''Hark at Barker'' is a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

and

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

, which starred

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 (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

. It was made for the ITV network by

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

. Each show began with a spoof news item read by Barker as the announcer. He would then introduce the main part of the programme, a lecture to be given by Lord Rustless (also Barker) on a different topic each week from his

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...

, Chrome Hall. Helped and hindered by Rustless' secretary (Mildred) Bates, his Butler Badger, his bad-tempered Cook, his incoherent gardener Dithers and (in Series 2) his buxom, near-mute maid Effie, these lectures invariably degenerated into farce, and were frequently interrupted by comic sketches on location or in the studio which also starred Barker in differing roles. Barker reprised the role of Lord Rustless in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series '' His Lordship Entertains'', and played very similar characters in '' Futtock's End'' and the '' Two Ronnies'' specials ''The Picnic'' and ''By the Sea''.

Writers

The Chrome Hall sequences were written by "Peter Caulfield" (a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of Alan Ayckbourn). During the first season, the sketches were written by Barker under his pseudonym "Gerald Wiley", generally with separate sketch contributions from one or both of the team of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. (Some of the Garden/Oddie sketches reprised material from ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that was developed from the 1964 University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Footlights revue, ''Cambridge Circus (comedy), Cambridge Circus ...

'', and another was a forerunner of ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940 – 12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their The Goodies (TV series), ...

'' episode "Bunfight at the OK Tea Room"). There were also other occasional sketch contributors during season 1, notably

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...

who contributed material to episode 3. For season 2, sketch material was written by Gerald Wiley and Bernard McKenna.

Regular cast

* Ronnie Barker - Announcer / Lord Rustless / Various sketch characters * Frank Gatliff - Badger *

Josephine Tewson Josephine Ann Tewson (26 February 1931 – 18 August 2022) was an English actress, known for her roles in British television sitcoms and comedies. She portrayed Edna Hawkins ("Mrs H") on '' Shelley'' (1979–1982), Jane Travers in '' Clarence' ...

- Mildred Bates *

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...

- Dithers / Various sketch characters * Mary Baxter - Cook * Moira Foot - Effie the maid (series 2 only) ** Sketch performers seen across multiple episodes included Jan Rossini and Jo Kendall. ** Amongst the many other performers who appeared in sketches, seen in one episode apiece were

Pauline Yates Pauline Lettice Yates (16 June 1929 – 21 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for playing Elizabeth Perrin in the BBC television sitcom ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin''. She also starred in ''Bachelor Father (British ...

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

Carol Cleveland Carol Cleveland (born Carol Gillian Frances on 13 January 1942) is an American-English actor, comedian, dancer, and model. She is particularly known for her work with Monty Python. Early life Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United ...

, and (in a wordless cameo)

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 ...

Episode guide

Series 1 (11 April 1969 – 30 May 1969) - ''Produced in black and white'' *1. "Meet Lord Rustless" 11 April 1969 *2. "Rustless And Women" 18 April 1969 *3. "Rustless In Pigtails" 25 April 1969 *4. "Rustless And A Banquet" 2 May 1969 *5. "Rustless And Murder" 9 May 1969 *6. "Rustless And Foreigners" 16 May 1969 *7. "Rustless And The Solar System" 23 May 1969 *8. "Rustless And Relics" 30 May 1969 Series 2 (10 July 1970 – 21 August 1970) - ''Produced in colour'' *1. "Rustless On Music" 10 July 1970 *2. "Rustless On Law" 17 July 1970 *3. "Rustless On Communications" 24 July 1970 *4. "Rustless On Cooking" 31 July 1970 *5. "Rustless On Medicine" 7 August 1970 *6. "Rustless On Do-It-Yourself" 14 August 1970 *7. "Rustless On Sport" 21 August 1970 ''All Star Comedy Carnival Christmas Special'' (25 December 1970) - ''Produced in black and white'' due to the ITV Colour Strike

Archive status and DVD release

All episodes exist on their original 2 inch

Quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

b&w and

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

colour videotapes bar "Rustless on Law" from series 2, which only exists as a 16 mm b/w telerecording. The series was released on Region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 2008 by Network DVD, and are also included in ''The Ronnie Barker Collection'' along with '' Six Dates With Barker''.

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0131168, title=Hark at Barker
Comedy Guide - ''Hark At Barker''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

Hark at Barker episode guideLost Shows on Hark at Barker
*Paul Lewis, 2008
Review of the Network DVD release of ''Hark at Barker''
DVDCompare 1969 British television series debuts 1970 British television series endings 1960s British television sketch shows 1970s British comedy television series British English-language television shows ITV sitcoms London Weekend Television shows Television series by ITV Studios