| Whack-O! | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Frank Muir Denis Norden |
| Starring | Jimmy Edwards Arthur Howard (series 1-7) Julian Orchard (series 8) Kenneth Cope Norman Bird John Stirling Peter Glaze Edwin Apps (series 1-7) Peter Greene (series 8) David Langford Keith Smith Brian Rawlinson Gordon Phillot (series 1-7) Harold Bennett (series 8) Frank Raymond Gary Warren (series 8) Greg Smith (series 8) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 60 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 |
| Original run | 4 October 1956 – 27 December 1960, 27 November 1971 - 26 February 1972 |
Whack-O! was a British sitcom TV series starring Jimmy Edwards. Broadcast 1956 to 1960 and 1971 to 1972.
The series (in black and white) ran on the BBC from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Edwards took the part of Professor James Edwards M.A., the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury public school (described in the opening titles as "for the sons of Gentlefolk"). The Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to Sergeant Bilko as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes.
The show was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden with the first six episodes being subtitled "Six of the Best". In 1959 a film was made based on the show, called Bottoms Up!. The show was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971-1972, slightly retitled Whacko!. The series ran for a total of 60 episodes, with 47 of B&W and 13 colour, of 30 minutes each. There were 3 special shorts. Whacko also appeared on the radio, on the Light programme with 45 episodes of 30 minutes lasting from May 1961 till July 1963.
The front of the historic house of Great Fosters was used in the opening title sequence of the TV comedy series behind the name of the fictional Chiselbury School[1].
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Most of the show's episodes are lost. Three of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist today; from the colour revival series of the Seventies, only one is known to have survived.[2]