The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town

Overview

The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was a serial written by Spike Milligan and Ronnie Barker that ran every week on The Two Ronnies sketch show in 1976 on BBC One. It featured a Jack the Ripper style madman stalking the streets of Victorian London, who killed or stunned his victims by blowing them a raspberry. The title was preceded by the words "Chopper Films Presents", a parody of Hammer Films, and the writing of the serial was credited to "Spike Milligan and a gentleman". The 'Gentleman' listed as the co-writer was Gerald Wiley, the pseudonym used by Ronnie Barker as a comedy writer. The story originated in an episode of Six Dates with Barker, broadcast on 15 January 1971, with Alan Curtis playing the role of The Phantom. The voice providing the raspberry of the title is attributed to David Jason who starred with Barker in Open All Hours although some sources claim the noise effect was supplied by Milligan himself. One episode featured Ronnie Corbett as the diminutive yet domineering Queen Victoria and Barker as her browbeaten son "Edward, Prince of Wales", which was a parody of the recent TV series starring Timothy West.

Seasons