The Impressionists

I was watching yet another energetic performance by Lee Evans on The Jonathan Ross Show the other week, Lee was recalling the days when his comedian dad Dave used to tour the clubs. That TV appearance reminded that Dave also did impressions and was a regular guest on the Radio 2 show The Impressionists.

In this edition from 1981 the chairman is Ray Alan (of Lord Charles fame), who had replaced the original chair Barry Took. Doing the impressions alongside Dave Evans are Aiden J. Harvey and Johnny More, who you may remember from the 1970s ITV series Who Do You Do? Fourth on the panel was David Jason. That year David was on the cusp of TV stardom as Del Boy, although he’d already done plenty of telly (Open All Hours and Porridge) and was still a regular on radio with his series The Jason Explanation and had been providing comedy voices and impressions on Radio 4’s Week Ending since 1970.

This programme was first broadcast on Thursday 4 June 1981.