Mike Yarwood - This is Him... (Part Two)

In the last part we looked at how Mike Yarwood had become a impressionist and performer, through doing impressions for his family and work colleagues and how television director Royston Mayoh had a direct effect on his career by helping him hone his act both for cabaret and also television.

By the end of the 1960's Mike Yarwood had made his first tentative steps into television having appeared on ABC TV's Comedy Bandbox and also Sunday Night at the London Palladium, which at that point Mike thought that it would give him his big break as had happened to Jimmy Tarbuck before him. In 1968, he had done two series for BBC Two of Three of a Kind with comedian Ray Fell and also Lulu. Though when a third series was going to go ahead without Lulu who had moved onto BBC One with her own series, Yarwood himself thought that he was good enough to had his own solo series and in a fit pique turned down the opportunity to appear in the third series.

At that time in 1968, it seemed that Mike Yarwood had made totally the wrong decision by ignoring his agent Dave Forrester's advice at rejecting the chance to carry on working for the BBC at that time. But it was around then that Yarwood had some luck, Lord Lew Grade was planning a charity gala at the London Palladium to raise money for the British Olympic team so that they go to the Mexico Olympics, the first to be shown by ITV in almost full coverage. One of the main acts who were going to appear on the show pulled out, it was around the time when Eric Morecambe had a heart attack, so it was impossible for Morecambe and Wise to appear at that time. This left gaps to filled, so Mike was asked by Lew Grade to appear at the gala.

Because of the importance of the gala, The Queen and Prime Minister Harold Wilson were to be in attendance, though the climax to Yarwood's act was to be an impersonation of Wilson himself. Though this was to cause problems for Lew Grade as Mike Yarwood recalls in his 1986 autobiography Impressions of My Life.

“ 'What are you going to do in the Harold Wilson part?' asked Lew Grade.

'Oh, I've got a script,' I said vaguely. Lew shook his head 'Be careful. We don't want anything political with The Queen here. Just come on and say good evening or whatever and leave it at that.'

I was in despair. Harold Wilson was the most popular part of my act. I felt sure it would fall flat if I was to leave him out, but what was the point of coming on with the pipe and mac and saying 'Good Evening'? That would hardly leave them rolling in the aisles.

I had a moan to Jimmy Tarbuck who was also in the show. 'Why don't you come on and look down at Wilson and say “Snap”? said Jimmy.

I thought about it. It might work. 'Thanks, Jimmy. I'll give it a try,' I said.”

So thanks to Jimmy Tarbuck it seemed that Mike's act on the night had been saved. When he went on to do his spot, he felt that it as was going well. Then he put on the mac and picked up the pipe to do the climax of his act, so much that because of Wilson being in the audience, there was an expectation of Yarwood was going to do. At this time it is important to remember that politicians were still held with high respect by most people and especially the Prime Minister. The fact that That Was The Week That Was had punctured the pomposity of politicians allowed for performers to get away with more then they had ever done before against the political class. When Yarwood walked to the front of the stage to do whatever dialogue he had lined up and all he did was a double take of Harold Wilson and his wife Mary that he had just spotted them in the audience. With a look at Wilson and after a brief few seconds Mike uttered the words which would bring the house down, he said “And as for you sir, I've got only one thing to say to you... Snap!” then at that point hurrying off stage as if he'd lost his nerve.

It was this performance at the gala which got Yarwood great reviews from critics and Lew Grade spotted that Mike was a performer that he could work with, so he signed up Yarwood for three shows, but there was to be more offered if they went well.

With these new shows for ATV came an appearance at the London Palladium appearing with Cliff Richard, going to rehearse for the ATV shows during the daytime and performing at the Palladium during the evening. With Mike's personal life taking an upturn at that time with his future wife Sandra who was a dancer at that time. In taking the Palladium shows with Cliff Richard, it boosted Yarwood's performing skills even more by doing more larger nightly performances. But it was one remark to Cliff that took Mr Richard aback, when introducing Cliff to the audience, he had quipped to the screaming audience of girls in Frankie Howerd's voice “All right, all right... Don't get you knickers in a twist!” It got such a big laugh that Mike used night after night in his act to introduce Cliff Richard. At that time with Mike performing at the Palladium, in pantomimes and also summer season. His was a talent that was getting noticed, though much like Morecambe and Wise who nurtured their act on ITV and to move to the BBC in the same year. Mike Yarwood's career was helped by ATV such as a contemporary at that time Dave Allen.

By the time of the Royal Variety Performance of 1968 and the ATV show going well, meaning as with all royal shows that the comedians shared the one dressing room, Mike was used to having small dressing room but on this occasion he was sharing the star dressing room with Frankie Howerd. But this was to lead to ructions between Mike and Howerd over Yarwood's impression of him.

“The only thing that slightly marred that evening was Frankie's disapproval of my impression of him. Strangely enough in all these year she's the only person who's ever admitted to my face that he didn't care for being mimicked.”

Howerd himself thought that Mike's impersonation was effeminate, though it was the style of delivery which Frankie did himself which was more gossipy than anything else, though this showed even in the most talented and adept performers that self-doubts of themselves could be there although they never showed it whilst performing. Something that Yarwood was to know more about by the end of his career. The fragility which can dog a performer, all through that time. Though in performing during the Royal Variety Performance meant that Mike was in demand, the new up and coming talent who was now starting to move up the Showbiz Set. Just as his home life was settling down, 1969 was to start with a bump with his ATV contract not being renewed after three television shows for Lew Grade. The same reasons for Yarwood not taking a third series of Three of a Kind with the BBC, had come around again. It was seemed that the management thought that he was too big-headed, thought it might have seemed Mike's showbiz career had stalled at this time his agent kept him going and negotiated for him to do summer season in Bournemouth with Frankie Vaughan.

Around this time Mike had proposed to Sandra, but this was to have unwanted effects when working with Frankie Vaughan. During one of the summer season shows with Yarwood, he had a spotlight turn around and shine on Sandra announcing that Mike and her were going to get married much to Sandra's embarrassment though she was in the business herself, it showed that even if people were in show business that a moment when being caught off guard could be embarrassing even if the sentiment was meant to be caring. But in looking at Vaughan's performance, Mike learnt even more in how to work a crowd with the movements and the style he used in his act. The most valuable lesson that he learnt from Frankie was that if you wanted to be a star, you had to be a star all of the time and not just on stage.

Just at this time when everything was going right in Yarwood's own personal life with marriage to his fiancée Sandra and finding out they were going to have a baby together, the same could not be said for his career. Work was plentiful and he was still appearing on other performers own shows, it seemed that although still working, the actual direction he wanted his career to go in was going in a straight line. Though for this somewhat feeling that he had come as far as he could, in his work snobbery was coming through. Questioning his venue for summer season in Blackpool and also his place on the bill, when he should be higher up having made television appearances and top the bill at club one-nighters. In this impetuousness, his agent Dave Forrester kept his feet on the ground, trying to save Mike from rushing too far ahead of himself as almost a case of too much, too young. In his thinking, Forrester wanted the best for Mike and for him to have a lasting career.

Though the Summer of 1970 was to prove, a lucky period for Yarwood. After one performance, Yarwood stepped off the stage and went back to his dressing room to find the BBC's Bill Cotton Jnr. waiting there to meet him. As Yarwood explains

“ 'We'd like you to do a series, Mike' Cotton said after the polite preliminaries. Then, seeing my face, he added, 'Yes, its going to be your show, although you will have someone with you.'”

That offer of a show was to become Look – Mike Yarwood, which gave him full range to try out new material and new ways of performing it as well.

Mike was joining a family of entertainers at the BBC, who after many years were looking to regain viewers away from ITV's dominance of light entertainment programmes up to the late 60's. With Morecambe and Wise coming from ATV, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett from LWT and Bruce Forsyth being given the chance to present a new game show. It was Bill Cotton Jnr's foresight to be able to find performers, put them into the right shows with the best writers and also the best production teams. Yarwood was to be another cog in this smoothly run engine, as the television industry produced some of the most memorable programmes of this time.

But with the new series came other things, for the money Mike was making by doing the shows for the BBC, it seemed like the money he was earning was going out the door quicker then it was coming in. On occasions, this seemed harmless enough with the odd purchase or an item which he was determined to get whatever the cost. It was fine on the luxury items, but when it came to smaller almost trivial items, it seemed like it was almost like a compulsion to buy things, most things could be quantified but some things were almost strange even to Yarwood. In needing a dinner jacket for summer season, Mike purchased six because if Tom Jones always ordered six at a time, then it was good enough for him. In being a performer, it was important to look the part so high-quality ties were bought four at a time. These things may have been quantifiable in Yarwood's own mind, it did show that with money, came the responsibility to go with it.

The seventies were one of Yarwood's best periods as a performer meeting the great and the good and also topping the television ratings regularly with his shows, but off screen things were turning out differently. The first incident was a indication of those who do not have fame recent others with it, whilst appearing in summer season in Scarborough and at a low ebb missing his family when going through fan mail to pass the time away in-between performances. When being met with a piece of writing paper and unfolding it came a chilling message inside.

As Yarwood takes up the story himself,

“ 'We're going to get you, Yarwood' I read, 'and by the time we've finished with you, you'll be unrecognisable...' and so it went on, threatening to kill me and injure my family. It was signed 'The Angry Brigade'.”

Having read this, Yarwood thought this should be dealt as police matter as having believed this was a genuine threat to himself and his family. When Special Branch eventually looked at the letter, they dismissed it as a hoax. To put this into context, with terrorism on the mainland of Britain from both sides of divide to do with Northern Ireland's Troubles and threats sent to venues and warnings as well by various groups, it was a very high alert time for people. In his own thinking when it was suggested that the letter maybe from someone who was jealous of Mike's success with the undertone of the group claiming responsibility would not issue a warning as to what they were going to do. If it had the sole aim of scaring Yarwood, it had done.

With this Yarwood was ordered to take out of his schedule for rest and recuperation, with the theatre management understanding of the situation and giving him as much time as he needed to do so. But although in taking the time off, the doctor who was treating him gave him a remark when he had told him to rest. The thought was that Mike had started to drink too much, almost pushing 'The Angry Brigade' letter and this other remark to the back of his mind in quantifying that he was doing as much as anyone else would have been around that time. In the time earned, it was just that he should spend it relaxing in the BBC Club or in the pub. But Yarwood's drinking was to become a problem in his personal life though he did not let this show in his performances, delivering show after show for ATV, BBC and later on Thames Television. In doing this, the Dutch courage was used to cover up stage fright and allow him to go on perform, relaxing himself so he could do a good show as always. Though as the 1970's went along, even with this Mike was trying quantify this as he explained to Channel 4's 2001 documentary 'The Showbiz Set'.

“I would at least drink half a dozen stiff vodkas, just enough to get a buzz on, just enough to feel no pain. But the thing is you get to the theatre sluggish and you need a pick-me-up and I would have a couple of vodkas and tonics before a show.”

Just as he was becoming one of light entertainment's biggest stars and his home life was settled, the drinking was having an effect on him. The pressure of delivering a good performance time after time was seeming to take it toll, though this was to change on his personal life as he continues.

“It make me cringe just to think about it, the drinking became more important then anything else and I spent less and less time with the children because when I wasn't in the pub, I was at home sleeping it off. I missed my first daughter's, first birthday because I was too hungover, that's the saddest thing I can think of actually. It makes me very sad to think about it actually.”

By trying rationalise away the drinking, it seemed that it had its place in Yarwood's performing and personal life. Though when filmed for a Thames Television documentary in 1984 about himself and the making of one of his television specials. A seemingly throw away line is used between Yarwood and the late John Ammonds, his producer at both the BBC and Thames might have let on more then the public had thought at that time.

Mike Yarwood impersonating John Ammonds : “Have you been drinking lately?”

Ammonds to Yarwood: “Not recently...”

Though as John Ammonds explained in 2001 about working with Yarwood whilst he was drinking.

“He never got really plastered lying on the floor like that, but it did interfere with the concentration. I think he would agree now, it did interfere with his work and made him more worried then ever. In fact, when of course he thought drinking would have the effect of taking away the worries, but it never does.”

As this was going on Yarwood was still able to make some of the finest shows seen on British television with a rota of characters that everyone could recognise. Thanks to the political landscape, apart from a few changes that the party leaders of the Labour Party in the shape of Harold Wilson and later Jim Callaghan and on the Conservative benches Ted Heath, along with union leader Vic Feather led to them becoming stock characters besides with the big personalities who had big personalities them such as David Frost, Patrick Moore and Brian Clough linking back to his love of football.

With starting the 1970's with Look – Mike Yarwood and also a radio series Hear – Mike Yarwood as well, made one of most popular entertainers and one of the most highly paid ones as well. It seemed like success was breeding success with a special show at the Talk of the Town, London showcasing his live cabaret act for BBC2's 'Show of the Week' strand. By the mid-70's not only the political landscape was changing as well as his BBC show. At the start of 1976, he was awarded the OBE in that year's New Year's honours list by Harold Wilson showing that he even by doing an impression of him that even politicians could have a laugh at their own expense.

His political material was never hard hitting satire much like Rory Bremner's in later years to come, but it made for the politicians and union leaders who dominated the 70's, could have otherwise been anonymous to the public at large. It gave them another platform on which they were recognised on, even later on Rory Bremner and other non satirical impressions would admit that Yarwood was their biggest influence in starting to imitate people both famous and around them leading more of a periphery of impressionists from the mid-70's onwards and into the new decade.

In 1976 his show changed title to Mike Yarwood in Persons and became a more variety based show welcoming other guests on to perform but always with Yarwood showing his talent for signing at the end with the inevitable phrase 'And this is me...' Starting with two specials, one in May and other under the 'The Mike Yarwood Christmas Special' title in December to start the Mike Yarwood in Persons period when finally the first series of which was broadcast fortnightly between January and March 1977. Though the series its self had a who's who of big name light entertainment producers amongst them future BBC head of light entertainment Jim Moir, John Ammonds who worked with Morecambe and Wise during this period as well plus future big name Alan Boyd, the man who brought Blankety Blank to the screen as well when in the ITV system a number of shows for LWT including Game for a Laugh and later to work for Television South.

But coming into 1977 saw a new personality come to the fore which was to even to test Yarwood's material, the rise of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party leader taking over from Ted Heath in 1975. This caused some problems for Yarwood, as most of his impressions were men and very rarely he did dress up as female characters. But to be relevant to his ask he had to keep Thatcher in there with references to her, even trying to impersonate her. Though after a while it was clear that this was not going to work as a on-going thing. So how exactly to solve the problem? Well, Mike and the producers didn't have to look too far, on ITV in this same period was 'Who Do You Do?' and one of the pop female impressionists was Janet Brown who was a part of that show.

The producers of Mike's show decided they wanted Janet to come on board the show to impersonate Mrs Thatcher, so it was possible to Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher or Robin Day and Thatcher doing a double-headed sketch together thus expanded the range and also the way that sketches could be performed without the need for lengthy filming of Yarwood doing a whole range of impressions and have them superimposed in a sketch using a technique called colour separation overlay.

But the use of C.S.O. was always important to Mike to be able to have several of his impressions in the same place at the same time, as the technology got slowly better it allowed him to play around more with it. Though during filming these sketches, because for eye-line levels, it meant there would have to be someone standing where another character would be in the final piece and most times it would be one of the crew but when John Ammonds was producing the show himself, he would be the stand-in and helping to prompt Yarwood by mouthing the lines to him so he knew what to say and when in the sketch. These techniques may seem like a long drawn out process, but it allowed Mike to be cutting edge in something that hardly no other performers had done to that point.

Come the end of 1977, with the BBC's biggest night of the year on Christmas Day. The corporation had rolled out the red carpet for their biggest shows on that evening with a schedule unmatched ever since including Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game plus Morecambe and Wise with their Christmas Special. On that night Mike found himself in between the two shows but never the less in a key position of that night's schedule to keep the viewers with BBC One. With an excellent viewing figure on that night, little did he know that he was to become the BBC's big Christmas Night star next year.

With Morecambe and Wise leaving the BBC at the end of 1977, this meant that the prime position was up for grabs on Christmas Day night in 1978, with Bruce Forysth moved to LWT and placed on Christmas Eve, Morecambe and Wise had gone to Thames Television and ITV had scheduled them for their prime slot during the evening. But the BBC had either The Generation Game with Larry Grayson, The Two Ronnies or Mike Yarwood to go head to head against Eric and Ernie. So it came down to Mike to take on what would be seen as ITV's scheduling juggernaut. Added to this there had been industrial action by unions at the BBC just before Christmas and had seemed that the BBC might have had to offer only a limited Christmas Day service. Eventually when the two shows played out Mike was at 8pm and Eric and Ernie at 9pm on ITV, the outcome was surprising though in the least. Morecambe and Wise had grabbed a substantial audience themselves but when the final ratings had come out, Mike had beaten them. Justifying the BBC's faith in him that for 1979 and 1980 he was given a prime slot on Christmas Day and his own stand-alone series had grown. By 1981 though he had been shifted off the big day for a slot on Boxing Day, after what had happened with Morecambe and Wise in 1977 maybe the BBC did not want a repeat. So, subtly the show was moved to the day after Christmas already in the knowledge that he'd moved to Thames Television.

Once again in 1981, his act was changing to compensate that the fact Janet Brown was impersonating Margaret Thatcher on her own show, Yarwood moved into the mimicry of the Royal Family especially Prince Charles and after his Royal Wedding in 1981 to Lady Diana Spencer, he used the same trick as he had done with Janet Brown by getting Suzanne Danielle to play Princess Diana in the sketches and later on impersonating Prince Andrew to Kate Robbins' Sarah Ferguson. Though it did seem a few small changes to allow new impressions, that some of the impressions were getting dated in having Harold and Albert Steptoe in his act after their series had finished a number of years ago on the BBC. Plus also Harold Wilson who had been out of power for five years by that point, but with the election of President Ronald Regan in the United States allowed him to use the same gentle political humour as he had done for Wilson but also use Regan's old show business connections to have sketches including the like of Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr., all of which Regan had worked with during his Hollywood career.

Around this point, though still popular with the viewers and also having great material from such writers Barry Cryer, John Junkin, Eddie Braben, Colin Edmonds and with script advisor former Morecambe and Wise writer Dick Hills, the shows started to feel dated. Though this could be said to be an effect of the rise of Alternative Comedy and its style of more barbed political humour and faster paced-delivery as well. By the end of 1983, Mike had completed the first series of his Thames shows and was about to have a special broadcast over Christmas of that year. 1984 however was to bring something which totally changed the landscape of what he was doing when Spitting Image brought a new edge to impressions and in particularly political satire.

Though as the worry about his shows and his increasing stage fright lead to more drinking than ever, leading to him admitting he was an alcoholic. But just like the BBC and Thames had done for Eric Morecambe to reduce the worry and also strain of working by only doing specials once or twice a year, it gave more worry by doing less television shows. With the removal of the alcohol as his crutch in performing, it seemed to have a major effect on his performance, the worry and stage fright was seemingly getting too much for him. His final special was shown by in December 1987, by that time he was doing very little television apart from the odd appearance on other shows and also gala performances for various causes. Later on Mike appeared on Have I Got News for You as a guest, allowing him to perform but also be himself following on from this there was a plan to bring him back to television as a adviser to the public wanting to do impressions in a planned BBC show called 'Taking Off with Yarwood' but he politely refused to do it.

It came as no surprise when he finally gave up performing in 1994 for his own health and well being finally giving alcohol for good allowing himself time to spend with his children who had by then had their own children.

The legacy of Yarwood lives on with most impressionists who worked during the 80's and 90's stating that it was Mike's influence which got them started in impressionism in the first place by having seen him performing on the television and as he would at the end of every show 'And this is me....' and I hope these two articles have given you an impression of the man himself. 

Mike Yarwood - This Is Me.. The man, the performer.. (Part One)

In entertainment there are many different areas of performance from the musicians to the magicians and the ventriloquists to the comedians, but one area for the sheer skills of the performer stands above all, that of the impressionist. From the earliest days of the music hall, impressionists have passed off the great and good of the day rising to become some of highest paid entertainers of their day with the ability to impersonate a famous person.

Most people can attempt mimicking people that they know or anyone within their own social circle, but when it comes to ones with a specialised skill to combine the art of taking off a person with comedic lines to heighten a character, that is all too rare and not many performers have been able to do that and claim there place in the higher echelons of light entertainers.

One such man made this his career, from the 1960's through to the late 1980's when the public were asked the question 'Name me a famous impressionist..' they would usually say the name of one man, Mike Yarwood. Yarwood, the man could be a complex one but also he was the first to have a prime time Saturday night entertainment show just dealing in impressions. Where as The Comedians had forged a new path for stand-up comedy, Yarwood made his name through appearances in both summer season and on television during the 1960's. By the start of the next decade, he was to be one of the biggest new stars to come out of the BBC's entertainment factory at BBC Television Centre under the guidance of Bill Cotton Jnr.

Yarwood himself was born in Bredbury, Cheshire in 1941. His father was a fitter and his mother was a nanny looking after many children, Mike himself was a war baby with his mother finding out she was pregnant, his family moved to Bredbury which was in the countryside of Cheshire. But as he grew up he discovered that he had a talent for mimicry for his family and close childhood friends as he recalls in his 1986 autobiography, Impressions of my Life.

“It seems I have been doing impressions practically all my life. Apparently from an early age I imitated my Irish Uncles, the people in my street, the teachers at my school and even the priest at my local Catholic church. On Sunday mornings when we go back from church I draped myself in my mother's embroided table cloth, put on a cardboard mitre on my head and clutching a brass bell and few shiny items from our fireside set. I conducted 'mass' in the back garden. I strutted up and down solemnly chanting in 'Latin' and sprinkling the congregation with holy water from the fireside brush which I'd held under the tap just before the service.

My family and friends just fell about laughing. 'Mrs Yarwood', our neighbour Mrs Jenkins would say, 'He'll be on the stage one day, you'll see'. And my mother laughed and shook her head.”

This showed Mike's need to perform for people in a small way and by making them laugh he showed he had a talent for it, but as he entered the world of work starting off at mail-order firm J.D. Williams as a junior despatch clerk, it seemed that it was a world away from where he would end up but even at this early stage that nerves were affecting himself, the nerves which were later to turn into stage fright, as he recalls in his 1986 autobiography.

“I felt sick. I'd been up very early to allow plenty of time to catch the eight-thirty from Bredbury to Manchester London Road (now Manchester Piccadilly), and I hadn't been able to eat a thing. It was my first train journey on my own, my first day at work and I was very, very nervous. 'This is it', I kept telling myself. 'You're out into the big world now. You've got to get on with it.'”

But as time went on, with Mike impersonating one of his managers and his work performance not improving, the company eventually let him go, though eventually after searching he got a job with M.A. Jacobs' Wholesale Gowns and Mantles as a trainee rep, eventually with the idea of travelling the country showing off the companies wares to potential customers though with Mike failing his driving test on several occasions led him to being stuck in the company's office, but it was here where he started doing impressions for his workmates and bosses, even with them using him to keep customers by allowing him to do impressions to able to help a sale by cracking the ice with a potentially tricky customer.

Though after a while to trying to try out for football teams around the North West and continuing working for M.A. Jacobs, in his spare time that he was part of the Rock and Roll scene in the Cheshire area with a local group 'The Drum Beats' as a drummer, but this dream soon faded like his dream of becoming a profession footballer. There was one key element to all of these thing, that was they were all a form of performing. By age of twenty-one, having failed his driving test again and seemingly was to be stuck in the office of M.A. Jacobs as a trainee rep without the ability to move up the ranks and earn the higher wages that it would bring for doing so. It was at this point that Margaret Fairley, a colleague made that suggestion that Mike should be in show business after seeing his impressions at work. Fairley herself knew the business as she had been a former Tiller Girl herself and had spotting something in Yarwood. Thinking about these words and consider his future at just working in the office, that he should give it a go and see where it would take him.

At this point when putting together a routine of impressions to be able to audition, that simple detachable collar was to lead him telling his mother what he wanted to.

“I don't know how long I wrestled with the damn thing but in the end I lost my temper. I tore off the collar, tore off the shirt and ripped into shreds and when I finished I burst into tears. I wept and wept until eventually my mother came up to see what was wrong.

'What's on earth's the matter, Michael? Why are you so upset?, she asked, putting her head around the door. 'I can't get this bloody collar on!' I'd intended to say, but for some reason it came out as 'I want to go into show business!'

I think I was as surprised as she with my answer. 'Oh well love, you'll have to forget about that,' she said gently. 'You'd be hopeless at that.'

'But its all I've want to do', I insisted. My mother sat down on the bed and we talked it over. She wasn't happy about the idea that people in show business lived highly immoral lives but when she saw how serious I was she said 'Well if you really want to go into show business I suppose you'd better give it a try.

I think she was worried that I'd be led astray and also that I'd get hurt because she felt I was far too shy to go on the stage, but nevertheless she supported me.”

Mike took that chance and it was a piece of luck which helped him onto the first rung of the show business ladder. First of all meeting Wilf Fielding, Fielding was a friend of one of Yarwood's work colleagues, he was a businessman working for an asphalt company but with a mutual interest in show business himself, when finding out how much Yarwood wanted to make onto the stage, Fielding went out of his way to help him achieve this. But it was another mutual person to do with Wilf Fieling that would help Mike make it to television. Fielding's secretary Linda was dating, some who worked in the television industry and through her, they though it was good idea for Mike to meet him. The man in question was a cameraman working for ABC Television at the time and eventually with the idea of show this man Yarwood's act. He was Royston Mayoh, at that time he had written scripts for the BBC Children's programme Crackerjack and also material for Mike and Bernie Winters. Later to become a television producer himself, producing many programmes for ABC and later Thames such as Opportunity Knocks and also The Kenny Everett Video Cassette, Mayoh had never be a professional performer himself, but he had the quality to get the best out of performers and it was here that Mayoh was going to this to help Yarwood improve his act and make a better performer of him.

It was a case when Mike went to Royston Mayoh's house to view what potential Yarwood had, from briefly performing in front of him, Mayoh himself saw something in these few impressions though it may have not as described as professional performance, it caught Mayoh enough to take him under his wing and help him. The one key factor was Yarwood's ability to change his face with each impression, most impressionists of that time could do voices which was good for radio and for variety theatres. When it came to impressionists making the next leap to television, the facial movements and ticks were most important. In the sixties, the United States had Frank Gorshin famous for playing the Joker in the 60's version of Batman. But his ability to transform his face to take on the characteristics of the person he was taking off seemed effortless.

In Yarwood's advantage, he would impressions of politicians which at that time the politicians were held with due reverence. But by shows like That Was the The Week That Was, allowed people to hold government account by comedy and also making the point that politicians were fame game now. Although Mike's humour with those in power was more poking fun rather then making cutting remarks, it was the first time that these figures could be seen to be almost as human as anyone watching.

With that it was onto Yarwood developing an act with Mayoh with eventually the goal getting onto television, almost every spare time was spent with Yarwood learning his stage craft and sharpening up his act, right at the beginning Yarwood didn't know what a microphone was, so Mayoh's mother's carpet sweeper was good a substitute for one. This may have appeared basic to some, from just a start of learning microphone skills was the first part of the performance. More importantly was Royston Mayoh's approach to teaching Mike the basics, practising faces in the mirror over and over again, the walk on and off the stage, camera positioning and most importantly sticking to the script no matter what happens.

Through the practising, frustrations came for Yarwood but it was his determination to pay back in performance all the advice Mayoh gave him to play the perfect set each and every time he went on stage or appeared in front of the cameras. Seemingly to his mother, it was pushing Yarwood too hard but the one thing that Royston Mayoh always said to Mike's mother would ring true in the years to come

“I'll take him as far as The Royal Command Performance and then I'll be no use to him...”

It make have appeared as a joke between Mike and Royston at that time, but if it was for the training and practise then maybe Yarwood's impressions would have never seen the light of day other than to friends and family. Whilst doing this training, Mike's father has been asking around to see if there were any spots which Mike could and by luck his father heard about an opportunity via a person at his workplace who used to perform as a singer in a pub in Dukinfield, Cheshire for any ideas about openings for Mike to perform. His father broached the subject one night as Yarwood explains.

“ 'Michael' said Dad suddenly one evening as were eating our team 'there's a fella I work with sings in a pub where there's a talent competition on Thursdays. He says you're to go along this this Thursday and they'll put you on.'

It was short notice but I got in touch with Wilf and Roy and on Thursday night we presented ourselves at the Albion in Dukinfield.”

From this performance Mike didn't win finishing third, but in suffering a bout of nerves before going on Wilf and Royston helped out on the stage. But in those few minutes and only finishing third out of half a dozen fellow performers gave Mike confidence, so he decided to enter the next week finishing second that time. It was afterwards when Wilf and Mike were getting a drink, a man with a pint in his hand approached Yarwood offering him the chance to perform at the Salvage Hotel, Collyhurst in Manchester, giving him two spots on a Friday night, with Mike explaining that he had really got an act as such they gave him the chance to do both spots and see how they went. This was Mike's first professional booking and over the next period would see him playing clubs throughout the North West gaining more and more experience leading to a week's booking at a night club in Manchester – The Ponderosa. The booking itself had been got by Mayoh, but on the first night he had invited Billy Scott from ABC Television's Light Entertainment department.

Although that first night was nerve bound, with certain moments involving interruptions not of his making but he stuck to Roy's well trodden advice of sticking to the script no matter what happens, at one moment when talking to a waiter and doing a visual gag that he had apparently swallowed his spoon, he tried to pull his neck to look like he had done. But with trembling hands, he could not do this. To the audience this was confusing but to Roy he gave his approval with roaring laughter. It was enough to impress Billy Scott as well to give him a gig doing warm up for an ABC programme called Comedy Bandbox featuring the top comedians of the day plus new and up and coming talented performers as well. That gig had been a successful one for previous incumbents which led them to appearing on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Peter Dulay, the producer of the show liked what Mike had done and invited him to appear on the next week's show. Finally Yarwood had made it to television and on 21^st December 1963 made his first appearance on the programme for his and his parents nerves, they were naturally pleased that first performance went so well. Afterwards, it was like a bump to earth for Mike, for other who had used the show as stepping stone to super stardom for Yarwood it was only a pebble. For the kudos of being able to put on posters 'As Seen on TV' was a positive but it was back to the clubs for him at that stage.

Though an appearance on a show like Comedy Bandbox could be the making of a performer's career, but the number one variety show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium. For any performer on the way up this was the key show to get into to get national exposure and to perform in front of an audience of many millions at home. It was whilst in Summer season one night that Mike had a visitor in his dressing room at Blackpool's Central Pier. He was Alec Fyne from the programme itself, this was the big time at last where so many had performed on. With the help of Royston Mayoh, he advised Mike to keep his act but get a script-writer to write a new script especially for the show.

That taste of performing had given Mike a taste for the big time, with The New Palladium Show taking over from Sunday Night at the London Palladium led to Yarwood appearing several more times as well as working with The Bachelors, but through the up and downs of this period of more variety theatre performances with the like of Max Bygraves, pantomimes came in 1967 a major television series for the BBC called Three of a Kind, working with Lulu and comedian Ray Fell. At that when it was broadcast in 1967, Mike was doing summer season at Great Yarmouth which lead to a new series of the programme in 1968 which Yarwood did, when it came to a third which was already planned but without Lulu who had left for her own new show on BBC 1. But in Mike's mind this wasn't good enough for him and his own words he was getting big headed as he recalls.

“Three of a Kind went down well and we did a second series, but by then I was getting unbearable. A third series was planned. Now this would have been good news but for the fact that this was to go ahead without Lulu because she was getting her own show. I was jealous. I wanted my own show and in a fit of pique because I wasn't offered one, I turned down the new series. I was in no position to refuse anything that that stage of the game, as my agent tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen. I was too big-headed to believe him.”

It had seemed that Mike Yarwood's career may have been gone off the path that he thought it should be on but thanks to one impresario and a man who would guide many of television's biggest careers, it got a second chance and as we'll find out in part two. How being the at the top can be good, but it can have its downside as well.

"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...

Hitting the target - The history and development of Bullseye

Thursday night sees the last episode in the first ever series of Bullseye which has been shown by Challenge TV over the past couple of weeks, but the game show which was there at the end is a world away from the first episode of the first series. In and around studios of television companies of the late 70's, game shows were in production or going into production at that time the BBC had The Generation Game and the new to air Blankety Blank to name two. Throughout ITV of all the franchises, they each had a show in production from the major contributors such as ATV and Thames, the likes of Celebrity Squares and Give Us A Clue were astride the schedules. The more minor companies like Anglia would have one or even two shows offering big prizes, on the one hand Sale of the Century with Nicholas Parsons and the other Gambit with Fred Dinenage.

With these shows flying about set Andrew Wood thinking about what was the perfect game show, taking time to look at their nuances. The appeal of the shows were something in themselves, regularly they were topping the television ratings. But what was making people write in to take part on a regular basis, was it the taking part? The competition or just winning the prizes? It was clear that the format itself was important, the more clearer the better for the viewer to follow at home but also for the host to understand the rules as the programme went along. The problem with so many going into production was that ideas were being used up ten to the dozen, whether imported from American formats or thought up to make original ideas, premises of shows were the same but tweaked to suits their own style and rules. Wood's idea was to come up with something that had never been seen before in any game show before, to feel familiar but be new enough to surprise people.

What was come up with was a format which was not seen before, the 1970's had seen darts become a major television sport in its own right and because of this more and more people were playing in pubs and social clubs throughout the country. Overtime Wood developed this idea into a format, however with great competition from other formats being invented and also imported, it was really hard to get an idea seen to a head of light entertainment at any channel or company at that time. So Wood decided to go a name who had been a presenter of a successful show which was Norman Vaughan previously host of the Golden Shot, knowing that Vaughan might have some clout to get the Bullseye idea seen. As far as a deal went, Wood said if Vaughan could make the new idea seen by someone and if it goes into production that he could present it but if you don't get the presenter's job that Vaughan would be given a cut of all future revenue accruing as being a co-creator of Bullseye.

Thanks to Vaughan's links to ATV in Birmingham, the Bullseye idea was seen by Jon Scoffield, the station head of Light Entertainment at the time. The brief synopsis on a piece of paper presented to Scoffield was “A contestant throws a dart at a categorised board and is then asked a question on whatever he hits.” Scoffield took a look at it, rather then just baffling the presentation by giving an explanation by Wood, Scoffield just requested the idea to be seen as it went along just like it would almost be on the screen. The idea Scoffield liked, but the kick in the stomach was to come for Vaughan when Scoffield said he didn't like Vaughan for the presenter's job. Now having being the co-creator of Bullseye meant that Vaughan would taking a cut of any earnings from the programme, so the search was on for first a presenter and secondly a producer plus a director. The original plan for the presenter was to get Birmingham-based comedian Dave Ismay to film the pilot in 1980, Ismay had been a warm-up man for many of the ATV game shows and had made appearances on other shows such as 3-2-1 and the Golden Shot. Being around these shows meant Ismay could get a feel for how they worked and see how the hosts of each of them worked. Such was his closeness to The Golden Shot, he had seen the master of the game show Bob Monkhouse close at hand. So he seemed a natural choice to be the host, though a director was still needed.

Peter Harris, a well respected director of many types of shows had been working at ATV since the 1960's. In his time, he had directed Crossroads, helped launch Tiswas in 1974, at that time of the early 80's, he was most famous for directing the Muppet Show since 1977. This gave him lots of acclaim and is created on helping Jim Henson's creations come to the screens for a family audience, but come 1980 he had moved on to launching another of ATV's new game shows when he was the first director of Family Fortunes. So having launched that show and made it a success, Harris was called to Jon Scoffield's office to choose what he wanted to do next and there he was given three choices. One was Runaround, newly brought to ATV to possibly relaunch on Central Television in 1982 where Lewis Rudd, the new head of children's television had brought it with him from Southern Television, some unknown format, but possibly Chris Tarrant's O.T.T. which was in development and also Bullseye. Harris chose Bullseye because he was brought up in a public house during his formative years, so thought it was a good choice to take in this case.

The parts of this jigsaw were coming together, but then something was to happen which was throw the planning into chaos. With Dave Ismay, the host of the pilot for Bullseye, Peter Harris had met up with him to finalise details on when the pilot was to be filmed. But when Harris stated the dates, Ismay said he could not do them because he was on a cruise line entertaining the passengers. With the dates stuck and the studio time booked, there was no real way they could cancel the dates. So they offered it to Jim Bowen, famous at that time for his appearances on The Comedians and also as the comic foil for Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson on Thames Television's children's programme You Must be Joking. Bowen accepted the position as host, so it was on to development of the format. Though when finally Bowen met Harris, it was a great relationship as presenter and director, but on the first sighting of each other, Bowen was impressed by Harris who was immaculately dressed himself at the Grovenor Hotel in Birmingham. It was only after a while when Bowen had cottoned on about arriving at a coloured pink hotel building and seemingly flamboyant character, that they were going to hone the format to Bullseye in a Gay Club. But this broke the ice between them both and they got the format ready for the pilot to be filmed.

The series itself went to air on Monday the 21^st of September 1981, but these were not the first two episodes to be filmed which were shown first, actually it was the third ever episode filmed. By their both their own admissions that the first two were awful with Bowen being too nervously, fluffing the rules of the game and the nadir of when talking to a couple during the contestant's introduction when told that a person had been unemployed for two years, naturally Bowen had replied “Smashing...” without out no malice with the contest themselves looking daggers at Bowen for doing so. With that the decision to boost Bowen's confidence that the episodes would be scrapped and wiped, thus getting the production crew on his side. With the episodes having been filmed, they had to give the contestants who had won the prizes on both of them to them. One of which they won a caravan on, so they had to give it to the contestants. Compared to the cost of doing this, the value of junking the first two episodes filmed was far greater.

Looking back at the first series of 1981, using the original titles of Bully coming down from his pub sign to play darts, though the titles are different in one significant feature. During the titles there are lots of women with nipples prevalent, whether this was a nod to the cheeky pub nature of the game or an in-joke by graphic designer Chris Wroe, by the third series these images have been edited out where cue to pressure from high up the command chain or just a change attitude at when the programme was being broadcast on a Sunday afternoon in difference to a Monday evening slot. Though the basics of the game are there, the rules themselves seem over complicated. In the category board, the partner of the dart player has to pick the value of the question they want their dart playing partner to hit, ranging from ten, twenty, thirty or fifty for the bull itself rather just a category and the value of the question being for instance twenty pounds plus the bonus amount as well.

But well even before for the game has started, a nearest to the bull board is used to determine the order of play, the board consisting of concentric sections is also called upon if there is a tie, making sometimes the gameplay in these early editions hard to keep up with. Though the pound for pounds second round is a strange affair as the darts players through for the highest scores, rather then being on a pounds for points basis like in later series, the dart players partners can choose question to the value of twenty pounds, fifty or one hundred and one pounds. Whether this was a nod to the start darts scores of 301 or 501 for instance, is not quite revealed during the game play. But it is possible for a couple to have only won maybe only thirty pounds when they get to the prize board, meaning that couples will want to always gamble for the star prize every time with it being a brand new car, caravan or even a speedboat compared to winning the ubiquitous prize of a clock for every room in your house. The first series was seemingly to encourage the players to go for the star prize every time with every little jeopardy of an big amount of money accrued or prizes won at all.

During this series Jim Bowen is charged with doing everything as in asking the questions and taking care of the scoring as well, but sometimes with so much to do he has to rely on other off camera to help him with this, plus also inadvertently putting off players by making jokes of them and when they are throwing, though this seems like putting them at ease, most times it has the opposite effect. Bowen in this first series, does seem jittery about what he is meant to be doing at times, not quite knowing what's coming next. One significant event was to happen during the first series, which was to shape the whole programme from then on. During the series, the voice-over had been ATV Today's Nick Owen out of vision introducing the contestants and also with Bowen doing the scoring, it seemed that the show need some help from someone in the darting know. On the thirteenth edition came Tony Green, then a professional darts player but also as a darts referee as well.

It was this meeting with Harris and Green's own personality which lead to him joining the programme not only for his distinctive voice but also his darts refereeing as well. Out of vision for the first couple of years, Green's role grew bigger and bigger eventually becoming a foil for Bowen's jokes. But by doing this, it showed that the programme was more professional and also had respect for the darts players themselves. The charity throw which Green had been a part of was slowly changed away from just professional darts players in series three, with also celebrities who played darts coming into the mix as well, with them getting a sixty point head start to help boost up the funds if they were to score a relatively small amount of points to be coverted into pounds for charity.

The celebrities who came on were an eclectic mixture from George Best and Jimmy Greaves from the world of Football, 'Mighty' Mo Morland from the Roly Polys, Kenny Lynch and Jimmy Cricket plus from Bullseye own world co-creator Norman Vaughan and also former voice-over artist for the programme Nick Owen, who by 1983 had joined TV-AM. This type of thing combined with best darts players of the day, who by now were household names made Bullseye a hit with viewers. But this was not always so, in 1981 when the programme was placed on Monday evenings after Crossroads, they inherited an audience of thirteen million viewers, but slowly the viewers started to ebb away and by show six, the viewership was down to just over six million viewers but something remarkable happened from show eight as the viewers returned, if it was through sheer curiosity to see how bad this game show was or at that time Terry Wogan would say about it on his Radio Two show, thus people being curious would switch on it see what Terry was going on about and somehow they stuck the show.

Bullseye in itself had been become a 'cult' game show before people had even thought of the term, such like The Golden Shot had been moved from Saturday nights to a Sunday afternoon slot. Bullseye benefited from the same thing happening to it, it its own world even strange things couple happen oblivious to the host even. In the episode where George Best throws for charity, after the programme come back from the advertisement break, in the audience are a group of pensioners passing around a tupperware tube of sandwiches to feed themselves between them. Surreal this may seem, but these things endeared the programme to its viewership, by embracing a warts and all approach to being a game show.

This itself was almost being an anti-game show, wanting to more rougher them some of the more expensive productions going into studios such as LWT's Play Your Cards Right or Punchlines, more homely then Yorkshire's 3-2-1. In earlier series, the losing contestants would get a brass dart shaped chalk holder and also a set of darts plus whatever money they had won, later getting a keyring as well. But like with Yorkshire's 3-2-1, the programme wanted something unique to give away as a constellation prize, the Kirkstall Lane based production gave away a ceramic Dusty Bin to contestants, so it was decided that Bullseye should go down the same route and Peter Harris decided the programme should give away to contestants a 'Bendy Bully', though at first Jim Bowen thought this was not a good idea as it seemed that it would be rubbing salt into the wounds of losing contestants, by giving them something which appeared to be a bit of tat. But Harris decided that it was a good idea to do this and after having graphic designer Chris Wroe make up one as a trial model, he gave the go ahead to mass produce the item to give them away to every contestant who played the game. This in itself became another cult item, for the programme to build its reputation on.

"101 with six darts, three for you and three for you..."

With success comes decline, by the mid 1990's the show was starting to look somewhat dated against newer shows, even with more of a risked gamble introduced to the end game of just winning 'Bus Fare Home', the viewers had been drifting away from the programme and a move to Saturday teatimes did not help the production at all, with the programme beaten by twenty year-old repeats of Dad's Army and what ever else the BBC had to offer and they had to offer a new type of game show which had never been done before one based on a burgeoning sport, that was Big Break. All the traits were there in that show for the BBC which Bullseye had been doing ten years earlier. Even Carlton developed Tenball, a derivative of snooker and pool to replace Bullseye, in a move which had seen ITV going from stone age to space age in just two weeks. By now the schedules were dominated with brash, flash shows done on bigger budgets or Gladiators being only one example. Seemingly Bullseye was old hat, but until when ITV revived it for one week to take in the Gameshow Marathon season in 2005 to celebrate some of ITV's best ever game shows hosted by Ant and Dec, so popular was the edition of Bullseye it came back for the next series of the Gameshow Marathon presented by Vernon Kay.

With the rise of Challenge TV on cable and satellite television at that time, this lead to two new series of the programme presented by former contestant of the show Dave Spikey, who by now had become a successful comedian, regaining a cult audience once again the Bullseye story had gone quiet until Challenge TV had moved onto the Freeview platform in 2011, with them showing old editions of the programme from the early 1990's and the audience who remember the show came back to it once again prompting the purchase of the third, fourth and fifth series of the programme from 1983, 1984 and 1985 respectively. Eventually in 2013, they started to showed the first two series of the programme and as I write this, they are coming to end of series one.

But one thing can be certain, for all of its years its been a 'Super, Smashing, Great' ride to get where the programme is today and with talk of the original format being tweaked again, it may not have been the last we've seen of Bully yet...

Are the kids still alright? BBC Children's Broadcasting at 90

February 2013 sees the 90^th anniversary of children's broadcasting on the BBC, from its earliest days on the radio through children's hour. Its origins come from a broadcast gave by A.E. Thompson, an Birmingham based engineer on their station based there did a short spot for children on February, 5^th 1922 and it lead to other stations around the country doing their own broadcasts for children. With the success of this, came the first London based Children's Hour on December, 23^rd 1922. These early shows were mix of song, stories and poems performed by senior members of the presentation team for each stations being referred to as 'Aunts and Uncles'.

By the start of 1923, Children's Hour became a feature of the daily schedule and the audience grew over time. But with this came need for the programmes to be more structured, so the appointment of Ella Fitzgerald as the Central Organiser of Children's Hour for London and the other provinces responsible for finding relevant material for the programmes, however in December 1923 it was decided that various 'Aunts and Uncles' would have set times of appearing on the programmes and also the structure of the productions would be more rigid and less spontaneous.

In April 1925, C.E. Hodges was appointed with the task to unite the programmes together, though the idea was put forward to drop the moniker Auntie or Uncle making the programmes more formal, however protests from parents and children made the identities still exist but not encouraged any more than that. Though C.E. Hodges was in charge of the production, there were people at each regional station to oversee the conduct of their station. 1930's were to see the loss of several Children's Hour programmes from the regions as the programmes merged into one as by the outbreak of World War Two saw the staff move to Bristol to make the programmes from there, but with only one programme during Monday to Friday but by September 1939, weekday programmes resume by only for half an hour at first. There was a conflict because of the quality of material not seemingly being of a good enough quality seen by some of the presenters, though the regional stations were themselves not happy with the amount of time they were given to their features on the programmes.

As the end of the war itself came, that radio was facing something new with the resumption of television. With Children's Hour, though the actual length of the programmes were usually under an hour long. But were on seven days a week with Sundays usually with a more religious theme itself. The production had now become part of the Entertainment Division of BBC Radio with audiences still at a high peak under W.E. Davies who became the Head of Children's Hour in 1953. The effect of television was now beginning to have an effect on audiences as over the decade, slowly they ebbed away to the magic box in the corner. Growth of television's overall audience meant that Children were more like to be watching what the BBC would be offering, plus with Independent Television starting in 1955, it meant that radio had to compete even more for listeners.

With the BBC offering Children's Television, the style of presentation may have seen almost trying to be apart from the normal BBC presentation, with the 1960's including a short film insert played out before the programmes started to declare they had begun. Trying to forge some sort of separate identity for the service, meant that there was a clear boundary of what the programmes were within children's hour. Stretching originally for an hour between 5pm and 6pm, between 1946 when television resumed after the Second World War and 1957.

At some points between this period and the early 1960's, ITV's offerings were winning against the BBC's significantly. In a review of the children's output, there was a need that a radical overhaul was needed in the service both agreed by the Director General Hugh Carlton-Greene and Stuart Hood, the controller of the Television Service. They thought the output was too middle class and self-serving. The majority of new television viewers coming from working class and more diverse backgrounds. This meant that shows like Crackerjack being a variety show for children became part of the Light Entertainment group of programmes, which made the programme even better and it grew over time with Leslie Crowther in charge from 1964 onwards to the end of the decade and children's drama would also go to the relevant adult department from 1961, but in January 1964 was to see a change in programmes for children as the Children's Department was axed for a new 'Family Programmes Unit' to have a larger then before remit under new head Doreen Stephens. Though this helped new shows flourish and existing ones expand.

"It's Friday... It's five o'clock.. It's Crackerjack!"

Blue Peter which had launched in 1958 was undergoing a change where actor John Noakes joined Valerie Singleton and original presenter Christopher Trace in December 1965. But it was only when Peter Purves replaced Trace in 1967 that a new age of Blue Peter was born, by teaming Singleton, Noakes and Purves together that then something clicked between the three of them. Where the programme may have seen staid to some people there were occasional nods that the social backdrop to the programme was changing and that the young viewers were changing as well. The programme got a second edition as reward for its continuing success under the team of Editor Biddy Baxter and also with Edward Barnes as well, though at this time with Blue Peter settling down with Noakes, Purves and Singleton, Biddy Baxter came up with a proposal for a new magazine for older children to be made by Blue Peter's own production team focussing on items which were of a more stranger nature. To be called 'John Bull'.

This was to be the big brother or sister to Blue Peter with Britt Allcroft later to be famous for adapting and creating the Thomas the Tank Engine stories for television and also Terrence Edmond, an actor who was famous at that time for appearing in Z-Cars in which his character had been killed off from the series. Completing the team was John Noakes, to be used on location as a presenter. But the style of the pilot was jarring, the recognised formula of Blue Peter combined with the spirit of the 1960's was a bit too much as the pilot seemed disjointed in its style. Though it is interesting that sort of style was used by Thames for Magpie when that launched in July 1968, that it may have been seen as template inadvertently for the show itself.

Though the 1960's were to see the BBC put their own mark on Children's Programmes, offering the alternative to ITV. One such programme was Bristol-based production Tom Tom, whilst ITV and Southern Television had How, this science based series presented by Jeremy Carrad and John Earle with roving reporter Norman Tozer started in 1965 and with new technology and the space age in full effect, but it did produce some memorable moments in its five year history as author Louis Barfe remembers. “The main things that spring to mind are that when the SS Great Britain returned to Bristol, my father-in-law Colin Godman, who worked on the series did an OB into Tom Tom of it just before it came up the Avon into dock. Being live, it doesn't survive, sadly.”

The output itself relied on only a few home grown productions at this time, there was a time when seventy-five percent of an afternoon's viewing would have been imported with animation from Hanna Barbara and filmed live action series in Champion, The Wonder Horse and also Skippy, a mainstay of the schedule. Plus also European made dramas such as White Horses and Belle and Sebastian to name but two, amongst this all a gentle series which drew upon the BBC's links with Bristol Zoo, made for a series which would live long in the memories of those who saw it.

Animal Magic started in 1962, with the antics of the animals and also zoo keeper Johnny, Johnny Morris. The premise of Morris doing his rounds at the zoo, allowed children to meet the animal and with Morris's skills, he gave voices to them as well. In comparable to ITV's Zoo Quest, this was a different format with everything during the 1960's filmed with the programme later to move into the studio. Teaching through entertainment was its message, for children who may have not seen animals in a zoo, this was a first chance to do so. Morris' own character made him hugely popular and likeable, so much so that the programme lasted through the 60's, the whole of the 1970's and until 1983 when it was decided a new breed of wildlife programmes for children would be thought of with Morris' later assistant Terry Nutkins joining that new production, The Real Wild Show. But much of that programme and also Wildtrack as well, owed much to Johnny Morris paving the way for them.

But what about the modern age? Children's BBC has now left BBC 1 and BBC 2, moving full time to their own channels in CBBC Channel and Cbeebies, I decided to ask three people who have been there, seen it and done it. Sarah Greene, former Blue Peter and also Saturday morning television presenter, Richard Marson, former editor of Blue Peter and now a BBC Producer and also Steve Ryde, former producer of Children's ITV presentation and also a BBC Children's producer. Though in these times, what did they think are or were the most influential children's programmes ever? Richard Marson remembers “I suppose I would have to say Blue Peter - and not just for the obvious personal reasons. I think it must be the most influential because it has endured so long and - in the heyday certainly - was a big part of the lives of millions of children. There were the rituals of the appeal, Christmas, the makes, the action films and the summer expedition - the window on the world. But more than the presenters, pets and items themselves, the influence extended to the way in which many factual programmes are structured and made (much modern factual TV owes a lot to the classic BP approach - look at The One Show as a current example). They were good principles too - let the audience reach up (never talk down) and have a rich mix. Above everything, ensure that each programme or film had at least one 'killer' fact - what are now known as 'water cooler' moments.”

Blue Peter from the 1960's with Chris, John and Val

Sarah Greene herself was part of the 60^th Anniversary celebrations in 1983 and this was an exciting time not only for the children's department but herself in meeting one of the icons of children's television on the BBC “I can mainly remember it for meeting the creator of Muffin the Mule! Though as far as the most influential shows go then John Craven's Newsround for bringing the news, sometimes harrowing events and explaining them to children in not a condescending way. Also Blue Peter, which dealt with so many different topics over the years, educating children and also the appeals as well which helped many good causes over the years.”

Children's Drama has always been a key part of the schedule, from the likes of Russell T. Davies creating new and exciting drama to the screens and also with the Sunday Teatime drama slot as well. Sarah Greene continues “Children's drama has always been important from the adaptations of The Railway Children, to The Swish of the Curtain, Grange Hill & Byker Grove as well. These productions have shown that both historical and contemporary dramas play an important role in children's television and have done for many years.”

Though for producer Steve Ryde his most influential programme comes from another planet completely “I think it's different for everybody. Whichever show makes a connection and stays with you throughout your life. 'Grange Hill' was certainly a breakthrough, tackling tricky real life subjects for the first time on kid's TV. Blue Peter deserves a mention for its longevity and tenacity. Tracey Beaker has been a more recent phenomenon and has engaged so many viewers over so many years; this would have to be contender for the title. Well written, acted and produced.

The most influential BBC kid's show for me? The Adventure Game. I loved the good humoured commitment of the celebrity contestants, the improvised nature of it and the world they created. It had genuine jeopardy; the vortex was simple but gripping.”

Children's television can be a hive of creativity for production staff with little budgets compared to the bigger departments, though for those people who have been involved what do they think of this from their standpoint? Richard Marson continues “You can do amazing things with a small budget (and people do and always have done in children's tv, which has never been well funded) but there is no substitute for a bigger budget and better facilities. Why should children have shows made in smaller studios with fewer resources? Alas it's a reality - again, look at BP - which used to regularly command big studios and now seems to spend most of its time in a much smaller space which then has a direct effect on the scale and ambition of the items you can do in the studio.”

Certainly it is a help to have a bigger budget but as Steve Ryde points out “It's always better to have more resources. It's entirely possible to be creative with a larger budget. Creativity is vital whatever the budget.”

But over the years has seen children's television develop into a multi-channel, multi-million pound industry. Now children have a greater choice of channels and channels dedicated to them which broadcast for twelve hours a day. With the moving of children's television off the two main BBC channels and also from ITV in the past couple of years, means that the channels have got a lot more new technology to compete against. From a public point of view there was a small outcry at both times when it was announced that it was going to happen, but is it a case of nostalgia from adults who remember the days of strong schedules full of programming or is it a rose-tinted view of what happened? Steve Ryde speak on the matter “If a show still works, is relevant and watched then long may it continue. Every show, no matter how great an idea in the first place must come to an end or should radically re-invent itself to survive. Tradition for its own sake feels like nostalgic adults trying to hang on to their childhood, which isn’t necessarily the best thing for the new audiences.”

Richard Marson continues “Inevitably. Many more hours have to be filled - which means programmes now must have a longer shelf life, standing up to many repeats. Budgets have shrunk. Competition is now fierce (most of it not TV - video games, Youtube, streaming, music etc.) But original home grown production is, though there has been an inevitable loss of range and quality because of these factors - across the board, TV is now very risk averse and, other than some token exceptions, really first class and original factual and drama has shrunk in scale and quality.

He continues “Yes, there is a lot of fantasy and adventure material - and much of this is very good of its kind - but there is little contemporary drama reflecting the lives of modern children. Tracy Beaker and its spin-offs are not enough. Period drama (other than in a fantasy context like Leonardo) - especially adaptations - just doesn't happen - too expensive and niche. Fear of losing an audience means that factual and entertainment content is often pitched pretty low level. Again there are exceptions but there is a depressing sameness about much of the content these days. I was very against the move to introduce a ceiling of 12 to CBBC - I think this excludes a lot of the audience of 12-16 year olds who can still be counted as children in many ways but who are effectively excluded.”

But as Richard Marson puts it “Scheduling becomes less of an issue as children are always at the forefront of technology and just expect to be able to access what they like on i-player or streaming services.”

Steve Ryde says on the same subject “Viewing figures would suggest that Saturday morning kids TV as we remember it is no longer relevant. Kids can find cartoons 24 hours a day and they don’t hold the novelty value they had when we were kids. Back in the 70’s, 80’s and up to the late 90’s Saturday mornings on BBC 1 and ITV were one of the few opportunities to find shows aimed at you. As for kids’ shows these days on BBC One and BBC Two, the recent change feels like we’ve lost something (to people of a certain age), but the kids go to the dedicated channels anyway. As long as these channels continue to be funded properly and creative risks are taken the genre will thrive and evolve.”

So as we look on over 90 years of Children's broadcasting on the BBC, from John Craven, through Ant and Dec, also Val/Lesley, Pete and John, Noel Edmonds onto Dick and Dom. With children's television attracting the likes of Peter Serafinowicz and Vic Reeves to perform and bring their sense of humour to the screens in the past few years alone, I have to admit even at the age of 34, to see the likes of the best comedians performing in programmes, that even I tune in. But the stars have always been there, Roy Castle with Johnny Ball, Tony Hart, Zoe Ball, Clive Dunn, Floella Benjamin, Toni Arthur. The kids have always been alright and remain as new programmes continue to fascinate into the future.