The Omar Khayyam Show

Spike Milligan made wrote and performed in three series of the radio comedy program The Idiot Weekly for the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1958-1962. Six episodes were remade by the BBC in 1963 as The Omar Khayyam Show.

The cast was Spike Milligan, John Bluthal, Bob Todd, Bill Kerr and Barry Humphries with music by George Chisholm & his Jolly Jazzers. The producer was Charles Chilton.

It was broadcast weekly from 27 December 1963. The episodes were (in broadcast order) Ned Kelly, The Ashes, The Prime Minister's Trousers, The Flying Dustmen, The America Cup and Walzing Matilda. The scripts had minor changes to remove some references to Australian locations and personalities unfamiliar to British audiences. However some better known personalities remained, notably Sir Donald Bradman.



All six episodes survive in the BBC archives and in private collections.




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