Educating Archie

<h2 id="overview">Overview</h2>
<p>The programme introduced comedians who later became well known, including <a href="/facts/Tony_Hancock/SuwXJ0GP">Tony Hancock</a> as Archie's tutor, who would greet Archie with a weary "Oh, it's you again" and always replied to any put-down from him with "flipping kids". Other "tutors" included <a href="/facts/Benny_Hill/aDXbz3vF">Benny Hill</a>, <a href="/facts/Harry_Secombe/eR5t7KwF">Harry Secombe</a>, <a href="/facts/Dick_Emery/60fYYlCK">Dick Emery</a>, <a href="/facts/Bernard_Bresslaw/QhwcdLtN">Bernard Bresslaw</a>, <a href="/facts/Hattie_Jacques/EldWd36t">Hattie Jacques</a>, and <a href="/facts/Bruce_Forsyth/VrEYAbKY">Bruce Forsyth</a> – together with a young <a href="/facts/Julie_Andrews/2JFaSA4q">Julie Andrews</a> as Archie's girlfriend. Later, <a href="/facts/Beryl_Reid/gfNLwvDl">Beryl Reid</a> took this role, playing the <a href="/facts/St_Trinian%2527s_School/lfPtHQmG">St Trinian's School</a>-esque Monica with such <a href="/facts/Catchphrase/N54QWsYr">catchphrases</a> as "jolly hockey sticks" and "as the art mistress said to the gardener". Reid also played young <a href="/facts/Brummie_dialect/Ubzw5b8Y">Brummie</a> girl Marleen, whose catchphrase was "Good evening, each".
</p><p><a href="/facts/Max_Bygraves/l6q2n4Kb">Max Bygraves</a> later played Archie's tutor, with the catchphrases "I've arrived, and to prove it, I'm here" and "That's a good idea ... son!". The duo recorded two songs from the show on the <a href="/facts/His_Master%2527s_Voice_(British_record_label)/oHLcfTVh">His Master's Voice</a> label: "The Dummy Song" and "Lovely Dollar Lolly".
</p><p><i>Archie's the Boy</i> was a spin-off series that aired from November 1954 to March 1955. The series ran for twenty half-hour episodes broadcast on the <a href="/facts/BBC_Light_Programme/I263D3QR">BBC Light Programme</a>. It starred <a href="/facts/Peter_Brough/zqTe6SVb">Peter Brough</a>, <a href="/facts/Beryl_Reid/gfNLwvDl">Beryl Reid</a>, <a href="/facts/Benny_Hill/aDXbz3vF">Benny Hill</a>, and <a href="/facts/Graham_Stark/bC0Unvqe">Graham Stark</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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<h2 id="itv-sitcom-adaptation">ITV sitcom adaptation</h2>
<p>In 1958, <i>Educating Archie</i> was adapted as a television sitcom produced by the <a href="/facts/ITV_(TV_network)/pIlD3oza">ITV</a> company <a href="/facts/Associated-Rediffusion/c4bWae5M">Associated-Rediffusion</a> and broadcast under the same name. This version, which was broadcast in 1958–9, featured the ventriloquist's dummy Archie Andrews taking on a life of its own, talking and walking all over its creator <a href="/facts/Peter_Brough/zqTe6SVb">Peter Brough</a>, aided and abetted by a housekeeper played by <a href="/facts/Irene_Handl/Guux8E4J">Irene Handl</a>, a non-paying lodger played by <a href="/facts/Freddie_Sales/aDqs8p3l">Freddie Sales</a> (later <a href="/facts/Ray_Barrett/Jb1t707J">Ray Barrett</a>), and a jack-of-all-trades played by <a href="/facts/Dick_Emery/60fYYlCK">Dick Emery</a>. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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<p>Notes
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<p>Bibliography
</p>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Asa_Briggs/ykTpN2fD">Briggs, Asa</a> (1979), <i>The history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume IV: Sound & Vision</i>, Oxford University Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-19-212967-8</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fsb9w"><i>Educating Archie</i></a> at <a href="/facts/BBC_Online/BVorSKrg">BBC Online</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060524040730/https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/e/educatingarchie_1299001017.shtml">BBC Comedy Guide article</a> (Archived copy)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/educating_archie/"><i>Educating Archie</i></a> at <a href="/facts/British_Comedy_Guide/o5LcCKt6">British Comedy Guide</a>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>The Sunday Post: Ventriloquism. Archived 4 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine Andrew Martin, BBC Genome Blog, 20 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/796be208-0b9a-4111-b249-13d630cb017e" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/796be208-0b9a-4111-b249-13d630cb017e</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Briggs (1979), p. 714 - Briggs, Asa (1979), The history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume IV: Sound & Vision, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-212967-8 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Lavalie, John. Archie's the Boy. EpGuides. 21 Jul 2005. 29 Jul 2005 <https://web.archive.org/web/20071012001624/http://epguides.com/ArchiestheBoy/%3E.%7B%7Bbroken <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071012001624/http://epguides.com/ArchiestheBoy/%3E.%7B%7Bbroken" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20071012001624/http://epguides.com/ArchiestheBoy/%3E.%7B%7Bbroken</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>IMDB: Educating Archie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051271/" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051271/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Educating Archie