Beyond Our Ken
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Beyond Our Ken was a radio programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne, also starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Bill Pertwee and Betty Marsden.
It also featured Ron Moody, and Stanley Unwin made one appearance in the pilot episode. It was initially written by Barry Took and Eric Merriman. Took subsequently left the show and Merriman continued to write solo. It featured characters to similar to those later featured in Round the Horne, for instance Fanny Haddock (parodying Fanny Craddock). It was also notable for Pertwee's Frankie Howerd impersonation, "Hankie Flowered".
When Beyond Our Ken ended, apparently due to a dispute between Merriman and the producers, Barry Took returned together with Marty Feldman to write a new series with the same cast which became Round the Horne.
Beyond Our Ken is sometimes seen as an inferior predecessor to Round the Horne, which became one of the most popular and influential shows of its day despite having a shorter run. But without Beyond Our Ken, Round the Horne would not have existed at all.
In 2004 the BBC began releasing the series on CD in box sets, one per season.