Peter Sellers and the Audition Story (partly true....)

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

There is a great story, which my friend Seth Thevoz reminded me of:- www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy_chronicles/opportunity-knocked-auditions/ (scroll towards the bottom for the Sellers story.)

Peter Sellers first BBC appearance was on 'New to You', 1948, A TV show, NOT radio.

I spotted the audio in the Paley Archive; the transmission date was 03/05/1948. It was recorded 18/03/1948. The tape comes from the Sellers family archive. It was noted as Peter Sellers' TV debut.

The presenter was Dick Bentley; the story of Sellers ringing up the Producer and pretending to be Ken Horne IS true, it's just been suggested that it was a radio show that Bentley also presented- 'Show Time', hence the confusion.

This is not the case; a little research shows that 'Show Time' with Sellers was broadcast in July 1948; also the TV Show 'New to You' was for the TV debuts of entertainers whereas the radio show was not, it was a weekly parade of Variety's up-and-coming attractions'.

So Sellers appeared on TV prior to BBC Radio, and the apocryphal story appears to be true other than the confusion about which Bentley programme it was, and the fact Sellers first appeared on TV and not radio.

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e2ec157bd6bc4b67b8ab471da957cb0e
www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=&p=1&item=B:86396
genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5cfd05398d364413847c89b11ef64427

[RWels]

One wonders what they used. Recordable 78 rpm?

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

May 1, 2022 9:10:23 GMT RWels said:

One wonders what they used. Recordable 78 rpm?

By 1948 the BBC had gone to 33rpm:- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Transcription_Services .

That said, there's even a possibility it could have been recorded at source on a reel-to-reel.
Although that is less likely, the tape Paley have originated from a reel.

[RWels]

May 1, 2022 9:24:20 GMT Ray Langstone (was saintsray) said:

May 1, 2022 9:10:23 GMT RWels said:

One wonders what they used. Recordable 78 rpm?

By 1948 the BBC had gone to 33rpm:- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Transcription_Services .

That said, there's even a possibility it could have been recorded at source on a reel-to-reel.
Although that is less likely, the tape Paley have originated from a reel.

This is technically just as interesting as the contents. It's really ("reely"?) early for magnetic audio tape.
Nazi Germany had them during the war but it took a while before they became commercially available. Wire recorder was another option, but those are mostly found in the US... Of course, only the paley might know. Unless theirs is only a copy.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

May 1, 2022 10:06:42 GMT RWels said:

May 1, 2022 9:24:20 GMT Ray Langstone (was saintsray) said:

By 1948 the BBC had gone to 33rpm:- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Transcription_Services .

That said, there's even a possibility it could have been recorded at source on a reel-to-reel.
Although that is less likely, the tape Paley have originated from a reel.

This is technically just as interesting as the contents. It's really ("reely"?) early for magnetic audio tape.
Nazi Germany had them during the war but it took a while before they became commercially available. Wire recorder was another option, but those are mostly found in the US... Of course, only the paley might know. Unless theirs is only a copy.

I can email them next week.

Their copy definitely came from a reel.

Whether it was first generation or not, who knows?