History Radio / RoundTheHorne

* DirtyOldMan: J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, undoubtedly.

* DontExplainTheJoke: In one sketch, where Kenneth Williams acts out two characters, Smith interrupts to explain this to the audience.

* ICouldHaveBeenAContender: Several sketches have Kenneth Williams "breaking character" to whine about his part in the sketch isn't doing his career any good.

* ICouldveBeenAContender: Several sketches have Kenneth Williams "breaking character" to whine about his part in the sketch isn't doing his career any good.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Kenneth Horne plays every part in his own voice, a fact often lampshaded in the script.

* ICouldHaveBeenAContender: Several sketches have Kenneth Williams "breaking character" to whine about his part in the sketch isn't doing his career any good.

* MoralGuardians: The series fell afoul of them. Including at least one MP who was outraged by their making a joke about Queen Victoria.

YMMV/RoundTheHorne

* ICouldveBeenAContender: One episode has Kenneth Williams "breaking character" to whine about his part in the sketch isn't doing his career any good.

* IReadItForTheArticles: One of the running gags is Kenneth Horne mentioning some absurd and often vaguely smutty-sounding publication and claiming to read it for the crossword/spot the ball competion/etc.

** After the 'Julian and Sandy' bits, which always started by Kenneth Horne recounting why he walked into the business of the week, the show would sometimes come back to the present, with him finishing "... and that, Ladies and Gentlemen on the jury, is why I am standing here today" (or similar). What it was that the Julian and Sandy punchline caused the trial was never explained.

** Whenever a question is asked, it's followed by "Answers on a post card, care of the BBC..."

* YellowPeril: Parodied with the villainous [[Franchise/FuManchu Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed)]] and his concubine, the lovely (but suspiciously deep-voiced) Lotus Blossom.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Julian and Sandy tried a new job every week while waiting for their acting careers to pick up. The standard set-up for their sketches was for Kenneth Horne to enter a shop or some other place of business and discover that, coincidentally, it was the place where Julian and Sandy were working this week.

''Round the Horne'' was a 1960s British radio comedy starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee, and their announcer Douglas Smith. The main writers were Barry Took and Creator/MartyFeldman. The show was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Beyond Our Ken'', which had featured many of the same cast but a different head writer; when he left it was decided to revamp the series with a new title and characters.

* {{Doomy Dooms of Doom}}: Spasm the butler, in the recurring skit "The Clissold Saga", took every opportunity to declare that doom was upon them.

''Round the Horne'' was a 1960s British radio comedy starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee, and their announcer Douglas Smith. The main writers were Barry Took and Marty Feldman. The show was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Beyond Our Ken'', which had featured many of the same cast but a different head writer; when he left it was decided to revamp the series with a new title and characters.

* BawdySong: Rambling Syd Rumpo.

* {{Doomy Dooms of Doom}}: Spasm the butler, in the recurring skit "The Clissold Saga"

* LarynxDissonance: Lotus Blossom

* {{Parody}}: Everything from ''MobyDick'' to ''BriefEncounter''. The plays Charles and Fiona star in are caricatures of NoelCoward's style.

* ShoutOut: [[TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest "A handbaaaag?"]]

* StrappedToAnOperatingTable

* UnusualEuphemism

* YellowPeril: Parodied with the villainous [[FuManchu Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed)]] and his concubine, the lovely (but suspiciously deep-voiced) Lotus Blossom.

* NoodleIncident: After the 'Julian and Sandy' bits, which always started by Kenneth Horne recounting why he walled into the business of the week, the show would often come back to the present, with him finishing "... and that, Ladies and Gentlemen on the jury, is why I am standing here today" (or similar). What it was that the Julian and Sandy punchline caused the trial was never explained.
** Answers to Last Weeks Questions veered into this territory. What the questions were to cause such outlandish answers was never revealed.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Kenneth Horne's unexpected death put an end to the series.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Kenneth Williams was that stuck-up guy with the expressive nostrils in the ''CarryOn'' films. He also went on to become a regular on ''JustAMinute'', where he was often ThePrimaDonna persona very similar to the one he played in the "out-of-character" moments of ''Round the Horne''.
** Bill Pertwee played the warden in ''Series/DadsArmy''.
** Hugh Paddick would many years later play [[InsistentTerminology a thespian]] in ''{{Blackadder}}''.

* TalkingToHimself: "Listeners may have gathered from this sickening dialogue that Kenneth Williams is playing both parts."

* ThrowItIn: Usually subverted, most of Kenneth William's 'Rants' were written by the writers.

* {{Parody}}: Everything from ''MobyDick'' to ''Brief Encounter''. The plays Charles and Fiona star in are caricatures of NoelCoward's style.

* AsHimself: Kenneth Horne always acted as if he was himself, even in the main sketches where he's usually playing a part. (A lot like Neddie Seagoon, except even more of a StraightMan).
** And don't forget Douglas Smith was really a BBC continuity announcer, who were VERY straight laced at this period.

** Kenneth Williams was that stuck-up guy with the expressive nostrils in the ''CarryOn'' films. He also went on to become a regular on ''JustAMinute'', in which he adopted a prima donna persona very similar to the one he played in the "out-of-character" moments of ''Round the Horne''.

** Bill Pertwee played the warden in ''DadsArmy''.

* CampGay: Julian and Sandy
** With subtropes of HoYay + ThoseTwoGuys + speech peppered with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari Polari]] there's not much room for [[AmbiguouslyGay ambiguity]].
** Except for the fact that, in what turned out to be the final episode, it's revealed that they both have [[TheBeard wives.]]

* AmbiguouslyGay: Julian and Sandy
** Though HoYay + ThoseTwoGuys + [[CampGay High Camp]] + speech peppered with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari Polari]] doesn't leave ''much'' room for ambiguity.

The show was also populated by a collection of eccentric local characters (actually played by the cast, but treated as separate people within the show and never broke character). These included the folk singer Rambling Syd Rumpo, whose songs were peppered with incomprensible words that sounded like they'd be extremely rude if one only knew what they meant; J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, the world's dirtiest DirtyOldMan; and the show's breakout stars, the perpetually out-of-work actors Julian and Sandy, who were originally only supposed to appear in a single sketch but wound up returning in nearly every episode for the rest of the series.

** Hugh Paddick would many years later play [[strike:an actor]][[InsistentTerminology a thespian]] in ''{{Blackadder}}''.

** Whenever a question is asked, it's followed by 'Answers on a post card, care of the BBC...'

* TalkingToHimself: "Listeners may have gathered from this sickening dialogue that Kenneth Williams is playing both parts"

* YellowPeril: Parodied with the villainous [[FuManchu Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed)]] and his concubine, the lovely (but suspiciously deep-voiced) Lotus Blossom

** Kenneth Williams was that stuck-up guy with the expressive nostrils in the ''CarryOn'' films. He also went on to become a regular on ''JustAMinute'', in which he adopted a prima donna persona very similar to the one he played in the "out-of-character" moments of ''RoundTheHorne''.