Parsley Sidings is an Old Time Radio comedy, set in a sleepy railway station somewhere in England. Originally aired in 1970, it stars some of the cast of the television sitcom Dad's Army, plus some Carry On film stars. Presented here are a dozen episodes, all that I could track down in FLAC quality.

Starring :
Arthur Lowe as Mr Hepplewhite, station master
Ian Lavender as Bert Hepplewhite, his son, the booking hall clerk
Liz Fraser - Gloria, the station's Tannoy announcer
Kenneth Connor - Percy Valentine, the station's Porter


These are the original broadcasts, stored in FLAC format (compressed but lossless wav files).

The BBC threw these away in the 1970s, then held a public appeal in 2001 for surviving recordings made off air by listeners, and set about recreating the show using those recordings; but as they were often incomplete, the title credits usually had to be re-made. These files are NOT those re-makes.


Carry On star Ken Connor plays a host of different characters, in addition to his regular role as Valentine, including Old Bradshaw the aged signalbox attendant, and - in one episode - the Man from MI5. He also voices Clara, the station Hen. Watch out for unexpected laughter from the studio audience, denoting that odd voices or animal noises being heard are actually being performed by Kenneth Connor!

Guest stars during the series include Bill Pertwee and Roger Delgado.

Loosely based on the Will Hay film comedy, Oh Mr Porter, this radio comedy is about a sleepy railway halt which British Rail has largely forgotten about. Many of the episodes revolve around attempts to boost passenger numbers, or to disguise how few people use the service, or feature the station's rivalry with Potwhistle Halt, the next station up the line.

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