It's a Square World

"It's a Square World" was a ground breaking British comedy show, starring Michael Bentine and was produced by BBC. It ran from 1960 till 1964. The series led Bentine to a BAFTA award in 1962 for Best Comedy Performance and a compilation show, screened by the BBC in 1963, won that year's Golden Globe of Montreux award.

Concept

Using scale models, Bentine sunk the Woolwich Ferry, sent a Chinese Junk to attack the House of Commons (which was temporarily banned by the BBC as it was considered too political as it was coming up to election time), planeted a forty foot whale trying to enter the British History Museum. For the stunt, it required 25 men standing inside the whale to move it along, which caused traffic delays. He also sent the BBC TV Centre into orbit with rockets in their basement. Best loved by many were his miniature plays on tiny sets without characters. Bentine stood over the sets and narrated as special effects and noises portrayed the movements and adventures of an imaginary tiny cast in what could be a western town one week and a haunted house the next.

The programme also collected fictitious news reports from the four corners of the world (hence its name), read by Michael Bentine as a newsman or commentator and had many madcap sketches. In one sketch Bentine and other explorers trek through forests to find the source of the River Thames. Having reached an end point, all they find is a leaking tap. Disappointed, they start to backtrack and Bentine before leaving turns off the tap which results in the River Thames disappearing and boats ending up sunk into the mud.

Another sketch described an expedition to find mysterious beasts known only by components such as wheels and cogs. This turns into a parody of "The Lost World" where the explorers encounter monstrous cranes and excavators rampaging through a jungle, using sped-up film footage of real machinery. The sketch ends with the explorers producing a captured specimen, a full-size excavator, in the studio. The logistics of placing this in front of a studio audience taxed the production crew to the limit.

Episodes

In total 56 (it is given as 32 in one TV guide) episodes of 30 minutes duration were produced in black and white for BBC. It was revived for one episode in 1977 for BBC 1 called Michael Bentine's Square World.

Cast

The cast included:

* Michael Bentine
* Ronnie Barker
* Clive Dunn
* Dick Emery
* Frank Thornton
* Deryck Guyler
* John Bluthal
* Benny Lee
* Janette Rowsell
* Anthea Wyndham
* Len Lowe
* Leon Thau
* Louis Mansi
* Janette Rowselle
* Freddie Earlie
* Joe Gibbons

Other versions

There was a follow up series in 1966 for ATV called All Square which tried to repeat the former success. For this series, Bentine was located in the capital city, Filthnik in the fictitious country of Ozonia. In the 8th October 1966 episode, Bentine tried to turn Ozonia into a mecca for tourists. This episode also featured the Jack Parnell Orchestra.

External links

*bbc.co.uk|id=comedy/guide/articles/i/itsasquareworld_7770655.shtml|title="It's a Square World" Comedy Guide
*imdb title|id=0145614|title=It's a Square World