Jennings and Derbyshire

Jennings and Darbishire were two school-boys, probably about nine or ten years old, whose adventures I followed on the Children’s Hour on the radio, and also in the books written by their creator Anthony Buckeridge. I used to find them so hilarious, I would laugh until I was almost crying at the escapades they got up to and how quite innocently they would cause chaos and confusion. They weren’t naughty boys, they were full of interest and a sense of adventure; they would have grand schemes which would have disastrous and yet funny consequences. There were other school boy chums, Temple and Venables, for example, and teachers who would try their best to maintain a semblance or order and control, particularly Mr Carter and Mr Wilkins.

There were 25 books, and I don;’t know how many radio broadcasts; they have been reissued and rebroadcast since I heard them as a child, and I hope they enliven and amuse children who read or listen to them now. The stories were so realistic (in my mind) so amusing, so varied and so different, they really were a favourite!

Anthony Buckeridge died in 2004; here is an obituary:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jun/29/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries

… and this may have been the original Jennings:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/6655116/Diarmaid-Jennings.html