From 09/01/1942

Can Mayor Tommy Handley save the day at the local repertory theatre?

With Jack Train, Horace Percival, Sydney Keith, Clarence Wright, Fred Yule, Dorothy Summers, Kay Cavendish, Pat Ringold and Dino Galvani.

It's That Man Again - ITMA made a radio superstar of Tommy Handley (1894-1949) and had more than 20 million devoted listeners to the BBC Home Service each week - with millions more around the world. The show's title came from a newspaper headline used in stories about Adolf Hitler in the lead up to the Second World War.

Catchphrases like "TTFN - Ta-Ta for now" and "Can I Do You Now, Sir?" coupled with a frenetic, topical approach made it utterly distinctive.

From 1939 to 1949, over 310 episodes were broadcast, breaking away from existing comedy and music hall conventions with an anarchic and irreverent style - created by its writer Ted Kavanagh.

BBC Variety Orchestra, conducted by Charles Shadwell.

Producer: Francis Worsley.

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in January 1942.