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More, The Monologues

CELEBRATING THE TRADITION OF THE BRITISH MUSIC HALL

About the show

The cameo performances were originally designed as a 'vignette', a short programme in its own right.  The short 'filler' programmes in our original concept were designed to be watched more than once, which is why each item will have a running time of between 2mins and 5 mins so that it could be repeated, as one might do with a favourite sound track or song.  

Comic & Dramatic Monologues

Extraordinary performances ​unseen for 40 years
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Barry Cryer . . .

  • Mandalay by Billy Bennett (1929)
  • The Voyage of the Saucy Jane by Val L Regan & Herberte Jordan (1941)
  • My Word! You Do Look Queer by Bob Weston & Bert Lee (1923)
Barry: Born 1935, died 2022.

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Maureen Lipman . . .

  • The Committee by Joyce Grenfell
  • Maud by Joyce Grenfell & Julian Orchard (1951)
  • The Girl at the Station by Dorothy Scull & Alfred H. West (1911)

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Julie Walters . . .

  • The Charge of the Tight Brigade by Billy Bennett (1926)
  • Old Sam by Stanley Holloway & Wolesey Charles (1929)
  • Nell by Billy Bennett (1926)

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Cilla Black . . .

  • The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog by Billy Bennett (1926)
  • ​Walter, Walter by Will E. Haines, Jimmy Harper, Noel Forrester (1928)
  • Heaven Will Protect an Honest Girl by R.P. Weston, Bert Lee, Harris Weston (1933)
Cilla: Born 1943, died 2015.

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Leonard Rossiter . . .

  • Devil May Care by Charles H Taylor & Cuthbert Clarke (1905)
  • Three Ha'pence a Foot by Marriott Edgar & Wolseley Charles (1932)
Leonard: Born 1926, died 1984.

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Richard O'Callaghan . . .

  • Answered by Ella Wheeler Wilcox & George Hay (1914)
  • The Village Constable by Albert Chevalier & Alfred H West (1909)
  • Tommy Out East by Alan Sanders & Henry Cheel (1932)

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Alec McCowen . . .

  • My Old Dutch by Albert Chevalier (1911)
  • The Future Mrs Hawkins by Albert Chevalier (1898)
  • Maud (supporting role to Maureen Lipman)
Alec: Born 1925, died 2017.

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Ronald Lacey . . .

  • My Fiddle is My Sweetheart by G H Chirgwin
  • The Street Watchman's Story by Charles J Winker (1910)
  • Orange Blossom by Sax Rohmer (1921)
Ron: Born 1935, died 1991.

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Diane Langton . . .

  • Brahn Boots by Bob Weston & Bert Lee (1940)
  • The Grand Old Girls of Britain by David Jenkins (1944)
  • When I'm Cross by Man Davis (1934)
Dianne: Born 1947, died 2025.

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Harold Innocent . . .

  • The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God by Milton Hayes & Cuthbert Clarke (1911)
  • If You'll Pardon My Saying So by Warren Hastings & Herberte Jordan (1941)
  • A Fallen Star by Albert Chevalier & Alfred H West (1898)
Harold: Born 1933, died 1993.

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The legendary Arthur Askey . . .

  • The Villain Still Pursued Her (Filthy Ferdinand) by Robert Rutherford and Frank Wilcock (recorded 1976)
  • The Bee Song by Kenneth Blain (1938)
Arthur: Born 1900, died 1982.

The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog

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Billy Bennett
When the Monologues were originally commissioned by Channel 4 they wanted each monologue to be used mostly when the transmission controllers needed to synchronise schedules coming up to the hour.  

​These were produced at a time when the latest idea (in 1983) was for other programming to be of variable lengths.  But, this new philosophy did not last long and the more standard programme length resumed which viewing audiences have been more familiar with all along.  

So, they were edited into a​ mini-series titled The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog (in itself a parody of another monologue called The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God by Billy Bennett).
The original thinking behind the show was that the monologues would be used rather like listening to music today using a 'shuffle' play-list, i.e. by random selection.  Designed by Bright Thoughts to be entertaining and fun, to be appreciated especially by those who enjoy more spoken word, and who get more from each piece the more times they hear it. 

To set the scene, Barry Cryer is our master of ceremonies at a dinner hosted at a posh London address.  People at the dinner are our household-name artists, famous actors who each get up to perform a monologue to their contemporaries (as their audience) as if one might do after a good feast when the after-dinner speeches are made, or as one might have enjoyed in the Victorian and Edwardian era when gathered around the piano in the parlour.

​It seems today a number of our Celebrity Cast List 'dinner guests' are very sadly no longer with us.  We have some very rare footage captured in these shows, some wonderful actors from 1982/83 and performances which have never been seen by most of today's audiences.
Neil Anthony, Producer

Clips from the shows >
The late Arthur Askey, a star well before the war, knew that he was ill when he went to record his famous Bee Song for THE GREEN TIE ON THE LITTLE YELLOW DOG (Channel 4, 8.15 p.m.). But, says co-producer Bryan Izzard, he kept it a secret: 'We were all amazed when he went into hospital couple of days later,' he said.  'All that stuff you read about Arthur being jolly and happy is absolutely true. He was also a perfectionist. He worked hard to make sure that he was first-class.'  The show turned out to be his final television performance.  He died last November 1982. - Daily Express, 23 July 1983

Meet the guests ...

Three generations of comedic talent
Barry Cryer
Julie Walters
Maureen Lipman
Cilla Black
Leonard Rossiter
Richard O'Callaghan
Maureen Lipman
Alec McCowen
Julie Walters
Harold Innocent
Diane Langton
Ronald Lacey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey and Barry Cryer
Kenny Clayton - pianist

all the rage when music hall was everything and no one had heard of Logie Baird or Yogi Bear.  Comic, tragic, jingoistic, moralistic or filled with pathos, each was a gem, splendid done." - Evening News, July 1983
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