Charles Hawtrey, That Funny Fella With the Glasses

If you missed Radio 4's repeat of my documentary click on the radio page 

Miranda Sawyer, The Observer

Still, Radio 4's documentaries make up for it. Wes Butters's investigation of the life of Charles Hawtrey, Charles Hawtrey: That Funny Fella With The Glasses, on Tuesday morning was excellent, though it took time to get used to Butters's Radio 1 presenting style. I liked the musical inserts, though, and the little drop-ins of Hawtreyisms: "Oooh, goody, what?" A sad tale, this, despite the campy comments: when Hawtrey died, of complications from his alcohol abuse, he was not loved. He lived in the Kent coast town of Deal for the last years of his life. A "nasty piece of work", said one anonymous neighbour; another remembered a time when Hawtrey had passed out in one of the few bars in Deal that would still serve him. "A lot of people was spitting on him," he said. "They were."

Paul Connolly, Daily Mail

Anyone who's ever loved a Carry On film will fondly remember Charles Hawtrey, the slender, bug-eyed actor with the high-pitched voice and perfect comic timing. Sadly, anyone who actually met him in his final years, when he lived in Deal in Kent, is unlikely to have any affectionate recollections of a man who had become an embittered, poisonous sot. Presenter Wes Butters was probably hoping to find friends and colleagues of Hawtrey with warm memories of the late comic during Charles Hawtrey: That Funny Fella With The Glasses. No such luck. It quickly became clear that Hawtrey was a man so curdled by being thwarted in his ambition to be a leading man that there wasn't much congeniality left. Inability to deal with this was what destroyed him. 4/4 stars.

The British Comedy Guide

A fascinating documentary that exposed the dark side of the famous Carry On star. The programme was lovingly researched and presented by Wes Butters who did an excellent job of telling the sorry tale of Hawtrey's decent into alcoholism and bitterness.

If you missed it, click here: