Not in Front of the Children

The Complete BBC Radio Series: Based on the Successful TV Series

By: Richard Waring

Narrated by: Francis Matthews, Full Cast, Wendy Craig

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Wendy Craig stars in the complete Series 1 and 2 of the popular 1960s sitcom, as heard on BBC radio.

With three young kids and a headstrong husband, frazzled housewife Jennifer Corner has her hands full. Everyday life can be chaotic and full of challenges - but no matter what crises the Corners encounter, Jen keeps the family together.

In these 26 episodes, a shaky treehouse gets hubby Henry in trouble with the law, the couple's plans for a week free of the children go awry and Jen's money-making plans run into red tape - and worse.... It's all change for the Corners as son Robin wins a scholarship to boarding school, there's a new baby on the way and Henry has a job offer - but can they bear to leave London and move to the countryside?

This hilarious family comedy ran for four series on BBC TV between 1967 and 1970, winning Wendy Craig a BAFTA Award for Best Actress and paving the way for her sitcom success in And Mother Makes Three and Butterflies. The show was so successful that creator Richard Waring adapted his own scripts for this radio version, now fully restored from the original reel-to-reel tapes.

Due to the age of these vintage recordings, the sound quality may vary.

Production credits

Written and adapted by Richard Waring

Produced by Trafford Whitelock

Music by Ronnie Hazlehurst

First broadcast 30th September-23rd December 1969, BBC Radio 4 (Series 1), 4th October-27th December 1970, BBC Radio 2 (Series 2)

Cast

Jennifer Corner - Wendy Craig

Henry Corner - Francis Matthews

Trudi - Roberta Tovey

Robin - Hugo Keith-Johnston

Amanda - Jill Riddick

Mother - Fanny Rowe

Mary - Charlotte Mitchell

With Madeleine Howell, Olwen Griffiths, David Tate, Geoffrey Frederick, Elizabeth Morgan, Tenniel Evans, Edward de Souza, Felix Felton, Noel Howlett, Alexander John, Gwenda Wilson, Bunny May, David Dodimead, Jeffrey Segal, Karen Newport, Christopher Reynalds, Helen Lindsay, Anna Dawson, Michael Kilgarriff, Aline Waites, Frederick Treves, Richard Waring, Carole Lorimer, Rosalind Adams, Ross Hutchinson, Barbara Mitchell, Rex Graham, James Thomason, John Gabriel, Kevin Brennan, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Benny Lee, Garard Green, Margot Boyd, Nan Kenway, Norman Mitchell, Jordan Rogers, Madi Hedd, Rosalyn Slater, Nigel Lambert, June Liversidge, Wallas Eaton, Bettina Dickson, Sean Barrett, Eva Haddon and Martin Friend

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Old but still good

Starring Wendy Craig of BBC TV Butterflies fame this old fashioned married bliss series can still make me laugh. Clearly showing my age too

Old dated tired and sadly no longer funny

Oh dear. Sometimes it is much better not to revisit memory lane and old sitcoms from your youth. Certainly in this case it is. I remember this on TV and enjoyed it as a child. As a very grown up now adult, it's now very sadly just not funny anymore. Wendy Craig is just incredibly annoying (and I found the same thing with Butterflies too so it is her weak mewling fluffball characters that I now struggle with not the fellow actors) and Francis Matthews is excellent as an actor but wasted in this. The show is very dated but the jokes and funny lines on the whole just are not funny. The cast is old and tired as well. No this one should have been left in the archives.