The Ampol Show
Jack Davey and the Friday Night Ritual
The Ampol Show ran on Sydney station 2GB every Friday night at 8:00 pm, and for most of its run it was one of the most consistent draws on Australian commercial radio. Hosted by Jack Davey — a New Zealand-born personality so dominant in Australian radio that he earned the nickname "Mr Radio" — the show aired from 1952 to 1959, a run of roughly seven years. By 1958, Davey was described in the press as being "in his seventh year of hosting the very successful Ampol Show nationally." The sponsor was Ampol, the Australian petroleum company originally incorporated in 1936 as the Australian Motorists Petrol Company and renamed Ampol Petroleum Ltd in 1949 — a company that put its name on a golf tournament in 1947 and on the round-Australia Ampol Trial from 1956, and whose Friday-night radio hour fit neatly into that broader public profile.
Davey himself was the show's engine. Born John Andrew Davey on 8 February 1907, he greeted audiences with his signature "Hi Ho, Everybody!" and built a career that made him arguably the central figure in Australian commercial radio during the 1940s and 1950s. The Ampol Show was just one of several programs he hosted simultaneously in his busiest years — others included Give It A Go, The Dulux Show, and The Brylcreem Show — but it was among his most durable.
What the Show Actually Was
The Ampol Show is best understood as a quiz program with variety elements, not a straight comedy series. Its defining format featured Yes/No quizzes, mystery melodies, tongue twisters, and limericks, with competition narrowing to two finalists competing for a jackpot prize. The show was performed before live audiences, and that energy was part of its appeal. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia classifies it alongside quiz programs like Pick A Box and The Dulux Show, which gives a reasonable sense of where it sat in Australian radio's landscape.
What gave the show its broader reach was Davey's willingness to broadcast from locations outside Sydney. Episodes came from regional venues including Armidale Town Hall, where a broadcast in August 1958 went out over station 2AD. The catalog also includes episodes recorded from South Melbourne Town Hall and Scarborough Beach in Perth, among other locations — a traveling format that brought the show to audiences across the country.
The Guest List
The Ampol Show's international guest appearances set it apart from most Australian radio quiz programs of the era. When major performers toured Australia, the show was a natural stop. Bob Hope appeared as a guest; Louis Armstrong performed in April 1956; and in October 1957, rock and roll acts Gene Vincent, Little Richard, and Eddie Cochran all appeared during their Australian tours. Nat King Cole, Bill Haley, and Liberace were also among the international names who came through. For Australian audiences at the time, these were significant occasions — chances to hear major overseas performers in a domestic radio setting.
What Survives
Seven episodes are held in the catalog. The titles point to the show's geography and guest roster: a broadcast from the El Alamein Army Camp, remote broadcasts from Parkes, Liverpool, Orange, and Scarborough Beach Perth, a South Melbourne Town Hall recording, and one episode listed as "Jack Davey Guest-Bob Hope," marking Hope's appearance. Together they offer a cross-section of the traveling format and its capacity to land a major international name alongside the regular quiz routine.
The Ampol Show ended in 1959, the same year Jack Davey died on 14 October, at age 52. The show's run and Davey's life ended together.