|
|
|
|
|
Mrs Dale's DiaryMrs Dale's Diary was the first significant BBC radio soap opera. The first broadcast, on the Home Service, was on January 5 1948. The lead character, Mrs Dale, was played by Ellis Powell until she was replaced by Jessie Matthews in 1963. The series ran for 5,531 episodes, culminating with the engagement of Mrs Dale's daughter Gwen to a famous TV professor on April 25 1969. It was broadcast daily on weekdays. On news of its demise, Liberal party MP Peter Bessell attempted to introduce a reprieve for the series in Parliament. The basic storyline was that of a doctor's wife, Mrs Mary Dale, and the comings and goings of a fundamentally middle-class society. The Dales lived at Virginia Lodge in the fictional London suburb of Parkwood Hill. The Dales had one daughter, Gwen, and a son, Bob. Bob was married to Jenny, who had twins; Gwen was widowed after her husband David was killed in a water-skiing accident in the Bahamas where he was holidaying with his rich mistress. The family eventually relocated to the fictional town of Exton. The series was vigorously sent-up by a number of comedians, perhaps the most famous being the Nineteen Eighty-Five episode of The Goon Show in which mention is made of Mrs Dale's Real Diary: - Seagoon: I want to read it. What's it called?
- Bluebottle: It's called Mrs Dale's Real Diary.
- Seagoon: Mrs Dale's...?? Heavens -- would the BBC stop at nothing? So this was how they kept the masses from thinking.
- Bluebottle: Eheehee! Look at this page! Eheehee! It's a Three-D picture of Mrs Dale in her nightshirt being chased by Richard Dimblebee... Eheehee! Eheeheehee! Eheeheeoooooughhhh... pauses to wipe drool off chin.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|