Whack-O is a British sitcom series based on the popular television sitcom Whack-O! and film spin-off, Bottoms. The series (black and white) ran on the BBC from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Professor James Edwards was a drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury Public. The Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to Sergeant Bilko as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes. BBC Radio adapted the TV scripts into 45 thirty-minute shows, mostly with the original cast, of which 42 recordings survive. There were three series which originally ran on the BBC Light Programme from 23 May 1961 until 22 July 1963. They have been repeated on BBC Radio Extra since 2015 and the last airing was in 2020.