His Master's Voice (2014)

The drama His Master's Voice (Saturday, 2.30pm, Radio 4) stars Rob Brydon as ventriloquist Peter Brough. Back in the 1950s, up to 15 million Britons would tune in regularly to keep up with the adventures of Brough and his sidekick Archie Andrews. The latter was notionally a 14-year-old schoolboy; in fact, he was made of wood and voiced by Brough. For some unaccountable reason, vent acts were big on the radio in those days, but when television arrived, Brough failed to make the transition (the actress Dora Bryan assured him that she couldn't see his lips move, except when Archie was speaking). Most forms of showbusiness have their funny little ways, and the people who owe their fame and fortune to the smartly-tailored log on their knee are more given than most to losing their grip on reality. In the case of Brough, however, it seems his family was also badly affected by their timber breadwinner.

David Hepworth, The Guardian, 2nd August 2014

Radio Times review

At the height of its success, the BBC Light Programme series Educating Archie attracted 16 million listeners. Peter Brough provided the voice, but the star of the show was his wooden doll, Archie.

And so it was also in Brough's life -- Archie was the one everybody wanted to meet, not the man with his hand up a miniature Savile Row-made tailored jacket. Rob Brydon gets two gifts in this biographical drama -- to play Brough and Archie.

The play opens after the funeral of Brough's father -- symbolically, the very night he decides to lock Archie away for ever. But this manic-eyed doll is not going without a fight.

Jane Anderson, Radio Times, 2nd August 2014

His Master's Voice preview

"There's no great satire going on," says Rob Brydon, who expertly voices both characters in His Master's Voice. "But it was done with aplomb. I suppose in that time somebody being cheeky to authority was very appealing."

Jasper Rees, The Telegraph, 30th July 2014