h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Paul Shane
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22563351

I don't think I've ever seen a full episode of Hi-de-Hi, but I've enjoyed all the clips I've seen of Paul Shane, whether he was Ted Bovis or not. The bloke had funny bones.

Ray Manzarek
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22604798

I don't think there can be too many keyboard riffs as well known as 'Light My Fire'. For a long time I had no idea they didn't have a bass guitarist and that Ray Manzarek played the bass parts on one of his keyboards.

Wow. For all the idolising of Jim Morrison that went on, Manzarek was the definitive sound of The Doors as far as I was concerned.

Eddie Braben
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22607531

Just a week or two back I watched a programme about Eric Morecambe by Miranda Hart... well, it was almost more about Miranda Hart than Eric, but it was called 'My Hero' so fair dos. Any road up, at one point she visits Eddie Braben in his home, I forget where but it somewhere pleasant and not in a city. She was quite overwhelmed to get a hug from him

Morecambe and Wise were already a class act before Eddie Braben started writing for them but there's no doubt that they wouldn't have had that golden period in the 70s when more than half the nation sat down to watch their show, without his writing. I'll watch some of it tonight I think.

However, he didn't write what is probably their most well known sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7GeKLE0x3s

I recently watched a series called 'Bring Me Morecambe and Wise'. In one episode there was rarely-seen clip of that very sketch, but it was from the 1960s, in black and white and with almost the same script but with Ernie as the conductor.

We shan't see their like again

I have to disagree with you there, KB. The Doors wouldn't have been The Doors without Manzarek's keyboards *and* Jim Morrison's voice. It was one of those instantly recognisable singing voices, like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Pavarotti. It leant an energy and a quality to the songs that was quite unique.

I saw that Miranda Hart programme too, and you're right, as it was called 'My Hero', so you can't really call foul if the 'Me' and the 'Hero' both get a fair chunk on the show.

And yes, I thought that little chat she had with Eddie Braben was quite touching, and enlightening, and just generally nice.


Geggs

It really brought home the pressure of writing something like that, especially once it had become so big. How do you top the last one? It never fails to amaze me that one person can be so creative and keep coming out with material that stays so consistently popular. Case in point - John Sullivan/65 episodes of Only Fools and Horses. Even bigger case in point - Roy Clarke. Not only did he write - on his own - all 295 episodes of Last of the Summer Wine, he also found the time to write - on his own - 44 episodes of Keeping Up Appearances and - on his own - 26 episodes of Open All Hours, plus Potter, Rosie, The Magnificent Evans and various other sitcoms.

Mick McManus
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/wrestling/22622647

Wow, I honestly thought he'd died years ago, but a surprising number from the golden age of TV wrestling are still around. He was one of the older generation even then, along with the likes of Les Kellett and Mike Marino.

Iain Banks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22835047

I have quite a few of his on my bookshelf. I haven't read any of them for a while so maybe this would be a good time to remedy that.

Oh, they are wonderful books to re-read!

I have Player of Games, the Algebraist, Excession and The Business, plus The Wasp Factory which I don't care for as much as the others. I remember wathing The Crow Road when it was on television but I don't remember much about it except that Peter Capaldi and Simone Bendix were in it.

I loved The Crow Road when I read it (mostly because of that first sentence and having thought the TV version was great) but I can't remember any of it now. Which means that when I get time I'm going to have to give it another go.

I haven't tried any of his sci-fi. Is it any good?

I like it. I find it very easy to get lost in and very easy to visualise. You can tell it's been written by someone who knows how to tell a good story.

I think I must have missed this one because I don't see any mention of it in the old thread around about the time it happened, which was more than a year ago...

Ken Goodwin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-17147087

One of those comics who didn't even have to say anything - he could just stand there and you're already laughing your off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ91XQyfulU

He died four days before one of the other Comedians, Frank Carson, whose demise I did record. The two of them have given me so many laughs over the years

Oh, I forgot to mention the reason for looking up Ken Goodwin and discovering he popped his clogs last year. I've just been watching a documentary about him from... must be almost 40 years ago I reckon. Any road up, some of you probably know that he played the banjolele, like George Formby, and did a very fine George Formby impersonation.

There was a section in the documentary where he was in a studio making a record. The song he was recording while the cameras were there was a mellow, laid back version of Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (and Dream Your Your Troubles Away) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRECYJgHEUo

I swear that if you closed your eyes you'd think it was Bing Crosby

Alan Whicker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/jul/12/alan-whicker-tv-world-dies

There really wasn't anyone else like him. In the 1960s his name was synonymous with the words 'jet set'. And of course, he's familiar to people who might not have seen any of his programmes because of one of Monty Python's most well known sketches - Whicker Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn8Pua5rhj4 Being parodied by Monty Python is up there with a guest appearance on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show or The Simpsons.

Mel Smith
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/jul/20/comedian-mel-smith-dies-actor

Twenty seven years younger than Alan Whicker, so a bit of a surprise. He had a habit of showing up in cameos and bit parts in unexpected places, most of which don't seem to have been recorded by the IMDb... or maybe I remember more than actually happened. He played a nasty piece of work in one episode of Minder, and he was Malcolm the Porcupine in those Ruddles ads with Viv Stanshall. Or, at least, some of them. Dawn French played the part in others, and it's surprisingly hard to tell them apart.

Usually, I have little or no familiarity with the folks you memorialize here. But I do know who Mel Smith was. I suppose the first time I saw him and he stole the scene, was in The Princess Bride as the Albino (torturer) as he rasps,

"The Pit of Despair. Don't even think...

[clears throat]

Don't even think about trying to escape."

His timing was perfect. Hilarious.

I saw him after that in several different roles, in film and on TV shows.

I didn't know about his production career.

Sad news.

I was watching a documentary a few nights ago with David Frost, about sketch shows. One that they concentrated on was Not The Nine O'Clock News, which is probably the first place most of us saw him, and Rowan Atkinson too. It's often held up as being groundbreaking, although it didn't particularly seem like it at the time, at least not to me. It was a bit patchy, but what was good was really good, like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7L3iSZsNpY

I guess it was just that the only sketch material around on television at the time was stuff like The Two Ronnies, which was considered a bit middle of the road, so NTNOCN suddenly seemed cutting edge. I think the first series started in 1979 so Monty Python was a memory by then, but alternative comedy was just starting to make itself felt in the clubs, and in a year or two we'd become familiar with names like Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, French and Saunders, Fry and Laurie et al.

Ironically, The Two Ronnies have been getting a lot of recognition just lately for the quality of their comedy. Plus ca change.

Bert Trautmann
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bert-trautmann-obituaryfootballer-who-overcame-prejudice-and-went-on-to-play-with-a-broken-neck-in-the-fa-cup-final-8721156.html

The man best known for finishing an FA Cup Final after breaking his neck. Every modern football player who goes down grimacing in pain at the merest brush with another player should be made to watch that match.

I'm not a believer in 'playing through the pain/injury', though. If you've done something to yourself and it hurts, that's nature's way of telling you that you should probably get it looked at and take care of it until it gets better.