The Navy Lark

After watching The Navy Lark which for years was a popular British radio show about the crew of a minesweeper on peacetime duty I now know where a lot of the comedy and the general idea for McHale's Navy came from. The situations seemed remarkably close.

Commander Cecil Parker has command of a minesweeper stationed upon a channel island of Boonsey which seems to have a mixed population of British and French. The mission is for the minesweeper to clear out all mines left from the late war, but that's been fulfilled a long time ago. But not according to Parker who sends in reports regularly about the work his crew is doing. Parker and the rest of the crew has grown to like it on the island and don't want to join the real Royal Navy any time soon.

The Captain Binghamton of The Navy Lark is Nicholas Phipps who wants to close down the Boonsey Island operation, but not if Parker and his trusty crew can stop him.

In the end through a series of misunderstandings the Navy believes that a revolution against British imperialism is taking place. What happens then is for you to see.

What I can see is why The Navy Lark was such a popular radio show in the United Kingdom. And I think American viewers will see the parallels with McHale's Navy and respond favorably.