Step Inside Love - The story of Cilla Black and her 50 years in Showbusiness

In light entertainment, presenters can come from anywhere nowadays but the classic entertainers come from usually from a variety background, though with the advent of pop music in the 1950’s created a whole generation of stars, some whose longevity would mark them out and for others they fell as quickly as they rose.

Many of these pop musicians would go on and forge careers outside the world of Rock and Roll, such as Adam Faith who became a pop music manager himself as well as a very accomplished actor, Cliff Richard who became a favourite with audiences with his variety show. Also Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck, whose weekly shows attracted major stars from both side of the Atlantic and drawing huge audience figures for Lew Grade’s ATV.

However as the 1960’s was drawing to a close and pop music was going off in new directions with albums with greater and greater orchestrations, for some artists who were not involved in such musical motions there was so many choices and routes to take. They were at a crossroads at their careers with their teenage fans now grown up and moving onto new interests, whether they wanted to carry on a purely pop route, go into straight acting or the third route of moving into light entertainment. These performers who had come appeared on variety shows since the 1950’s performing alongside comedians and also other variety artists whilst on tour they had mixed with them on the early rock and roll tours with comedians being the compares. They were already soaking themselves into the world of light entertainment themselves.

Back in the early 1960's young Priscilla White was working in an office at a manufacturing company making insulated cable with dreams of moving into the world of entertainment, so she took a part-time job working in Liverpool's Cavern Club as a cloakroom attending but also doing performances of a impromptu nature when the stage was free and they needed someone to entertain the patrons. However it was these performances which impressed The Beatles and others of the Merseybeat groups.

But it was Liverpool based promoter Sam Leach which encouraged her to go into singing and he gave her first chance to perform properly at a club called 'The Casanova Club' appearing as “Swinging Cilla” in support many of the Merseybeat bands of the time such as Kingsized Taylor and the Dominoes plus also Rory Story and The Hurricanes. Though at this time she was also working as a waitress in coffee lounge The Zodiac where she met her future husband and manager Robert Willis more commonly know as Bobby. Though in appearing the first edition of Mersey Beat, a local music paper did its editor Bill Harry made a mistake by calling Priscilla White, Cilla Black. However when Priscilla saw the name she decided to adopt the mistaken name as her new stage name as it sounded more better and more of a punchy name.

Her first contract was signed with a long time friend of hers, Terry McCann. Though because she was still underage when the contract was signed that the contract was null and void, how this lead to he father deciding this was the best path for young Cilla was to sign with Beatles manager Brian Epstein who at first he didn't show an inkling to sign Cilla. It was John Lennon who had encouraged Epstein to give her an audition, though this audition did not go well owning to her nerves and The Beatles playing songs which were suited to their voice ranges rather then hers as she wrote in her autobiography What's It All About?

“I'd chosen to do Summertime, but at the very last moment I wished I hadn't.

I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with The Big Three, but I hadn't rehearsed it with The Beatles and it had just occurred to me that they would play it in the wrong key.

It was too late for second thoughts, though. With one last wicked wink at me, John set the group off playing.

I'd been right to worry.

The music was not in my key and any adjustments that the boys were trying to make were now too late to save me. My voice sounded awful. Destroyed – and wanting to die – I struggled on to the end.”

Cilla first concert was with The Beatles at the Odeon in Southport on August 30^th 1963 just seven days before Epstein signed her up after seeing her perform at The Blue Angel jazz club as his first female singer.

Though this was a whirlwind time for Cilla, at the end of September she made her first television appearance on TWW's Discs A Go Go presented by Kent Walton who was one of the top DJ's on Radio Luxembourg at that time as well as being ITV's wrestling commentator.

Her appearance on the show promoted herself as an artist, meanwhile her first single 'Love of the Loved' written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney premiered on ABC TV's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' but only reached number 35 on the charts. Though the single was seen as a failure relatively, however Cilla rose her profile by appearing on Juke Box Jury and setting out on a thirty-two date concert tour with Gerry and the Pacemakers. Later appearing on a five date tour with Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas in November and finally on The Beatles Christmas Show at the Astoria, Finsbury Park, London on Christmas Eve.

Cilla had made a small mark on the pop scene by the end of 1963, however it was see 1964 as her breakthrough year as an artiste. On the last day of January, saw the release of the single which was to change her life. 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' written originally by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick was heard by Cilla's manager at the time Brian Epstein when was in New York, believed the song would be right for her.

Though at the time when arriving back in London and whilst in conversation about the matter with George Martin, Martin when he had heard a copy of the song though it would have been ideal for Shirley Bassey presumed it was for Shirley to perform it. But Epstein was steadfast in his view that it would be right for Black to perform as her latest single, though with an orchestration by Johnny Pearson using a string section and powerful rhythm. It was Cilla's powerful vocal performance which helped sell the song, it was George Martin and Johnny Pearson who managed to get the best vocal and make the song seem even bigger.

By late February the song had gone to number one in the charts spending three weeks there and selling 800,000 records in the time it was there. With a 36 date concert tour of England taking place at the same time lead to venues selling out night after night, at the end of March, Cilla was presented with her first silver disc for the single through the sheer number of sales and to extend the single's success an EP of the song was brought out in April. A sign of her success was a week's residency at Manchester's Palace Theater and playing NME's Poll-Winners' show at Wembley.

May was to prove a turning point for Cilla Black's career, on May the 1^st her third single 'You're My World' was released which was to prove her second number one. Taken from a popular Italian song 'Il Mio Mondo' the single had a life of its own becoming a hit in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Europe as well. With 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' being the first number one by a solo female artist since Helen Shapiro with 'Walking Back to Happiness' in October 1961 and both singles selling over a million records plus also being awarded gold discs for both. The rise and rise of Cilla Black was seemingly phenomenal having achieved all of this before the age of twenty-one as well.

As success was coming thick and fast, Cilla was being pushed more into the world of variety appearing at the London Palladium in a show featuring Frankie Vaughan and Tommy Cooper. Her first show took place on May 13^th 1964 and what was meant to be a short running show was extended into December. Though her focus at this time was still being a singer, but with her vocal style had been recognized in the United States and with the promotion of her to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and to launch her career over the Atlantic, 'You're My World' was released reaching number 26 on the Billboard Top 100, though Elvis Prestley though enough of of the single that he had a copy of it on his personal jukebox at Graceland.

However if Cilla wanted to make it properly like The Beatles had broken America, she would have to spend more time there and tour across the whole country. But homesickness made her miss her Liverpool roots just as she was getting popular in the US. But in 1966, a song once again written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David was to come calling, 'Alfie' the title song used by the film of the same was recorded by Cher. Brian Epstein made a conscious decision to get Cilla to record a version of her own as her latest single. Black's single was arranged and conducted by Burt Bacharach, as he felt she could give the emotion in her voice that the song truly demanded. For Cilla, she thought it was one of the hardest recording sessions she had ever done. In the justification of Bacharach's demands, the single reached No9 and had become more well know than the version that Cher had sung in the film.

Where as being a vocal artiste seemed more of a viable career path at this point, by the end of 1966 Cilla had appeared on Not Only... But Also with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore also in a Ray Galton and Alan Simpson written revue – 'Way Out in Piccadilly' in the West End, on television with Frankie Howerd and on the Eamonn Andrews Show on several occasions as well as her very own television special 'Cilla at The Savoy' of which was the first to be filmed in colour.

Though her short lived career as an actress didn't not pick off like Brian Epstein had hope, with roles in the beat film 'Ferry Across The Mersey' featuring many of the Merseybeat groups in it. But she played a lead role in the 1968 comedy alongside David Warner in 'Work is a Four Letter Word'. But it was later revealed that Cilla Black was offered the role as Michael Caine's girlfriend in The Italian Job, but the negotiations fell through over the fee which was going to be paid to Cilla for playing the role.

As the acting door closed another one opened, with Cilla becoming a more regular face of television apart from music shows, Brian Epstein signed a contract with the BBC to launch Cilla as a singer/entertainer with her very own show. But in all this, the relationship between Cilla and Brian Epstein had broken down over a number of factors including dwindling singles sales as follow up singles had flopped. To try and placate her, Epstein tried to do a deal with the BBC to represent the United Kingdom in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, but having seen Sandy Shaw winning the 1967 contest, she thought that a British female singer couldn't win again in the next year.

This artist/performer relationship was to have a tragic ending, with Epstein dieing of a drugs overdose in August 1967. For Cilla this was a dark time, with her manager now gone she looked to her future husband Bobby Willis who had written songs for the B-side of her first two singles and had been a confident to her over her career so far. Bobby took over as her manager with such a busy period of her career and own life coming up. Cilla herself though that doing her own television was not really a risk for her as if it went wrong she could always go back to her singing and acting careers.

In 1964, she appeared on the 'Around The Beatles' television special, produced by former 'Oh Boy' producer Jack Good, though as Cilla remembers one of first experiences of appearing front of the television cameras.

“One of my earliest memories was doing television dates back to 1963 in Southampton. It was only my second time on TV and they told me to dance. I danced right past the camera and there was a blank screen for about ten seconds.”

But significantly in starting her own television programme, Cilla Black had asked for one man to be her producer. Michael Hurll who had worked on Billy Cotton's Band Show was to have a profound influence on Cilla. After turning up late for an edition of the Band Show, Hurll gave her a verbal dressing down in no uncertain terms. However, this did not upset her at all, as when it came to appointing a producer for her fledgling show, it was the way that Hurll dealt with her in that initial meeting that impressed her.

Seemingly firm, but also fair but Hurll own way of believing in each show he produced and its stars within had a effect on her. So she wanted the only the best from Hurll and his creativity in dreaming up new ideas for the programme which had not had been seen on television before such as the way that an outside broadcast was used to drop in on viewers as they watched the show and also conducting interviews with members of the public as they went about their daily business. But as Bill Cotton recalled about Cilla Black and her natural way with the public in opposed to other singers who had their own shows

“I had spent a long time telling other performers that it was never always about singing a song, it was talking to your audience, For example, Cilla Black . She cannot sing, however she could talk to the audience and in that type of show that is the most important thing.”

Cilla her herself had a hunger to try new things and with Michael Hurll they had formed the perfect partnership of performer and producer. In an edition of her show from December 1968, her line up of guest can boast folk singer Donovan, a regular chart topper at that time, Frankie Vaughan, one of variety's bigger stars, a young Roy Hudd in which she links up live with the pantomime that he is performing whilst the programme and a up and coming comedian called Les Dawson making on of his first major television appearances. This showed the breath of her own show, combing all the best elements of singing with her musical guests, performing in comedy sketches and interacting with the public. Such was Hurll's professional relationship with Black, that he went over to ITV to work on Surprise Surprise recreating some of the magic they had done on the Cilla show nearly fifteen years earlier.

The song that launched a television career

With plaudits and awards coming regularly Cilla's way for her show and also her performance by 1969, everything seemed to be on the up for her with marriage to her partner and manager Bobby Willis in January of that year, of which they married twice, once in a private ceremony in March and a civil service in London on Bobby's twenty-seventh birthday. By November, appearing on that year's Royal Variety Performance and the broadcast of the third series of her show were to be highlights. However in her musical career, things were not going so well.

Her single 'If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind' was released shortly after Cilla's appearance on the Royal Variety show, earlier that year 'Surround Yourself with Sorrow' had reached number three in the charts and the album of the same name had been a success. However 'If I Though You'd Ever Change Your Mind' had not one as well as everyone had expected as Cilla recalled.

“I couldn't hide the fact that when I had a flop record I really got depressed. When a single flopped, I really felt bad. You see one of the things I always prided myself on was the ability to pick hits. It just felt instinctively to me when a song felt right. But then I just lost this touch for picking them for myself. With other people's songs, it was OK but not with my own.”

As the sixties turned into the seventies, a whole period in Cilla's life was launched with the birth of her first son Robert John in July and more concert dates and performances in front of the television cameras with an appearance on a Royal Gala in front of The Queen one of the highlights. However with the birth of hers and Bobby's first child the press speculated that she had lost £100,000 in fees whilst she was pregnant from concerts, appearances and television programmes. Such with the fame that show business brought was also the speculation about the private lives of performers and what they got up to in them.

The tried and tested formula of her shows were working, come the seventh series in 1974, the producer Colin Charman decided to make some changes to the format with a new theme tune 'Something Tell Me' to replace 'Step Inside Love' which had been used from the first series and as he said about the first programme in a nine show run featuring Bernard Cribbins and Twiggy.

“We wanted to get away from the regular run of variety guests, instead inviting actors and more unusual people to come onto the show.' On that first show in the series saw Cilla performing comedy sketches with Cribbins and seemed that Cilla would be moving in a more comedic direction, in that series the mixture of guests would range from the usual pop stars to presenters like Frank Bough more better know for Grandstand than performing in front of the camera. But having such a range gave the show new life and depth to freshen it up. With special shows on that year's August Bank Holiday and also a festive edition on Boxing Day proved that Cilla Black was now one of the BBC's biggest stars ranking up with Morecambe and Wise, The Two Ronnies and also Mike Yarwood.

However in July of that year, Cilla had announced that she would be doing a situation comedy for ITV but quickly reassured that this would not mean the end of her relationship with the BBC as she said at the time.

“That would be like a child turning on its mother. But I am keen to give acting another go, though I am an ad-libber, making new lines up on the spot but I'll try to stick to the script as more for their own sake and for mine as well!”

So in January 1975, Cilla's Comedy Six was broadcast by ATV, seeing a sea change in direction for Black and with her performance in the show she won the Writer's Guide of Great Britain's Top Female Comedy Star award for the new show, the shows written by Ronnie Taylor was as much a hit as her shows for the BBC with them being constantly being in the top three most watched programmes every week that Cilla's Comedy Six was on making Cilla Black one of only a few performers to have hit shows both for BBC and ITV in the same year but in two fields of entertainment. This was followed by another series of six comedies for ATV in 1976, however with the eighth series of her BBC programme, television critics decided to go for her in a big way. As such Cilla's programmes were seen as not to their taste, but the viewing figures showed she was still as popular as ever.

But as her television show was seemingly being hammered, her stage show 'Cilla at the Palace' was earning rave reviews. The style was akin to anything that British audiences had seen as close to a Las Vegas style show, with over £200,000 spent on the show's run including the additions of Alan Lee who had cast Hollywood performers for Broadway shows, Jerry Jackson who was one of the best choreographers around having worked with Juliet Prowse and Goldie Hawn in his time. The plaudits came thick and fast, after lasting for six months the intention to take the show to Las Vegas failed to materialize owing to the fact that Black and Tarbuck were not known names in America.

Though in 1977, things were about to change again for Cilla. With concert tours of the Far East and Australasia booked in for that year, an offer came to her which was to set her on a new path. Where as ITV had been competing against her shows, Thames Television decided to make an offer to her to work for them and the ITV network. Key in all this was Light Entertainment controller at Thames, Philip Jones who had worked on ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' as its producer where Cilla Black had appeared on in 1963. A deal was put together for her to do a one hour special, but as in the BBC shows which had been live, the Thames hour Spectacular took six weeks to make one show allowing more time to spent to make the show just right.

Without the weekly turnaround of a regular series, allowed Cilla to take for her self relaxing and spending more time with her family plus with time for the occasional television or radio appearance that she could pick and choose. But she returned to concerts and summer season to keep performing through 1978, but with the press not knowing what they would expect with Cilla having seen her comedy acting, presenting her weekly show and also producing albums as well. It was clear even without a show, the rapport she had built up with the public over the time her weekly show was broadcast had not left her at all. Her special for Thames TV was shown on May 24^th with guests including Frankie Howerd appearing in a sketch with her as a punk rocker and also singing with Ricky May as well. This was meant to the first of a couple of specials for Thames during the year, however industrial action at their Teddington Studios cause them to be canceled. The same was the case in 1979 where two specials and a Christmas Spectacular was planned, but because of the ITV strike of that year they did not go ahead.

Cilla booked a summer season in the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth for sixteen weeks, this time of the year became important for both performers and also venues as well as they were certain money spinners for both, plus the chance for holidaymakers to see people they had only seen on the television who were performing on the stage in front of them. These summer season shows were good but television was their bread and butter, Cilla had spent time out of the television limelight between 1979 and 1981 to concentrate on her family life. But however she was tempted to appear on Thames' 'London Night Out' in December as she takes up the story of that recording.

“Before my appearance on London Night Out, I'd been away from show business as I wanted to spend more time with the family. So I had made a point of watching the show, which I rarely do. Why? I couldn't believe the the show was actually was going on. At first the recording was canceled because of an industrial dispute at the studios, on the second attempt there was a bomb scare and the studio had to evacuated and at the third time of trying the show was finally recorded. But however during that recording my brother had phoned from Liverpool to say that our mum had fallen and broke her hip, just as I was to go on to sing 'It's a Miracle' – and I reckon it was a miracle the show even went out!”

Following this appearance on London Night Out, things television wise were quite during 1982, but 1983 was to prove a very pivotal for Cilla Black's career. On January 17^th her album 'The Very Best of Cilla Black' was released with her going onto Terry Wogan's chat show on the 22^nd of January to promote it. However during this appearance, it gave a reminder to viewers the qualities she had extruded during her 'Cilla' programmes more than seven years previous. Appearances in Holland on television and also topping the bill on 'Live From Her Majesty's' with Jimmy Tarbuck as its host, meant that both sides of Cilla was seen as the presenter and the performer. Though the first show that she had tried was for Channel Four and produced by Bryan Izzard called 'The Green Tie on the Tail of the Little Yellow Dog', initially they wanted her to impersonate Gracie Fields, but eventually she performed some of Gracie's song but in her own voice. But May 17^th was to see Cilla record the show which would change her life once again.

Alan Boyd, the producer behind 'Game For a Laugh' and now by that time LWT's head of Light Entertainment, decided to make a pilot for a new show called 'Surprise Surprise'. He had been working to refine the format for a long while, but when Cilla was attached to the project, he had molded the format to suit her style of presenting, buy using audience participation and also filmed items outside of the studio confines as well. Though the programme gave Cilla the chance to sing at the end of the programme as well, as LWT thought an hour slot was good for the show. Boyd himself thought that a co-presenter was needed to help Cilla out, so Christopher Biggins was brought in as her roving reporter fresh from his success on TVS' On Safari series for children. Though not everyone could be pleased at this time, as Nina Myskow put Ms Black as her 'Wally of the Week' in her weekly column, stating that she was good at Surprise Surprise but when it came to singing, that she had a lot to be desired.

Even before Surprise Surprise was filmed, ITV decided to make a Christmas Special for Cilla which had guest stars Frankie Howerd, The Bee Gees and Julio Inglesias appearing. Such was the success of the Christmas show, it put her in good stead for the broadcast of the first series of Surprise Surprise in May 1984. Originally the show was going to be broadcast on Saturdays but the decision was taken to move it to Sundays instead to help boost ITV's Sunday night schedule and introducing more light entertainment to Sunday nights where there had been more dramas and serious programming previously. Such was the importance of the show, that whilst England were playing Brazil in a football friendly which overlapped, the second half of the friendly was shown live at the conclusion of the show with Cilla Black handing over to ITV Sport's Jim Rosenthal who was presenting the football to show first half highlights and the second half live. That Surprise Surprise took priority over live football was strange to think now, but this happened and show the power of Cilla's show that she could have an effect on football matches and the showing of them, though this wasn't the first time though as we'll see later.

As Surprise Surprise bedded in as one of ITV's new Sunday night staples, the show built up a loyal audience in 1984 and in 1985. However with Cilla Black's

success with Alan Boyd the controller of Light Entertainment at LWT in 1985. he let the risk aspect to letting the show grow as the series went on as he recalls.

“Some of the early shows went out live, we knew there were certain aspects which needed to be changed but with such a quick turnaround on the live shows, it could not be physically done. Where as from it, words were exchanged as to what the show should be and we did not as such have a safety net to protect us from press criticism which was coming forthwith.

But by the start of the second series, Cilla herself understood what the show should be about and the the type of presenter we were look for, she had been the girl next door during the 1970's on her BBC shows, now we were looking for her to be the friendly auntie figure, sharing gifts and surprises with the people participating in the show.”

It was this new auntie figure that LWT was looking for when they needed a host for a format which had been troubling the light entertainment department at LWT for a while. They had different international version of what had been the Chuck Barris format in the United States of America called 'The Dating Game' and in Australia called 'Perfect Match'. For a fair while, they had been trying to pull together all the various aspects of these formats into one pilot programme. However the problem with all the formats from other countries that it was more raunchy than the British viewing audience was used to.

A pilot called at this time 'It's a Hoot' with comedian Duncan Norvelle had been made to show an example what the show would be like. However when the IBA saw it, they had become worried that the sexual connotations would be too much for some viewers to take on a Saturday night. So to try and change the meaning of 'It's a Hoot' they decided to give Cilla and husband Bobby a copy of the Duncan Norvelle pilot to view, though not with a view to get Cilla to present it but just to watch as viewers and see what they thought of it.

When they had both saw it, they had enjoyed it but Cilla herself still was not convinced about the format. However LWT wanted to press ahead with making the pilot into a full series, so they had gone to the IBA with the idea of getting a host who would been seen to tone down the innuendo and almost take it completely away from the programme. So Alan Boyd decided to broach the subject of present the show to Cilla as she called they had said she was the most sexless person on television and she would be good as an auntie figure acting as cupid for the contestants on the show.

So the title was changed from 'Its a Hoot' to 'Blind Date' so that it was clearer what the show was about and it seemed more tame and innocent to viewers, but ITV made the move so that Blind Date was launched on November 30^th and the third series of Surprise Surprise started just before Christmas of that year on December the 22^nd allowing Blind Date to have a good run of programmes and bed into the schedule before Surprise Surprise came back. Blind Date was a ratings winner allowing ITV to strengthen their Saturday night schedule into the 1990's with viewing figures for the show regularly beating those of the major soap operas, where as contained within Cilla's show was a mini soap opera with viewers wanting to know what had happened on the date itself of the chosen contestants.


Plaudits galore came along for Cilla as she was regularly named Britain's best Female television personality during the late 1980's and into the early 90's as she celebrated her 25^th anniversary in show business with a concert organized in association with BBC Radio 2, singing her hits and favourite music as well as welcoming on stage and performing with her some of the best performers as well her conductors who had worked on both her television shows and special plus also on record as well. As in October of that year she also appeared on Desert Island Discs capping her career so far.

With the 90's Cilla's shows went from strength to strength because one of ITV's highest paid stars at that time. However what had been a bit of harmless flirting with Blind Date had become more saucier as culture for both men and women was starting to change, so to reflect that fact the show was slowly changed over time to accommodate new features as letting the audience decided if a contestant should date or dump the person they had chosen. But with ITV's buying of Premier League highlights and putting them at 7pm on a Saturday night at the turn of the new millennium had seen Blind Date shifted by the football and Surprise Surprise now having finished. It looked like Cilla's star was starting to wain, however when the viewers said a resounding 'no' to football taking the place of 'Our Cilla', Blind Date returned to its Saturday spot in the schedules. Though viewing figures were going down somewhat even with the new changes, so for one last attempt ITV decided to do a live edition of Blind Date thinking this could revive the format, but just before Cilla went to greet the audience both in the studio and at home, she had made a decision which was to change the course of the show altogether.

She announced that this was going to her last series of Blind Date, some what taking back the ITV executives that didn't know she was going to make this announcement live on the air on that night. Which meant Blind Date had finished but to keep her, ITV had imported an Japanese TV format which they had reworked into 'Cilla's Moment of Truth' where a family played for prizes for themselves and for their family as a whole in an end game. But the magic had run out for Cilla and the programme itself changed, so Cilla left it and it was reworked for another host to take over.

Apart from the occasional appearance at the Royal Variety Performance and also on other people's television shows, Cilla has not presented a major Saturday night show for nearly a decade and comes back to only make the occasional appearance on television programmes. But with such a long and varied career as she has had plus with ITV looking back on her 50 years in show business presented by her great friend Paul O'Grady who she performed with him and also Barbara Windsor at the Royal Variety Performance 2001. It is certain that she came from the pop scene into television and made certain formats her own. But she has set the bar high for light entertainment presenters pretty high, with no major pop star transferring to light entertainment since Cilla's departure from Saturday nights, some have tried and also rekindled the spirit that Cilla Black had in her shows, but none have quite got close as of yet.

"Down with this sort of thing..." Careful now...

There will be another entry here from my fare fingers soon, but for some time I have been thinking about my future of writing about Light Entertainment. With Operation Yewtree going on and more arrests by the day, I will admit it has been hard to be motivated to write about stars without the fear they would be arrested or some story would come out about them.

Whatever you think about the whole thing is up to you, though in sometimes I have been taking a break from this and I think this is the right time to put across the positive side of Light Entertainment and Television. People may think it has been clouded by certain aspects, though it has brought us some of this country's most defining people and personalities. The embarrassment factor is there that the public have watched these personalities and they have become fallen idols overnight, but let's not forget they were the ones who entertained us and that others have done so with a grey leaden skies above them.

The world and shape of Light Entertainment may have changed by recent events, but there cannot be at any point the sort of pontification which has gone on so far. Idol rumors has caused for lawyer to be called in, some people have been sued for what they have said on social network sights. What actual may appear as a joke, might be truth but yet it could be non-truth. Now people have equated this to a suing culture, which maybe right or wrong, though in what we believe and think can be changed just like that. It maybe simple to say sometimes with so many names flying about, it might a case of the little boy who cried wolf. But in terms what it does can be said to hindrance to some and also yet others.

If there is justice to be done for people who have done crimes, let it be done and dealt with by the relevant authorities. By almost becoming vigilante journalists on this matter, it may only cloudy the water by putting names out in the open which may not be true, with experiences of vigilante justice around naming and shaming of people and seeing what effect it can have, plus also when it goes wrong because of innuendo and rumour, people should be very careful what they say with on going investigations.

Free speech should be always there, but when it can hinder it can make even more of a mess...

David Croft – The Man who made Britain laugh...

At one put and another, it is fair to say that most people have come across a certain type of person in their lives, whether that be during their own leisure time, the workplace or just generally. Whoever they are, the first thought anyone has is “Aren't they a right little...” usually accompanied with a sitcom character. Its the power and effect of one man who reigned supreme over the world of situation comedy for so long, that no matter most people in Britain no matter how old they are have seen one of his pieces of work, that man being David Croft.

Born David John Andrew Sharland in Sandbanks, Dorset on the 7^th of September, 1922. He was born into a family steeped in show business, his mother Anne Croft was an established stage actress and his father Reginald Sharland, already famous for having a career as one of Hollywood's early radio actors. But his Croft's actual career started when seven appearing in a cinema commercial of the late 1920's. Though by the end of the next decade, the aspiring young actor appeared in an uncredited role in the 1939 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips as Perkins.

His own school days were spent at St John's Wood Preparatory School and later at Rugby School in Warwickshire, but come 1942 and with the second World War happening, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery, serving in the North African campaign and also in India and Singapore. It was during his time in North Africa that Croft contracted rheumatic fever and was sent home to convalesce back in Britain. Afterwards he undertook officer training at Sandhurst Military Academy, before being posted to India just as the war in Europe was just ending itself. Assigned to the Essex Regiment, he rose the rank eventually becoming a Major during his time in the Army.

When his military service ended, Croft went back to his first love of entertainment becoming first an actor and singer, thought this was to lead to his career in writing as well. His start came though himself meeting, Freddie Carpenter who at that time produced many pantomimes for Howard and Wyndham across Britain at that time. From this, it resulted with Croft writing scripts for their pantos. But in his friendship with lifelong friend, the composer and conductor Cyril Ornadel, he met theatre producer Fiona Bentley who had just purchased the right to some of Beatrix Potter's stories and was looking to adapt and musicalise them. The task was given to himself to write the scripts and lyrics for a series of these stories to be released on records to be narrated by the Hollywood actress Vivien Leigh and starring with Croft, actors and actresses of the calibre of Graham Stark and Cicely Courtneidge.

Afterwards his career took a move into television when he joined the fledgling Tyne Tees Television to direct shows for them including early madman Ned's Shed and Mary Goes to Market, but his heart lie in entertainment and he was charged with producing the variety show The One O’clock Show, inviting the best of local talent to appear to perform their act in front of the cameras and also inviting the best of the entertainment industry to come up to to Newcastle to appear as well. But it was during his time at Tyne Tees where he produced his first ever sitcom Under New Management, it was the story about a derelict pub in the North of England. This being the earliest recorded example of Croft producing a sitcom for television. Come the mid-sixties, he moved to the BBC and using his experience of producing Under New Management, shows like Beggar My Neighbour, Further Up Pompeii plus Hugh and I were given to him to produce. But this put him into the BBC Light Entertainment department with Bill Cotton Jnr, who he was to have a fruitful working relationship for most of his writing and producing career.

At that time whilst producing Hugh and I, he met Jimmy Perry. Perry himself was tired of having just small parts in sitcoms, so he decided to write a pilot for a series initially called The Fighting Tigers about the British Home Guard. When Croft saw the script, he consulted with his agent wife Ann and said to her “I've got a script from Jimmy Perry here and I think its got something about it..” and she agreed as well. From that Croft said he liked it to Perry and that they should write it together, thus Dad's Army was born. First broadcast in 1968, the initial title sequence was to have film footage of the war over Bud Flannigan's tune of 'Who do you think you're kidding Mr Hitler?'. But when Bill Cotton Jnr. saw it, he thought it was a bit too much and so the footage was dropped for the now familiar map and arrows title sequence. The craft that both of them put into the series, made the show much bigger then the war itself. The antics of the Warmington-On-Sea Home Guard kept viewers amused and made bigger stars out of Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Measuieras Sergeant Wilson , Clive Dunn, Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, James Beck, Ian Lavender. All of them not top line stars until Dad's Army changed their lives forever.

But it was a mark of Croft that he used jobbing actors in other parts in other of his shows and then when it came around casting for his next project, they would get a leading role for example Wendy Richard appeared in Dad's Army, which lead her to getting the part of Ms Brahms in Are You Being Served and one customer making a brief and fleeting appearance during the episode The Apartment in the 1979 series of the show was later to become Spike Hollins in Hi-de-Hi, Jeffrey Holland of course. But his memory of actors and actresses in other shows was legendary and allowing them to come into the spotlight to play major parts. As Jeffrey Holland and Paul Shane said in a BBC 2011 tribute to the man “He ruled with a rod of iron, but with a smile on his face..” “Like a smiling viper..”

Whist Croft was still producing Dad's Army, he joined forced with Jeremy Lloyd, another actor was jobbing and looking for something different. So himself and Croft wrote a one off sitcom for the Comedy Playhouse season called Are You Being Served, with the show itself being shelved until tragedy intervened. With the Munich Olympics cancelled postponed because of the Israeli hostage crisis, the BBC had time to fill and the decision was taken to play Are You Being Served to both fill time where the Olympics would have been and also as a moral booster after such tragic events. With a captive audience, the filler programme garnered viewers who enjoyed the light relief of Grace Bros. over the heavy new coming out of Munich.

Time again Croft had the magic touch over sitcoms, co-creating It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, You Rang M'Lord, 'Allo 'Allo and Oh, Doctor Beeching. But his knowledge of comedy was second to none as every time he picked the right person for the role in sitcoms, he managed to bring Gordon Kaye and Vicki Michelle from Come Back Mrs Noah starring Molly Sugden and Ian Lavender into 'Allo 'Allo. The second of the wartime sitcoms, but this time from the other side of the channel seeing what life was life was like in occupied France at that time. Just like Dad's Army it proved that there was no difference between either of the channel and the antics were just as silly, but the writing was still magnificent as Melvyn Hayes recalled “He'd laugh on all the run throughs, right upto the day of transmission..” Proving the jokes were good but when it came to make them right, Croft was always serious about that.

The way that David Croft rode the nostalgic angle is an interesting one, at the end of the 1970's there was a big 1950's revival and by the time the early 80's had come around Perry and Croft had the right sitcom written and made look at life in a 1950's holiday camp.

In Hi-de-Hi, Perry's experiences as a redcoat at Butlin's provided material for the show, but like all the rest of the sitcoms co-written and produced by Croft, there was always a piece of one of the writers experiences in there such as the experience of working in a department store or the experiences of the British Army abroad. With a common theme of class structure, not always would the top man be a person who was privileged, Mainwaring being the Captain and Wilson being the Sergeant, reversing roles allowing the class structure to be played out, not in a socio-political way but with the day to day working of people from different classes and seeing how they would interact with each other. But this was pretty much like Croft himself, a shy man who would observe other people and how they went about their business, mentally noting down anything which could used in the writing.

Even in 2007, Croft had created a pilot for Wendy Richard and Les Dennis called Here Comes The Queen. Proving that Croft still had an eye for a good sitcom even in his later years, but he was a man always looking to revisit ideas or make new ones. His style of scripting was unique, writing head to head with his co-creators to allow them to bounce ideas off each other, but also recording the scripts onto dictaphones to allow him to here the right intonations of the words being put to paper. Very much in the style of a self rehearsal, this method came from his time as an actor rehearsing with other actors their lines. For all his work came the honours which were richly deserved such as winning the Writer's Guild award for Best Comedy Script three years running between 1969 and 1971 for Dad's Army, earning a lifetime achievement award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards with young bit part actor who had appeared in some of his shows turned host of the awards Jonathan Ross was there to see him pick up the award.

The legacy of David Croft lives on through the repeats of his shows, the DVD's and also other projects as well. Everyone can at least claim they have seen a bit of his work if they liked it or not, but truly David Croft will be remembered in Television. Light Entertainment and Comedy circles as the man who made Britain laugh...

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Chuck Barris - Truth, Stranger than Fiction and Fiction, Stranger than Truth

The name Chuck Barris may not mean much to people in Britain and who he actually is, but for nearly a decade in American television, he was the man who could do no wrong at all. Presenter, creator, executive, songwriter, these are some of things that Barris has been throughout his career. He has also claimed to be a hitman for the CIA as well, his story maybe seemingly as varied as one person can have, though is it true?

His self-described “unauthorised autobiography” 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' charted his career inside and outside the media and beyond that, first published in 1984 first put out the claim that he had worked for the CIA as a hitman during the Cold War. Though the CIA refuted claims that Barris had ever worked for them, but this adds to the myth of a man whose life seems to perpetrate its own story. His book was turned into a film in 2002 with George Clooney directing and Sam Rockwell playing the part of Barris. Though he did realise a sequel in 2004 called 'Bad Grass Never Dies', charting more of his 'true' life both with the CIA and also within the entertainment industry. But away from that he wrote a memoir of his only child, his daughter Della in 2010 and her personal struggle with drug addiction.

Though the people who know or have known Barris describe him as a shy man, with a darker side to him, but the criticism of his shows by the press, critics and the moral majority may have added to this, in his own words “I wanted to get out of the kitchen because of the heat when all this criticism happened, but in truth I should have stayed.” It seemed that he wanted to push the boundaries of what television could do and to almost play on what was happening in society as such for entertainment. Maybe the finger on the pulse, not so much reality television, but to bring everyday reality to entertaiinment.

Barris himself, born Charles 'Chuck' Hirsch Barris on June the 3^rd 1929 in Philadelphia, USA. Attending Drexel University as a student and becoming a columnist on the university's own newspaper showed an aptitude for working in the media and also being able to spin a good yarn as well. Though his start in television came when he became a page and a staffer later on in his at NBC in New York. He worked his way up until he got a job at ABC as a standards and practices person on American Bandstand, who filmed the show in Philadelphia. His uncle Harry Barris was a singer/songwriter and sometimes actor, so it is quite possible that this may have influenced him to go into the music industry.

With surrounding himself with people already with in the music industry, it was only matter of time that he was to start to produce pop music both on records and more importantly on television. It was through these links that Barris wrote the song 'Palisades Park' for Freddy Cannon even though he could not read music himself. The success of the record shot it upto to number three in the American Billboard charts and becoming Cannon's biggest hit in Cannon's career. Though the royalties for the single were to prove important to Chuck, as they could be spent on a room at the Bel-Air hotel in New York, allowing him to stay there whilst pitching a programme to the ABC network. It seemed almost natural to Barris, that this would be the way to do it, by making money from something else to be able to do another thing which could lead on something or as he tells the tale.

The truth is pretty as unspectacular. Barris had been promoted throughout the network, moving to Los Angeles to the daytime programming, specifically being put in charge of what gameshows ABC would broadcast during the day. But when Chuck suggested to his bosses that most of the pitches for new possible shows were worse then his own ideas, the suggestion came up he changed from being a programme planner to a producer instead. So he did and came up with a new format and pitched to the executives 'The Dating Game' for their daytime schedules, but everything was different about what had gone on with gameshows before. The 'flower-power' set itself and the sexy banter between contestants, set the programme out from anything else on other networks let alone ABC, though it was a sign that Barris had observed what was going on around him with the flower-power revolution and wanting to get that into a show that was like nothing else. Such was the popularity of the show during the daytime that a prime-time version was produced an year on year the programme returned for seventeen years. If it was not for 'The Dating Game' though that Australia would not have made their version of it in 'Perfect Match' which would give LWT the idea to produce a British version taking the best bits from The Dating Game and Perfect Match to form Blind Date.

Riding on this success, Chuck was asked to took an idea of young newly-weds answering for electrical goods they might need for their new martial homes and started producing 'The Newlywed Game'. Though he only cajoled the couples along with their candour and allowed Bob Eubanks to pull as much detail out of the contestants as was possible without crossing the line. The combination worked once again leading to the programme having a nineteen year run on network television.

A Very Christmassy Newlywed Game...

Though Barris also produced several other gameshow formats for ABC based on the interest of the contestants, such as their humour, excitement, anger, embarrassment or vulnerability. Almost capturing the right mood for the show, by pulling out of the contestants what they thought wasn't possible, their inner feelings whilst being swept along by the action. But gameshows may have been what he was most famous for, he also tried producing other formats in light entertainment such as 'Operation Entertainment' which was a modern version of the old USO shows staged at military bases and The Bobby Vinton Show for the Canadian based singer Bobby Vinton, which outside gameshows became his most popular show.

But the one show he will be remember for is 'The Gong Show', a different type of variety/talent show thought its beginnings were a lot different to what the show would eventually become. The format developed by Chuck was a strange one, Barris himself had pitched it to the NBC executives as a parody show, where they saw it as a straight talent show and thought of it as such giving it to John Barbour, an actor/comedian who had previously played a part of a game show host in Sanford and Son. Barbour was given the pilot to present, but he could not get the concept that the show was trying to be a parody of this type of show. So eventually, when the network heads decided they liked the show and the one only one to understand it was Chuck Barris, they gave him the opportunity to present it and over time he developed his style playing on his personality of being almost shy to being on the screen. A couple of attributes to this was wearing oversized hats so that he was a bit hidden by them, the nervous clapping inbetween sentences and also being bumbling and jokey. With the parody angle, this always was meant to be like that, the antithesis of much more smoother and slicker hosts on other shows.

The atmosphere was meant to be eccentric, right down the interaction between himself and the judges, with a irreverent style between them both joking and playing off each other for laughs, introducing characters in to the show to give a more variety feel with them coming on at various times to do their acts such as 'Gene Gene The Dancing Machine' actually an NBC stagehand who would turn up when 'Jumpin at the Woodside' was ever played and start to dance, the unknown comic would tell really bad jokes and sometimes as Barris' expense. Opportunity Knocks, this was not.

His strange, surreal side would often come out wanting to see how far he could push the show before the executives had enough of him and the show as well. On one show in particular show, he got all the acts to sing 'Feelings' not matter if singing was their main talent or not. Another one featured two young women suggestively and slowly sucking ice pops to all intensive purposes looked like they were performing fellatio to them, though Chuck suggested that it was only in the viewers minds that they saw it like that. Though when judge Jaye P. Morgan exposed her breasts on camera just as a performer was doing in her act, NBC fired her from their version of the show but she was kept on the syndicated version though as Chuck though that it wasn't such a major thing really.

Come 1980 with the success of the show, Barris was give the chance to star in a movie version of the show with all the characters interlinked by a storyline which itself was a very common type of movie in the late 1970's and early 80's. But the film itself flopped at the box office, all the popular elements of the show were in there, the audiences didn't get it quite as much as the TV show as the 'zaniness' as Chuck put it wasn't not so much in evidence.

The height of 80's elegance...

Though with new shows being added to the rosta, such as the $1.98 Beauty Show where it was a parody of beauty contests where the judges deliberated over three rounds on personality, abilities and the final round being a swimwear contest with the eventual winner receiving $1.98, rotten vegetables as a bouquet and a cheap plastic crown as well. The whole idea came from Barris noticing that the least attractive contestant always won beauty contests with the whole contest being a 'fake' and already decided before filming, but was covered by the opening announcement to say it was fake and also with a note in the end credits to say the same staving off any controversy right from the start. But the end of the run came to pass with 'Three's A Crowd', a game show which involved husbands, wives and their secretaries to see who knew most about each other, from protests groups from both end of the spectrum declared that the show was promoting adultery, a much bigger blow was to come when the syndicated version of The Newlywed Game lost two of its biggest sponsors in Ford and Proctor and Gamble. Even worse was when the wife of Gene Autry, the owner of the studios and production base felt the content of the production was too much and too racy, so they had misgivings about keeping the show and production at the base. Though the syndication of the programme ended before that threat could ever come to pass.

By 1984, Barris was living in France and had set up his own distribution company though he could come back to produce a new version of The Newlywed Game between 1985 and 1989 for syndication and he sold his shares in Barris Industries to Burt Sugarman in 1987, eventually leading to being sold again in 1989 to Sony Pictures Distribution owning all of Barris' formats. With this new version of both The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game were revived between 1996 and 1999 being syndicated as well, though during the 90's new pilots for new shows were tried out such as Comedy Courthouse and Dollar A Second and revivals of the Gong Show.

So its certain that some of these things happened, others not so. But the mystery of the person still lingers on, perhaps he was ahead of his time with the programmes he created and produced. In a time of reality television with it having gone to a more open and creative angle now, maybe his ideas could fit in or perhaps they were of a world of their own. Though what ever was happening on Planet Barris, the truth maybe stranger then fiction but its fiction is a good as the truth..

"Hello there Mrs S.." - Marshall, Renwick and End of Part One

So when was it that television started to take itself so seriously? I can understand with such difficult and serious subjects to contend with, that the news and current affairs departments have to be on high alert all the time. Though the rest of television has developed almost a hardened shell to itself,  but it wasn't always like this. 

Over the years there's been attempts at spoofing the way television is seen by itself, from Channel Eight trying to looking into the future with 90-year old Nicholas Parsons still presenting Sale of the Century, KYTV covering the satellite revolution and everything that brought to the screens. Plus there have been attempts such as The Kevin Bishop Show, who parodies seem to almost say "Wasn't all old TV bad? A-ha-ha-ha! I can do it because I'm popular..." and also strands of programming with Focus North, getting right down to the ground the view local news has of itself with reports and the presentation style.

Though truly the only show who got the art of spoofing just right was Andrew Marshall and David Renwick's End of Part One, the whole two series just released on two DVD's by Network. This has brought to an end a very long journey for this series to be seen once again outside of just clips or footage on the internet. The style of the two series are very different, but even in the first series broadcast made in 1978 and broadcast in April 1979, the defining features of what the programme would be remember for were there, such as the spoofing sketches and mock continuity announcements. 

"I'm just going down to the Taj Mah.. Oh, its here!"

The world of television was played though the prism of Vera and Norman Straightman who live on Funnyname Street, with all different odd characters invading their lives and also the television they watch themselves. The premise even in the opening titles is to be a parody of Coronation Street, the interlinking stories of both characters, the titles featuring rows and rows of Northern terrace housing and also Corrie-esque theme tune. This itself has a feeling of the influence from Monty Python like their sketches taking place in houses, such with the cast playing supporting parts of people who surround the Straightman's lives i.e. people they meet along the way rather then characterised of anyone in particular. 

The intertwining storylines provided by the day to day lives of the Straightman's allow the sketches to played off such as Norman going for a job as a spider, the Straightman's having a new lodger who's a parody of Superman even speaking in cartoon-esque speech bubbles when first having a conversation with Vera. But with Vera and Norman going to the cinema allows the show to widen itself up with them getting the cheapest seats to see 'Christopher Columbus - A Film by Samuel Goldwyn' and with the tickets being so cheap that they are on the film itself! Allowing them to be surrounded by the action, with the actual cast of the spoof film oblivious they are there and the patrons with the cheapest priced seats having to follow the actors wherever they go to.

"Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird, is it a plane? No its Cheapo Cartoon Man!"

The spoofs of the programmes are thing which makes the first series stand out, with World of Sport given a good ribbing and also Raleigh Gilbert who read out the racing results on the programme was given special treatment by the writers over his annoying voice when reading the results. Also The Return of The Doughnut, a spoof on the returning Saint series with Ian Ogilvy who has gets plenty of jokes at his expense as well as well a spot on parody of Weekend World although a LWT production, jokes made at its expense such as it having only about two viewers in the slot it was broadcast in at that time. Though all of these programmes were all produced by LWT and they were the biggest targets for the show, but the management didn't have a problem at their best efforts being ribbed on regular occasions by the show's writers.

But the first series was broadcast before the 1979 ITV Strike which started in August of that year, which partly may have been the reason why there wasn't another series broadcast until October 1980 and would have been made earlier that year. Such as the backlog created by the stopping of production, that all new production would have been halted to allow what was still to be done to be cleared first. So any new series or returning series would have have waited at least till Spring 1980 to be filmed, but this had a unique effect on the series. By this time Marshall and Renwick had gone to work on BBC 2's brand new sketch show 'Not the Nine O'Clock News' using this to keep their writing hands in whilst End of Part One was off the air. With them writing for Not the Nine with its more topical humour, meant they could change End of  Part One to more a satirical type of show and also expanding the spoofing to be more elaborate and more cutting against its targets.

Though with the first series being more lighter and being shown mainly in a Sunday Afternoon slot, led the schedulers at LWT and also Michael Grade thinking this was the right slot for the show as it appealed more to older children and they made sure that the schedulers got the message in episode five  where they included a sketch called 'Kiddies Time' with a very twee style and what they thought Children's Television was like similar to Monty Python's 'Storytime' sketch which itself turned that the story being read out by Eric Idle was smutty and couldn't be read out at all. Even putting on the screen in captions what they though of this and alluding to a 'Unexpected Nasty Bit' which is going interrupt the sketch going on, building up to it with a spoof warning and countdown until its stated that they've lost it. Well, until the end of the episode a final quickie sketch to state an vinyl album of the show is out for release now, featuring the nasty bit as its cover... A man being beheaded by an axe, rather violently.. 

End of Part One was seen as a television follow on from Radio 4's 'The Burkiss Way' featuring almost as silly pythonesque humour, which itself had started on Radio 3 as the 'Half-Open University' as a pilot in August 1975 with the 'The Burkiss Way' starting broadcasting in 1976. Not only does the writers link this with End of Part One but also Fred Harris and Denise Coffey who was in the first series only as well as the producer of the first series Simon Brett who produced the first series of End of Part One. The style of the show having its credits in the middle of the show, sketches stopping halfway through and restarting later plus straight spoofs of programmes and continuity as well. All of these devices were used in End of Part One taken from 'The Burkiss Way'. So the links are there between the two shows, with even The Burkiss Way's final series finishing on Radio 4 on the 15th of November, the week before End of Part One finished on ITV on the 23rd of November. 

The cast itself with Harris and Coffey who had been in The Burkiss Way were joined on End of Part One by a pre-Only Fools and Horses Sue Holderness, actor Tony Aitken who had previously been seen in Porridge, David Simeon who had been in Z-Cars, Fawlty Towers and The Liver Birds amongst his credits and finally Dudley Stevens mainly a stage actor and also had done some music hall but previously had been in Crossroads as an upper-class landowner during the mid-seventies. All of them with comedic experience but with the ability to play character roles and this is what makes the series better for it as well. But the targets as such, were the programmes the viewers had seen also with the noticeable things as well that went on during their broadcast such as Nationwide or Mr and Mrs being spoofed as so sweet that its not safe for diabetics and the presenting style of Derek Batey, maybe barbed but always right in how its done and any average viewer could recognise the obvious things though its the hidden things which make the programme even better.

So finally there is a record of this show after many years being recognised with Harris, Coffey, Holderness, Aitken and Simeon still alive, presenting and performing but also as a tribute to Dudley Stevens who died in 1993. Finally at the end of the series Norman and Vera reappear poisioning the characters in the last spoof, hopefully thinking they'll be the stars of the programme now the rest of the cast are dead. Only for the LWT end caption to appear to snub that thought out straight away. 

It may not be in the top level of great shows and Marshall & Renwick may have written shows which have been better recognised both together and alone. If they hadn't have had End of Part One, then there wouldn't be no Whoops Apocalypse or Hot Metal, no family with 2 point Four Children or no Victor Meldrew saying "I don't believe it!" plus the magic and mystery of Jonathan Creek. Whatever they have both done since, they both have to thank Vera and Norman Straightman of Funnyname street hopefully with a bunch of Roses Chocolates... 

  

"And its Bob's Full House tonight as well.." - Why Bob Monkhouse and Bingo on the Beeb is still beloved after all these years...

Over the past couple of weeks, Challenge has started to repeat one of seminal gameshows to be broadcast on television in the United Kingdom, that of course being Bob's Full House. 

Previously the channel has shown all the available editions of Bob Monkhouse's time on Family Fortunes, so it came as no surprise when they said they had purchased Series One of Bob's Full House. Following on from the success of its purchase of the earlier series of Bullseye as well. This takes the modern viewer back to the day when the gameshow were the kings and queens of the screen. So much so, that at one time BAFTA used to present an award to the best gameshow host.

Going back to the early eighties, all sorts of shows were on the air such as Punchlines where contestants had to match the joke read out by Lennie Bennett to the Punchline given by one of the celebrities opposite them, which in turn could be said that the show also took aspects from one of Monkhouse's former shows Celebrity Squares. Also in the London Weekend Television camp came Bruce Forysth in Play Your Cards Right, the idea imported from the United States' Card Sharks. Though Forsyth wanted to swap with Monkhouse, so that he could do Family Fortunes instead. ATV held their ground and Forsyth along with his Dolly Dealers turned the cards for nearly six years on top of the new millennium revival.

Over at the BBC, the big banker gameshow was Blankety Blank with Terry Wogan but soon to be hosted by Les Dawson in 1984, plus with Paul Daniels coming on the scene with Odd One Out as well. The BBC needed something new and different, when Bob Monkhouse left Central and Family Fortunes in 1983, the next port of call was the Beeb. First of all he presented his chatshow interviewing legendary plus up and coming comedians as well on BBC 2. But the gameshow itch was waiting to be scratched by both the management and also Monkhouse as well.

Though the story of how Bob's Full House came to air is not quite as smooth as the show turned  
out to be. When the idea was first presented by its devisers Terry Mardell and David Moore in 1983, it was a different beast originally called 'Top of the Shop'. From where it actually came from through so many different versions before the final version came to screens on the 1st of September 1984, that thirty-seven revisions were made to get it to the right format with one version even suggesting putting bingo cards in the Radio Times to allow the viewers at home to 
play along with the quiz at home. Which would have made it a sort of national lottery before the idea had been even thought about in this country.

The final format settled on was easy to understand, by cutting down the numbers from 90 to 60 meant that the game could be simplified. The space given was taken up with a monologue at the start of the show and the time to allow Monkhouse to talk to the contestants, very much like he had previously done on Family Fortunes. But when it came down to the actual game itself, the simplicity was in the types of questions, part general knowledge but also part fact based as well allowing Bob to do a joke about the question before moving on to the next contestant. 

With the first round for the four corners of the bingo card, it relaxes the contestants into the game by asking them questions individually. Most of these are fun, sometimes silly facts usually of a true or false nature, pretty much almost really easy to get into the game and win the first spot prize. The game itself as a contest starts with the 'Monkhouse Master Card' with each ten numbers referring to a subject with the contestant can choose from on the gameboard. Thus going for a subject which they may know about such as Cooking, for instance with that subject taking in the numbers 11-20 and choosing the number 14 for example. Getting it meant that number was lit on the players bingo card in front of them. Though get the answer wrong and it would be open to all the rest of the contestants to answer, get it right and they could lit a number of a subject they didn't like on the board. Though get it wrong and they would be frozen out of answering the next question if it was their turn or not, more commonly know in the game as being 'Wallied'. Though ever the pro Monkhouse had a catchphrase for the reveal of the subjects "In bingo-lingo its clickety-click... Its time to take your pick of the six!" and also when the subjects were mixed up "Please mix the six, if you'll please..." The style of the catchphrases used by Bob makes the game even more fun then it already is.

The final part of the game where contestants are aiming to light up all the numbers on their bingo card ramps up the excitement as all the contestants try to answer the questions quick fired by Bob to them all the time. Every so often he reminds the audience and the viewers at home of the situation of play with the refrain "Boggenstrovia neeeds seven for a full house, Rob neeeeds four..." etc. Again making the game flow as natural as it can, seemingly making the last part of the main game almost exciting as the actual game of bingo itself whist waiting for the final number to come out of the bag for a big prize. The moment is as thrilling as anything ever experienced on television before, not knowing who will win at all. 

Once the full house is completed then finally its time to play for the big holiday and the chance to win money to go with it in the Gold Card round. The uniqueness of this round is not only the time limit of two minutes to answer the questions, but also the number of questions to do it in, fifteen to be precise. Seeming easy, but sometimes very difficult. The actual skill is in picking the right numbers to be able to form the letters which make up the place name of the holiday the contestant will be sent on if they find all the letters, but the tension is played to it fullest with the contestant not sure where the letters would be and trying to get all the questions right or have enough to be able to find all the letters at the end. Bob does make play of this with the first letter being reveal such as a 'B' making light of it with the joke "An 'B'... I hope it isn't Bognor!" Though this puts the player at their ease, allowing them to smile and have a laugh at this. Once won, the prize is revealed and the contestant congratulated by Bob to wish them a happy holiday and to say goodnight to the viewers and invite them again to join him again to watch the show next time.

It is Bob's enthusiasm for both the game and the participants themselves which makes the show great, he is one big part of it but its the game aspect which is bigger then anyone. The prizes may seem cheap to us now, the style is different to what a newer generation is used to, but this is why Bob's Full House maybe, just maybe be the best gameshow that has been broadcast on British television. Maybe, you have a different opinion on that. But for me the doors are always opened for you and me on Bob's Full House and I for one am glad that they have been reopened for us by Challenge TV....


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