Clara’s Verdict
There are very few audiobooks I’d describe as genuinely restorative, but this second volume of The Men from the Ministry is exactly that. Deryck Guyler and Richard Murdoch are a double act of exquisite comic timing – Lennox-Brown’s pompous fluster and Lamb’s well-meaning incompetence a perfect engine for thirty-five episodes of beautifully crafted absurdity. The BBC Radio archive is full of forgotten treasures, and this Civil Service sitcom – which ran from 1962 to 1977 – is one of the finest. If you’ve never encountered it, prepare yourself for a rather pleasant surprise.
At 16 hours and 24 minutes, this is a substantial listen. I’d recommend spreading it across a fortnight rather than bingeing – each episode is a self-contained gem, best savoured with a cup of tea and no particular urgency to be anywhere.
About the Audiobook
This collection gathers 35 specially chosen episodes from Series 4 through 7, broadcast between 1968 and 1971 across BBC Radio 2, the World Service, and Radio 4. The central conceit is magnificently simple: Number One (Deryck Lennox-Brown) and Number Two (Richard Lamb) are mid-ranking civil servants in the General Assistance Department – a body that exists, apparently, to provide universal assistance while achieving absolutely nothing.
The episodes dip into a glorious pool of British comic preoccupations: tube station disputes, public convenience politics, motorway route controversies, and poster campaigns that spiral beyond all reason. The permanent supporting cast – Norma Ronald’s long-suffering Mildred Murfin, Ronald Baddiley’s irascible Sir Gregory Pitkin, and John Laurie’s magnificently dour Mr Dougal – provides a stable backdrop against which the two principals can blunder magnificently. Guest stars including Clive Dunn, Patricia Hayes, Kenneth Horne, and Bill Pertwee add further lustre.
Writer Edward Taylor, working with contributions from the likes of Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke (later of Man About the House fame), had a gift for comic architecture: set up, escalation, and a resolution that invariably makes everything worse. The show predates Yes Minister by nearly two decades, and you can feel the DNA clearly.
A note on sound quality: the BBC disclaimer is honest. Some episodes, particularly from Series 4, have minor audio drop-outs, and the recording reflects its era. None of this detracts from the pleasure in any meaningful way – it rather adds to the sense of listening to something genuinely historical.
The Narration
Richard Murdoch, listed here as narrator, is of course also the performer of Number Two – Richard Lamb himself. The cast recordings are the narration; there is no separate presenter or linking voice beyond the episodes themselves. This is radio comedy at its most complete and self-contained.
Murdoch is superb. His particular gift was a kind of pained, bewildered reasonableness – a man who genuinely cannot fathom how events have once again conspired against him, despite the evidence of every previous episode. Guyler, meanwhile, played pomposity with genuine warmth; you never quite dislike Lennox-Brown, even when he is at his most insufferable. The chemistry between them is one of British radio comedy’s great partnerships, and it holds up across every one of these thirty-five episodes without a trace of staleness.
What Readers Say
Being a BBC Digital Audio release from the archive, contemporary listener reviews are limited, but the broader reputation of The Men from the Ministry among British comedy enthusiasts is consistently fond. Fans of the series cite it alongside Round the Horne and I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again as essential mid-century BBC Radio comedy. Those who discover it through the archive releases frequently describe being astonished that it isn’t better known – a sentiment I share entirely.
Who Should Listen?
If you’ve a weakness for classic British radio comedy – Hancock’s Half Hour, The Goon Show, Dad’s Army in its radio form – this belongs in your collection without question. It’s also ideal for anyone who has ever spent time working in a large organisation governed by committees and procedures: the comedy of institutional paralysis is timeless, and Taylor understood it perfectly. Commuters, gardeners, and anyone who finds modern podcast comedy a touch relentless will find this a deeply satisfying listen.
Listen on Audible UK: Get The Men from the Ministry: More Episodes from the Early Years on Audible UK. Also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
