Three Men in a Boat Boat" is how undated it appears to modern readers – the jokes have been praised as fresh and witty. The three men are based on Jerome himself (the narrator Jerome K. Jerome) and two real-life friends, George Wingrave (who would become a senior manager at Barclays Bank) and Carl Hentschel (the founder of a London printing business, called Harris in the book), with whom Jerome often took boating trips. The dog, Montmorency, is entirely fictional but, "as Jerome admits, developed out of that area of inner consciousness which, in all Englishmen, contains an element of the dog". The trip is
The Men from the Ministry Alan Whicker - is featured. Actors who appeared in episodes of the series include Clive Dunn, Pat Coombs, Warren Mitchell, Bill Pertwee, Joan Sanderson and Nicolette McKenzie. In three episodes John Laurie, playing Mr. Dougal, stood in for Deryck Guyler who was temporarily unable to take part. The theme music for the BBC version was Top Dog, composed by Ivor Slaney (1921–1988) in 1960 and recorded by the Hilversum Radio Orchestra conducted by Hugo De Groot (DW 2681) for De Wolfe Music. "The Men from the Ministry" has become a major success in Finland by the name of "Knalli ja