That Was The Week That Was Comedy Connections

that the world was falling apart

We were walking round TV Centre

# But how far can you go? #

We wanted something like That Was The Week That Was without knowing that it would ever come along.

That Was The Week That Was did more than just drag the stuffy old BBC

into the swinging '60s when it first went out live at 10.50pm

It tackled topical and taboo subjects in a way that had never

And just as The Beatles were and changing popular culture,

and changed public attitudes towards those in authority forever.

revolutionary programme came about

takes us back to 1960 and the appointment of Hugh Carlton Greene

as he put it, prick the pomposity

He charged current affairs producers Donald Baverstock and Alastair Milne

that would mix current affairs

At the time, Baverstock and Milne were responsible for Tonight,

It was directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by Cliff Michelmore.

You're late. I thought you were all listening to The Archers.

After studying law at Oxford, Ned Sherrin decided to take up

and went to work in the brand new

In 1957, he left to join the BBC -

Somebody says we appear to have lost that film.

We'll try and find it between then and now.

The only person on the Tonight team

who'd had any show business

Plus it was a whole time of change.

The '60s were not so much a change as the start of an exploding

and the new magazine Private Eye.

was a versatile team of talents

able to embrace the potent mixture

David Frost had studied at Cambridge

He'd also studied Cook himself and the lessons he'd learnt

helped Frost perform stand-up

while working by day for the TV company Associated Rediffusion.

He had quite a smart technique of

but working round to whatever

He'd say, "Give me another subject!"

Somebody said, "The Queen!" and David very quickly said, "The Queen is not a subject."

fast-on-his-feet smart-arse

was just what Ned Sherrin needed

We met for lunch the next day

Cambridge Footlights graduates

From his own doorstep at Tonight,

he added Tonight's regular singers, David Kernan and Millicent Martin.

"We're going to do a pilot,

"and we'd like you to come in and do it. It's a completely new format.

"We want you to sing the opening

It was time to put the format

There was one sketch I remember that was some linking stuff

that David and Christopher Booker

and there was a discussion group and 12 Conservative ladies.

acerbic journalist, parliamentary sketch writer and theatre critic.

Yet another Tonight regular, his notoriously argumentative

With the sense of its own history for which the BBC is famous,

And they kept coming up with double

There was this wonderful woman

and she said it five times.

At one point, he said to them, "Thanks to ridiculous letters

"Conservative Party Central Office has bigger wastepaper baskets

The show seemed destined to be That Wasn't The Week That Was,

The Conservative ladies were so shocked, they protested to Central Office, who protested to the BBC.

So some rather more senior and sophisticated people at the BBC

and they thought it was rather good.

So without the Conservative ladies

But Brian Redhead had returned to Tonight and Bron, Bird and Fortune

had taken THEIR satirical review,

New performers were required and remembered Roy Kinnear from a review

and invited him to join the cast cartoonist Timothy Birdsall.

The very last to join was seasoned actor Kenneth Cope who, at the time,

was playing villain Jed Stone

Do you know a character who hangs

Aye, he lives just down the road - Number 11 Coronation Street.

Thanks, Da'. Ta-ra, well! By gum...

Sherrin had assembled his team for a project that still carried

conceived at an early meeting with a performer from the first pilot.

There was an exploratory lunch with John Bird. I was explaining the ethos of the programme -

the idea that every Saturday night ought to be like a mini New Year.

There was a feeling that the week is over - let it go, it was a good time to get it out of your system.

I was explaining this to John and he said, quoting the old Shell

the car whizzing by and "That was Shell, that was..." - and he said,

before we thought we were supposed

Stuart Hood, the controller of BBC Television, said in a press

"but it certainly won't have That Was The Week That Was!"

It wasn't until we got the Radio Times for that particular Saturday,

that we were really sure we were

They were on, and the viewers in the BBC wouldn't know what hit them.

The studio audience was in place, the ridiculous title came up,

# That was the week that was

I would give a synopsis of all the different things that had happened

I ended up doing 40 of them,

# That was the week that was

# People are mending a few slips

# Teachers getting an £80 rise

She used to set it up for us.

the beginning of the show with that lovely Dave Lee Orchestra

just set the show up for us,

That Was The Week That Was was, above all, topical. It was sketches, songs,

was the previously sacrosanct world

Gerald Kaufman's first sketch,

in the 13 years or something that they'd been in the House.

Labour Charles Key, MP for Poplar.

The greatest effort and enthusiasm! With the very greatest enthusiasm

it's been impossible to trace a speech by him in the House

One of them got up to protest a breach of privilege or something -

and he was laughed out of the House.

Before That Was The Week That Was,

that every single politician

entirely because of his sense

nothing for himself, and that was the whole picture of politicians.

I wanted TW3 to be intensely topical, intensely aware of what was going on

the various debates about religion,

because so many of the writers had journalistic backgrounds.

was its strong writing team,

and leading comedy writers.

there were dozens of contributors,

While Frank Muir and Denis Norden were established comedy names,

just starting to make theirs, including Peter Cook, Bill Oddie

than would fit into one show,

or, more accurately, to Lance.

The only improvising was me making up clips about topical events.

What was the one down here?

One of those jokes have come out,

# I'm not being very swisher

# I assume you're referring to Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher

Just in case you don't know

# We've got to be very careful

# And she might be watching

Paul Merton and Ian Hislop use on...

In order to be able to be quick

listen to the radio the whole week.

# That's the end of... 1962. #

I would now like to present to you for sound radio, David Frost.

And it was that young cocky face that came to sum up everything

the rest of us. He was the presenter.

He used to do occasional sketches,

He was infinitely better when he was not doing a sketch and simply holding the whole thing together

and tossing off the quips and comebacks and that sort of thing.

I wondered why in all the rehearsals you refused to do that last link.

But it was Ned Sherrin who ran the show. TW3 was very definitely

Ned Sherrin was very simply...God.

I mean, he made all the decisions.

I mean, he was 23, 24, 25...

and he seemed to be pretty much

He used to come and stand in front of us like a U-boat captain. He looked like a German U-boat captain -

For the first time, Ned put the cameras on camera - you saw people

The mechanics of television interesting innovation in itself.

but Ned admits himself that when you're doing a live show

I felt that the more we had the the band in the background,

and the cameras and microphones

Being live, Ned was always ready

The cast were having a great time

Next morning, Ned and I were having didn't expect reviews that quickly.

An entire column of absolute rave,

and not showing his feelings,

with TW3's goofy licensed jesters.

There were these enormous number of phone calls. People phoned in

300 "for" and 120 "against".

Why so many people wrote in favourably was obviously because

they were terrified this thing was about to be swept off the air.

We knew whether we'd been successful

Lorry drivers were having accidents

as they see you sitting in the car. "Keep it up!" They'd draw off

Talking about '62, '63 - we had a viewing figure of 12 million

at 11 o'clock till midnight.

They were staying in watching our show on a Saturday night,

so the restaurants, God bless 'em, put TVs in their dining rooms.

People were leaving to go home and watch the show, so they started putting TV sets into the pubs

Well, because TW3 was produced

that had been issued to the light

Even today, this song and dance routine with the young Babs Windsor

but in 1962, it was dynamite.

You have to see That Was The Week

nothing in it was shocking in the way that we define the word these days.

I defy anybody to think of three words you can't say on television.

In the time of That Was The Week,

No politics, no impersonation

The blinkers were on and you didn't

That's why they called it Aunty BBC

And for them to let us go crazy

I don't want no-one to hear.

Look, just say it out loud.

that made That Was The Week That Was absolutely right for the time.

to which the times influenced

or that That Was The Week That Was

a powerful synergy together.

One of TW3's achievements was to take aim at some of the most sacred

often attracting the attention

It was so much more satisfying to either get preached about

or have front page stories saying, "These guilty men must go,"

rather than a little congratulatory That became very small beer for us.

So, of course, they kept pushing.

One subject was perennially controversial and, therefore, perfect for the TW3 treatment.

This week, your consumer guide presents its report on religions.

we investigated the following six -

Judaism, the Roman Catholic Church,

They didn't do a metaphor for religion. It was also an extremely good parody of a Which report.

We began by applying three basic tests - a) What do you put into it? b) What do you get out of it?

there were an awful lot of calls.

We particularly like the guarantee

through a messiah who will take responsibility for all your guilt...

who said, "Why don't you do something about the ridiculous reverent way

a silk ensemble in canary yellow.

so I get into my nighty then."

Bernard Levin's run-in with the Tory ladies on the pilot show

not only led to the series being commissioned, it also earned him

Unlike previous BBC interviewers, Levin used rudeness as a technique. It wasn't always appreciated.

Don't talk so much and listen bigoted as the people you stand for.

The most notorious of Levin's

but for an interruption from a disgruntled member of the audience.

Peace and disarmament was the most famous one because halfway through, a man in the audience got up

who was also a theatre critic

that he'd written a terrible review

..Of unilateralists... One minute, Mr Levin, before you begin.

Would you stand up? Mr Levin, your review of Savagery And Delight

It was a vicious attack... Would you mind going back to your seat.

It was a lively scene and, of course,

those live moments, they happen so fast. It was astonishing.

"Get all the cameras on that!"

But luckily, David jumped up and stopped it and pulled him off

Can we concentrate on non-violence,

disgruntled viewers' letters of complaint were Levin-esque.

"Dear sir, I thought I should write

"that an unregistered lunatic has obtained a supply of your notepaper

"and he's sending out insane memos

to your reputation." He was a joy.

to controversial world events

was through song, where strong messages could be delivered via polished showbiz routines.

There had been yet another lynching in Alabama and Herbert Krasner wrote

a wonderfully poignant and powerful

# Where we hate all the darkies And the Catholics and the Jews

# Where the Mississippi mud

It was another trail-blazing

to 12 million viewers, the TW2 team were pretty pleased with themselves

and began to feel they could do

All through the first series,

If we had 50 minutes of material,

was our right as human beings

they were flabbergasted to be treated just like any other show

They put after us...repeats of The Third Man with Michael Rennie,

We were outraged by this, and "Tell you what we ought to do,

"since these are repeats...

of each of these programmes,

to the end of the programme, why don't I give the plot?"

The plane which Harry Lime says

is in fact, working for the enemy.

I thought that we'd be stopped

I was allowed to do it a second week, they took The Third Man off

It was a sign of the programme's

that they would see off competition

But on 22nd November 1963, the satire stopped dead in its tracks.

US president John F Kennedy was assassinated - an event which shocked the world, and the TW3 team.

It was a Friday, the day before the programme's transmission.

All irreverence went out the window as the production team took the decision to play it straight.

It became very clear, very quickly, that there was no "rest of the week".

That WAS The Week That Was.

We were all shocked. The TV

One of the most memorable moments was a song of tribute to JFK,

its lyrics hastily put together Les Miserables, Herbert Kretzmer.

Producer Donald Baverstock had the canny foresight to record the show

so they were able to play it practically every hour on the hour

in America, it caused a sensation,

Pretty soon, there were imitations.

I was talking at a conference at Denver and I bumped into George Schlatter, who'd done the Laugh-In.

I said, "You must've cribbed a bit

it was "arrivederci" to TW3.

The powers that be at the BBC

being that the political content

in the forthcoming General Election.

The announcement that it was being axed was not pleasing.

It was good that there was this excuse of the election coming up

that made us, I suppose, seem that we had more teeth than perhaps we had. But it was simply an excuse.

that we were running out of steam.

It wasn't as funny as it was before, and like a lot of these programmes on TV, there's a time to go.

In fact, not just the novelty

TW3's viewing figures dropped dramatically from 12 million

to under 7 million by the second. But satire's young barbarians had broken through the gates.

The Establishment would never

As far as changing the face of TV's concerned, we broke a lot of rules which weren't unbroken again.

We were the first that ever

It was on long enough that people said, "This is a format that works."

Presenting stuff that happens in the world in a different way

Ordinary people loved the programme,

We were "us" and the Establishment or whoever it was was "them"!

TW3 was extremely liberating

is like Lady Chatterley, you know -

but has the freedom worked?

the cast continued to cut a sway

was Ned Sherrin's next project

Rushton and Levin were joined

it does say in the newspaper that they don't do much harm.

Ah, you read the wrong newspaper, Mrs O'Hara. Them pills enable you to predict the time of ovulation!

Have you been predicting the time of ovulation? Bless you, no, Father!

where her morals were and started the "Clean Up TV" campaign,

of Ned Sherrin's achievements.

Not So Much A Programme was another

If people have seen Sir Alec

come to the conclusion he's a cretin!

They really may! Because of

If they have him on the doorstep, they'll be damn sure he's a cretin!

After only six months, the BBC took the opportunity to pull the plug.

After Not So Much A Programme, David Frost finally got his name

and provided the springboard

that the language of brochures

Caters specially for children.

Everything closes at seven.

Friendly local inhabitants.

An unforgettable experience.

After Not So Much A Programme, Levin returned to dishing it out

while Ned Sherrin's next stab

featuring Millicent Martin, and a clutch of TW3 writers.

during a censorship discussion

when critic Kenneth Tynan became the first person in television

the footage is nowhere to be found,

but the producer remembers.

"I doubt if anybody in this studio or surprised if I used the word 'fuck'!"

produce several controversial movies

and has hosted Radio 4's Loose Ends

Lance Percival had his own sitcom -

and a chart hit with a calypso

How can I lie quiet in my grave while my murderer goes free?!

Cold-blooded murder! It might've been dangerous driving, but...

then stage success in America led to a plum role in the sitcom Frasier

He came to me in the middle of rehearsals and said, "We're looking

"Would you like to play it?" I went, "Oh, I'll get back to you."

I said, "I would absolutely

And so, that was me for three seasons. Yes, yes, wonderful.

After The Frost Report, David Frost exec-produced At Last The 1948 Show,

his famous and talented friends in front of the camera as guests

on many of the subsequent chat shows

In 1983, Frost was one of the famous five responsible for starting TV-AM,

as well as going Through The Keyhole

were invited to Sunday breakfast

Say what you like, that's a career,

I'm proud of what the series

and even more than that, grateful

because it was a dream come true, or the first of a number of dreams

We all enjoyed the notoriety, I suppose, but none of us was

David was lovely. It was smashing.

I'd never been really recognised

The most important thing about TW3

should be very grateful to it cos it changed all our lives completely.

# That Was The Week, That Was! #