The Big Business Lark

The Big Business Lark is a radio comedy sitcom of partly satirical form broadcast in 1969. It stars Jimmy Edwards and Frank Thornton and was written by Lawrie Wyman as a spin-off from The Navy Lark, although no characters crossed over between the two shows. In a sense, the spin-off element was in The X Lark name format.

The show is set in the boardroom of fictional company British United Plastics, and concerns with the business machinations of the chairman, Sir Charles Boniface (Edwards), and his son and deputy chairman, Frank Boniface (Thornton). Plots included landing an order to provide the Red Army with plastic tents, a trip to America to make a good deal from another board member's mistake and an attempt to find a plastic novelty made by the firm for breakfast cereal boxes.

The main production ingredient of the company is a patented indestructible plastic named Polystumer. It can be molded for statues (Ep 11), used for novelty items (Ep 10), used as armour for tanks in which capacity it can repel mortar bombs (Ep 12) or used for plastic clothing (Ep 2) carpets, bathroom fixtures and fittings (Ep 1).

The comedy was more broad farce than subtle satire with Edwards playing a bluff, hard-drinking, chauvinist old rogue character and Thornton his more proper sidekick, analogous to the same role he played against Derek Francis in the other Navy Lark spin-off, The Embassy Lark.

Thirteen episodes were made and off-air recordings of all episodes are in circulation.

Episode list
EpisodeTitleFirst broadcast
1Leading You Through6 July 1969
2Cruising On The River13 July 1969
3Taking You Through20 July 1969
4Deposing Of A Relative27 July 1969
5Playing Ducks3 August 1969
6Taking Orders10 August 1969
7Strike Breaking17 August 1969
8Dining Out24 August 1969
9Initiating You Through31 August 1969
10Searching For Liberty7 September 1969
11Contracting Out14 September 1969
12Destructing21 September 1969
13Advertising28 September 1969


gollark: ... not currently?
gollark: You can't print microelectronics.
gollark: NEVER!
gollark: You could argue that the reason my phones have problems is that I just don't treat them very well, but really, it's a utility device for my benefit, and I'm not going to go around trying to treat it with reverence, avoid taking it to places it might be damaged, and never using it, to try and protect it.
gollark: The circuitry, I think some of the frame, and any high-temperature parts, can't be printed.
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