''The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town'' was a 1971 episode of

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

's ''

Six Dates with Barker ''Six Dates with Barker'' is a series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by London Weekend Television early in 1971. Writers on the series included John Cleese and Spike ...

'' that was written by

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

and later adapted by

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

for ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'' sketch show. Set in Victorian

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, it featured a

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

–style madman who stalked the streets and killed or stunned his victims by blowing them a raspberry. The title was preceded by the words "Chopper Films Presents", a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of Hammer Films, and the writing of the serial was credited to "Spike Milligan and a gentleman". The "Gentleman" listed as the co-writer was Gerald Wiley, the pseudonym used by

as a comedy writer. The story was originally conceived as a TV special for

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...

, and Spike Milligan, to be produced by Peter Eton, their old ''

Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1 ...

'' producer. Plans for the project were cancelled due to Peter Sellers' Hollywood commitments. The Phantom finally saw the light of day in an episode of ''

'', broadcast on 15 January 1971, with Alan Curtis playing the role of the Phantom. Despite some sources claiming that Milligan provided the raspberry of the title, it was actually Barker's co-star from ''

Open All Hours ''Open All Hours'' is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronn ...

'',

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

, who was responsible for this sound effect - Jason confirmed this in his 2013 autobiography. One episode featured

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

as the diminutive yet domineering

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Barker as her browbeaten son "Edward, Prince of Wales", which was a parody of the recent TV series ''

Edward the Seventh ''Edward the Seventh'' is a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward VII, w ...

'' starring

Timothy West Timothy Lancaster West, CBE (born 20 October 1934) is an English actor and presenter. He has appeared frequently on both stage and television, including stints in both ''Coronation Street'' (as Eric Babbage) and ''EastEnders'' (as Stan Carte ...

. A stage version ran at the St. James Theatre in London from 30 October to 1 November 2015, with the premiere in aid of The Princes Trust. It was adapted by Lee Moone, with the addition of comedy songs. The format was as a live radio show, complete with sound effects. Each evening a different mystery guest was cast as the Phantom and could be heard offstage until the reveal in the closing scenes. The guests were

John Culshaw John Royds Culshaw, OBE (28 May 192427 April 1980) was a pioneering English classical record producer for Decca Records. He produced a wide range of music, but is best known for masterminding the first studio recording of Wagner's ''Der Rin ...

John Challis John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 19 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom ''Only ...

and

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

. The director was

Dirk Maggs David George Dirk Maggs (born St. Helier, Jersey, February 1955) is a British freelance writer and director. During his career as a Senior Producer in BBC Radio he made radio drama adopting a cinematic-sounding approach, combining filmic story c ...

References

External links

IMDb.com entry on ''The Phantom Raspberry Blower'' episode of ''Six dates with Barker''BBC 2's ''I Love 1971'' reference to David Jason providing the voice of The Phantom
1976 British television series debuts Works by Spike Milligan 1976 British television series endings Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on television Cultural depictions of Edward VII {{BBC-tv-prog-stub