# Life with the Lyons

Life with the Lyons was a British radio and television sitcom franchise that ran between 1950 and 1961.

## Background

Following a highly publicized trial against their stalker, American actors Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels moved to London in 1935. For several years, the couple commuted between London and Los Angeles, where their children resided with Daniels' mother and Lyon was under contract to 20th Century Fox.
At the advent of World War II, Lyon and Daniels were touring England in vaudeville when Lyon developed the idea for a radio series in an effort to boost morale. In 1940, the couple debuted Hi, Gang!, in which they starred with Vic Oliver with scripts written by Daniels. During the war, Lyon joined the newly formed Special Services unit of the United States military while Daniels served as a war correspondent. Following the war, the Lyons moved to London permanently with their children. Deciding to expand their show into a family effort, Hi, Gang! ended in 1949.
Life With the Lyons was created by Daniels, which she developed with Bob Block and Bill Harding. The trio would often work on scripts late at night in the family's basement. The show featured a fictionalized version of the family, with Barbara Lyon and Richard Lyon starring as their children. Molly Weir was also cast as the family's Scottish maid, Aggie MacDonald. For the fifth to seventh series of the radio show – and the first two series of the television adaption – Richard Bellaers starred as Robin Lyon, the couple's youngest child. Also cast were Horace Percival as their henpecked neighbour, Mr Wimple, and Doris Rogers as Florrie Wainwright, Bebe's nosy friend who frequently spars with Ben.

## Radio

Life With the Lyons debuted on BBC Radio on 5 November 1950. It was the first scripted situation comedy show in the United Kingdom. The series ran for 252 episodes over eleven seasons, ending on 19 May 1961.
Daniels and Block served as writers for all eleven seasons. Harding departed the series after seasons three, and was replaced by Ronnie Hanbury. Other writers for the series used on occasion included Jill Allgood, Brad Ashton, Robert Hounsome, and Ray Sonin.
Many radio episodes were not kept by the BBC and only three episodes are in the archives; these were on BBC Radio 7 in early 2011. Following this broadcast, the BBC were alerted to a private collection of around 200 episodes owned by Graeme Stevenson in Scotland, and a selection of 14 episodes were rebroadcast on Radio 7's successor BBC Radio 4 Extra between July and December 2011 and rebroadcast at later dates.

### Cast

* Bebe Daniels Lyon as Bebe Lyon
* Ben Lyon as Ben Lyon
* Barbara Lyon as Barbara Lyon
* Richard Lyon as Richard Lyon
* Molly Weir as Aggie MacDonald
* Richard Bellaers as Robin Lyon (series 5–7, radio; series 1–2, television)
* Horace Percival as Mr Wimple
* Doris Rogers as Florrie Wainwright
Following Barbara's marriage to Russell Turner, he began a recurring role as her husband Russell. Hugh Morton recurred throughout the series as Ben's boss.

## Films

Two feature films both directed by Val Guest were made with the cast of the series between the radio and television versions. The Lyons' contract called for them to receive a percentage of the film's profits.
* Life with the Lyons (1954)
* The Lyons in Paris (1955)

## Television

In 1954, the family appeared in a special on BBC Television. Following its success and that of the first feature film, the network approved a television adaption of Life With the Lyons. BBC aired the first two series, consisting of four episodes each, in the summers of 1955 and 1956 respectively. In 1957, ITV picked up the series for a full fall series of 10 episodes. The show remained on ITV for another three seasons until it ended in 1960.
Only six episodes survive in television archives. One from the first series, two each from the third and fourth, and one from the final series. The surviving first-season episode was shown on BBC Four on 27 March 2005 as part of the "TV on Trial" season. The episode was not shown "in the clear" – viewers had the choice of a version without commentary but with on-screen logos, or with commentary by Roy Hattersley and Kathryn Flett.

### Episode guide
#### Series 1 (1955)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bill Harding | 29 June 1955 (1955-06-29) |
| 2 | 2 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bill Harding | 13 July 1955 (1955-07-13) |
| Bebe and Ben invite Richard's crush Marilyn (Sylvia Syms) to dinner, only to discover she has a very busy romantic life – which includes Barbara's boyfriend. |||||
| 3 | 3 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bill Harding | 27 July 1955 (1955-07-27) |
| 4 | 4 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Ronnie Hanbury | 10 August 1955 (1955-08-10) |

#### Series 2 (1956)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Written by | Original release date |
| 5 | 1 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Ronnie Hanbury | 31 May 1956 (1956-05-31) |
| 6 | 2 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Ronnie Hanbury | 14 June 1956 (1956-06-14) |
| 7 | 3 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Ronnie Hanbury | 28 June 1956 (1956-06-28) |
| 8 | 4 | TBA | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Ronnie Hanbury | 12 July 1956 (1956-07-12) |

#### Series 3 (1957–58)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Written by | Original release date |
| 9 | 1 | "The Green-Eyed Monster" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 17 September 1957 (1957-09-17) |
| 10 | 2 | "Family Secrets" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 1 October 1957 (1957-10-01) |
| 11 | 3 | "I've Got You Covered" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 15 October 1957 (1957-10-15) |
| 12 | 4 | "Cool Cat on a Hot Roof" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 29 October 1957 (1957-10-29) |
| 13 | 5 | "Going, Going, Gone" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 12 November 1957 (1957-11-12) |
| 14 | 6 | "Where There's A Will" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 26 November 1957 (1957-11-26) |
| 15 | 7 | "Unlucky Winner" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 19 December 1957 (1957-12-19) |
| 16 | 8 | "'Twas the Night Before" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 24 December 1957 (1957-12-24) |
| 17 | 9 | "Danger – Woman at Work" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 7 January 1958 (1958-01-07) |
| 18 | 10 | "Signs of The Times" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Block & Bob Ross | 21 January 1958 (1958-01-21) |

#### Series 4 (1958–59)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Written by | Original release date |
| 19 | 1 | "Who's Your Lady Friend?" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 19 September 1958 (1958-09-19) |
| 20 | 2 | "The Reluctant Genius" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 3 October 1958 (1958-10-03) |
| 21 | 3 | "Dangerous Curves Ahead" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 17 October 1958 (1958-10-17) |
| 22 | 4 | "Boxing Gloves" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 31 October 1958 (1958-10-31) |
| 23 | 5 | "A Guest in the House" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 28 November 1958 (1958-11-28) |
| 24 | 6 | "Thirteen Shop-Lifting Days To Christmas" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 12 December 1958 (1958-12-12) |
| 25 | 7 | "The Sheriff of Fractured Wrist" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 26 December 1958 (1958-12-26) |
| 26 | 8 | "It's A Woman's World" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 9 January 1959 (1959-01-09) |
| 27 | 9 | "King Richard The Last" | Bebe Daniels, Bob Ross, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 23 January 1959 (1959-01-23) |

#### Series 5 (1960)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Written by | Original release date |
| 28 | 1 | "A Cowboy in Kensington" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 1 January 1960 (1960-01-01) |
| 29 | 2 | "Home Sweet Homicide" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 8 January 1960 (1960-01-08) |
| 30 | 3 | "Stupid Cupid" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 15 January 1960 (1960-01-15) |
| 31 | 4 | "Teddy Boys' Picnic" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 22 January 1960 (1960-01-22) |
| 32 | 5 | "For Love Or Money" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 29 January 1960 (1960-01-29) |
| 33 | 6 | "Just What the Doctor Ordered" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 5 February 1960 (1960-02-05) |
| 34 | 7 | "Top Secret" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 12 February 1960 (1960-02-12) |
| 35 | 8 | "Tease For Two" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 19 February 1960 (1960-02-19) |
| 36 | 9 | "Your Presents Are Requested" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 26 February 1960 (1960-02-26) |
| 37 | 10 | "A Chip Off The Old Blockhead" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 4 March 1960 (1960-03-04) |
| 38 | 11 | "The Nelson Touch" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 11 March 1960 (1960-03-11) |
| 39 | 12 | "Sauce for the Goose" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 18 March 1960 (1960-03-18) |
| 40 | 13 | "Be My Ghost" | Bebe Daniels, Ronnie Hanbury & Bob Block | 25 March 1960 (1960-03-25) |

## Other versions

Life With the Lyons also appeared as a play, and in seven Royal Command Performances.

## In popular culture

* John Lennon was a fan of the radio show, and paid tribute to the show in his second album with Yoko Ono, Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions.
* In his song "Post World War Two Blues", on the album Past, Present & Future (1973), Al Stewart sings, "We were locked up safe and warm from the snow / With 'Life with the Lyons' on the radio...".