Barry’s Forgotten Musical Masterpieces (series 5)
Barry Humphries returns to BBC Radio 2 with a new 4 part series of his popular vintage music show. He once again hopes to fill the nation’s ears with delight.
“One of the best made, most thoughtful and entertaining shows on radio, made by independents Strauss House. Humphries makes the airwaves glow”
Series 5 of ‘Barry’s Forgotten Musical Masterpieces’ will be broadcast on Sunday nights on BBC Radio 2. Starting on 14th March 2021 (and continuing on 21st, 28th March & 4th April), it’s packed full with culturally thrilling and thought provoking songs from the first half of the 20th century.
Barry Humphries transports listeners back to a time of royal scandals, global pandemics, panic buying, racial tension, hung parliaments and European hostility. He says, “thank goodness we live in less turbulent times.”
The abdication crisis of 1936 – when Edward VIII ran away from the throne to marry Wallis Warfield (a.k.a. Mrs Simpson) – provides the spine of this series.
Featured artists include:
Lord Caresser (‘Edward VIII’), Marion Harris (‘Jazz Baby’), Isham Jones (‘Life Begins When You’re in Love’), Van Phillips (‘Goodbye to All That’), Elsie Carlise (‘Little White Lies’), Jack Hylton (‘Why Doesn’t Someone Tell Me These Things?’), Comedian Harmonists (‘The Way with Every Sailor’) & Noel Coward (‘Forbidden Fruit’)…
Barry says:
“I’m delighted to be back on the wireless with my new four-part series for BBC Radio 2. Of all the things I do, this is my favourite! I’m currently yacht-sitting for my friend Dame Edna. I’m moored just off the coast of Skye, where I’ve rigged up an alternative Radio Caroline. Instead of broadcasting the sound of the future, Radio Phyllis brings listeners reassuring songs from the past. I’ve been granted the use of Dame Edna’s yacht because she’s in South America with her new flame, who she’s helping with his complex family issues.”