Norman Evans

Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle, George Formby, Arthur Askey, Norman Evans and many more. The North of England has always enjoyed its own very particular brand of comedy, best seen today in Coronation Street. 80 years ago however Mancunian Studios produced feature films for the northern masses. Funny Up North tells the story of the Mancunian Studios, its eccentric owner John E Blakeley and its cavalcade of stars including such household names as Arthur Askey, Jimmy Jewell, George Formby and the legendary Frank Randle. Hosted by Professor Chris Lee, the authority on northern cinema, Funny Up North takes you on a journey from its humble beginnings to its sad demise in the 1960s.

In Over the Garden Wall, a working class couple (Jimmy James and Norman Evans) are planning to give their only daughter and their new GI son-in-law a right Northern welcome. As always, though, riotous trouble starts to flare up when a young man starts to flirt with James and Evans's daughter!

When chimney sweep Joe inherits a ramshackle hotel, he enlists the help of his former army friends to help restore and staff it. Knowing that an airport is due to be built nearby, two cunning property developers try to persuade him to sell, telling him the property is almost worthless. Can he thwart their scheme?

Demobbed from the army Nat, Norman and Dan get new jobs, solve a crime and stage a concert party.