Charley’s Aunt

Summary

1938 BBC studio production of Brandon Thomas’ perennially popular farce Charley’s Aunt.

Theatre play

Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas [more information]

Play synopsis

Charley and Jack love Amy and Kitty. Charley thinks he may miss his opportunity to ask for Amy’s hand, but he discovers that his aunt, from Brazil is coming for lunch. The plan is that the aunt can chaperone while the boys ask the girls to marry them. But Donna Lucia, the aunt, is late, and their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley shows up in drag. He is convinced to pretend to be Donna Lucia, and an afternoon of mistaken identity ensues. Eventually, the real Donna Lucia steps in and graciously puts an end to the madness. All the lovers end up together and happy.

Production history

First performed at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds in February 1892.

Date of transmission

Saturday 24 December 1938

Time

3.00-4.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Desmond Davis

Playwright

Brandon Thomas

Cast

Holland Bennett	Charles Wykeham
Ena Dorne	Kitty Verdun
Sydney King	Jack Chesney
Helen Perry	Amy Spettigue
Harold Scott	Brassett
William Stephens	Stephen Spettigue
A. R. Whatmore	Col. Sir Francis Chesney
John Wood	Lord Fancourt Babberley

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 9.00pm on Wednesday 28 December 1938.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; farce; universities, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting Programmes: Christmas in Europe (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Times, 24 December 1938, p. 5

Title

Radio Times, 16 December 1938 (Magazine)

Linking notes

brief article by ‘The Scanner’, p. 17

Title

Television: Youth Movement (Magazine review)

Author/creator

Peter Purbeck (Author)

Reference

The Listener, 5 January 1939, p. 47

Linking notes

brief mention in review