Monday Night at Eight

Monday Night at Eight was a weekly BBC radio magazine programme on the Home Service, broadcast live, with Ronnie Waldman doing the interviews and announcements, produced by Harry S. Pepper.

The programme was launched in April 1937 under the title Monday Night at Seven, and ran from 7 to 8 pm, but in October 1939 this was changed to "Monday Night at Eight", with the start time being put back to 8 pm, finishing at 9, and the show ran in this time slot until 1948.[1] The change of time was decided because of longer working hours during the Second World War, to enable more people to listen in.

The formats for both programmes were similar. The first part consisted of interviews of all types of people; then there was a musical break, and the final part was a radio detective play. Initially it was Inspector Hornleigh Investigates, but in 1942 a new series called Dr Morelle was introduced. Another feature that was started in Monday Night at Eight was Puzzle Corner, also used in later programmes, and the weekly 'Deliberate Mistake'. Popular comedians Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch contributed "Chestnut Corner". One weekly comedy sketch was "The Dooms". These were a family of witches and warlocks who had strange adventures at home. When all was quiet at the end, Mrs Drusilla Doom (Hermione Gingold) would ask her husband (Alfred Marks) in a sepulchral voice - "Tea, Edmond ?" (pause) "Milluck ?" (i.e. milk).

Another regular feature of each show was a record of the life of "Old Ebenezer", a night watchman sitting in front of his brazier in a road where repairs were taking place. Fantastic stories were recounted, after which Ebenezer would give way to his astonishment with his famous catch phrase, "Well I'll be jiggered!". "Old Ebenezer" was voiced by that wonderful character actor Richard Goolden.

Several actors and singers had their radio debut on Monday Night at Eight. The singer Anne Shelton had her debut in 1940 and Julie Andrews appeared with her mother and stepfather in 1947.[2]

After the change of time, the lyrics of the signature tune at the beginning of the show were:

It's Monday night at eight o'clock, oh can't you hear the chimes?

They're telling you to take an easy chair,

To settle by the fireside, take out your Radio Times,

For Monday Night at Eight is on the air.[3]

At the end of every programme:

Produced by Harry Pepper, and Ronnie Waldman too,

We hope the programme hasn't caused a frown

So goodbye everybody, it's time to say goodnight,

For Monday Night at Eight is closing down.[4]

The other BBC show of a similar nature was In Town Tonight, which was broadcast in the same period on a Saturday night.