Complete & Unadulterated
The Naughty Early Years - Set 2

Navigation: 1 2 3 Next Page

Volume 2
(Episodes 5-8)

Benny Quickie

Jump to an Episode: 5 6 7 8

This is the second collection of programs from the Benny Hill Show that A&E have released. This time you'll see ten programs spread over three DVD's, as opposed to the 11 that covered the years 1969-1971 in the first set. These ten programs are from 1972-1974 and I have made the reviews fairly short for each program with simple descriptions and comments for each sketch. You'll find the reviews divided into three pages, one for each Volume of this set. I've also taken the liberty to mention a few highlights at the beginning of each review. Look for technical details and closing comments at the end of page three, as well as a review of the bonus features. You'll find the original Episode number in brackets at the beginning of each review. Enjoy!

Photo Gallery (Requires Javascript)

Pop-Up Gallery | Non Pop-Up Gallery

In order to accomodate those who do not have Pop-Up Support in their browsers, there are two links for each gallery. The Photos in the gallery are 500 pixels wide by 357 pixels high, so they are much larger than before.

Episode 5 (16)

(Feb. 22, 1973)

Color [50:42]

Benny Quickie: Dearst Heart Take I
Benny's Ballad: Carol
Fred Scuttle: Security Guard
Programme Planner
Benny Quickies: Television Secrets
The Orange Blossom Sound: What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round
Chow-Mein: At Home With Henry McGee II
Jackie Wright's Holiday
Benny's Duet: Lover Come Back to Me
Closing: Scottish Adultery(not in the menu)

Cast: Benny Hill, Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Pat Ashton, The Ladybirds, The Orange Blossom Sound, Jack Wright, Helli Louise, Bella Emberg, Connie Georges, Walter Goodman, Sue Bond, Cheryl Gilham, Laraine Humphreys, Sui-Lin, Chai-Lee, Su-Yong.

Produced and Directed by: Keith Beckett

Highlights: Chow-Mein: At Home With Henry McGee II; Jackie Wright's Holiday; Benny's Duet: Lover Come Back to Me.

We begin this show with Benny Quickie: Dearst Heart Take I with Benny as a "trendy" young man dressed in the noisiest black leathers. We also see Henry McGee (with Pat Ashton) again after a long time. The sexy young girl is Helli Louise in her only Benny Hill Show appearance. In Benny's Ballad: Carol Benny sings of a girl he met in Wichitaw. Benny is dressed in his American suit showing once again his fascination with American Culture. Lots of great jokes in this one and The Ladybirds are here too along with The Orange Blossom Sound with musical accompaniment.

Fred Scuttle: Security Guard features Henry McGee in what would be the very first interview McGee did with Scuttle. Jackie Wright provides more laughs as his idiot assistant. Pat Ashton also appears for a demonstration and we also see a fun film clip of Scuttle's team in action thwarting robbers all to uptempo banjo playing. More of Benny's great sight gags throughout. Programme Planner features Benny as a TV program manager talking with William Shakespeare on the phone about how difficult it would be to put his plays onto TV.

Benny Quickies: Television Secrets features some of the funniest gags Benny ever did I think. Including a running gag with Pat Ashton and Benny as "The Crimson Shadow"; Benny as a black singer who warbles so much that everything in the night club starts breaking; Benny in drag for a chocolate bar ad (which is also a running gag) and Benny as a dancing Liberace. There's also the brilliant "Cinema" with Benny spoofing Hollywood Reporters. Benny is a scream with the bald head, fake smile and his southern drawl talking about Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Benny is impersonating British TV and Movie Critic Clive James. Hysterical! Benny also shows off for Laraine Humphrys (who along with Cheryl Gilham, Sue Bond and Helli Louise are disrobing in the Jackie Wright Holiday Sketch), in a Hai Karate ad with the narration of Henry McGee adding just the right touch.

We get a refreshing musical interlude with The Orange Blossom Sound: What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round and this is one of the best musical numbers by a special guest we've seen in a while in these DVD's. Benny gets Bob Todd into the act of portraying an hysterical china man in Chow-Mein: At Home With Henry McGee II, proving just how funny he can be. Henry and the guys have a lot of fun with this one, especially when all of the beautiful oriental women come out for Chow Mein. The three women were actually orientals, including Chai Lee, Sui Lin and Sue Yong. Helli Louise was wearing a black wig. Just watch Bob Todd's face as the girls massage him!

Jackie Wright's Holiday features little Jackie getting a chance for a holiday that turns out to be one disaster afer another. Sue Bond also shows up so keep an eye out for her. Jackie is so cheap he wants to pay for the cheaper tour, even though its only one pound difference. He gets the worst holiday on earth, while people who paid for better plane rides and accommodations really live it up. Look for the sexy girls on the plane in their bunny costumes. In what could be the briefest nudity on TV in human history, just watch when the doors to the changing stalls fall. Don't blink.

Pat Ashton joins Benny for a romantic musical number in Benny's Duet: Lover Come Back to Me with several hysterical sight gags that all require just the right comic timing. A real gem to end this program. The show ends with Closing Sequence: Scottish Adultery(not in the menu) with Benny fooling around with Henry McGee's wife (Helli Louise) and getting caught. The usual chase ensues. There may be some jokes in this program that Benny repeated in later years, but some gags do bear repeating. All in all, a hilarious program.

Episode 6 (17)

(Mar. 29, 1973)

Color [48:34]

Benny Quickie: Beanz Meanz Beanz
Benny Accompanies Lee Gibson: Mad About You
Confrontation: Mervyn Cruddy Speaks Out
Reflection Ballet
Poetry Corner
The Deputy
Lee Gibson and John John Keefe: Happy Together
American Generation Gap
Benny Quickies: Advertising Bloopers
The Dalton Abbott Railway Porter Choir
Closing: Dept. Store to The Deputy Set (not in the menu)

Cast: Benny Hill, Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Lee Gibson, John John Keefe, Trudi Van Doorn, The Ladybirds, Jack Wright, Jim Tyson, Bill Weston, Cheryl Gilham, Laraine Humphries, Chai-Lee, Sue Bond, Bella Emberg, Andee Cromarty.

Produced and Directed by: Peter Frazer-Jones

Highlights: The Deputy; Poetry Corner; The Dalton Abbott Railway Porter Choir.

Benny Quickie: Beanz Meanz Beanz opens this episode with Benny dressed as a school kid doing a beans commercial. Next, Benny accompanies the sexy Lee Gibson in Benny Accompanies Lee Gibson: Mad About You with various instruments. I love when he hauls out his guitar and attempts to play it behind his back. Benny always enjoyed being the fool when in the presence of a beautiful woman. Lots of fun. I think there seems to be a problem with the way this disc was authored. The end of this chapter has a section with a poetry reading by Bob Todd which appears to be from the "Poetry Corner" chapter. This may also have been the way the show aired anyways and A&E decided it was not worth adding a chapter for. At any rate, it does not take from one's enjoyment of this program. Bob Todd is great as the drunk poet.

Then we're treated to Confrontation: Mervyn Cruddy Speaks Out with Benny as an investigative journalist taking questions from a panel, including Bob Todd, Henry McGee and Trudi Van Doorn posing probing questions to him about his achievements, but he turns out to be a "stool pigeon". Reflection Ballet features Benny dressed in a tutu and the reflection inside of a large mirror to a real ballerina. Next is one of my favorite memories of seeing Benny when I was younger, Poetry Corner. Henry McGee starts with a poem about a woman looking for her husbands attentions, but it is Benny's poem, "They said that it could not be done" that steals the show.

Benny puts on his cowboy hat in The Deputy and plays a law man of the old south that all of the law breakers in the small town are trying to finish off. They try to kill him several different ways, but it usually ends in disaster. Just watch how the Indian gets it with an axe! The Indian was played by Bill Weston, another noted British Stuntman. He also appeared in the first two shows of Set 3. Watch how Bob Todd gets shot up in the duel... complete with Slow-Motion replay! With the special photography Benny used in segments like this, the sound effects, the fiddlin' and finger-pickin' western music used throughout, this is probably one of the most brilliant sketches Benny had done up to that time.

Lee Gibson and John John Keefe: Happy Together is a duet that features the hit song made famous by "The Turtles". Its actually a pretty good number with a rather unusual set. American Generation Gap is a great little monologue with Benny portraying the typical poor class american man. This character would resurface later in the epic "Lean On My Crutch" which is one of my favorite Benny sketches. Benny Quickies: Advertising Bloopers starts with an old man on a TV set giving a speech of some kind with lots of hilarious sound effects; a runner with Fairly Liquid Dish Detergent; a runner which features Benny as part of a dance act; a group of German soldiers singing and toasting; a promo for the British Army; a commercial for shampoo and a Fairly Liquid ad with Benny as a little girl bothering her mother while she's doing the dishes.

The Dalton Abbott Railway Porter Choir is another full cast number with Benny as a choir leader. The choir includes The Ladybirds, Bob Todd, Henry McGee, Roger Finch, Jackie Wright, Trudi Van Doorn and even Sue Bond. Jackie sings "Baby Lover" and Benny leads everyone in "Gather In the Mushrooms". This chapter also includes a segment from a department store with Benny accidentally walking in on a lady in a change room and getting chased around the shopping center. This leads into the last chapter Closing Sequence: Dept. Store to The Deputy Set (not in the menu) with Benny being chased. A fun end to this great program.

Episode 7 (18)

(Dec. 5, 1973)

Color [50:16]

Benny Quickie: Bad Cling
Benny's Ballad: News of the Family
Spot Black
Germany Calling
Fun at the Flicks
Berry Cornish: A Child's Question
Benny Quickies: Misunderstandings
Los Zafiros
Phone In With Ludovic Kennedy and Humphrey Bumphrey
The Band in the Park: Continental Capers
Closing: Federales De Los Pueblos (not in the menu)

Cast: Benny Hill, Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Lesley Goldie, Kay Frazer, Jack Wright, Los Zafiros, Berry Cornish, Nicole Shelby, Bella Emberg, Barbara Wise, Jim Tyson, Johnny Greenland, John John Keefe, Malou Cartwright, Claire Russell, Earl Stephenson.

Produced and Directed by: John Robins

Highlights: Fun at the Flicks; The Band in the Park: Continental Capers; Spot Black.

This time we start with Benny Quickie: Bad Cling as Benny does a commercial for plastic wrap. We then head straight for Benny's Ballad: News of the Family with an introduction by Henry McGee as Benny sings of a letter from home and his crooked relatives. Los Zafiros provide musical support. Benny then introduces the classic Spot Black with Benny as "Hurricane Hill" challenging Henry McGee at pool. This one has hilarious sound effects and great trick photography of the pool game. Watch for Lesley Goldie showing off some nice legs! In Germany Calling Benny is a clothing importer on the phone with a supplier and there are some funny wordplays and puns throughout. Lelsey Goldie is his secretary. The next chapter starts with Benny as a Mexican helping Barbara Wise with her shoelace and Bob Todd holding them up.

Next is the brilliant Fun at the Flicks. Benny goes to a movie about gangsters and pictures himself as the star, miming along with the movie by pulling on his ear or drinking his juice. Other movie patrons enter the theater and sit by Benny, becoming a part of the mime, including Lesley Goldie, Henry McGee, Jackie Wright, Nicole Shelby (her last Benny Hill Show) & Barabara Wise. At any rate, this is a mini-masterpiece and proves that Benny was a comic genius. Berry Cornish: A Child's Question is a rather unusual musical number. The tune may seem a little dated by today's standards, but it does say something about gun violence that is still relevant today.

We get into more fun with Benny Quickies: Misunderstandings featuring several classic runners: with Benny as a prisoner and Bob Todd as a guard; Benny at the hospital with a broken hand; A runner with Benny as 'Manolo' (the same character that is actually a prisoner), Bob Todd as a fortune teller with Henry McGee, Benny on a date with Lesley Goldie (in the "If I made Love To You" segment, he dates Barbara Wise); Benny in drag talking about "her" delinquent son (Henry McGee); Bob Todd and Henry McGee discussing Red China; Benny committing adultery with Bob Todd's wife played by Kay Frazer; Bob and Jackie singing horribly to the radio as painters; Benny doing a commercial for Sunbright Lemon Liquid; Benny and Jackie at a dance and The Prime Minister of England's "state of the nation" address and the resultant suicides is a scream. These are all brilliant bits.

Los Zafiros are then introduced and play a beautiful spanish song. Phone In With Ludovic Kennedy and Humphrey Bumphrey features Benny as the Minister Of Food being interviewed by Henry McGee as Ludovic Kennedy. Benny is again the dottering old man who babbles incoherently, yet there are plenty of sexual innuendos in this once. I also like when Kay Frazer & then Barbara Wise in the maids outfits come out. WOW! Lots of fun in this one.

The Band in the Park: Continental Capers starts out with Benny as the bandleader in a concert in the park; Benny has a duet with Kay Frazer about a flower and looses the girl; Benny leads the park cleaners in a dance and there is a bullfight mime; Some boy scouts do a tap dance; there is also a brilliant kitchen scene where a large group of kitchen workers use everyday kitchen utensils like percussion instruments to an instrumental tune; Benny is then a ticket-collector and does a dance with Kay Frazer, then there is a big fight to close the sketch. It all runs together with the style and grace of a ballet. Benny then says goodnight and we go to the Closing Sequence: Federales De Los Pueblos (not in the menu) which features Jackie Wright holding balloons for Benny to shoot at. There is also a motorcycle chase at the end. A great program with many fond memories for me.

Episode 8 (19)

(Dec. 27, 1973)

Color [50:28]

Benny Quickie: Batman!
Benny's Ballad: Dapper Dan the Lady Killer Man
Fred Scuttle's Channel Tunnel
Benny's Quickies: Indiscretions
The Great British Dancing Finals With Terry Wobegone
Anne Shelton: Galilee Song
Departure Lounge With Mervyn Cruddy
Benny Quickie: No Milk!
The Ladybirds: Broadway Melodies
Bo Peep: Nursery Rhyme Interpretations
Closing: Gay Park Chase (not in the menu)

Cast: Benny Hill, Henry McGee, Andree Melly, Bob Todd, Lesley Goldie, The Ladybirds, Jack Wright, Bella Emberg, Carole Ball, Malou Cartwright, John John Keefe, Judy Gridley, Marilyn Harrison, Ian Kaye, David Wright, George May, Claire Russell, Earl Stephenson, Guest Star: Anne Shelton.

Produced and Directed by: John Robins

Highlights: Bo Peep: Nursery Rhyme Interpretations; The Great British Dancing Finals With Terry Wobegone; Departure Lounge With Mervyn Cruddy.

This program begins with Benny Quickie: Batman! with Henry McGee and Bob Todd ordering a drink but Benny enters dressed as Batman. Not really sure what the joke is here; perhaps it is a British reference. The show then opens with Benny singing Benny's Ballad: Dapper Dan the Lady Killer Man which is one of my favorite tunes that Benny did over the years. The Ladybirds provide the usual vocal support.

Fred Scuttle's Channel Tunnel sees the famous Mr. Scuttle being interviewed by Henry McGee about Scuttle's company that is building a tunnel under the English Channel to France. Is That a nude picture of Lesley Goldie on Scuttle's office wall? There is also a brief film clip of Scuttle's crew at work with plenty of fun gags, as well as a couple of sexy young girls, including Claire Russell(?) taking an outdoor shower. Benny's Quickies: Indiscretions features several short gags including: Bob Todd and Benny getting advice on how to spell 'womb' by Andree Mellee; a series of running gags with dimwitted Southerns Zeke and Lem, played by Benny and Bob Todd; Benny at the hospital with his wife Lesley Goldie's new baby and Benny being asked for a specimen by Andree Melly while at the hospital. All fun gags.

The Great British Dancing Finals With Terry Wobegone is one of the better moments in this episode with Benny as the smooth and sophisticated host of a dance competition. We see some of that special high-speed photography the series was so well known for, as well as Benny awarding the winners of the competition. The girl for each team does a beautiful spin with the camera getting an eyeful under her skirt. Sexy and funny. We get a musical number in Anne Shelton: Galilee Song but I don't think this is one of the better musical performances by special guests in this series. The actual title was "Put Your Hand In The Hand", which was written by Gene MacLellan of Anne Murray "Snowbird" fame, and was a US and Canadian hit for the Gospel Rock Group "Ocean" in 1971.

Things pick up again with Benny as a male call-boy in Departure Lounge With Mervyn Cruddy. Benny is a superstar who is being sent out of the country because of his reputation. Lots of fun with Benny as the effeminate type of character that he played so well. Bella Emberg offers Benny and Jackie more than they want to see in Benny Quickie: No Milk! The Ladybirds: Broadway Melodies is not one of the better musical performances for The Ladybirds, but at least they have some style. This is the last time Gloria George (dark haired, deeper voice) would appear on the show, as well as with the trio itself.

Bo Peep: Nursery Rhyme Interpretations is introduced by Lesley Goldie and looks at the famous nursery rhyme in seperate stories, starting with Naked Lust In Sinful Sweden with Benny getting the girls to have sex with him because it is raining out and they can't look for the missing sheep. Henry McGee stars in the another interpretation as an on the scene news reporter. A Shakespearean look at the tale features Benny in "Much Ado About Bopeep". Finally, Benny does his great Ironside impersonation with "The Case Of The Stolen Sheep". Andree Melee is Little Bo Peep, with Henry McGee and Bob Todd as cops in the precinct. A brilliant send-up of the wheelchair bound detective. Finally, Benny gets more than he bargained for in Closing Sequence: Gay Park Chase (not in the menu).