Serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Murdoch met a fellow officer, Kenneth Horne, and together they conceived, wrote and starred in the radio series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, which ran from 1944 to 1954.

Murdoch's last long-running radio programmes were The Men from the Ministry (1962–1977) in which he played a well-meaning but disaster-prone civil servant, and Many a Slip, a panel game that combined humour and erudition, in which he appeared from 1964 to 1973.

[1] Murdoch made his professional stage debut in March 1927 at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, in the chorus of The Blue Train, a musical comedy starring Lily Elsie and directed by Jack Hulbert.

The smooth West End style of Murdoch contrasted with the down-to-earth humour of Askey, whose background was in seaside concert parties.

Took comments that their humour was a forerunner of much radio comedy to come: … the fantasy of their living in Broadcasting House, and the creation of such mythical characters as Mrs Bagwash the charlady and her daughter Nausea and their pet animals, a goat called Lewis, and two pigeons Basil and Lucy, preceded ITMA and Hancock's Half Hour and was a strong influence on many nascent comedy scriptwriters.

The impresario Jack Hylton presented the two stars and a supporting cast in a show that toured the provincial music-halls and finished with a run at the London Palladium in 1939.

[10] Horne and Murdoch quickly became friends and as both were regular broadcasters they invented a fictitious RAF station Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh for a programme of the same name.

In 1954 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation presented a series of variety programmes called Much Murdoch, in which, during the run, he worked again with Horne, who took advantage of a three-week holiday to join him.

[1][13] Murdoch's last long running radio show was Many a Slip, a panel game that combined humour and erudition,[14] in which he appeared from 1964 to 1973.

[16] From 1978 to 1990, Murdoch had a long-running regular role as "Uncle Tom", the briefless senior barrister of chambers, in Rumpole of the Bailey.