Gillie Potter (real name Hugh William Peel) was famous through the 1920s and 1930s for his eccentric comic monologues, displaying his own particular brand of acerbic facetiousness. Many of his monologues revolved round the imaginary village of Hogsnorton - one of radio's first 'imaginary communities' (like Harry Gordon's 'Inversnecky' or indeed Ambridge). He began his career on stage, with straight acting and then later in Variety - he made a great impression in the Royal Variety Performance of 1930: radio brought him to an even wider audience and its intimacy suited his style very well.

He was a difficult person in real life: his BBC file is bulging with irritated memos complaining about a variety of subjects: in particular the BBC's preference to have him perform in front of an audience, thinking that the laughter would make him sound even funnier. He objected to this: and the gramophone records (obviously recorded without an audience) show him to be correct - his monologues don't need any help.

The records are in very much the same style as his broadcasts, and show a high level of cleverness and wit in the writing.