yesteryear

This odd scene was photographed at Whipsnade Zoo in August 1956 and features a young Peter Sellers, long before he found international fame in the Pink Panther.

Judging by the fairly low-budget facilities for the camera crew, this is probably a sketch for the television comedy series, Son of Fred, which was screened by the fledgling ITV in September that year.

It was ITV’s third attempt to reproduce on screen the magic of BBC Radio’s Goon Show. Earlier that year the London TV station had produced The Idiot Weekly Price 2d, followed by A Show Called Fred. Son of Fred followed.

The programmes also featured (of course) Spike Milligan but there were substantial roles for Graham Stark (later ever-present with Sellers in the Pink Panther films), Kenneth Connor (comedian Ted Ray’s former stooge who went on to make the Carry On films) and Valentine Dyall, who had scared millions of listeners in the creepy series The Man In Black.

The shows were produced by Richard Lester, who later made the Beatles films A Hard Day’s Night and Help!

Perhaps this is a scene in which Peter Sellers demonstrated an ability to portray elderly gentlemen – a skill which was noticed by film director Basil Dearden who made the brave decision to cast him as the aged projectionist in the classic 1957 comedy The Smallest Show On Earth, which was one of Sellers’ earliest film successes.

> Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.