The Navy Lark
The Navy Lark is a radio sitcom about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge based in HMNB Portsmouth. In series 1 and 2, the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island". In series 2 this island was revealed to be owned by Lt. Cdr. Stanton.
The programme was transmitted on the BBC Light Programme and subsequently BBC Radio 2. It was produced by Alastair Scott Johnston. Jon Pertwee is frequently quoted as having suggested the idea of a forces comedy based on the Royal Navy, but writer Laurie Wyman and Alastair Scott Johnston both contemplated an Air Force and an Army themed sit-com before going to the BBC with The Navy Lark. Laurie Wyman included ideas based on excuses for late return from leave and other misdemeanours from HMS Troubridge bulletins. He worked with George Evans from quite early on, but Alastair Scott Johnston did not want him named until the 12th series onwards. For most of its run, it starred Leslie Phillips, Jon Pertwee and Stephen Murray, whose names rotated in order of precedence every episode over the entire 15 season run. Stephen Murray's daughter Amanda Murray also appeared in a few episodes.
Episodes of The Navy Lark series are still replayed in rotation on BBC Radio 4 Extra, and made available for delayed listening through their iPlayer service.
Plot
Episodes were self-contained, although there was continuity within the series, and sometimes a reference to a previous episode might be made. A normal episode consisted of Sub Lt Phillips, scheming Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, and bemused Lt. Murray trying to get out of trouble they created for themselves without their direct superior, Commander "Thunderguts" Povey finding out. Scenes frequently featured a string of eccentric characters, often played by Ronnie Barker or Jon Pertwee. Over the course of the programme Lt Murray marries Admiral Ffont-Bittocks' daughter Rita.The Republic of Potarneyland, a country situated somewhere on the Indian subcontinent, is featured in several episodes. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that Potarneyland had recently been granted independence from Great Britain, and had joined NATO because the Potanis considered it to be a "free gift scheme". During Series 3 of The Navy Lark, a Potarneyland frigate, the Poppadom, appears in several episodes manned by various Potani officers voiced by Michael Bates and Ronnie Barker.
Cast
- Dennis Price – Lieutenant Price
- Leslie Phillips – Sub-Lieutenant Phillips
- Jon Pertwee – Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, Commander Weatherby, Vice-Admiral "Burbly" Burwasher
- Stephen Murray – Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Murray
- Richard Caldicot – Commander/Captain Povey
- Ronnie Barker – Able Seaman "Fatso" Johnson, Lieutenant Commander Stanton, Lieutenant Queeg, Commander Bell
- Heather Chasen – WREN Chasen, Mrs. Ramona Povey, Lady Toddhunter-Brown, Rita Murray, Second Officer McCluty
- Tenniel Evans – Able Seaman "Taffy" Goldstein, Admiral Ffont-Bittocks, Ebeneezer Pertwee, Sir Willoughby Toddhunter-Brown
- Michael Bates – Able Seaman Ginger, Lieutenant Bates, Rear Admiral Ironbridge, Padre, Captain Ignatius Aloysius Atchison, Flag Lieutenant Claude Dingle
- Judy Cornwell – WREN Cornwell
- Laurie Wyman – Able Seaman Burt Tiddy, various
- April Walker – WREN Barrett
- Jan Waters – WREN Waters
- Derek Francis – Sir Jeremy Crichton Buller
- Frank Thornton – Henry Pettigrew
Production
The show's theme tune was "Trade Wind Hornpipe" written and performed by Tommy Reilly on a Barry Music compilation of short interlude pieces published in 1958 on BMC118.
The programme was strong on creating identifiable characters, the listener was able to clearly differentiate each person Laurie Wyman created; many of whom acquired enduring catchphrases, most notably from Sub Lieutenant Phillips: "Corrrrr", "Ooh, nasty...", "Oh lumme!", and "Left hand down a bit". "Ev'rybody down!" was a phrase of CPO Pertwee's, necessitated by a string of incomprehensible navigation orders by Phillips, and followed by a sound effect of the ship crashing. Also, whenever Pertwee had a menial job to be done, Able Seaman Johnson was always first in line to do it, inevitably against his will: "You're rotten, you are!". The telephone response from Naval Intelligence, was always an extremely gormless and dimwitted delivery of Ello, Intelligence 'ere" or "This is intelligence speakin.
Other recurring verbal features were the invented words "humgrummit" and "floggle-toggle" which served to cover all manner of unspecified objects ranging from foodstuffs to naval equipment. Unspecified illnesses include "the twingeing screws", an illness to which Pertwee was a martyr, especially when hearing about being under sailing orders. Ronnie Barker's versatile contributions were recognised and Laurie Wyman was asked by the producer to write more parts for Barker.
Dennis Price returned for a guest appearance in the fourth series episode A Hole Lieutenant. Other 'guest stars' included April Walker, Norma Ronald and June Whitfield.
Spin-offs and adaptations
There were several radio spin-offs, including The Embassy Lark and The Big Business Lark. The TV Lark was intended to be a replacement for The Navy Lark starting with what would have been the programme's fifth series. This situation came about due to the head of light entertainment believing that "forces"-based humour had become dated and television was the next "big thing", so Lawrie Wyman was ordered to create a show with the same cast in an independent TV station situation. Alastair Scott Johnston and Wyman tried to stop this but were overruled: hence, the arrival of The TV Lark.The entire crew had been drummed out of the service and hired by Troutbridge TV Ltd. Janet Brown joined the cast due to the absence of Heather Chasen for this series. However, mainly due to public pressure, the production team of Alastair Scott Johnston and Laurie Wyman managed to revert the show to nautical capers. Storylines in The TV Lark nudged back to naval origins across the ten shows until they were finally reunited with Troutbridge.
In 1959, a film version was released, also called The Navy Lark. Written by Laurie Wyman and Sid Colin and directed by Gordon Parry, it stars Cecil Parker, Ronald Shiner, Elvi Hale, Leslie Phillips and Nicholas Phipps. According to Jon Pertwee's co-written memoir, published shortly after his death in 1996, the film was also supposed to star Pertwee and Dennis Price. However, according to Pertwee the film's producer Herbert Wilcox refused to employ Price "because he was gay." Pertwee was among those who objected to Price not being in the film and believed that this contributed to his own replacement in the cast by Shiner. Pertwee noted that the film "bombed" and said audiences did not consider the film to be The Navy Lark due to the absence of himself, Price and Stephen Murray.
Wyman co-wrote with three other writers a television sitcom HMS Paradise set in a naval shore establishment in which Caldicot played Captain Turvey, but only one series was made. The entire series is considered lost.
The show was cut from 30 to 27 minutes by BBC Transcription services, then the discs were exported around the world except for South Africa. Springbok Radio broadcast to English speaking listeners from their Durban studios, but because it was a commercial station, the BBC refused to allow the station to re-broadcast the recorded shows. However, the station acquired the scripts from Wyman and edited them to around twenty-five minutes each, to accommodate the commercial breaks. The revised show was recorded by local actors in front of a live audience. All the UK associations were kept for the South African audiences which must have been incomprehensible on occasions. The Pumamouse site once offered a chance to hear these shows but the site has undergone changes due to costs which now means the largest collection of these shows exist only at The Navy Lark Appreciation Society archive.
Episode guide
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 1. 1-1 | 29 Mar 1959 | "The Missing Jeep" |
| 2. 1-2 | 5 Apr 1959 | "Operation Fag End" |
| 3. 1-3 | 12 Apr 1959 | "Number One's Chair" |
| 4. 1-4 | 19 Apr 1959 | "The Fairground Lights" |
| 5. 1-5 | 26 Apr 1959 | "The Comfort Fund" |
| 6. 1-6 | 3 May 1959 | "Stuck up the Inlet" |
| 7. 1-7 | 10 May 1959 | "The Admiral's Party" |
| 8. 1-8 | 17 May 1959 | "The Hank of Heather" |
| 9. 1-9 | 24 May 1959 | "The Multiple Mine" |
| 10. 1-10 | 31 May 1959 | "The Gun Mechanism Test" |
| 11. 1-11 | 7 Jun 1959 | "The Whittlesea Bay Yacht Regatta" |
| 12. 1-12 | 14 Jun 1959 | "The Psychology Test" |
| 13. 1-13 | 21 Jun 1959 | "A Watch on the Initiative Test" |
| 14. 1-14 | 28 Jun 1959 | "An Exercise in Filming" |
| 15. 1-15 | 5 Jul 1959 | "The Smuggling Spy" |
| 16. 1-16 | 12 Jul 1959 | "The Whittlesea Carnival and Fête" |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 17. 2-1 | 16 Oct 1959 | "New at the Helm" |
| 18. 2-2 | 23 Oct 1959 | "Fatso's Box Brownie" |
| 19. 2-3 | 30 Oct 1959 | "Bring Back the Barge" |
| 20. 2-4 | 6 Nov 1959 | "The Mock Action" |
| 21. 2-5 | 13 Nov 1959 | "Going Dutch" |
| 22. 2-6 | 20 Nov 1959 | "The Figurehead" |
| 23. 2-7 | Nov 27 1959 | "Gunboat to Gumba" |
| 24. 2-8 | 4 Dec 1959 | "Johnson Finds Treasure" |
| 25. 2-9 | 11 Dec 1959 | "The Charter Trip to Antarctica" |
| 26. 2-10 | 18 Dec 1959 | "Cementing Relations" |
| 27. 2-11 | 25 Dec 1959 | "Strike up the Band" |
| 28. 2-12 | 1 Jan 1960 | "The Route March" |
| 29. 2-13 | 8 Jan 1960 | "A Trip up the Thames" |
| 30. 2-14 | 15 Jan 1960 | "Radar Talk Down System" |
| 31. 2-15 | 22 Jan 1960 | "A Crisp Romance" |
| 32. 2-16 | 29 Jan 1960 | "The Lighthouse Lark" |
| 33. 2-17 | 5 Feb 1960 | "Pertwee Posted to Portsmouth" |
| 34. 2-18 | 12 Feb 1960 | "Johnson's Diet" |
| 35. 2-19 | 19 Feb 1960 | "Tug of War" |
| 36. 2-20 | 26 Feb 1960 | "Return to Portarneyland" |
| 37. 2-21 | 4 Mar 1960 | "The Cross Country Run" |
| 38. 2-22 | 11 Mar 1960 | "The Morning After" |
| 39. 2-23 | 18 Mar 1960 | "The Admiral's Present" |
| 40. 2-24 | 25 Mar 1960 | "Secret Mission to Calais" |
| 41. 2-25 | 1 Apr 1960 | "Mr Murray Goes Sick" |
| 42. 2-26 | 8 Apr 1960 | "The Portarneyland Fishing Limit" |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 43. 3-1 | 2 Nov 1960 | In Portsmouth for a Re-Fit |
| xx. Sp-01 | 5 Nov 1960 | Wrens' Reunion at the Royal Festival Hall |
| 44. 3-2 | 9 Nov 1960 | Refitting Ebeneezer Pertwee's Tug |
| 45. 3-3 | 16 Nov 1960 | Sea Trials of the Poppadom |
| 46. 3-4 | 23 Nov 1960 | Mutiny Aboard Troutbridge |
| 47. 3-5 | 30 Nov 1960 | The Explosive Biscuits |
| 48. 3-6 | 7 Dec 1960 | Sir Willoughby Takes Over the Island |
| 49. 3-7 | 14 Dec 1960 | Mount Rumpus Atoll |
| 50. 3-8 | 21 Dec 1960 | Mr Murray's Houseboat - the 50th show |
| 51. 3-9 | 28 Dec 1960 | Johnson's Birthday Crew of HMS Troubridge in audience. |
| 52. 3-10 | 4 Jan 1961 | Povey's Unexpected Leave |
| 53. 3-11 | 11 Jan 1961 | Families' Day |
| 54. 3-12 | 18 Jan 1961 | Falmouth Ghost Ship |
| 55. 3-13 | 25 Jan 1961 | Onabushkan Flu |
| 56. 3-14 | 1 Feb 1961 | The Efficiency Expert |
| 57. 3-15 | 8 Feb 1961 | The Floggle Grummit Missile |
| 58. 3-16 | 15 Feb 1961 | The Hitch Hiking Counterfeiter |
| 59. 3-17 | 22 Feb 1961 | Commodore Goldstein |
| 60. 3-18 | 1 Mar 1961 | Mr Phillips Has Navigation Tuition |
| 61. 3-19 | 8 Mar 1961 | CPO Pertwee and the Laundry |
| 62. 3-20 | 15 Mar 1961 | The Surprise Wedding. |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 63. 4-1 | 15 Sep 1961 | Returning from Leave |
| 64. 4-2 | 22 Sep 1961 | Captain Povey's Spy |
| 65. 4-3 | 29 Sep 1961 | The Secret of Nessie's Youth |
| 66. 4-4 | 6 Oct 1961 | The Northampton Hunt Ball |
| 67. 4-5 | 13 Oct 1961 | Hijacked |
| 68. 4-6 | 20 Oct 1961 | Admiral Troutbridge |
| 69. 4-7 | 27 Oct 1961 | Relatives and Reservations |
| 70. 4-8 | 3 Nov 1961 | Humgrummits on the High Seas |
| 71. 4-9 | 10 Nov 1961 | Are Captain and Mrs Povey Married? |
| 72. 4-10 | 17 Nov 1961 | Cine Cameras at Sea |
| 73. 4-11 | 24 Nov 1961 | The Citizen Adjustment Course |
| 74. 4-12 | 1 Dec 1961 | A Hole Lieutenant |
| 75. 4-13 | 8 Dec 1961 | Spy Catching in Casablanca |
| 76. 4-14 | 15 Dec 1961 | Mount Pot Erupts |
| 77. 4-15 | 22 Dec 1961 | Captain Povey's Shop |
| 78. 4-16 | 29 Dec 1961 | Leading Seaman Goldstein's Party |
| 79. 4-17 | 5 Jan 1962 | The Invitation |
| 80. 4-18 | 12 Jan 1962 | The Cornish Exercise |
| 81. 4-19 | 19 Jan 1962 | A Strange Hobby |
| 82. 4-20 | 26 Jan 1962 | Mr Phillips Get Engaged |
| 83. 4-21 | 2 Feb 1962 | The Sinking of the Bubble Car |
| 84. 4-22 | 9 Feb 1962 | Long John Pertwee |
| 85. 4-23 | 16 Feb 1962 | The Admiral's Accident Report |
| 86. 4-24 | 23 Feb 1962 | Over the Sea to Rosyth |
| 87. 4-25 | 2 Mar 1962 | The Return of Sir Frederick Flatley |
| 88. 4-26 | 9 Mar 1962 | The Ship's Concert |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| xx. Sp-02 | Xmas 1962 | Calling The Antarctic. Christmas Special 1962. |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| T01. | 25 Jan 1963 | Opening Night |
| T02. | 1 Feb 1963 | The Prestige Show |
| T03. | 8 Feb 1963 | Z Ambulances |
| T04. | 15 Feb 1963 | House of Commons |
| T05. | 22 Feb 1963 | Back to Portsmouth |
| T06. | 1 Mar 1963 | On Safari |
| T07. | 8 Mar 1963 | Ship Ahoy! |
| T08. | 15 Mar 1963 | The Portarneyland Election |
| T09. | 22 Mar 1963 | The Top Secret Rocket Trials |
| T10. | 29 Mar 1963 | Back in the Navy |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 89. 5-1 | 5 Apr 1963 | First Day out of Dock |
| 90. 5-2 | 12 Apr 1963 | The New Barmaid |
| 91. 5-3 | 19 Apr 1963 | A Deliberate Bashing |
| 92. 5-4 | 26 Apr 1963 | Whittlesea Regatta |
| 93. 5-5 | 3 May 1963 | HMS Troutbridge Gets a Rocket |
| 94. 5-6 | 10 May 1963 | The Ghost Ship |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 95. 6-1 | 27 Sep 1963 | Wren Chasen Returns |
| 96. 6-2 | 4 Oct 1963 | On the Carpet |
| 97. 6-3 | 11 Oct 1963 | The Bungalese Spies |
| 98. 6-4 | 18 Oct 1963 | Troutbridge's Party |
| 99. 6-5 | 25 Oct 1963 | Rescuing Admirals |
| 100. 6-6 | 1 Nov 1963 | Demise of the Depth Charges |
| 101. 6-7 | 8 Nov 1963 | The Struggle for Promotion |
| 102. 6-8 | 15 Nov 1963 | Navigation by Computer |
| 103. 6-9 | 22 Nov 1963 | Stormy Weather |
| 104. 6-10 | 29 Nov 1963 | Chasing the Kepeac |
| 105. 6-11 | 6 Dec 1963 | The Submerged Island |
| 106. 6-12 | 13 Dec 1963 | The Sicilian Secret Agent |
| 107. 6-13 | 20 Dec 1963 | German's Troutbridge |
| 108. 6-14 | 27 Dec 1963 | Confirming Povey's Rank |
| 109. 6-15 | 3 Jan 1964 | The Calais Dock Strike |
| 110. 6-16 | 10 Jan 1964 | Johnson's Memoirs |
| 111. 6-17 | 17 Jan 1964 | The Emperor of Tratvia |
| 112. 6-18 | 24 Jan 1964 | Open Day |
| 113. 6-19 | 31 Jan 1964 | Stuck on a Sandbank |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 114. 7-1 | 11 Jul 1965 | Taking Some Liberties |
| 115. 7-2 | 18 Jul 1965 | Smugglers in the Solent |
| 116. 7-3 | 25 Jul 1965 | Mr Murray is Victimised |
| 117. 7-4 | 1 Aug 1965 | The Poveys Move House |
| 118. 7-5 | 8 Aug 1965 | Captain Povey Reports Sick |
| 119. 7-6 | 15 Aug 1965 | Admiral Pertwee's Fleet |
| 120. 7-7 | 22 Aug 1965 | Let Loose with a Chopper |
| 121. 7-8 | 29 Aug 1965 | Making a Right Pig's Breakfast |
| 122. 7-9 | 5 Sep 1965 | The Mysterious Pudding Mine |
| 123. 7-10 | 12 Sep 1965 | The Hovercraft Training Course |
| 124. 7-11 | 19 Sep 1965 | Sabotaged Floggle-Toggle Box |
| 125. 7-12 | 26 Sep 1965 | The Portarneyland Training Exercise |
| 126. 7-13 | 3 Oct 1965 | Going on Leave to Croydon |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| xxx. Sp-03 | Xmas 1965 | Hitting the Ice Floe. |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 127. 8-1 | 4 Sep 1966 | Where is Troutbridge? |
| 128. 8-2 | 11 Sep 1966 | Float a Peddle Fiddle |
| 129. 8-3 | 18 Sep 1966 | A Sticky Business |
| 130. 8-4 | 25 Sep 1966 | Buoys Will Be Buoys |
| 131. 8-5 | 2 Oct 1966 | Steamship Day |
| 132. 8-6 | 9 Oct 1966 | Farewell to HMS Varsity |
| 133. 8-7 | 16 Oct 1966 | The Army Lark |
| 134. 8-8 | 23 Oct 1966 | Just the Ticket |
| 135. 8-9 | 30 Oct 1966 | Mr Phillips Promotion |
| 136. 8-10 | 6 Nov 1966 | Pertwee and the Tratvian Beer |
| 137. 8-11 | 13 Nov 1966 | The PM Papa |
| 138. 8-12 | 20 Nov 1966 | Getting Rid of Pertwee |
| 139. 8-13 | 27 Nov 1966 | Off to Sea at Last |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 140. 9-1 | 2 Jul 1967 | Having Been Towing |
| 141. 9-2 | 9 Jul 1967 | Fishers off the Faroes |
| 142. 9-3 | 16 Jul 1967 | Cleaning Up |
| 143. 9-4 | 23 Jul 1967 | Jigsaws and Jemmies |
| 144. 9-5 | 30 Jul 1967 | The Naval Review |
| 145. 9-6 | 6 Aug 1967 | The Curious Caravan Case |
| 146. 9-7 | 13 Aug 1967 | Frenchmen in J.41 |
| 147. 9-8 | 20 Aug 1967 | The Police Drop In |
| 148. 9-9 | 27 Aug 1967 | Mr Murray's Endurance Course |
| 149. 9-10 | 3 Sep 1967 | Women in the Wardroom |
| 150. 9-11 | 10 Sep 1967 | Troutbridge's Silver Jubilee |
| 151. 9-12 | 17 Sep 1967 | CECIL the Navigation Computer |
| 152. 9-13 | 24 Sep 1967 | A Russian Rendezvous |
| 153. 9-14 | 1 Oct 1967 | The Bugged and Burgled Beer |
| 154. 9-15 | 8 Oct 1967 | Picking up the Poppadom |
| 155. 9-16 | 15 Oct 1967 | Cuthbert Joins the Navy |
| 156. 9-17 | 22 Oct 1967 | The Flying Machine |
| 157. 9-18 | 29 Oct 1967 | Sub-Lieutenant Phillips was at Dartmouth |
| 156. 9-19 | 5 Nov 1967 | Fishy Business |
| 159. 9-20 | 12 Nov 1967 | Troutbridge in Quarantine |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 160. 10-1 | 13 Oct 1968 | Troutbridge Electrifies Portsmouth |
| 161. 10-2 | 20 Oct 1968 | The Redundancy Drive |
| 162. 10-3 | 27 Oct 1968 | The Smugglers Return |
| 163. 10-4 | 3 Nov 1968 | Commander Trotter Takes Charge |
| 164. 10-5 | 10 Nov 1968 | The Anti-Submarine Missile |
| 165. 10-6 | 17 Nov 1968 | Sub-Conductor Phillips |
| 166. 10-7 | 24 Nov 1968 | The South Kawowan Summit |
| 167. 10-8 | 1 Dec 1968 | Pertwee's Enlistment Expires |
| 168. 10-9 | 8 Dec 1968 | Capt. Povey Takes Over |
| 169. 10-10 | 15 Dec 1968 | Sir Willoughby Goes to Kawowa |
| 170. 10-11 | 22 Dec 1968 | The Padre's Birthday |
| 171. 10-12 | 29 Dec 1968 | The Portsmouth Kiosk |
| 172. 10-13 | 5 Jan 1969 | The Radio Beacon |
| 173. 10-14 | 12 Jan 1969 | Mr Phillips' Wrong Uniform |
| 174. 10-15 | 19 Jan 1969 | Harold Wilson Reviews the Fleet |
| 175. 10-16 | 26 Jan 1969 | The Relief of the Weather Ship |
| 176. 10-17 | 2 Feb 1969 | The Mickey Mouse Toothbrush |
| 177. 10-18 | 9 Feb 1969 | The Brick Smugglers |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 178. 11-1 | 28 Dec 1969 | Commander Murray and The Squatters |
| 179. 11-2 | 4 Jan 1970 | What is the S.S.E.? |
| 180. 11-3 | 11 Jan 1970 | Pertwee Climbs Up The Promotion Ladder |
| 181. 11-4 | 18 Jan 1970 | Stranded |
| 182. 11-5 | 25 Jan 1970 | Sir Willoughby's Party |
| 183. 11-6 | 1 Feb 1970 | The Fleet Initiative Test |
| 184. 11-7 | 8 Feb 1970 | C.P.O. Pertwee's Long Service Medal |
| 185. 11-8 | 15 Feb 1970 | The Phenomenal Pertwee Tug |
| 186. 11-9 | 22 Feb 1970 | The Security Clampdown |
| 187. 11-10 | 1 Mar 1970 | The Anniversary and the Washing |
| 188. 11-11 | 8 Mar 1970 | The Forbodians Hijack Troutbridge |
| 189. 11-12 | 15 Mar 1970 | Number One Gets Married |
| 190. 11-13 | 22 Mar 1970 | The Honeymooners Return |
| 191. 11-14 | 29 Mar 1970 | C.P.O. Pertwee and the Lead Half Crowns |
| 192. 11-15 | 5 Apr 1970 | Sub-Lt Phillips to Leave for Dartmouth |
| 193. 11-16 | 12 Apr 1970 | The Mark 31 Radar |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 194. 12-1 | 16 May 1971 | The Put-a-Horse-out-to-Graze Fund |
| 195. 12-2 | 23 May 1971 | Impressions for Survival |
| 196. 12-3 | 30 May 1971 | The Beard-Growing Race |
| 197. 12-4 | 6 Jun 1971 | The Mysterious Radio Signals |
| 198. 12-5 | 13 Jun 1971 | Operation Recovery |
| 199. 12-6 | 20 Jun 1971 | The Slogan Contest |
| 200. 12-7 | 27 Jun 1971 | Sir Willoughby at Shanghai |
| 201. 12-8 | 4 Jul 1971 | Operation Cowes Barge |
| 202. 12-9 | 11 Jul 1971 | Number One's Anniversary |
| 203. 12-10 | 18 Jul 1971 | The Loch Ness Monster |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 204. 13-1 | 26 Mar 1972 | The TV Documentary |
| 205. 13-2 | 2 Apr 1972 | The P.O.W. Escape Exercise |
| 206. 13-3 | 9 Apr 1972 | Number One's Married Quarters |
| 207. 13-4 | 16 Apr 1972 | The Newhaven-Dieppe Smuggling Run |
| 208. 13-5 | 23 Apr 1972 | The Bumble Spit Lighthouse Affair |
| 209. 13-6 | 30 Apr 1972 | The Tongipouhaha Treasure |
| 210. 13-7 | 7 May 1972 | The USA Navigator Swap |
| 211. 13-8 | 14 May 1972 | Son of a Sea Lord |
| 212. 13-9 | 21 May 1972 | Hypnotising Ramona |
| 213. 13-10 | 28 May 1972 | The Master of Sardinia |
| 214. 13-11 | 4 Jun 1972 | Opportunity Knockers |
| 215. 13-12 | 11 Jun 1972 | Friday the 13th |
| 216. 13-13 | 18 Jun 1972 | The New NAAFI |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 217. 14-1 | 29 Jul 1973 | The Montezuela Revolution |
| 218. 14-2 | 5 Aug 1973 | The Island Swordfish |
| 219. 14-3 | 12 Aug 1973 | Bunged in the Rattle |
| 220. 14-4 | 19 Aug 1973 | Kangaroo Polka |
| 221. 14-5 | 26 Aug 1973 | The Digital Isles Go Unstable |
| 222. 14-6 | 2 Sep 1973 | Egbert Hitches a Ride |
| 223. 14-7 | 9 Sep 1973 | Povey an Admiral at Last |
| 224. 14-8 | 16 Sep 1973 | The Bergan Horse Trials |
| 225. 14-9 | 23 Sep 1973 | Captain Povey's Wig |
| 226. 14-10 | 30 Sep 1973 | Brain Pill |
| 227. 14-11 | 7 Oct 1973 | Operation Showcase |
| 228. 14-12 | 14 Oct 1973 | CPO Pertwee Yachtmonger |
| 229. 14-13 | 21 Oct 1973 | The Talpinium Shell |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| 230. 15-1 | 9 Nov 1975 | Sequel to the Talpinium Shell |
| 231. 15-2 | 16 Nov 1975 | NANA |
| 232. 15-3 | 23 Nov 1975 | Helen, the New Wren |
| 233. 15-4 | 30 Nov 1975 | Relief for Station 150 |
| 234. 15-5 | 7 Dec 1975 | Black is Beautiful |
| 235. 15-6 | 14 Dec 1975 | Sidney and the Stamp |
| 236. 15-7 | 21 Dec 1975 | Riding to Victory |
| 237. 15-8 | 28 Dec 1975 | Horrible Horace |
| 238. 15-9 | 4 Jan 1976 | Officer's and Gent's Lib |
| 239. 15-10 | 11 Jan 1976 | The Case of the HGM Mark 5 |
| 240. 15-11 | 18 Jan 1976 | Uncle Wilberforce Pertwee |
| No. | First broadcast | Title |
| xxx. Sp-04 | 16 Jul 1977 | The BBC Are Sending The Bill To Buckingham Palace |
;Special 2006
13 May 2006 Left Hand Down a Bit – With Leslie Phillips. BBC Radio 7 broadcast of selection of episodes over 3 hours presented by Leslie Phillips. Featured:
- Operation Fag End
- The Hank of Heather
- The Lighthouse Lark
- A Deliberate Bashing
- Mr. Phillips at Dartmouth
- The Jubilee Navy Lark
31 August 2008, BBC Radio 4 programme The Reunion.
Sue MacGregor presents the series which reunites a group of people intimately involved in a moment of modern history. She brings together some of the original team behind The Navy Lark. Participants included June Whitfield, Leslie Phillips, George Evans, Heather Chasen and Tenniel Evans.