Nautical
antics was one of Ken Reid’s favourite themes. The Queen of the Seas in SMASH!
comic is a classic example considered by many to be his best work.
Interestingly,
my mate and UK comics collector and researcher extraordinaire Peter Hansen has discovered that Ken’s inspiration for the pompous skipper Enoch Drip and his one-man-crew
Bertram Bloop came from the 1964 British comedy film The Bargee by Duncan Wood.
The
film is about two boatmen operating a commercial canal-boat. The main character
is Hemel Pike (played by Harry H. Corbett) who is quite a bit of a lothario with
girlfriends all across the canal network. As such, Hemel wasn’t suitable for a
children’s paper, but his cousin Ronnie (played by Ronnie Barker) became the
prototype for Ken’s Bertram Bloop:
..
while the character of the inept mariner (played by Eric Sykes) was the inspiration
behind Queenie’s skipper:
Ken
actually owned a boat and had quite a few comical adventures when sailing the
canals. If you take a close look, Enoch Drip often looks like Ken’s self-portrait.
