Julian and Sandy
Encyclopedia
Julian and Sandy were characters on the BBC
radio
comedy programme Round the Horne
from 1965 to 1968 and were played by Hugh Paddick
and Kenneth Williams
respectively, with scripts written by Barry Took
and Marty Feldman
. According to a BBC Radio 4
programme on the characters, they were named after the writers Sandy Wilson
and Julian Slade
.
The characters were originally conceived as two ageing Shakespearean
"old luvvie" thespians who were doing domestic work in Kenneth Horne
's flat while waiting for their next acting job. The producer thought the characters were too sad and suggested making them younger "chorus boy" types. Their first appearance was in episode four of the first series, and they proved to be so successful that they appeared in every subsequent episode.
As well as being a successful comedy act, Julian and Sandy were notable for being two camp
homosexual
characters in mainstream entertainment at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK, and for the use of the Polari
language in the sketches. The writers and cast thought the characters worked very well as they were not being held up to ridicule or simply there to be the target of a joke: in fact most of the sketches revolved around Kenneth Horne
's presumed ignorance being the target of their jokes.
Kenneth Horne
would find these two characters usually by looking in selection of rather risqué magazines, which he would insist he bought for innocent reasons. This would lead him, more often than not, to a business in Chelsea
starting with the word "bona" (Polari for "good"). He would enter by saying, "Hello, anyone there?", and Julian (Hugh Paddick
) would answer, "Ooh hello! I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy!" - only once, on their second appearance, does Sandy start by introducing his friend Julian.
A quote illustrating the use of double entendre
from the sketch "Bona Law" (itself a pun on the name of Andrew Bonar Law, a former Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom
), featuring Julian and Sandy as lawyers:
At other times, Horne's character would pretend not to understand the more risqué meanings in Julian and Sandy's dialogue, although it was always hinted that he was secretly in on the joke. A good example was Horne attempting to use Polari himself:
The sketches also often had Horne drawing out of Julian and Sandy more about their personal lives than Horne was seeking, as the two would misunderstand his meaning. In one sketch, discussing Julian and Sandy's time out travelling the world aboard ship, Sandy reveals Julian was swept overboard in a storm:
A recurring comedic theme of the series was Sandy (Williams) archly disclosing, or drawing out, a hinted-at salacious detail from Julian's (Paddick) past. Apparently Julian had had an "experience up the Acropolis" and a tale about "Bognor" had apparently been divulged by Julian after he had "been at the gin". There would then always be an anguished complaint from Julian of "You traitor - you swore you'd never tell!", before Sandy would prompt him to explain all by imploring him to "Go on - purge yourself!" On a rare occasion Julian turned the tables on Sandy, and after bellowing the "purge yourself!" line, he then ad-libbed "I've been dying to say that for years!"
Ad-libs were a prominent part of the sketch, and were one of the reasons for how well the humour worked, as both Paddick and Williams were accomplished and very familiar with Polari in real life conversation. Williams, in particular, would add many lines of his own ("Lau your luppers on the strillers bona" (play the piano) being his most extreme use of obscure Polari).
Another catchphrase often used by both characters was "That's your actual French", although Barry Took
acknowledged that Peter Cook
had claimed to be the first to use "your actual ...." as a format phrase.
The humour acquired a real edge with jokes that were both risqué and controversial, as homosexuality was still a crime punishable by imprisonment at the time in the UK. Lines such as the following were very daring for their period:
And the very simple:
In the last episode of Series 4 (which turned out to be the last ever episode of the show, due to Horne's death) Julian and Sandy are revealed, very incongruously, to be "married" to a pair of "dolly palones" named Julia and Sandra.
called Radio Fun (broadcast December 30) was made as a tribute to BBC radio comedy. Hugh Paddick
and Kenneth Williams
appeared as Julian and Sandy, with Terry Wogan
doing Kenneth Horne
's lines.
In the 2003-5 stage show Round the Horne ... Revisited (filmed for BBC Four
), Paddick and Williams (and therefore Julian and Sandy) were played by Nigel Harrison and Robin Sebastian
.
The fiftieth Doctor Who
Virgin New Adventures
novel Happy Endings
by Paul Cornell
features a Polari-speaking Silurian
musical duo from the 30th century called Jacquilian and Sanki.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedy programme Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
from 1965 to 1968 and were played by Hugh Paddick
Hugh Paddick
Hugh William Paddick was an English actor, whose most notable role was in the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne in sketches such as Charles and Fiona and Julian and Sandy...
and Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
respectively, with scripts written by Barry Took
Barry Took
Barry Took was an English comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View, a BBC TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast...
and Marty Feldman
Marty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
. According to a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme on the characters, they were named after the writers Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...
and Julian Slade
Julian Slade
Julian Penkivil Slade was an English writer of musical theatre best known for the show Salad Days, which he wrote in six weeks in 1954 and became the UK's longest-running show of the 1950s with over 2,288 performances....
.
The characters were originally conceived as two ageing Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
"old luvvie" thespians who were doing domestic work in Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
's flat while waiting for their next acting job. The producer thought the characters were too sad and suggested making them younger "chorus boy" types. Their first appearance was in episode four of the first series, and they proved to be so successful that they appeared in every subsequent episode.
As well as being a successful comedy act, Julian and Sandy were notable for being two camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
characters in mainstream entertainment at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in the UK, and for the use of the Polari
Polari
Polari is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, criminals, prostitutes, and by the gay subculture. It was popularised in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne...
language in the sketches. The writers and cast thought the characters worked very well as they were not being held up to ridicule or simply there to be the target of a joke: in fact most of the sketches revolved around Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
's presumed ignorance being the target of their jokes.
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
would find these two characters usually by looking in selection of rather risqué magazines, which he would insist he bought for innocent reasons. This would lead him, more often than not, to a business in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
starting with the word "bona" (Polari for "good"). He would enter by saying, "Hello, anyone there?", and Julian (Hugh Paddick
Hugh Paddick
Hugh William Paddick was an English actor, whose most notable role was in the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne in sketches such as Charles and Fiona and Julian and Sandy...
) would answer, "Ooh hello! I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy!" - only once, on their second appearance, does Sandy start by introducing his friend Julian.
A quote illustrating the use of double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
from the sketch "Bona Law" (itself a pun on the name of Andrew Bonar Law, a former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), featuring Julian and Sandy as lawyers:
- HORNE: Will you take my case?
- JULIAN: Well, it depends on what it is. We've got a criminal practice that takes up most of our time.
- HORNE: Yes, but apart from that, I need legal advice.
- SANDY: Ooh, isn't he bold?
At other times, Horne's character would pretend not to understand the more risqué meanings in Julian and Sandy's dialogue, although it was always hinted that he was secretly in on the joke. A good example was Horne attempting to use Polari himself:
- HORNE: Would I have vada’d any of them do you think?
- SANDY: Oooh! He’s got all the Polari, ain’t he?
- JULIAN: Hmmmm, I wonder where he picks it up?
The sketches also often had Horne drawing out of Julian and Sandy more about their personal lives than Horne was seeking, as the two would misunderstand his meaning. In one sketch, discussing Julian and Sandy's time out travelling the world aboard ship, Sandy reveals Julian was swept overboard in a storm:
- HORNE: But did you manage to dragDrag (clothing)Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
yourself up on deck? - JULIAN: Ooh, no, we dressed quite casual...
A recurring comedic theme of the series was Sandy (Williams) archly disclosing, or drawing out, a hinted-at salacious detail from Julian's (Paddick) past. Apparently Julian had had an "experience up the Acropolis" and a tale about "Bognor" had apparently been divulged by Julian after he had "been at the gin". There would then always be an anguished complaint from Julian of "You traitor - you swore you'd never tell!", before Sandy would prompt him to explain all by imploring him to "Go on - purge yourself!" On a rare occasion Julian turned the tables on Sandy, and after bellowing the "purge yourself!" line, he then ad-libbed "I've been dying to say that for years!"
Ad-libs were a prominent part of the sketch, and were one of the reasons for how well the humour worked, as both Paddick and Williams were accomplished and very familiar with Polari in real life conversation. Williams, in particular, would add many lines of his own ("Lau your luppers on the strillers bona" (play the piano) being his most extreme use of obscure Polari).
Another catchphrase often used by both characters was "That's your actual French", although Barry Took
Barry Took
Barry Took was an English comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best remembered in the UK for his weekly role as presenter of Points of View, a BBC TV programme in which viewers' letters criticising or praising the BBC were broadcast...
acknowledged that Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
had claimed to be the first to use "your actual ...." as a format phrase.
The humour acquired a real edge with jokes that were both risqué and controversial, as homosexuality was still a crime punishable by imprisonment at the time in the UK. Lines such as the following were very daring for their period:
- SANDY: “Don’t mention Malaga to Julian, he got very badly stung.”
- HORNE: “Portuguese man o’war?”
- JULIAN: “Well I never saw him in uniform…”
And the very simple:
- SANDY: “Hello, we’re bona ‘omes” ("bona ‘omes" being literal Polari for homosexuals)
In the last episode of Series 4 (which turned out to be the last ever episode of the show, due to Horne's death) Julian and Sandy are revealed, very incongruously, to be "married" to a pair of "dolly palones" named Julia and Sandra.
Other appearances of the characters
In 1987 a special edition of WoganWogan
Wogan was a chat show on British television, hosted by Terry Wogan. It followed the format of a series broadcast in 1980 entitled What's On Wogan?, which failed to gather viewers. The Wogan show was initially broadcast on Tuesday evenings on BBC1 in 1981 and from 1982 to 1984, it moved into the...
called Radio Fun (broadcast December 30) was made as a tribute to BBC radio comedy. Hugh Paddick
Hugh Paddick
Hugh William Paddick was an English actor, whose most notable role was in the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne in sketches such as Charles and Fiona and Julian and Sandy...
and Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
appeared as Julian and Sandy, with Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
doing Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...
's lines.
In the 2003-5 stage show Round the Horne ... Revisited (filmed for BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
), Paddick and Williams (and therefore Julian and Sandy) were played by Nigel Harrison and Robin Sebastian
Robin Sebastian
Robin Sebastian is a British actor, best known for his portrayals of actor Kenneth Williams. A native of London, he recently played the role of Kenneth Williams in the production of Stop Messing About at the Leicester Square Theatre and on a number one tour of the UK.-Personal life:Raised in...
.
The fiftieth Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel Happy Endings
Happy Endings (Doctor Who)
Happy Endings is an original novel written by Paul Cornell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the fiftieth book in the Virgin New Adventures series...
by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
features a Polari-speaking Silurian
Silurian (Doctor Who)
The Silurians are a fictional race of reptile-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The species first appeared in Doctor Who in the 1970 serial Doctor Who and the Silurians...
musical duo from the 30th century called Jacquilian and Sanki.