Big Noise, The

1 9 6 4 (UK)
6 x 25 minute episodes

This Friday-night BBC comedy series was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden and starred Bob Monkhouse as DJ Bob Mason in a cleverly studied caricature of a top pop disc jockey.

Mason had been a failed actor and was working on the wet fish counter at the Co-op when he was “discovered” by failure-prone agent Willie Lyman (Warren Mitchell) and was now the #1 disc jockey, hosting a weekly TV pop show called The Big Beat Show which the top pop artists were desperate to get on.

But Bob was an adult in a teenager’s world and worried constantly that he would be found out by the pop stars he fawned over (although he didn’t actually like the music he promoted).

Episodes followed him on his working rounds – in the office, in recording studios, in secret hideouts where he talked to pop stars, and in the studio where he hosted his show.

Norman Rossington co-starred as Bob’s long-suffering manager, Kim Hunter (pictured).

Guest stars included Valerie Singleton, Irene Handl, June Whitfield, Dilys Laye, Warren Mitchell, Sheila Steafel, David Jacobs and Jimmy Savile.

Bob Mason
Bob Monkhouse
Kim Hunter
Norman Rossington
Willie Lyman
Warren Mitchell
Pop Group
The Untamed Four
Shag McGraw
Roy Hudd
Gwyneth
Janette Lynn