''Whack-O!'' is a British sitcom TV series starring

Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor of stage, radio, television and film, known for his roles as Pa Glum in '' Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ' ...

. It was written by

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

and

Denis Norden Denis Mostyn Norden (born Denis Moss Cohen; 6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 t ...

. The series (in black and white) ran on 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 ...

from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Edwards took the part of Professor James Edwards, M.A., the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury public school (described in the opening titles as "for the sons of Gentlefolk"). The Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to

Sergeant Bilko ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes wer ...

as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best". In 1959 a film was made based on the show, called '' Bottoms Up!''. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971–72, retitled ''Whacko!''. In all, it ran for a total of 60 episodes, with 47 of black-and-white and 13 colour, of 30 minutes each. There were three special shorts. There was also a radio version with

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...

starring as herself in the second episode. Many of these radio episodes were recovered by a BBC archivist from a listener's collection of tapes in 2012. The front of the historic house of

Great Fosters Great Fosters is a 16th-century mansion which originally lay within Windsor Great Park and is still adjacent to the town of Egham, Surrey, England. It is a Grade I listed building, close to Heathrow and the M25 London orbital motorway. It has ...

near

Egham Egham ( ) is a town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna Carta was ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

was used in the opening title sequence of the TV comedy series, behind the name of the fictional Chiselbury School.

Cast

* Professor James Edwards played by

* Mr Oliver Pettigrew played by

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

in 1956–60 and

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London) was an English comedy actor. He appeared in four ''Carry On'' films: '' Don't Lose Your Head'' (1966), '' Follow That Camel'' (196 ...

in 1971 * Mr F.D. Price Whittaker played by

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (14 April 1931 – 11 September 2024) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He was best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street,'' Ray Hilton in '' ...

* Mr S.A. Smallpiece played by

Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of ''The Wi ...

* Lumley (a pupil) played by John Stirling * Mr R.P. Tench played by

Peter Glaze William George Peter Glaze (17 September 1917 – 20 February 1983) was an English comedian born in London. He appeared in '' Crackerjack'' with Eamonn Andrews and Leslie Crowther in the 1960s, and with Michael Aspel, Don Maclean and Be ...

* Mr Halliforth played by

Edwin Apps Edwin Apps (14 May 1931 – 16 April 2021) was an English television actor and writer. He appeared in many British and French television series and films, which include ''Whack-O!'', ''I Thank a Fool'', ''Danger Man'', '' The Avengers'', ''S ...

in 1956–60 and Peter Greene in 1971 * Parker played by

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and Literary criticism, critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time ...

* Mr Forbes played by Keith Smith * Mr Proctor played by

Brian Rawlinson Brian Rawlinson (12 November 1931 – 23 November 2000)

* Mr Dinwiddie played by Gordon Phillot in 1956–60 and

Harold Bennett Harold Frank Bennett (17 November 1898 – 11 September 1981) was an English actor, active in stage, television and film best remembered for being in sitcoms written and produced by David Croft, having played 'Young Mr. Grace' in the 1970s Bri ...

in 1971 * Mr Cope-Willoughby played by Frank Raymond * Matron played by Barbra Archer,

Liz Fraser Elizabeth Joan Winch (14 August 1930 – 6 September 2018), known professionally as Liz Fraser, was a British film actress, best known for being cast in provocative comedy roles. Early life Fraser was born in Southwark, London. Her year of b ...

and by

Charlotte Mitchell Charlotte Mitchell (born Edna Winifred Mitchell; 23 July 1926 – 2 May 2012) was an English actress and poet. Biography In the 1950s she provided lyrics, sketches, and occasionally acted in revues on London's West End. She was especially ...

* Taplow played by Gary Warren in 1971 * Potter played by Greg Smith in 1971 *Proctor played by John Clegg *

Clodagh Rodgers Clodagh Rodgers (5 March 1947 – 18 April 2025) was a Northern Irish singer, best known for her hit singles including " Come Back and Shake Me", "Goodnight Midnight" and "Jack in the Box" and albums including '' You Are My Music'', ''It's Diff ...

appeared as herself during the colour series in 1972 *

Max Bygraves Walter William "Max" Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012) was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Roya ...

appeared as himself in one episode in 1960 *

appeared in one episode in 1959

Surviving episodes

Most of the show's episodes are missing, presumed lost. Six of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist today. Only 6 episodes of the B/W version exist in the BBC TV archives, with 3 (out of the 6 remaining B&W episodes) having been rediscovered in December 2016. *Series 3 episode 5 (21 October 1958) *Series 5 episode 4 (1 December 1959) *Series 6 episode 4 (3 June 1960) *Series 7 episode 1 (22 November 1960) *Series 7 episode 5 (20 December 1960)

Theme of school corporal punishment

TV comedy historians have written that the central theme of ''Whack-O!'' and ''Bottoms Up!'' was corporal punishment and specifically the caning of boys’ backsides. This however was largely absent from the revived series in 1971, as by that time corporal punishment was becoming less acceptable in Britain and was eventually banned in state and many independent schools in 1986. ''Whack-O!'' tended to glorify a ritualised form of punishment that had been an accepted practice in British schools, but by modern standards the popular humourizing of corporal punishment is an anathema, and it may seem somewhat perverted in the way it was featured in the series. The comedy of the series was built around whether boys would be caught and punished for minor misdemeanours, and the size and effectiveness of canes and the building of caning devices. In one episode a device and long cane was made so six boys could be punished together. In another a device was made so the teacher carrying out the caning did not see the boy, and it turned out that all the backside seen to be caned were that of deputy headmaster Pettigrew (when played by Arthur Howard). A feature of Edwards carrying out punishment was the clear enjoyment he exhibited. Both Jimmy Edwards and Arthur Howard were gay men and Anthony Slide, in his biography of Edwards ''Wake Up at the Back There! It’s Jimmy Edwards'' (BearManor, 2018), has written: "I know I’m a little perverse, but I cannot find it anything but fascinating and decidedly weird that two gay men were starring in a BBC series involving the use of a cane on the bottoms of young boys." The BBC sums up this aspect of ''Whack-O!'' on its official website as: "Watching the series now is a little painful in one respect – we're too sensitive to find canings amusing – but it's right on the money in other ways, mainly because finding over-privileged kids vile hasn't gone out of fashion."

Details of radio adaptation

BBC Radio adapted the TV scripts into 45 thirty-minute shows, mostly with the original cast, of which 42 recordings survive. There were three series which originally ran on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

from 23 May 1961 until 22 July 1963. They have been repeated on BBC Radio Extra since 2015 and the last airing was in 2020.

Audio Download and Streaming

Dates of Airings

References

External links