Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh was the title of a comedy show broadcast from
1944 to 1954, firstly by
BBC radio and subsequently
Radio Luxembourg. It starred
Kenneth Horne and
Richard Murdoch as senior staff in a fictional
RAF station battling red tape and wartime inconvenience. Over the years the station turned to non-combatant operations, became a country club ("the proposed membership drive has been cancelled as it is far cheaper to give everyone a bus ticket") and finally a newspaper,
The Weekly Bind. The programme's title may have been inspired by the RAF station at Moreton-in-Marsh, along with the word "binding", period
RAF slang for whining or complaining. One of the most fondly remembered parts of the show was the closing theme tune, with topical lyrics each week referring to the plot of the episode, written and sung by members of the cast.
Other cast members included
Sam Costa,
Maurice Denham,
Maureen Riscoe,
Dora Bryan and
Nicholas Parsons.
Musical interludes were provided by
Stanley Black and the
Dance Orchestra, and songs from
Helen Hill. The cast was occasionally joined by special guests; a prominent example of this was the
Hollywood star Alan Ladd. Maurice Denham in particular played an important part in the programme, playing a multitude of roles of varying sex and age. These included Mr
Blake the sexton (the name a homage to the fictional detective
Sexton Blake), the local vicar, Mrs Dinsdale, young
Percy and others.
The show was broadcast on BBC radio from 1944 to
1950 before briefly being cancelled and transferring to Radio Luxembourg between 1950 and 1951, after which it returned to the BBC until its run ended in 1954. In
1970, two of its stars, Murdoch and
Costa, appeared on several episodes of
Frost on Sunday where they performed more comical lyrics to the theme tune. The show is sometimes said to have popularised the term "
Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" for correspondence to newspapers
- published: 29 Mar 2015
- views: 1394