Oldham comedian Danny Ross played Alfie Hall, Susan's half-witted, tongue-tied boyfriend, who was often drawn into Jimmy's reckless schemes.

Tony Melody played Mr (Horatio) Higginbottom (his first name was almost never used), normally known as Higgie, a 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) taxi driver — Granddad's drinking buddy, and father of Jimmy's pal Ozzie.

Deryck Guyler, who had appeared in supporting roles in some early episodes, spent two years as a regular on the show, replacing Leonard Williams after the latter's death.

The lost 1956 pilot episode guest starred Irene Handl and Robert Moreton, as Jimmy's aunt and uncle, with Anthea Askey as his girl cousin (playing the roles which would eventually evolve into his Mother, Grandfather and Sister), and Eddie Leslie.

For the period 1956 to 1969, supplementing the edited Transcription Service discs, 58 episodes are currently known to exist as off air recordings made by listeners, many of variable sound quality, some of which are incomplete.

[4] Jimmy Clitheroe was 35 years old when he started playing the part on radio, but (in the variety theatres and, later, on television) he could pass as an 11-year-old boy because he had never grown physically beyond that age.

So he discussed his pal Ozzie, and his schoolboy friends in the Black Hand Gang (who would punish any member caught in the company of a girl), but the characters he spoke about were never actually heard themselves.

Even when trying to do a good deed (as when he believes Grandad has stolen money from a local shop, which he is actually only minding for the bowling club), he usually messes up, with the assistance of the disaster-prone Alfie.

Another frequent scenario is some variation on one of Jimmy's many money-making schemes, intended to finance another visit to the sweetshop, or the purchase of a new pair of roller-skates, or somesuch, but which inevitably leads to disaster.

Higginbottom's son, the much-maligned Ozzie, is a fat kid who Jimmy calls his best friend, while frequently thrashing him, mocking him, and involving him in his wild schemes.