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...I was laughing so hard - damn nearly howling, to be perfectly frank. Never, ever, play any of the 'Navy Lark' cassettes in your car unless you want to look like a complete gibbering imbecile, or a stark raving nutter. Even were it possible to explain the humour to Americans in the Middle West, they still wouldn't understand what all the noise was about. Such was my experience, the first time I listened to a 'Navy Lark' set: 'Troutbridge', in this case. It caught my interest because of Jon Pertwee's involvement - it kept my interest because it was simply marvellous. These comic gems, originally broadcast more than a decade before I was born, stand the test of time far better than one might expect. It is a tribute to the actors involved, and to the writing of Lawrie Wyman, that these are as good as they are. 'Troutbridge Goes Dutch', in which HMS Troutbridge accidentally captures a German submarine fifteen years after the end of the war, is brilliant. In another story, Jon Pertwee's Chief Petty Officer is selling off mulitple duplicates of the - non-existent - figurehead from HMS Victory, lovingly carved by Ronnie Barker. Leslie Phillips does his usual star turn as the bird-brained Lieutennant, and Stephen Murray is as firm as the rock of Gibraltar. For heaven's sake, don't just buy this cassette to have a bit of a laugh and then toss in the bin. This is light entertainment, certainly. Sometimes, however, that's the very best, isnt' it? Buy it for a lark, if you will, and laugh again and again.
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