Murder on the Oregon Express

## Production

**Episode:** 27

**Date:** March 24, 1976

**Time:** 50:58

**Musical Director:**

**Vocals:** The Ladybirds

**Choreography:**

**Producer:** Mark Stuart

**Director:** Mark Stuart

**Writer:** Benny Hill

## Episode

* More Guest Stars
	+ Dennis Roussos and Mama Mouskouri
	+ Roger Twitaker
	+ The Spatchelors
* Monologue: The Ubangi Girl
* The Handy Man
* Fred Scuttle: Space Race
* Interview with Fanny Craddock
* Guest: Brenda Arnau - Tell It Like It Is
* Murder on the Orient Express
* The Lower Tidmarsh Volunteer Fire Brigade Singers
	+ The Ballad of Robin Hood
	+ Robin Hood
* Tag: Snuffo

## Highlights

* The Handy Man
* Murder on the Orient Express
* Robin Hood

## Cast

* Benny Hill
* Jack Wright
* Henry McGee
* Eddie Buchanan
* Bob Todd
* Jenny Lee-Wright
* Jenny Westbrook
* Monika Ringwald
* LeAnne Robinson
* Ted Taylor (uncredited)

## Quotes

* **Fanny Craddock** - "I have big brothel in Hong Kong... And a little sister."

* **Fanny Craddock** - "The Shu-shu bird only have one mating season a year. It lasts twelve months."

* **Henry McGee** - "Will he be able to live in it?"
**Fred Scuttle** - "Our goldfish lived in it for three weeks before it died."

## Trivia

* The opening starts with impressions of Mama Mouskouri (Benny Hill), Dennis Rousssos (Eddie Buchanan), Roger Whitaker ("Roger Twitaker") (Benny), who sings Flying South For The Summer from January 27, 1971 and The Bachelors ("The Spatchelors") (Benny, Henry McGee and Jackie Wright) singing Colleen from February 7, 1970.
	+ "Flying South For The Summer" was later reworked into Home for the Summer on January 16, 1984
	+ The Bachelors" were a British vocal group in the 1960s. They were also parodied in January 27, 1971 as part of Benny's spoof of "Top of the Tops," The British version of the American series, "American Bandstand."
* Bob Todd returns to the series after a three-episode absence. Although he appears in the following episode, he follows with an eight-episode absence until February 6, 1980 after under-going therapy for a drinking problem.
* The actresses in the Fred Scuttle interview are Jenny Lee Wright and Brenda Arnau. Brenda can be seen laughing when Scuttle is closing up his rocket (Indestructable II).
	+ In the sketch, Benny says "Ground Control To Major Tom," a direct reference to David Bowie's song "Space Oddity."
* The "Murder on the Orient Express" parody features the cast playing characters from several American 70s crime dramas, including "Cannon," "Barnaby Jones," "McCloud," "Kojak," "Columbo," "The Invisible Man" and "Police Story."
	+ The Hercule Poirot characterization parodied by Benny was based on the version created by Albert Finney in the 1974 film version of "Murder on the Orient Express."
* This episode features very few quickies compared to most episodes except for the opening takes and the "Snuffo" tag at the end. In it, Benny plays a snuff-buyer who can't stop sneezing, annoying a man at a bus stop (Henry McGee), a lady in a dress (Jenny Westbrook), two girls in a tent (Monica Ringwald and Leanne Robinson), a wood-cutter (Bob Todd) and a man on a boat (Jackie Wright), who all end up chasing him. The tag is not featured in the episode menu of the A&E DVD set.
	+ Among the archive footage of the damage in the tag is the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge near Seattle, Washington, which was destroyed by high winds on November 7, 1940.
* Selected sketches from this episode appear in "Video Revue" from HBO Home Video.

## Sequence

* **Last Episode:** The World of Sports
* **Next Episode:** Sale of the Half Century

## Gallery

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