King Street Junior

John Fawcett Wilson obituary

BBC radio producer renowned for his innovative approach.

King Street Junior (11.30am, Radio 4) has fallen to the enemy. A new series of Jim Eldridge's drama sees the school preparing for its 100th anniversary; but there is a fly in the ointment, a spanner in the works, a pain in the ar- well, maybe not. The new head teacher turns out to be a brusque, no-nonsense, stick-first-carrot-later kind of manager. Everyone naturally hates her.

Welcome return of the school series that has already defied the rules of radio comedy, still produced by the virtuoso of casting and subtle direction, John Fawcett Wilson. It's as good as ever.

Since 1985 Radio 4's King Street Junior has become a radio classic. Its author, Jim Eldridge, has fitered life among Junior School teahcers to produce a genuine essence. It feels real because in many ways it is. Each wave of change in state education - curriculum reform, parental governors, strikes, budget cuts - has ripped into King Street Junior. The proramme gets fan mail from teachers, all of whom believe it must have been based on their schools. If that is the situation, the comedy is bred deeper, good writing so well performed that it creates another world.

It is a sign of both the times we live in and the quality of this comedy-drama series that it should venture such an apparently unpromising theme as a Baker Day for the opening episode (of the fifth series). Indeed, such is the credibility of King Street Junior that its characters have recently been seized by Schools Radio to advertise their annual programme, and by BBC Televisions Clean Slate education magazine to dramatise heavyweight educational topics. ... Light entertainment, yes, but well-scripted drama with a strong sense of integrity.

A unique balance of fun, compassion and social conscience... school staff all over Britain have hailed its real life feel.