The good old days of Australian Radio
Yes, What? began its life as The Fourth Form at St. Percy's. It was based on the radio serial The Fourth Form at St. Michael's by Will
Hay, which aired in the 1920s. Rex Dawe, a
young Adelaide broadcaster, decided to write the program after having the concept pitched to him by Rex Heading. 5AD Programme Manager Morrie Chapman granted a fifty shillings budget for the show as
well as an additional ten shillings for the writer / producer. The cast were mostly chosen from a youth production group The Kangaroo Club. Fifteen-year-old Ralph Peterson was hired to play the larrikin Bottomly and is often described a being a classroom rebel himself. The character Greenbottle was to be voiced by Jack Craig-Gardiner, born in 1915 so only a few years Dawe's junior. The youngest member of the class, Jim Williams, played Stanforth, beginning when he was fourteen. Dawe himself played the school-master Dr Pym.
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The show first aired on the 23rd of June, 1936 at 9:15pm] It was given two timeslots per week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. 520 episodes were produced, the first 50 or so of which went live to air without being recorded. A total of 130 hours were broadcasted before the show finally ended in 1941 in the outbreak of the Second World War. However, the show was rerun countless times even outside of Australia, with New Zealand and South Africa both popular audiences.
Each episode typically covers an entire school lesson, despite being only about 12 minutes long. Themes often continue through a series of lessons in subsequent episodes. The students try to disrupt or confuse Dr Pym through distractions, unrelated questions and personal stories. Each episode was recorded onto a 15 minute disc, so the length was crucial as space had to be left for a sponsor's message before and after the broadcast. The quick rhythm of the program led many to believe that the heavily scripted episodes were ad-lib, The characters spoke fairly quickly for a radio piece, which added to the realism of the broadcasts. Typically, the line "Good morning boys" by Dr Pym followed by the boys chorusing "Good morning, Sir!" was said at the start and end of each episode.
Dr Percival Archibald Pym
The school-master who tirelessly attempts to control his class while mayhem breaks out, Dr Percival Pym is forced to employ his cane to keep his pupils in line. He gives his name in episode 84 as "Archibald Pym" but it's possible this was due to having just been in a car crash. His pupils, particularly Bottomly, jocularly refer to him as "Percy". He is fairly gullible, allowing the boys to frequently trick him into dismissing them from class as
well as a con-man to relieve him of a large sum of money in episode 227. Pym is easily side-tracked by the boys and so often loses his temper. A recurring gag is Dr Pym's (often unintentional) rudeness to policemen, Mr Snootles and other guests to the classroom, usually due to being confused or upset by his students. In response to continual usage of the word "yes" by Greenbottle and Mr Snootles (even when they mean no), Dr Pym asks, "Yes, what?", from which the show derives its name. Pym was portrayed by Rex "Waca" Dawe. He died October 8, 1972, aged 60
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Rupert Bottomly
Bottomly is the class clown who uses his time in between classes to plan means of disrupting the next class. Despite proving himself capable of the workload more than a few times he nonetheless gives deliberately silly answers to questions Dr Pym asks. He makes continual quips and appears to have little fear of the cane. This is probably due to Bottomly having had the stick too many times for it to be adequate punishment and he considers many of his jokes worth the pain he will receive. Bottomly takes charge of lessons with his cheekiness quite often and is essentially the ringleader of the group of boys. He is quite happy to allow Greenbottle to be centre of attention, though, to waste more time than he could on his own. While he is not very intelligent in the traditional sense, he is very crafty; he cheats whenever he can in the tests and examinations Dr Pym gives him and such cheating usually goes unnoticed until the end of the episode. He has also contributed to the destruction of the school on two occasions, once by burning it down in a fireworks explosion. The second time, he inadvertently destroyed the classroom by switching chemical bottle labels, which Dr Pym proceeded to mix, causing an explosion that destroyed the classroom. Bottomly was played by Ralph Peterson. He died in 1996.
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Ronald George Stanforth
Stanforth is (until De Pledge's arrival at least) the only member of the class keen on learning although he is handicapped by his lack of brains. Due to lacking understanding of more or less anything Dr Pym says, he asks questions that are either so simple Dr Pym scolds his stupidity, or so irrelevant to the topic he leaves his teacher horribly confused. Just after having had information painstakingly explained to the class, Stanforth often asks, "Why, Sir?" or "How do you mean, Sir?" to Dr Pym. Questions such as these cause Dr Pym to lose his temper; he continuously mocks Stanforth's dull intellect and canes him. As a result of this sort of humour, Stanforth generally has the fewest lines of any of the regular cast. Stanforth shares a rocky relationship with Bottomly who makes fun of his intellect but the two appear to get along most of the time. While in the show for the comedic effect of his ignorance, his only deliberate attempt at humour comes in episode 500 and it is poorly received by his classmates. He was portrayed by Jim Williams, the youngest member of the cast. Jim died May 2, 1981, aged 59
Cuthbert Horace Greenbottle Jr
Greenbottle is a member of a large family who all appear to be suffering from madness. His frequent meetings with them invariably make him late for class. He explains ludicrous tales by way of an excuse for his tardiness, often involving his family members or descriptions of his ludicrously designed house. He considers himself an expert on all
topics, boasting that whatever subject the class is studying at the time is his best. He often claims to possess skills he really lacks, such as a brilliant singing voice and an expertise in poetry. This does not deter him from demonstrating his self-proclaimed talents. It is left deliberately ambiguous as to whether Greenbottle is merely inventing his supposed knowledge to waste time or he is genuinely a lunatic. His habit of saying "Yes" all the time causes Dr Pym to answer "Yes, What?", to which Greenbottle will often expound ridiculous theories or family stories. Greenbottle was played by Jack Craig-Gardiner although he left the cast for a brief period due to illness. Craig-Gardiner contributed many other minor voices to the series. Jack died on March 23rd, 1973
Francis Marmaduke Algenon de Pledge
De Pledge is, compared to his classmates, a genius. Posh and formal, he is the only member of the class who does not give Dr Pym any headaches. He was introduced into the show following Greenbottle's brief exit but remained in the cast after his return up until his voice, Richard Harding-Browne, joined the air force. De Pledge is able to answer almost any question given to him although given how little work the fourth form manages to complete this is not saying much. Despite being the teacher's pet, he occasionally annoys Dr Pym with his pompous manner and his hastiness to answer questions not directed at him. He resists taking part in Bottomly's schemes but is occasionally tricked into contributing anyway. He is nicknamed "Pickles" after Bottomly decides his full name is too difficult to remember. Richard died January 15, 1942
Mr Basil Cornelius Snootles
Mr Snootles first appears in episode 75 as a photographer attempting to take a snap of the class. His full name is Basil Cornelius Snootles. His unusual quavering voice leads to much mirth among the class. He re-appears in episodes 103 and 104 and is subsequently hired as the school caretaker. He is an avid bird lover and tries to give the boys a lesson on "bird-life, its meaning and importance" after being elevated to assistant school-master. His prone to singing while he works which annoys Dr Pym. He continually pesters Dr Pym about his wages as it appears he doesn't receive any but his appearances in the class-room lead the boys, particularly Bottomly and Greenbottle, to imitate his voice. Like Greenbottle, Mr Snootles says the word "Yes" often, prompting Dr Pym to say, "Yes, what?" He was played by Frank McCarron who also provided a number of minor voices for the series. Frank died June 1992, aged 83.
Daphne
Daphne is Bottomly's "sweet-heart" and occasional assistant to his plots to disrupt the lesson. She is quite taken by Bottomly although he is very embarrassed about it and tries to save face whenever she turns up around his friends. She is forbidden from entering the school-grounds by Dr Pym in an effort to prevent her distracting the class but this does little to prevent her appearances. It has been suggested that Alice Creed, who portrayed her, was the real-life fancy of Ralph Peterson (Bottomly) but in a 1961 radio interview, Peterson made no mention of this and added he "very stupidly had forgotten" who played her.
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