unfailingly to break the tension, in and out of the studio.
Richard Baker also gives us informal sketches of some of Britain's most popular television personalities.
The public face of the BBC newsreader may seem imperturbably calm - but it is the high-pressure activity behind the screen which is the exciting, witty and appealing subject of Here is the News.

Grey boards / Turquoise inscribed spine

Julie Andrews

The English girl who took Hollywood by storm

by John Cottrell

The Fabulous Rise Of A Superstar - Today Julie Andrews reigns supreme, occupying a place in Hollywood's galaxy achieved by only a few of the very greatest stars. Her name in lights means millions. Her acting and singing have stirred the emotions of fans the world over.

But what lies behind her sensational climb to superstardom? And, behind the image on the screen and in the fan magazine interviews, who is the real Julie Andrews?

Here are the answers. Her beginnings as a child singer. The good times and the bad. The success and the heartbreak. The "perfect marriage" and the divorce which followed it. The friendships and the feuds. The many questions and the surprising facts about - Julie Andrews

Steptoe and Son

Editor David Grant

Four television scripts from the series by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Even as early as the 1970 return to television, Galton and Simpson's scripts were being addressed as much more than just episodes in another situation comedy. A book especially for schools was subsequently published in the autumn of 1971 by the Longman Group. This consisted of four scripts from the third series - The Bonds that Bind Us, The Lead Man Cometh, The Lodger and Homes Fit for Heroes - edited by David Grant, Head of the English Department at William Forster School in Tottenham, with a specially written introduction by Galton and Simpson themselves. A historically geared sequence of photographs on contemporary rag 'n' bone men in London, taken by Homer W. Sykes, blurred the line between fact and fiction even more. Although a study book for schools, it was, according to Dick Fiddy, writing in Primetime magazine in 1983, 'possibly the funniest textbook ever published'.

The above paragraph was taken from the latest Steptoe And Son book, published by BBC Worldwide in 2002, and describes this book perfectly..