ITS THAT MAN AGAIN!

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 136, 30 January 1942, Page 7

ITS THAT MAN AGAIN!

= (Special to "The Listener" ‘from the BBC: by

SYLVIA

DUNCAN

OMMY HANDLEY is a prop of the ether. British radio listeners would wonder what had happened if Tommy did not crop up somewhere pretty

frequently. His mame occurs so often that whenever he puts on a show it is called "It’s That Man Again." The idea was originated before the war when the show contained an unusual

radio feature called "Man Bites Dog." The idea of this was that if a dog bit a man it was not unusual, but if a man bit a dog it was a different story altogether! "It’s That Man Again" was the last big variety show to be produced in the famous St. George’s Hall before the Variety Department disappeared into the country atthe outbreak of war. St. George’s Hall, alas, is now an empty shell. When the BBC was first evacuated, Francis Worsley, the producer, and Ted Kavanagh, the author, found themselves scheduled to produce the variety series "It’s That Man Again"-~yet again. The layout of the show was changed, Britain was in the midst of a big

transition from peace to war, and excess of evacuated officialdom was on hand, so they decided to "cod" it and give Tommy Handley an office — the Office of Twerps — and made Tommy himself the Minister, of Aggravation. So successful was this that Tommy actually had letters addressed to him-T. Handley, Esq., The Office of Twerps — and delivered at the Office of Works, a few yards up the road from the BBC building. Tommy’s Office of Twerps flourished valiantly. It ran for a long period. But

now Mrs. Tickle, the charwoman, played by Maurice Denham, has long since been claimed by the Army, and the office boy, Lemuel, now graces the ranks of the R.A.F. in the person of Sam Costa. Even Tommy’s girl friends, of which he originally had three, have now been rationed down to two So "I.T.M.A." brings happiness to thousands of troops throughout the world, and you listeners at home who are away from your boys may know that these are the people who lighten their hours and help to pass the minutes that every day bring the final return home nearer.