Main content
This programme is not currently available

4 Extra at the British Seaside

Tony Lidington reflects how Brighton has inspired a wealth of seaside memories captured in the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ archives. From 2013.

Seaside entertainer Tony Lidington takes a trip to Brighton for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra and reflects how this city has inspired a wealth of seaside memories captured in the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sound Archive.

Tony came to Brighton in the eighties as a student and set up his own Pierrot Troupe The Pierroters named after the rotting West Pier which was the subject of a Kaleidoscope feature made in 1995.

There are first hand memories of what it was like to go on a seaside holiday between the wars in 1984 programme called β€˜Sand Between the Toes'.

Tony meets Max Tyler an expert on the Fol De Rols and he and Tony hear them perform in an extraordinary piece of archive from 1937 when four of the shows hundreds of miles apart were brought together live by the magic of wireless.

There are also insights into Brighton's very own Cheeky Chappie as Tony visits a Fish and Chip Shop in Brighton where the Max Miller Society has set up a museum.

β€˜Casting Shadows' a wonderfully evocative play by Mark Burgess conjures up an imaginary meeting between the actor Laurence Oliver, playwright Terence Rattigan and Brighton's famous seaside entertainer, Max Miller. Roy Hudd headlines as Miller.

Gavin Henderson president of the National Piers Society reveals that seaside Piers were initially places of sophistication, almost the arts centres of their day, and Rachel Clark of the West Pier Trust looks to the future and the plans to create a new vertical Pier on Brighton seafront.

Tony celebrates the Great Days of the West Pier in his 1995 Archive Hour β€˜Oh What a Lovely Pier!' with contributions from among others the late Corin Redgrave.

Made for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions

3 hours

Last on

Sat 9 Jul 2022 19:00

Featured Programmes

The programmes featured within '4 Extra at the British Seaside' in chronological order, with approximate timings are:
Pierrotters on Tour (from Kaleidoscope) - 8 minutes
Sand Between the Toes - Memories of Seaside holidays between the wars (1984) - 27 minutes
Casting Shadows by Mark Burgess, starring Roy Hudd - 44 minutes
Oh What a Lovely Pier! (Archive Hour from 1995) - 56 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Sat 24 Aug 2013 09:00
  • Sat 24 Aug 2013 19:00
  • Sat 25 Jul 2015 09:00
  • Sat 25 Jul 2015 19:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2017 09:00
  • Sat 12 Aug 2017 19:00
  • Sat 20 Jul 2019 09:00
  • Sun 2 Aug 2020 13:00
  • Mon 3 Aug 2020 01:00
  • Sat 9 Jul 2022 09:00
  • Sat 9 Jul 2022 19:00