It can safely be said that this is all a generation or two before my time, and doesn't mean a great deal to me, but even I know of 'Dick Barton' because there was, I believe, a (brief) 70's radio revival by the BBC which was later reproduced as purchasable cassettes of which I was lucky enough to have a copy as a kid (see, I may not be one of the post-war generation, but even I am old enough to make some of the twenty somethings on the forum scratch their head in wonder at the idea that people did once listen to recordings on tape cassette!;)). I think the 'new' recordings (although they used other vocal talent) were based on the original material, and I used to think it was brilliant, with its last minute escapes, rascally villians, and meglomaniac plots, so clearly the writers did something that held successful appeal even several generations later.
In recent years, Phil Wilmott had some stage success with adaptations of the Dick Barton 'franchise', which are, by the standards of a lot of stage comedy, pretty funny in my opinion, but, sadly, had to be presented in a kind of 'post ironic' manner to the audience, as a send-up of all manners 'stiff upper lip' and 'heart of oak', rather than a truly affectionate homage to the spirit of the originals - clearly, the feeling was that this just couldn't 'read' to a modern audience. I think the recent revival of 'The 39 Steps' (which has otherwise been massively, and justly, well received) did something similar, which seems a pity as the original, Hitchock's great adaptation etc. generate such rewarding uses of the material by playing things straight (or, at least, straight-ish). Tastes change, I suppose - or, at least, everyone assumes they do.
One interesting thought that struck me about this thread, on the other hand, was that this is the sort of education that most young actors miss completely in the modern industry because of the decline of rep. I actually find it very interesting when performers of different generations, who grew up with different cultural references and different performance traditions, can get to share anecdotes, memories and perspectives. It sounds like it was one of the great gifts of rep, and a way in which certain traditions etc. would be passed on down the generations. I know a little about who Max Wall was, for instance, but even I know him more for some memorable performances in Beckett plays near the end of his life, rather than for his original post war career. It seems to me a pity that less and less young performers gain an insight into these important and innovative predecessors who entertained and enlivened the lives of a great many people in the years before they were even born, and the traditions, ideas and routines they helped to bring into the profession.
