Count Arthur Strong is a fictional comedy character created by English comedian Steve Delaney. He is an elderly pompous mostly-out-of-work deluded thespian from Yorkshire who appears to suffer from attention deficit disorder and memory loss. He is apt to use malapropisms in his attempts to sound educated.
Delaney grew up in Leeds. He created the Count in the 1980s, when he was a drama student at Central School of Speech and Drama in London and performed him at the end of term show, having drawn inspiration from characters he met during his childhood. However he put him to one side for several years during which he worked as an actor, appearing on television in dramas such as Juliet Bravo, The Flying Lady, Casualty, The Bill, All Creatures Great and Small and Agatha Christie's Poirot.
In 1997 Delaney resurrected Strong for his stand up comedy routine which gained a cult following in clubs. The character was performed at the Edinburgh Festival for several years to increasing praise and BBC Radio 4 launched a series for him in 2005 entitled Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!. A second radio series was recorded between September 2006 and January 2007 at the Komedia theatre, Brighton, and started to broadcast on Radio 4 at the end of February 2007. A third series began in late December 2007, still on Radio 4. A fourth began recording in the autumn of 2008, and began transmission in the 11.30am slot from January 7 2009.
The character has appeared on Mark Radcliffe's BBC Radio 2 show and can be seen on YouTube supporting Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out! campaign, and on BBC Radio 4 show "The Remains of Foley & McColl".
2008 The Count recently finished a second tour of Count Arthur Strong the Musical was released on DVD in 2008.
His current show is 'Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Smile' (the banner behind him on stage, due to printing errors that often occur when he orders publicity material, displaying 'The Man Behind the Slime').
[edit] Characteristics
A typical conversation for the Count will involve him confusing both himself and others, while becoming drastically sidetracked from the matter in hand. He is usually oblivious to the chaos he causes, often blaming his interlocutors for any confusion. On the rare occasions he realises he is at fault, he often attempts to divert the blame by lying. Inevitably becoming confused by his own lies, his last resort is usually to claim he was recording a stunt for a hidden camera show.
He has a misguided belief in his ability to hold his drink, and has often performed on stage or live TV/radio when drunk (or occasionally, concussed, with similar effects). He will often go to great lengths in order to get as drunk as cheaply as he can.
Interestingly, the list of TV shows in which Count Arthur claims to have appeared is remarkably similar to Delaney's own list (see above). However, the one role that Count Arthur speaks about wherever possible, is Bridge Up The River Kwai (sic), appearing alongside Alec Guinness (usually referring to as some variation of "Alex Guinness book"), and appears to resent that Guinness got the part instead of him, although he does point out that he took over the role for the musical version. He also seems resentful that Sean Connery beat him to the lead role in Doctor No, the title of which he often confuses with either Doctor Who or Doctor Doolittle.
The Count (wrongly) believes himself to be an expert on Egyptology, leading to the show "Count Arthur Strong's Forgotten Egypt". This stems from his army days when he toured Egypt as part of the cast of what he calls Piddler On The Roof.
He claims to have many show business friends, although apart from Guinness, this seems limited to brief conversations with Anita Harris and Jimmy Clitheroe. He also appears to have a mixed relationship with Edward Woodward. While resenting Woodward's success, he also claims that his advice meant that "for the first time in years, Edward Woodward can cross his legs when he sits down". Woodward's name causes the Count many problems, calling him "Edward Woodwardward", "Edward Woodwind", "Edward Woodbine", "Wedward Goodwood" etc.
In many of his shows, the Count is seen with his protege, Malcolm Titter. Malcolm is a budding actor and playwright, and goes to the Count for acting lessons. Unsurprisingly, the result is that the naive Malcolm's work is shown to be utterly abysmal.
[edit] Radio Show Episode List
[edit] Series 1
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Book Signing | 25/12/2005 | After some confusion with the local pharmacist regarding his enlargements of Danny La rue and a cauliflower Arthur has a visit from Television Licensing, eventually it transpires that his cleaner's son has bought his licence on the internet. Arthur is then interviewed at Jerry's about his diaries prior to his book signing at Wilf Taylor's Quality Meats. |
| Cookery Show | 30/12/2005 | We join Arthur philosophising on the alphabet and The Sound of Music whilst queuing at the Post Office where he is buying stamps. After turning the tables on a charity collector Arthur goes for a hair cut and then on to the studio for the recording of his cookery show. Arthur has to devise a meal from a selection of ingredients supplied by his guest, who was once an understudy for Private Pike on Dad's Army. After the ingredients prove unsuitable Arthur decides to order a take away and moves onto some wine tasting resulting in the show descending into drunken chaos. |
| Radio Play | 06/01/2006 | Arthur visits Wilf's, on his way to the BBC to take part in the recording of a radio play, and swats a fly on one of his pork chops. Once at the studio Arthur manages to aggravate the director and takes a young actor under his wing, a visit to the local pub during the lunch break leads to his protégé being sick and the recording falling behind schedule. It then transpires that Arthur was never cast in the show at all, in fact it was down to him that the original producer is off with a broken leg. After injuring the replacement producer Arthur takes his protégé back to the pub before inviting him to share the pork chop. |
| James Bond | 13/01/2006 | Arthur is attempting to make toast using the VCR he bought at a car boot sale, when he is interrupted by a mini-cab driver who has arrived 12 hours too early to take him to the Women's Institute where he is due to give a talk on his life in show business. Returning to the matter in hand Arthur calls the helpline where the assistant thinks it is a prank call when Arthur explains he has "put a slice of Nimble in an hour ago and it's still not popped up". Arthur later takes the bus to the WI where he gives a talk covering topics including his audition for James Bond, returning home he manages to catch an episode of Minder on his toaster. |
| The Audition | 20/01/2006 | Arthur awakes from a nightmare where he is starring in a second world war drama set during the Siege of Stalingrad. A door to door salesman of household goods meets his match in Arthur who manages to wangle himself a free scouring pad. After some difficulties getting through the studio door Arthur delivers his own unique style of audition. |
| Piccalilli | 27/01/2006 | We find Arthur in his "laboratory" where he is experimenting on his new range of Piccalilli. His protégé, Malcolm, turns up to practise his audition speech for the musical Cats, but is roped in to testing the Piccalilli. Malcolm's nerve induced diarrhoea is exacerbated by Arthur's piccalilli, and visits to Jerry's and Wilf's to try and market the new celebrity condiment are followed by Arthur having to stand in for Malcolm at the Cats audition due to his incapacitation. |
[edit] Special
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Count Arthur Strong's Christmas Show! | 26/12/2006 | Arthur dreams of being Ebenezer Scrooge visited by "woefully under-prepared" ghosts before awakening and preparing for Christmas by a visit to Wilf's to preview his turkey. After rejecting those birds with an "altitude" problem he moves on to to present his own take on the Nativity Story for the cubs. He then pops in to The Shoulder of Mutton before entertaining the inmates at the local old peoples home |
[edit] Series 2
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Motivational Speech | 28/02/2007 | Arthur delivers a motivational speech, advertised by placing an advert in the Post Office. He uses the technique of making his audience wear Dunce's caps and banging a dustbin lid while telling them how useless they are. Due to a mix-up at the printers, a banner he ordered is delivered reading 'Closing down, everything £1.' |
| Just A Minute | 07/03/2007 | Arthur is engaged to appear on the radio programme Just a Minute. He enlists the help of his protege Malcolm to make sure he is 'match fit'. Together they pick topics from the newspaper and Arthur attempts to speak for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation, but finds it difficult to get the hang of the game. They lunch at Jerry's, where Malcolm tries to perform his 'homework', a speech from Macbeth, while Arthur interrupts him without pause on the subject of Taggart. When Arthur arrives at the BBC he is given directions to join the audience and is eventually interviewed on a current affairs programme in place of Arthur C. Clarke, although he believes he is appearing on Just a Minute. |
| After Dinner Speech | 14/03/2007 | Arthur receives a call from Barry Cryer who asks that he step in at the last minute to give an after-dinner speech for the World Wildlife Fund. Arthur arranges to meet Barry at Gerry's cafe, but is forced to pretend to be a pest-control officer in order to find a table. Repairing to The Shoulder of Mutton, they begin to plan Arthur's speech but Barry ends up having too much to drink. When they come to give their speeches, Barry's goes very badly and he falls asleep after the first few sentences. Arthur's speech descends into confusion when he loses his temper and it's back to The Shoulder of Mutton. |
| Oxford Union | 21/03/2007 | Arthur is invited to take part in a debate on Creationism vs. Evolution at the Oxford Union. He is reminded of his commitment only hours before the debate and borrows a book on Darwin from the local library, which he takes to The Shoulder of Mutton to do some swotting. At the Oxford Union he takes full advantage of the food and drink provided before the debate begins. He speaks for 45 minutes rather than the allotted 3. |
| Hospital Appointment | 28/03/2007 | Being a "busy terrible personality" we find Arthur in the middle of the official opening of a shoe shop, when posing for a photograph he mistakenly says "cheese" leading to a problem with Dyspepsia. During a visit to the Shoulder of Mutton it transpires that Arthur has been referred to the local hospital after a visit to his GP after a number of drinks he goes to the hospital but has missed his consultant. After mistaking a number of members of staff and dozing off he discharges himself and returns to the pub, the true source of his ailment then becomes clear. |
| Ancient Egypt Speech | 04/04/2007 | |
[edit] Series 3
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Late Review | 28/12/2007 | Arthur is due to review a book for the BBC and whilst searching for it finds a pint of milk and half a dozen eggs down the back of the sofa "well that's a spot of lunch", he also has to deal with a "non-recalcitrant" cat doing it's "outrageous misdemeanours". Being unable to recall either the name or subject of the book Jeffrey is dispatched to retrieve a tea towel which has the same picture. A visit to the library and then the librarian's mother follows in the Arthur's search for the book. When finally he gets to the studio he has to bluff his way. |
| Car Boot | 04/01/2008 | Arthur picks a few select antiques to take to the local car-boot sale, where he is to hold a meat and theatrical memorabilia stall with Wilf, before negotiating the sale of a priceless family heirloom. Arthur also plans to carry out valuations for a small "constipation" and to video his performance to send to the BBC's "Antiques Roadkill". When at the sale Arthur has an uncomfortable encounter with the buyer of his heirloom and then carries out a confused valuation with the long suffering Jeffrey. |
| The Advert | 11/01/2008 | Arthur is counting his loose change when Malcolm turns up looking for his "acting stagecraft and personality crafts lessons". When Arthur discovers that Malcolm is preparing for a casting for a toffee advert featuring a granddad he realises this is an opportunity for him to attend the audition. After a visit to the Shoulder of Mutton an improvisational session at the audition allows Arthur to exercise all his skills. |
| Arthur Goes Camping | 18/01/2008 | Arthur buys a tent for a camping trip to the "Brecon Beaklands" avoiding the idiot proof one that injured his "friend". He then pick up a flyer for a new "gastric pub" where he masquerades as a meeter and greeter, however the almost Communist number of owners lead to the premature end of his residency. After missing the "mini-bar" he ropes Jeffrey into driving him to Wales. |
| 2001- A Space Idiocy | 25/01/2008 | Arthur decides it is time to join the 20th century by buying a mobile phone in the hope that it will help him compete with "Edward Woodworm" for work. He then becomes the victim of a scurrilous ear photographer before receiving a call offering him a job on the local hospital radio. Going home for a nap to repair he dreams of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey turning him into a baby. The slot on the hospital radio is then disrupted by the guest surgeon being called Hal and sounding remarkably similar to his dream. |
| Piddler On The Roof | 01/02/2008 | Arthur is staging a revue with songs from Fiddler on the Roof but due to a problem at the printers his fliers have an unfortunate misprint. Arthur visits his doctor's surgery in order to place one of his posters on the notice board. He discovers that his GP has died -- "blimey that's not a very good advert for his business" -- but then after looking for the lavatory he gets confused for a doctor, allowing him to dispense medical pearls of wisdom. A visit to the Shoulder of Mutton allows him to hand out "fly papers". After attempting to post a flier at Wilf's, Arthur receives a nasty knock on the head. A mixture of painkillers and a "medicainal bottle of spirits" leads to doubts about his ability to perform, but after a mixed grill the show must go on and Arthur performs concussed; "not be the first time I've performed concussed and I certainly hope it'll not be the last". The performance becomes increasingly erratic -- "this is sodding grease all over again, is this" |
[edit] Special
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Role Playing | 25/08/2008 | (Special recorded at the Edinburgh Festival) After a visit from a new neighbour trying to deliver a letter, Arthur gets confused between the small ads and the personals in his local paper and ends up propositioning someone he believes to be selling a hedge trimmer. He then takes part in a doctor training session, role playing the part of a patient before retiring to The Shoulder of Mutton |
[edit] Series 4
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Alf Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare | 07/01/2009 | Arthur prepares to clean his bay window only to find his galvanised zinc bucket has been "burgalered" so he resorts to item 2 on his agenda, breakfast at Jerry's. After philosophising on the possibilities of a full Brazilian instead of the usual full English he discovers that Jerry has injured his back after falling over a bucket remarkably similar to the Arthur's. As the cafe is closed for the foreseeable future Arthur steps in and takes over the running of the Gerry's, doing an Alf Ramsey with Jeffrey acting as his "suicide" chef. Arthur attempts to move the cafe up-market organising a visit by local food "crickets" with predictable results before being re-united with the missing bucket. |
| An Audience With | 14/01/2009 | Arthur is reading from his Novel "The Malteser Falcon" when he is interrupted by a visit from the vicar reminding him about a fund raiser for which Arthur is meant to be organising entertainment. As usual however Arthur has forgotten so has to hastily organise some "X Ray Factor" style auditions at The Shoulder of Mutton. Due to the low calibre of the candidates Arthur decides to put on An Audience with ... himself. |
| Pub Quiz | 21/01/2009 | Arthur is interviewed for the a local radio station about the proposed new by-pass before moving on to Gerry's. He discovers that Sally, Geoffrey and Wilf are all members of the Three Musketeers team in the Shoulder of Mutton's quiz night. Arthur soon invites himself to become team captain before organising Sally and Geoffrey into swatting up at the local library. When they convene at the Shoulder of Mutton Arthur manages to acquire numerous free drinks and novel flavoured crisps. Arthur's team is then joint first requiring him as team captain to take centre stage for the tie-breaker question. |
| Coach Trip | 28/01/2009 | Arthur postulates on the origin of the Zebra crossing, why no-one ever rides a Zebra and possible improvements in road safety before embarking on a day trip to Bridlington with the Legion. During a break at a service station he becomes detached from the rest of the group and is mistaken for an inspector from head office, allowing him to demonstrate his improvisational skills. Trying to board the wrong bus he is forced to hide in the ladies before going cross country and rejoining the coach four hours later. As usual the day ends in The Shoulder Of Mutton. |
| Charley Ant | 04/02/2009 | Arthur is gathering his costume and searching for his make-up when Malcolm arrives and is offered the position of Arthur's dresser for the role of Auntie Charlie in "The Man from Auntie's Uncle". When Arthur fails to find his valise Malcolm suggests they go for a free makeover at the local department store where Malcolm's cousin works on the make-up counter. After being transformed into a "spit of his Mother with a touch Margaret Lockwood, a handful of Anita Harris and a soup spoon (soupcon) of Brig Eggland". Unfortunately their efforts are to no avail as they become stuck in a lift and never make it to the auditions. |
| Documentary | 11/02/2009 | Arthur has a day-mare in which he hosts a request show on Radio Doncaster where he receives repeated requests for "Play Misty for Me", a tune which haunts him for the rest of the day. Jeffrey arrives and brings Arthur a cassette recorder as he is planning on making a documentary about his career in show-business, an idea which came to him on the lavatory where he has also storyboarded a quiz show, and other ideas on Izal toilet paper. Jeffrey is enlisted into operating the tape recorder for Arthur and following a visit Gerry's to interview him about Arthur, they move onto the Hippodrome where Arthur used to "top himself regularly in 1960 something", however the venue has changed use and Arthur makes the acquaintance of Pandora over a few glasses of champagne, followed by a warning from the local constabulary and a brief visit to the Shoulder of Mutton. |
[edit] Series 5
| Title | Airdate | Overview |
| Beer Cruise | 18/12/2009 | (From RT website) It's an early start for Arthur as he sets off on a day trip to France with his old friends Wilf, Sally and Geoffrey. Having brushed up on his French the night before, Arthur shows them all just how to communicate in a foreign tongue. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be many French people about to converse with. Still, there's always the wine! |
| Murder Most Fouled Up | 25/12/2009 | (From RT website) Arthur steps in at short notice to play a prominent role in an Murder Mystery evening for Lord and Lady Preston, his new best friends - if they did but know it! Who committed the heinous murder? Can Count Arthur solve the case? Did he do it? Was it the butler? |
| 01/01/2010 | |
| 08/01/2010 | |
| 15/01/2010 | |
| 22/01/2010 | |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
