Merriman remembered for Beyond Our Ken

Veteran comedy scriptwriter Eric Merriman has died at the age of 78.

His credits include creating scripts for Morecambe and Wise, Frankie Howerd and Terry Scott - though will perhaps be best remembered for his work on the radio series Beyond Our Ken, starring Kenneth Horne.

He wrote the first two series with Barry Took, but the duo fell out when they were drafted in to replace Frank Muir and Denis Norden on Take It From Here - so Merrmiman wrote another 100 Beyond Our Ken programmes alone.

The cast included Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, and would later transform into the much-loved Round The Horne, which Took wrote with Marty Feldman.

Writing Merriman's obituary in the Guardian today, Pertwee said: "It was a joy to be part of Beyond Our Ken. Sophistication was always tempered with an essence of easily recognised humour."

After that show, Merriman moved into TV. He wrote Norman Vaughan's material for his role as the compere of Sunday Night At The London Palladium in the Sixties, and several series of Terry And June in the Seventies and Eighties.

He leaves a wife, Jean, a son and three grandchildren.

Published: 12 Jun 2003