6 Dates with Barker - The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town (1971)

Ep 2 of 6: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town. Victorian London is being terrorized by a maniac who blows raspberries and stalks the upper classes. Inspector Alexander needs to stop the madman before he strikes again... Starring Ronnie Barker, Alan Curtis, Larry Noble, John Sharp, Christine Ozane, Moira Foot, Pat Gorman, John Lawrence, Astley Harvey and Tony Joyce. Viewers of The Two Ronnies will recognize this from the famous serial they did in 1976 that Spike Milligan wrote and it's fascinating to see how the two compare. To be honest, the later serial is far better, but then again much from that is crammed into 25 mins here, so there is very little room for subtlety here and clearly shows off Milligan's eccentric off the wall humour. It's hard to see how this could of made a series, but the idea was too good to let die, which is why it reappeared in The Two Ronnies five years later - and thank goodness it did too.