Discover

William George Bunter, or 'Billy Bunter', the "Fat Owl of the Remove", is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton (using the nom de plume of ''Frank Richards'') for stories set at Greyfriars School in the boys' weekly magazine ''The Magnet'' (published from 1908 to 1940).

Contents

Importance

History

Comics

Television

Stage

Trivia since 1960's

See also

References

External links

Importance

George Orwell acknowledged the strength of the character in his essay "Boys' Weeklies" (1940):

History

There was a previous Billy Bunter character, created by H Philpott Wright, who appeared in a series of stories in Vanguard Library from 1907 (such as "Billy Bunter's Hamper"). Hamilton was also a contributor to Vanguard, but in turn claimed to have first used the Bunter name in a rejected story of 1899. "Inky" (Hurree Jamset Ram Singh) was created in ''Marvel'' at Netherby School in 1907, with Hamilton writing as Owen Conquest.
Although Billy Bunter later became famous in his own right, he was not particularly the "star" of the original ''Magnet'' stories.^[1] These were straightforward school stories in which virtually all of the Remove featured to some extent, especially the "Famous Five" of Harry Wharton, Bob Cherry, Frank Nugent, Johnny Bull and Hurree Jamset Ram Singh (known as "Inky").
''The Magnet'' ceased publication in 1940, at issue 1683, due to the paper shortage and ensuing costs during war-time. There had been at least four more issues already written, but these were never published and are now presumed lost. After the war, Hamilton wrote a new series of books in which Bunter was more or less the main character.
Just about all ''Magnet'' stories have now been reprinted in the Howard Baker series and the Greyfriar's Book Club series, and other annuals and books, now all out of print.

Comics

After ''The Magnet'' folded, Bunter made it into comics, in ''Knockout'', from 15 June 1940. ''Knockout'' began only in 1939 but already had a circulation of several times that of ''The Magnet''. C.H. Chapman, the last illustrator for ''The Magnet'', drew only the first nine ''Knockout'' strips and several other artists were tried out but none really suited until Frank Minnit came along. He had been illustrating a number of comics at the time and arrived at the editor's office just the right time. They were pleased with his beaming and bouncy Bunter which first followed Chapman's style then branched off into a style of his own, concentrating more on humour. Over not many years, Wharton, Nugent, Cherry, Bull and Ram Singh vanished to be replaced by the diminutive Jones minor who had all the good qualities that Bunter did not. However this did not stop him from being led astray by Bunter, against his better judgement. Mr Quelch stayed, at least in name, but he lost his dignity and aloofness and became a straight man in a knockabout farce which often ended with Bunter being caned.
Minnit continued producing the strip with undiminished vigour until he died in 1958. Reg Parlett took over until ''Knockout'' was knocked out in 1961 when it was transferred to ''Valiant'' comic until 1976. Bunter also appeared in many ''Knockout'' annuals, even on some covers. For use of his character, Hamilton was paid £5 a week until he died in 1961. C.H. Chapman drew a strip for the ''Comet'' comic in 1956 which featured the classical old Bunter of ''The Magnet'' and the Famous Five, consisting of twelve weeks of 2-page strips (24 pages). Bunter's appearances in ''The Comet'' lasted from 4 March 1950 until 21 June 1958, with picture stories from 9 February 1952. Issues were No. 85-135 (4 Mar 1950 - 17 Feb 1951), 186-240 (9 Feb 1952 - 21 Feb 1953), 407-496 (5 May 1956 - 18 Jan 1958), 506-518 (29 May 1958 - 21 Jun 1958)

Television

Billy Bunter was played by Gerald Campion in a BBC television series from 1952 to 1961, 40 black and white episodes lasting 30 minutes each over seven seasons from 1952 (the BBC claims 1953) until 1961. There were also three specials made. Other than Gerald Campion, other actors were replaced over time. Kynaston Reeves/John Woodnutt/Jack Melford played form master Henry Quelch. Keith Faulkner played Bob Cherry; Michael Crawford/Michael Danvers-Walker played Frank Nugent; Barry McGregor played Johnny Bull; Anthony Valentine/John Charlesworth played Harry Wharton; and Melvyn Hayes/David Spenser played Harry Jamset Ram Singh of the Famous Five. John Rutherford played Herbert Vernon Smith, the Bounder; Philip Guard played Skinner (the Cad); John Quayle played Peter Todd; Cavane Malone played Lord Mauleverer; John Osbourne played Head Boy/Prefect Wingate; Edward Lexy played Mr Prout; Christopher Hodge played Gosling, the school porter; and John Stuart played Dr Locke, the Headmaster.
The shows were produced at 5:40 pm and with another performance at 8 pm, the latter being changed slightly for a more adult audience and was shown on Tuesdays. The main problem with the show that while the adults including Campion (who was 29 when he started the role) were convincing in their roles, many of the boys weren't and were just background. Wharton gave no sign of leadership, Ram Singh unconvincingly reeled off metaphors and Cherry was not exuberant. But still the show was a success and gained many new Bunter fans.
Also all episodes were scripted by Frank Richards. As with many old shows, the BBC literally threw the originals away or burnt them. Now surviving is the complete third series, five episodes of the sixth series and a poor quality episode of the seventh series. There are no plans for DVDs, despite fans writing to the BBC asking for them.

Stage

There were also Christmas stage shows with a different casts :

★ 1958. Billy Bunter's Mystery Christmas (Palace Theatre London)

★ 1959. Billy Bunter Flies East (Victoria Palace)

★ 1960. Billy Bunter's Swiss Roll (Victoria Palace)

★ 1961. Billy Bunter Shipwrecked (Victoria Palace.

★ 1962. Billy Bunter's Chritmas Circus (Queen's Theatre)

★ 1963. Billy Bunter meets Magic (Shaftsbury Theatre)
Details for 1962: Peter Bridgmont as William George Bunter, Peter Sanders as Bob Cherry, David Griffin as Johnny Bull, Gregory Warwick as Harry Wharton, Barry Henderson as Frank Nugent, Louis Aquilina as Hurree Jamset Ram Singh, Robert Lanksheer as Mr Quelch. This play was performed at the Queen's Theatre on Monday 24 December 1962 and featured the Christmas holidays at Wharton Lodge and a circus nearby.

Trivia since 1960's

★ Enid Blyton may have borrowed the term "Famous Five" for her own series of adventure stories. Her ''Frederick Trotteville'', aka ''Fatty'', character from the Five Find-Outers series also shows some similarities to Bunter.

★ Bunter was the model for Cyril, a mischievous but sinister schoolboy, played by Peter Stephens^[2], who appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Celestial Toymaker''^[3] on BBC television in 1966.

★ In the 1980s, a chain of fast food restaurants called Bunter's experienced brief success in Britain. These restaurants prominently featured images of Billy Bunter but did nothing else to evoke the Greyfriars atmosphere, selling standard fast food when they might have offered "school dinners".

★ Billy Bunter also features in a book about boys' weeklies called ''Boys Will Be Boys'', by E. S. Turner, which surveys comics such as Victorian 'penny dreadfuls', and others up to the 1960s.^[4]

★ A large selection of Billy Bunter comic strips and some stories are featured in ''The Big Fat Bunter Book'' by Mike Higgs. Published by Hawk Books in 1989, it is 290 pages and originally cost £9.95 in the UK. ISBN 0 948248 02 5.

★ Gerald Campion was asked to appear as Bunter in schoolboy uniform for the short lived BBC TV show ''Where Are They Now?'' which featured people who had disappeared from the public spotlight. However, as he believed the £10 they offered him to do so was derisory, he refused. This was revealed by an indignant Campion in a later TV interview on afternoon TV.

See also

★ Bessie Bunter

References

1. Cadogan, Mary ''Frank Richards: the chap behind the chums'' (1988 London, Penguin) ISBN 0670819468 p64
2. Peter Stephens at IMDB.com website.
3. ''The Celestial Toymaker'', BBC, 1966, at IMDB.com website.
4. ''Boys Will Be Boys'', by E. S. Turner.

External links

★ ''Bunterzone''

★

★ ''Bunter's Bumper Blow-Out'', an online Billy Bunter comic from "''Valiant Annual 1969''"

★ ''Greyfriars, The Magnet, & Billy Bunter - Facts, Figures & Fun''

★ ''Guide to the surviving and lost episodes of the BBC television series, 1952-61''

★ [1]

★ ''Details of the comics Bunter appeared in''