''Black Cinderella Two Goes East'' (sometimes referred to as ''Black Cinderella II Goes East'') was a radio

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

broadcast on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

on 25 December 1978. The programme is notable for being one of only a few radio programmes (co)-produced by

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

while he was employed by the BBC as a radio producer, also for giving a significant role to a serving politician,

John Pardoe John Wentworth Pardoe (born 27 July 1934) is a British retired businessman and Liberal Party politician. He was Chairman of Sight and Sound Education Ltd from 1979 to 1989. Early life and education Pardoe was the son of Cuthbert B. Pardoe and ...

. The hour-long programme was written by

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts dur ...

and

Rory McGrath Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956) is a British comedian, television personality, and writer. He came to prominence in the comedy show '' Who Dares Wins'' and was a regular panellist on the game show '' They Think It's All Over'' for ma ...

and was co-produced by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd. The programme featured performances by: * Richard Baker, Narrator *

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies. Brooke-Taylor became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and beca ...

, Timothenia and the King *

Rob Buckman Robert Alexander Amiel Buckman (22 August 1948 – 9 October 2011) was a British doctor of medicine, comedian and author, and president of the Humanist Association of Canada. He first appeared in a Cambridge University Footlights Revue in 1968 ...

, Prince Charming *

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

, Fairy Godperson *

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

, Prince Disgusting *

Graeme Garden David Graeme Garden (born 18 February 1943) is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter. He is best known as a member of The Goodies and a regular panellist on '' I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life and educati ...

, Gardenia and Manny *

David Hatch Sir David Edwin Hatch, (7 May 1939 – 13 June 2007)
"''Just a Minute''" site w ...

, himself * Maggie Henderson, Cinderella *

Jo Kendall Josephine Mary Robinson, better known by her stage name Jo Kendall (17 February 1940 – 29 January 2022) was a British actress and writer. She was known for her work on the BBC radio comedy show ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'', which debut ...

, Wicked Stepmother and Princess Sally *

Richard Murdoch Richard Bernard Murdoch (6 April 1907 – 9 October 1990) was an English actor and entertainer. After early professional experience in the chorus in musical comedy, Murdoch quickly moved on to increasingly prominent roles in musical comedy and ...

, Baron Ofbeef *

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English actor, artist, birder, comedian, conservationist, musician, songwriter, television presenter and writer. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton ...

, himself, Town Crier and Talking Horse *

MP, Fairy-tale Liberal

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Douglas Adams had to follow the show's writers to Cambridge in order to get them to work on the script, and had to pick up the finished script from a messenger on a train. Adams also recorded a reluctant John Cleese at home. Cleese had vowed never to work for BBC Radio again, following a dispute over a sketch in the series '' John Cleese's Sketchbook''. Cleese's lines were then played from a tape recorder into the broadcast programme.

References

*'' Douglas Adams at the BBC'' - Three Compact Disc set *BBC Radio 7 ''Tribute to Douglas Adams'' - Transmitted on 2 March 2003 *'' Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion'' by Neil Gaiman {{UK-radio-show-stub BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio 2 programmes