The News Huddlines was a BBC Radio 2 topical comedy sketch show starring Roy Hudd that ran for fifty one series from 1975 until 2001.
[4] In January 2002, Hudd accepted the role of Archie Shuttleworth in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and felt he could not continue in both capacities.
[5] A special reunion episode starring original cast members Chris Emmett, Nichola McAuliffe, Alison Steadman and Richard Clegg together with Jon Culshaw was recorded in front of an audience in the Sondheim Theatre in London's West End on 14th May 2023 and has since been released on CD.
The material of Huddlines was in a traditional British comedy style, usually aimed at an older audience, with every gag ending on a recognisable punchline.
For instance, the ex-prime minister’s wife Norma Major, as voiced by Whitfield, seemed to bear an uncanny resemblance to Eth, her character in The Glums, a widely remembered segment in the 1950s series Take It From Here.