Hello, Cheeky!

Hello Cheeky is a comedy series starring Barry Cryer, John Junkin and Tim Brooke-Taylor, broadcast on BBC Radio 2 between 1973 and 1979, and also broadcast on television - on the ITV network - in 1976. The format was short comedy sketches, often as short as one line, with occasional longer sketches.

The BBC radio show was broadcast weekly in a half-hour timeslot, usually on Saturday or Sunday lunchtime. Its three stars were normally the only performers who appeared, although the show's musical director, Denis King, was often given a small speaking role in one or two of the shorter items.

The radio series featured music by the Denis King Trio, and was produced initially by David Hatch, then by Richard Willcox, and thereafter by Bob Oliver Rogers.

The series ran on BBC Radio 2 from 1973 to 1979. There were also three Christmas specials: Hello Cheeky, Hello Christmas in December 1973,Hello Christmas in December 1974, and the pantomime-style Cheeky Whittington and his Magic Ballpoint in 1976.

Initially, the scripts were written by all three of the show's stars. Later in the run, as Tim Brooke-Taylor's time became increasingly absorbed by his television work on The Goodies, the scripts were written solely by Barry Cryer and John Junkin.

During the first two series, in 1973-74, it was ordinarily produced by David Hatch, but occasional editions were produced by Richard Willcox. From series 3, in 1975, it was produced by Bob Oliver Rogers (with David Hatch returning briefly to produce some editions of the final series, aired in 1979).

The initial experiment of broadcasting it at lunchtime on Saturdays lasted for one series only. From series 2 it was transmitted at lunchtime on Sundays, a more natural home for comedy shows, which had traditionally occupied that spot in the station's schedules since the heyday of the old BBC Light Programme in the early 1960s.

To describe it as a sketch show, while technically correct, would also be misleading. It was typically more a succession of quick-fire gags and one-liners, rather than actual sketches. So many of the items were one-line, that co-writer Barry Cryer was moved to comment publicly that "a minute was a long sketch on Hello Cheeky". One consequence of this was that the show lacked anything resembling a regular structure.

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