Wednesday, September 24, 2003

An idea for the next time we find a police radio lying around

We're finding it a somewhat unblogworthy day so we simply direct your attention to a very funny story from the BBC. A man just had his day in court after being busted for the monstrous crime of using a police radio that he had found to transmit his impersonations of catchphrases from a dreadful 1970s British sitcom over the police airwaves. An officer had lost the radio in circumstances that are mysteriously ascribed to "operational police requirements," our would-be comedian found it, and had his fun until he tried the same voice on an officer who pulled him over for speeding; the officer recognised the voice and found the radio.

The sitcom in question is thankfully not Are You Being Served, but Some Mothers do 'Ave 'Em, in which the main character was Frank Spencer, an utterly ineffectual and wimpy husband. Amongst his phrases used by the impersonator are "Ooh Betty" and (one that may yet form an apt summary of Dubya's Iraq policy), "Goodbye little fairies I must leave on the double, I would like to stay for one more day but I'm in a spot of trouble."

Another line, not mentioned in the story but that we can recall from own viewing of the show, was a standard follow-up to the "Ooh Betty" line -- "the cat done a woops on the carpet." Just to give you a sense of the heights of wit that were being scaled on the show.

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