J Lyons' appeal for more profiles of British supporting actors such as Alfie Bass awoke my very earliest TV comedy memory.

In the late Fifties, Alfie co-starred with my namesake, Bill Fraser, in The Army Game. Alfie played the part of Bootsie (excused boots) in his unending efforts to get one over on Bill's Sergeant Major Snudge - "I've got my beady eye on you!"

Other catchphrases that passed into national usage were "I'll give you a punch up the bracket" and "I only asked".

Compared to its super-slick US counterpart Sergeant Bilko, The Army Game certainly would not stand the test of time but, nonetheless, was so popular it led to a spin-off series, Bootsie And Snudge. Set in a hotel, Bootsie was a bellboy and Snudge his toadying superior who, in eternal hope of a fat tip, would cough, hover with hand behind his back and say, "I'll be leaving you now, sir."

When I worked as a porter many moons ago, I occasionally tried that line and it actually worked.

-William Fraser, Summerheath Road, Hailsham