1 9 5 6 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
8 x 30 minute episodes
Son of Fred (September 1956) grew out of the five-part A Show Called Fred (May 1956) which in turn was a revival of sorts of The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d.
All three programmes featured the same cast and, despite an evident Goon Show influence (the Ying Tong Song is used over the main titles and harmonica player Max Geldray performs in musical interludes), the two series leaned more to being star vehicles for Peter Sellers, with Spike Milligan taking a supporting role. While Sellers enjoyed sole above-the-title billing, Milligan, with his scriptwriting credit, appeared below the title.
Milligan was bored with conventional TV boundaries and began to experiment with surreal concepts using minimal scenery, simple props and the use of animation to link between sketches.
Whether running the end of one sketch into the beginning of another, employing inappropriate back projection, or focusing attention onto the artifice of television production itself by placing camera crews or other personnel in shot, Milligan gave the shows an appearance of chaotic anarchy that made little sense – which was the point.
Director Dick Lester kept the live studio work commendably on track, sometimes even cutting sketches short when the shows were in danger of overrunning their slots.
However, it was the filmed inserts (mostly shot in the countryside) that he particularly enjoyed directing, leading to his Oscar-nominated short film The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film (1960), with its series of Fred-inspired dialogue-free sketches shot in a field.
But the format that would eventually become cult watching in the hands of the Monty Python team in the late 1960s, was a little premature for the audience in 1956 and Son of Fred was cancelled after eight shows aired of a planned 16.
It would be eight years before Spike Milligan would return to British TV with a full series.
Peter Sellers was contracted to do one more series for Associated-Rediffusion and returned in 1957 for Yes, It’s the Cathode-Ray Tube Show!
Peter Sellers
Spike Milligan
Valentine Dyall
Kenneth Connor
Graham Stark
Patti Lewis
Max Geldray
Johnny Vyvyan
Mario Fabrizi
