Editing It's That Man Again (section)

==Background==
The comedian [[Tommy Handley]] started as in [[music hall]] before becoming a regular feature on [[BBC radio]] from 1924. By the end of the 1920s he was, according to the writers Andy Foster and [[Steve Furst]], a household name in Britain; his popularity continued into the 1930s.{{sfn|Foster|Furst|1999|pp=28–29}} The scriptwriter [[Ted Kavanagh]] was a fan of Handley and wrote a script for a comedy sketch for him in 1926. Handley liked the work and bought it; it was the start of a professional relationship that lasted until Handley's death in 1949.{{sfn|Took|2004}}{{sfn|Kavanagh|1975|p=10}}

Although the BBC featured many comic acts in its variety programmes, it had no regular comedy series until early 1938, when ''[[Band Waggon]]'' and ''[[Danger! Men at Work]]'' began.{{sfn|Foster|Furst|1999|pp=14–16, 24–27, 28}}{{sfn|Gifford|1985|p=65}} The former, which ran for three series in 1938 and 1939, was a particular success;{{sfn|Took|1981|p=21}} [[John Watt (broadcaster)|John Watt]], the BBC's director of variety, wanted a successor and decided that Handley would be the right person to present it.{{sfn|Foster|Furst|1999|p=30}} In June 1939 Handley, Kavanagh and the producer [[Francis Worsley]] met at the [[Langham Hotel, London|Langham Hotel]], London, to discuss ideas for a sketch show to meet Watt's criteria.{{sfn|Took|1981|p=22}}{{sfn|Grundy|1976|p=43}} They decided to emulate the quick-fire style of American radio programmes such as the ''[[Burns and Allen|Burns and Allen Show]]'', although with a much more English quality.{{sfn|Briggs|1985|p=128}}

Initial plans were to call the new programme ''MUG''—the "Ministry of Universal Gratification"—but Worsley preferred ''ITMA''. "ITMA", or "It's That Man Again", referred to [[Adolf Hitler]], and the term was used as a headline to describe him by [[Bert Gunn]], the editor of the ''[[Daily Express]]''.{{sfn|Wintour|2008}}{{efn|The phrase "It's That Man Again" was originally used by members of the American [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] when referring to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as he introduced another element of the [[New Deal]], and was only later used in the British press to refer to Hitler.{{sfn|Took|2011}}}}