Falkirk historian looks back to when the wireless was king of entertainment

All through the years I have enjoyed, news, music, drama and comedy while getting on with other things but, like many of my generation, it is those iconic programmes of the late 40s and 50s that come back to mind.

Each Saturday evening the family would gather round to enjoy the McFlannels, a kind of radio version of the Broons.

Then there was the unmissable Dick Barton Special Agent solving crimes aided by his sidekicks Snowy and Jock and, if space travel was your thing how, about half an hour a week on a Journey into Space with Captain ‘Jet’ Morgan and his pal Lemmy.

The comedy was very different back then and few today can remember Tommy Handley who was a huge star in the ITMA show after the War, the letters standing for ‘it’s that man again’.

Then there was Life with the Lyons with Molly Weir as the Scottish cook Aggie, the Billy Cotton Band Show, Music While you Work, Listen with Mother and the strangely named Much Binding in the Marsh.

If long running drama was your thing then you could follow Mrs Dale’s Diary, the daily life of a doctor’s wife (“I’m worried about Jim”) or tune into a new one called The Archers. I remember thinking at the time ‘‘this will never last’’.

One favourite star who attracted tens of thousands of listeners was a bluff Yorkshireman called Wilfred Pickles who criss-crossed the country inviting local people to ‘Have a Go’.

He would interview a few locals, find out about their lives and ask them a few simple quiz questions for which they always earned small cash prizes.

Musical support came from Violet Carson on the piano and, of course she went on to greater things as Ena Sharples in Coronation Street.

I have a personal interest in the show because when Wilfred came to Falkirk Town Hall on September 19, 1950, one of his ‘victims’ was my father, Jimmy Scott. I suppose the public thought that participants were selected at random but in fact my Dad was the man responsible for the stage lighting at the town hall and he was nabbed by the producer Barney Colehan and invited to ‘have a go’.

The following Saturday The Falkirk Herald gave a full report of what happened when he was brought forward to the mic.

Dad was asked by Wilfred what his main aim in life was to which he replied “to bring up my four children to be good, respected citizens” – 70 years on and I’ll let you decide if he succeeded or not!

He also said that the thing he hated most in life was “gossiping women” which caused great hilarity among the mostly female audience.

He claimed later that it came straight of the top of his head and had no idea why he said it.

He got a bit of grief for that one I can tell you. Nowadays it would probably mean a brick through your window.

He answered his questions and came home with two or three pounds as Wilfred used his celebrated catch phrase “Give him the money Barney”.

When television first appeared in Scotland in 1952 most people thought that it would destroy radio as it did variety theatre but the good old wireless survived and after a few years began to grow again into the massive service of today.

And now, thanks to YouTube, we can listen again to those radio stars of our youth.