Gordon Crier Explained

Gordon Crier (1912 – 16 September 1984) was a Scottish radio and television producer and writer.

His early successes included Band Waggon, the first comedy show designed for radio, broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940, co-produced by Crier and Harry S. Pepper.^{[1] [2]} After the first three shows had flopped, the scriptwriter was dismissed and a team of Crier, Vernon Harris, Arthur Askey, and Richard Murdoch was brought in. They made Band Waggon the most popular radio show of the 1930s.^[3]

In 1950 Crier was a founding member of the Lord's Taverners, with John Snagge, Roy Plomley, Brian Johnston, and others, a group of actors and BBC men who enjoyed watching cricket from the Tavern pub at Lord's Cricket Ground.^[4]

In January 1952, Crier was arrested in Germany by the Russians, while organizing a tour by Gracie Fields, but was soon released.^[5]

By 1953, Crier was working for an advertising agency, but he remained a friend of Ronnie Waldman and continued to feed ideas for programmes to the BBC.^[6]

Selected credits

• Variety (television series, 1937) – producer
• Band Waggon (radio series, 1938–1940) – co-producer and writer
• Band Waggon (film, 1940) – writer
• What Would You Do, Chums? (radio series, 1939) – writer
• The Wind in the Willows (radio adaptation, 1941)^[7]
• Peter Pan (radio adaptation, 1941)
• Telecrime (TV series, 1946) (producer – 6 episodes)
• Farewell to the Pegasus (TV movie, 1947) producer
• Cinderella (TV movie, 1950) – scriptwriter

Notes and References

1. Book: Hay, Peter. Canned Laughter: The Best Stories from Radio And Television. 1992. Diane Publishing Company. 978-0-7567-8808-7. 42.
2. Web site: 2019-10-02 . The Bandwaggon Show Guide . www.britishcomedy.org.uk.
3. Book: Bathgate, Gordon. Voices from the Ether: The History of Radio. 2012. Lulu.com. 978-1-4716-2861-0. 58.
4. Book: Breese, Charlotte. Hutch. 2012. A&C Black. 978-1-4088-3113-7. 152.
5. Web site: 2019-10-02 . Gordon Crier Returns To London After Arrest By Russians. en-GB . British Pathé.
6. Book: Barfe, Louis. Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment. 2013. Atlantic Books. 978-1-84887-757-3. 61.
7. Book: Edwards, Owen Dudley. British Children's Fiction in the Second World War. 2007. Edinburgh University Press. 978-0-7486-2872-8. 666.