All Round Entertainers Story of Light Entertainment

MUSIC: "Battle Without Honour Or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei

The biggest celebrities on our TV screens today

are a savvy bunch of personalities with multi-million-pound contracts.

With backgrounds as diverse as modelling, football

and children's television

or even a fleeting appearance on a reality show,

a star can come from literally anywhere.

Normal people would watch entertainers on the telly.

Now entertainers sit at home and watch normal people on the telly.

It's easier to get in, make a killing, be rubbish,

and then move onto something else.

But the biggest stars in entertainment history are the all-round entertainers.

I'm an entertainer, I'm a performer,

I'm an all-rounder, I do so many things.

If you want me to act, I'll act, if you want me to be serious, I will.

The adrenaline goes, the lights shine, the eyes shine, and they're on there.

Stop crying, we all love you, I'll call you later. Bye.

That was Noel Edmonds.

These are unique individuals who live to entertain.

"Can you ride a horse?" "Oh, yeah, of course."

No way, you know? "Can you roller-skate?"

"Yes, of course." That I can do.

Just tell me which part of the song you want me to jiggle my bits, and I'll do it.

# Your gold satin jacket and your silvery blues... #

Unfortunately, you don't get many shows today

where performers can go on and strut their stuff.

Hold on!

LAUGHTER

Bruce Forsyth?

-Hello!

-Phone.

-Right.

-Come on down!

-After the death of variety, these entertainers

became the hosts of choice

for the biggest money-spinner on TV, the game show.

This is for the match...

I don't blame people for calling me a game-show legend, but I do regret doing so many game shows.

This is going to be my very, very last series of Blind Date.

AUDIENCE GROANS

Tonight, we're going to discover just how these all-rounders

have stayed at the top of the showbiz tree for over 70 years.

The golden age of the all-round entertainer happened

back when Britain was at war.

During our darkest hour,

the all-rounders were the country's secret weapon.

One of the biggest names was Vera Lynn, who worked her way up

from the music hall to become the forces' sweetheart.

# Don't know where

# Don't know when

# But I know we'll meet again

# Some sunny day... #

Another star was cheeky cockney comic Tommy Trinder.

# Of all the lives a man can lead There's none like a sailor's... #

He had worked the country's music-hall circuit for 18 years

before landing the leading role of cheering up the troops.

You are lucky people!

You know the beginning of an MGM film where Leo the lion comes out and goes out...?

He came out the beginning of my picture, but he didn't roar.

He just went...

LAUGHTER

Trinder was a great...professional.

He was a snappy, sharp,

never-lost-for-words comic in the really old tradition.

I said, "If the Germans capture me, they're entitled to shoot me."

It wasn't

one laugh every three-and-a-half minutes for them.

It was three-and-a-half laughs every one minute.

Thanks to the war, the all-round entertainers were almost national treasures.

I've come out to sing to you lads. Do you want a song now?

-Sing us Window Cleaner, George, will thee?

-OK!

# I go window cleaning To earn an honest bob

# For a nosey parker It's an interesting job

# Now, it's a job that just suits me

# A window cleaner you would be

# If you can see what I can see

ALL: # When I'm cleaning windows

# Honeymooning couples, too

# You should see them bill and coo

# You'd be surprised at things they do

# When I'm cleaning windows. #

After the war, hundreds of wannabe entertainers flocked to

the cabaret clubs in London's Soho, looking for their shot at stardom.

I got the most wonderful excitement.

He told me he'd pay me £36 a week,

and up till then I'd only got 10 or 12. And I thought, "36, my goodness!"

And then I thought, "Wait a minute, I'm doing 36 shows a week. It's only a pound a show."

You did get propositioned.

I never understood why, and when I look back on it, I...didn't have any clothes on.

I wasn't a nude, but I was scantily dressed,

and I was 17 by now, and I remember staring at these nude girls

and I just thought, "How do they just walk around with no clothes on?"

There were some lovely girls there, I was very lucky.

Yes, of course, it was...

it was a very exciting and very enjoyable period of my professional life.

This is going to be a bit tricky, because, you see, I am a comedian.

Those acts would have to do six shows a day.

This fellow was always in, every day, in the front row,

and on about the third house of the fourth day I forgot, I dried,

couldn't remember what was next,

and this fellow said, "You tell the one about the parrot next,"

"Thank you very much!"

You walk out there, and some of them pick up their newspapers and start to read.

You try and make an audience who's heard your act already, now reading the newspaper,

try and get through to them and make them laugh.

When you've died six times a day for seven weeks,

when you really know that you're not really wanted

and you're not really getting all the laughs you think you could be getting or should be getting,

to still be able to keep your composure and

deliver the lines cleanly, you know, that is very good training indeed.

While the Windmill launched the careers of numerous stars,

it famously turned down others, including Norman Wisdom.

Undeterred, this classic all-round entertainer continued to ply his trade

and by 1954, Norman Wisdom was top of the bill at the London Palladium.

I was at the London Palladium, which is the finest theatre in...almost the finest theatre in the world.

When he came on, the audience just screamed.

I was doing comedy and jokes and...

He was like a pop star.

-Singing, dancing, tap-dancing.

-There's an all-round entertainer.

# Every time the record says...

# I love you

# It simply means, my darling, that...

I love you.

I'm not kidding you, I remember I had tears coming out

of my eyes, although I was smiling and laughing, it was so wonderful.

Norman wisdom was just one of hundreds of stars represented by the Grade Organisation.

Founded by three Russian immigrant brothers - Lew,

Leslie and Bernard -

the organisation built a showbiz empire from poverty-stricken beginnings.

They became the godfathers of the entertainment industry.

They were in every part of show business where money could be made and a gamble could be taken.

They WERE entertainment in the '50s.

If the Grades happened to come into the room, you just kept quiet.

You didn't... You didn't dare speak to them.

Those people were gods.

I mean, they could point their finger and go, "I think she should do this show,"

you know...and you were so grateful.

The most ambitious of the three was eldest brother Lew,

an ex-Charleston dancer who gambled everything on a new venture, commercial television.

They were gamblers, and if you gamble in show business and get it right, you're a genius.

And if you gamble and get it wrong, you're bankrupt.

Lew Grade's bid was successful, and in 1954

the BBC's 20-year monopoly was over and ATV was launched.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four...

Lord Reith, a founding father of the BBC,

predicted this new channel would be a premeditated orgy of vulgarity.

Hey!

Finally, the masses got what they needed -

pure, unadulterated entertainment.

And when there was nothing else to do on a Sunday but go to church,

Lew Grade gave them appointment-to-view TV at its best,

Sunday Night At The Palladium.

But the Grades needed a star name to host the show

and booked the people's favourite, Tommy Trinder.

Good evening, everybody, how do you do? Look what I've picked up.

Cyril, have you had bookmakers on this stage?

It's not warm - it must have been dropped last night, Liberace's.

That was the iconic show that changed the whole tone of television.

Here was not only vaudeville, American headliners,

but a game show with a jackpot in the middle.

The BBC were being beaten to the effect of 70% of the audience

was watching ITV and 30% watching the BBC.

Most people who had a television

would be there for Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

That was their big opportunity to see the big stars.

After three years in charge, Trinder was replaced with a much younger all-round entertainer.

Thank you... Good evening!

# Ladies and gentlemen...

# Welcome to Sunday night at the London Palladium. #

The minute he walked on the stage, you knew he was home.

He was absolutely right for the show.

The difference, really, between Tommy Trinder and Bruce Forsyth is

Trinder was a fantastic, stylish comedian.

Bruce Forsyth is as well, but he is also, in addition, a wonderful dancer,

a fantastic singer and a fine actor, which a lot of people don't realise.

Forsyth was ambitious for stardom,

and he took every opportunity to showcase his all-rounder talents.

He became known as a comic-compere,

but then the tap-dancing came in, he could tap dance,

then the piano-playing came in.

So when he had guests on that could do that,

he said, "Can I do a duet with you?" "Oh, Bruce Forsyth..."

And that's why he's an all-round entertainer.

Here he comes now!

Perce, you look smashing, where did you get all that Chinese gear?

I was in Choo-Chin Chow.

Well, what did you play?

I played the chin.

'Sunday Night At The London Palladium was the vehicle to launch anybody's career.'

You knew we were gonna get 15, 20 million people watching it,

and the next day people would be saying, "Did you see so-and-so on the Palladium last night?"

Capitalising on the success of his new television station, Lew Grade set his sights on Hollywood.

They were able to offer artists work in their theatres and television exposure,

and the television exposure filled the theatres, and so on and so on.

The competition was...was...did they want to work for the BBC,

with all that that kind of involved,

who had a big radio presence and everything else like that?

Or did they want to work for ITV, which paid twice the money the BBC paid?

I mean, it was a very...a very simple equation!

Top of ATV's wish list was America's

greatest all-round entertainer in the 1950s, Sammy Davis Junior.

Ah, Sammy Davis...

Fantastic performer.

I thought perhaps I might become an honorary Supreme if you don't mind.

He was the all-round entertainer of all time.

Can sing, dance, he does impressions.

Will you turn around the other way?

He worked with all the great American variety artists,

and he took a little bit of that and a bit of that.

# Somewhere along the way... #

-Mind if I come in?

-Be my guest.

# The friends we used to know... #

But to become as proficient at your profession as...as...

Sammy Davis did and the things he could do, go on stage for

three and a half hours, I personally think is a bit self-indulgent,

cos I like to do as little as possible.

# That's why the lady is a tramp... #

Sammy Davis's first appearance at the Royal Variety Show in London caused a sensation.

# The lady...

# Is a tramp! #

We had never ever seen energy like it.

He just took the entire show by the scruff of the neck and

worked at such a pace and with such energy

and such dynamism that it revolutionised light entertainment.

Lew Grade's ATV had the money to get him for a TV special.

A young choreographer, Lionel Blair, was asked to do a dance routine with him.

It was a hat shop. I was a very snooty salesman and he was the ugly American.

Oh, good morning, sir. What could we do for sir?

-What could we what?

-What could we do for sir?

Oh. You here by yourself or you got a group with you?

Then he showed me some steps, which I learnt, and he said, "And we'll finish with that."

I went, "All right."

Toodle-pip!

I got the most wonderful reviews, "This has made Lionel Blair a star".

I didn't work for six months after that, cos they went "Well, what do we do with a dancer?

"Can he talk?" They don't believe we could talk, you know?

And it was a very difficult period for me, that.

By the early 1960s, even the American style was old hat.

Now entertainment was full of young working-class Liverpudlians.

There were these four loveable rascals from Liverpool.

Thank God they came in, because we all came in on their coat-tails.

In 1965, at the height of Beatlemania, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck

became the host of the new London Palladium show.

I can see it's crowded out here, you should see it backstage.

I had the hair cut, I wore the high-button suits, I was skinny

in those days, and I looked, to all intents and purposes, like a Beatle.

I've got all my gear on tonight, do you like it?

AUDIENCE WHISTLES

Cheeky! I've only got it on cos I'm a dedicated follower of fashion.

# They seek him here

# They seek him there

# His clothes are loud

# But never square

# It don't make or break him But he's got to buy the best

# Cos he's a dedicated follower...

'I was inexperienced for the job.'

But dear God, it was exciting and wonderful,

and I was working with the biggest stars in the world.

# Step inside, love

# Let me find you a place... #

The next Scouse star to hit big was 25-year-old pop singer Cilla Black.

She was to become one of the biggest all-round entertainers for the next 40 years.

# Come my way

# Step inside love and stay... #

She works like mad.

She rehearsed from nine in the morning till five at night five days a week.

You did your sketches, you did into camera, you did dance routines.

I'm not a trained dancer, so I...I feel... I feel steps, I don't count.

You know, six, seven, eight, da-da-da. No, I can't do that.

Just tell me which part of the song you want me to jiggle my bits, and I'll do it.

# Well, the jukebox a-playin' like a one-man band

# It's the only kind of music that we understand... #

I guess, you know, the public chose me to be a TV star.

I didn't choose it,

the TV public chose me, and thank God they did!

I think Cilla Black is unique in as much as she is

a female entertainer in a world of male entertainers.

And it is that she is so secure, she believes in herself,

and she has charisma, she has charisma.

She believes that out there everybody's very lucky to be watching her.

Don't ever tell her that, though.

But by the 1970s, the fashion changed again.

Now it was all about game shows.

Let's meet Linda and Brian Edmondson from Hartlepool

in the Tyne-Tees Television area,

Rose and Martin Hodgkin from West Pinchbeck, Spalding in the Central area,

and Jean and Albert Derkin from Kendal in the Border region.

The game-show formats emerged cos they're cheap to do.

People will come on for nothing for small rewards, you only have to pay the host,

and there's guaranteed drama.

The money ITV were making was irresistible, and they forged ahead with more game-show formats.

Welcome once again, ladies and gentlemen, to another exciting edition of 3-2-1.

3-2-1... I can't do it, no!

But Ted...it was Ted's own idea,

and it became a huge national catchphrase.

A well-devised game show is so dramatic that even you and I will watch it. We just pretend we don't.

With few other outlets to showcase their talents,

the all-rounders queued up for their chance to do a game show.

There was no other television outlet.

There were no variety shows, variety had gone.

Actually, sometimes they'd take these jobs

as a boost to a sagging career, so rather than be detrimental, often it lifts the career just a bit -

a bit more exposure, a bit more fun.

The excitement today if you get a show that gets five or six million,

in these days people used to get 20 million viewers.

That was what everybody talked about the following day.

Live from Birmingham, it's the Golden Shot,

and here's the man who keeps it bang on target, here's Bobby!

By the early 1970s, ITV were winning the ratings war, and the BBC had to find a way to fight back.

They needed their own game show.

Off I go to Utrecht, and there was a show they were doing

called One Out Of Eight.

SHE SPEAKS DUTCH

As I sat there through the two hours, not understanding a word,

my mind wandered and I thought,

"There is an idea here,

"and the person who could do it would be Bruce Forsyth."

THEY SING IN DUTCH

His career at that time was kind of at a level, you know,

he was...working and...popular, but he hadn't actually got a vehicle.

My agent and myself went to see Bill Cotton with a view to doing a talk show.

I wanted him to do this, because I believed he was the best person

in the world to do this type of show.

Thank you!

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.

Good evening ladies, gentlemen and children, welcome to the Generation Game.

-Nice to see you, to see you...

-AUDIENCE: Nice!

-There we are.

-From the word go, it was a success, the thing worked.

It was a show where you brought the punters on.

It was the end of the pier, "I'm looking for two volunteers,"

-a fantastic show.

-Another...

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

It's all right, we've got another one here!

I used to watch the rehearsals of the Generation Game

with the floor manager doing my bit,

and by me looking at it, I could see...

"It'd be better if I said that, and if I move them from there to there..." I could see things.

I will say to you, you know, an organ of the body.

You have to write in or make a diagram of the size that you think it is.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

What Bruce was given was a slave camera, which meant wherever

he was on the set, there was close-up of him, there.

So if a member of the audience said something, it was really funny,

and Bruce was being upstaged because that member of the public was much funnier than him,

he would just do a Jack Benny, which was just...

You were a school master in Chesterfield, teaching History and English.

-Are you interested in history?

-Oh, I love history.

-Old things?

-Oh, yeah.

Some of your jokes are a bit like that, aren't they?

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

Plain fact of the matter was that he was made for the Generation Game,

and the Generation Game was made for him.

The climax of the show was the conveyor belt full of goodies.

It was a very short conveyor belt, probably only about six-foot long,

and there was rows of men throwing trays on

and rows of men taking trays on.

It was actually all very tidy and neat, but behind the scenes it was gentle chaos.

An infra-red grill...

A cuddly gorilla!

A gorilla! An insulated jug...

But despite the success of the show, the BBC weren't comfortable with giving away prizes.

We had a wide range of discussions at which the notion of perhaps giving the contestants prizes

of stamps for licence fees and other ways of getting round

the notion of consumer durables,

but nothing was as good as the cuddly toy and the microwave.

We've got the drill! Er, the cassette player, the cassette player.

The golf, the golf indoor thing.

Yes, and we've got the drill. The what?

AUDIENCE SHOUTS, BUZZER

Oh, the gold, we've got the gold.

Didn't she do well?! Yes!

ITV decided to steal Bruce Forsyth away from the BBC

and offered him a massive £15,000 a week to jump ship.

Always leave a show when it's at the top, never leave a show when it is starting to fail,

because when you do that you, you go down with the sinking ship.

I worked and worked on him to try and get him to leave!

And eventually we created Bruce's Big Night at LWT

which was a showcase for all of his talents.

It's Bruce Forsyth's Big Night.

# Oh, happy day Oh, happy day

# Oh, happy day... #

They promoted it as though the second messiah was going to arrive!

I mean, it was quite ridiculous.

# You know that you really wash...

# Wash my sins away Oh, happy day... #

It was an hour and a half live every week, with so many things in,

so it was a very hard show to do.

In amongst Forsyth performing, there would be special guests,

contestants playing games,

fancy-dress parades,

and even a big-money game show.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sammy Davis Junior.

But most important to Bruce Forsyth were his celebrity guests.

I would like to do now a thing that I've been doing every time I come to England.

This is one of those numbers...

Didn't anybody tell you this was my show?

If they had, would I have been here?

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

The Big Night was fun mainly because it did involve me working with other performers.

Then switch chairs with me over here.

Switch chairs. If we're going to do impressions, then I want you to switch chairs.

Didn't he do well?

LAUGHTER

Good game, good game!

Nice to see you, to see you...

AUDIENCE: Nice!

You wouldn't see those people every week, they'd be special for that one show.

I'll be with you in a minute. I need all the props.

LAUGHTER

I'd just like...I'd just like to say, Bruce, that you're not only a great all-round performer...

You're a great all-round human being.

That wasn't light entertainment - that was heavy.

Another veteran of the northern club scene was also hitting the heights on ITV.

This is the part of the programme which is entitled Get It Off Your Chest.

55-year-old Larry Grayson had been working the circuit for over 30 years before landing his own show.

He never came out, so he was never officially gay, but he was the master of the innuendo.

He loves the water, it's good for his war wound.

And he went out there, and I was terrified, because he got into trouble with an octopus.

I thought, "Everard's gone," and I shouted out, "Cut off its tentacles!"

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

Well, the lifeguard was deaf, and do you know...?

It is true that he put...jolly nearly put the word "gay"

into common usage.

You know, I mean people didn't...

"What a gay day," you know,

and he had those catchphrases, you know?

Let's have a change of scenery.

Comic Larry Grayson received unexpected attention from the BBC,

who were looking for a new host for the Generation Game.

I could, I've done it all before.

I had find out who was going to replace Bruce,

and a lot of people had ideas, and I went against all the grain.

People were looking for a Bruce-similar, a look-alike.

There was a time, I think, Barrymore was considered, but he was too young, he hadn't yet become

where he had got to. Roy Castle was considered.

And I just said, "No, I don't want to have a competitor,

"I don't want people to think, 'Bruce is better.'

"I want to go in a completely different direction."

# Shut that door!

# And enjoy the Generation Game... #

Larry Grayson became the first mainstream camp entertainer on Saturday night.

# Larry Grayson is here to play so... #

Shut that door!

We realised with Larry, he couldn't do anything.

HE CLEARS THROAT

Don't worry, I'm not going to spit.

If we found a contestant had done a potter's wheel, we'd say "Larry..."

"Oh, I'll have a try." Of course it was chaos.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

I can't find the five!

Larry was a bit all over the place, and it was kind of a bit haphazard, but there was a vulnerability

about it, combined with his natural timing and these funny looks

and these funny expressions that people just...

It sort of captivated the people.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

You know, she hasn't been well all day.

He was very good at ad-libbing, and timing was natural.

Forward! Ho!

Grayson's chaotic style made the Generation Game an

even bigger hit than before, with viewing figures topping 18 million.

Yet again, ITV had to come up with a spoiler to beat the BBC's dominance

of Saturday night, but this time they didn't target the presenter, they went for the producer.

The Generation Game dominated the ratings, it was Saturday nights.

The BBC owned Saturday nights.

Boyd was poached to sink the Generation Game.

In 1981, LWT came up with a format so daring,

it would change light entertainment forever.

The all-rounders were about to lose out to a new type of performer.

Game For A Laugh, the show where the people are the stars.

This was the start of the famous reality. It was a "real people show",

people were the stars, that's what the title said.

We used American-type opening credits, teasing the show, which had never been done before.

We made them run down the stairs, people said this is silly.

And these were four young presenters they didn't know doing silly things, they were silly people.

They were painting the Forth Bridge, going to a nudist camp.

The Sun newspaper, "Disgusting ITV, people go to nudist camps."

It was a hysterical story, never been done before,

-so we broke all the boundaries.

-How do you rate your chances this year?

Well, keep your fingers crossed, looking round at these lads...

If you look back at Sunday Night At The London Palladium,

you know, the best bit on that weren't the big names - that was the draw.

The most entertaining part of Sunday Night At The London Palladium was Beat The Clock,

cos you used ordinary people, getting them to do crazy things

in the hope of winning nothing.

I'm looking for four brave ladies who are game for a laugh.

It was tough to find a host, and it was the show's researcher,

Jeremy Beadle, who begged for the job of practical joker.

The exec producer said to Alan Boyd, "You will never make a star of anybody with a beard,"

and there he had two people on his show with beards.

Both of them went on to achieve national...

notoriety, in my case.

Right, Linda, looking forward to this?

-Yeah.

-Yes, great, good, OK.

Just pick a pocket and tell us what you think is in there, any one.

SHE SCREAMS

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

-What do you think it is?

-A rat or something.

-A rat?!

The skills of a presenter changed, because historically,

the people that hosted the shows were all-round entertainers.

They could burst into song, they could tap dance,

whatever you want, do a bit of patter.

It's up to you.

The genre could now be presented by non-entertainment variety acts,

and therefore you could be a weatherman,

or you could be a presenter, or you could be a journalist,

or you could a news presenter. It just opened it up.

You didn't have to have been a Redcoat or been on the Palladium stage for 20 years.

And then there was Michael Barrymore.

Barrymore's anarchic and unscripted performances captivated the viewers.

Is this the microphone? Yeah? Oh, God!

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

He has that ability to kind of be dangerous with the public, and he had it then,

and yet to somehow pull them in and make them feel relaxed.

Barrymore's anarchic and unscripted performances captivated the viewers.

I thought I might have a kip.

I actually genuinely do like people, always have done.

I find them fascinating.

Even those that are considered the meanest.

I think there's something in there if you can only get to it.

-No, it's all right, what's your name?

-Daisy.

Oh, you're Daisy, are you? There we are.

I'll get you up, Daisy.

-Do it properly!

-Do what?!

Providing you're not breaking the boundaries and the person's happy.

If you look at the stuff where I've got the body contact with people, it's just mucking about.

There we are, there we go. Are you all right?

Oh, yeah. Oh, that's lovely, innit?

Just come down on me arm, there you go, you'll be all right.

That's it, you want it nice and hard, so it's...

I can't go to sleep with you laughing, love, can I?

As himself, he's a very shy, rather withdrawn man.

It's only when he gets on stage or he gets enthused and excited in the rehearsal room about a project

that you see this...this thing come from within.

This kind of aura takes over, and the talent that he's got suddenly comes out.

Don't forget, wait for me, won't you?

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

What do you mean, "Wait for me"?

My secretary, she's got to wait for me.

-She's got to wait for you?

-Yeah.

-Well, where do you think...?

They're not gonna go anywhere.

You'd be surprised, they might be going home.

Sorry, are we keeping you up, love?

The other big star of the '80s began the decade as an almost forgotten figure, but after appearing on Wogan

to plug her new album, Cilla was inundated with television offers.

# I want you to stay. #

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

Your voice has lost none of its sweetness, has it?

Oh, isn't that nice? What you're saying is, I'm getting old.

No, I mean, it's true, though - I'm 40 this year, Terry.

I'm not looking forward to my own 40th, I can tell you.

I was gonna ask you, can you remember when you were 40?

And it was ITV who persuaded her to come back.

Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Cilla Black!

Surprise Surprise was really a brand-new concept,

all based around everything that I'd done in my career.

Cos surprise, surprise, you are going to Wembley!

Some shows eat themselves, because you can't do the same game again.

People know you're gonna do a twin switch or whatever.

Other shows, like Surprise Surprise, feed themselves.

In other words, you get 80,000 people wanting to find people.

Everybody remembers, you know, the last...

tug of the heart-string story.

But surprise, surprise, here are your brothers and sisters.

Why don't you come and join us?

APPLAUSE

I tried not to make it mawkish,

but still they remember it, don't they?

Realising that she was a ratings hit, ITV scoured the world to find another winning format for her.

Thank you, thank you. Hello and welcome to Blind Date.

It wasn't about a...a couple getting it together.

It was actually the process of romance - the dating process, trying it out.

That's why Cilla was thrilled if there was any suggestion with a relationship or a marriage even.

She could go to the wedding, we'd get another special out of it.

So let's say hi to the boys!

Unfortunately, in the later years,

and I think this is why Cilla got disillusioned with it,

is that it got too much about couples going off and whether they'd had sex or not.

-Was there a passionate kiss?

-Yeah, we snogged.

Nick, we didn't snog.

I think I'm old enough to know what a snog is.

So am I, Nick, and if I snogged you, you'd know all about it.

Look, Cilla, I came on Blind Date for a romantic...

Meet someone really romantic and nice, but instead I got a geezer bird.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS AND APPLAUDS

And before they come to blows, I'd better say, ladies and gentlemen, wish them well, Ty and Caroline.

But after 18 years of matchmaking, Cilla had had enough.

We did a live Blind Date to try and revive the brand,

and give it a bit of promotional trickery.

This is Blind Date Live.

She took that opportunity to say, "Thank you and good night."

And I didn't know...

till two minutes before the live Blind Date, I thought, "What a great opportunity."

Hello, and welcome to this very special live show, and do you know what, ladies and gentlemen?

It is a very special live show,

because this is going to be my very, very last series of Blind Date.

That was to me the consummate statement of the fact that here was

a woman who knew exactly what she was doing.

It was the right time, and I hope it was done in good taste.

Apart from Cilla, the only other woman on Saturday night was Marti Caine.

Do you know, I did me shopping in this today?

And got mugged by two stray flamingoes.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

Oh, dear! Mind you, you've got be fit for show business.

I'm a big believer in that yoga myself,

especially t'strawberry flavoured.

She was just a pleasure and a joy to work with and very, very funny.

You watch when they're doing

their own thing, like, "Oh, I can do...I can say that better.

"I can do that better, I can say...

"She's very funny, that's a great line!"

And then when I heard she wrote it, I suddenly had great respect for her.

In 1986, she was given the ultimate accolade, host of New Faces,

the show that had launched her to stardom ten years before.

APPLAUSE

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, and welcome to New Faces '86.

We used to have this kind of sparring match on the show.

She'd say something, and I'd insult her or insult her frock

or her hair, you know, and then she'd come back at me,

and people watching thought, "They don't get on at all."

You know, the glamorous grannies novelty contest, fine,

cos the jokes are as old as that - sorry, but they are.

Yes, well, that's Nina's opinion.

How about you, Chris, what did you think?

I've no idea, she frightened me to death.

Marti Caine was a great inspiration and just a lot of help on the show.

She stood up for a lot of the acts - well, for all of the acts, even the ones that were cack, like me.

Our next New Faces act defies description.

He's a... Well, he's a sort...

No, but then again he's more of a...

Well, he does a bit of...

Make you own mind up, ladies and gentlemen, it's Joe Pasquale!

APPLAUSE

I ain't been in show business long.

I used to be a long-distance lorry driver

on the Isle of Wight.

The only star that was discovered in my whole three years as a panellist was Joe Pasquale.

Everybody thought I was a successful working-club act that had

been going donkey's years, and I wasn't, you know,

I just fluked it on New Faces.

And he only came to prominence 20 years after New Faces finished.

However much I died on me arse out in the clubs, however much people shouted, "Get off, poofter!"

or "Oi, squeaky, clear off!"

whatever they shouted at me, I knew it was better

than having half a dead cow on me back at Smithfield's meat market.

By the mid '90s, even Michael Barrymore had jumped on the game-show bandwagon.

Basically, if you look at Strike It Lucky, the format is crap.

Thank you very much!

Thank you, thank you!

The actual format lasts for about five minutes.

The other rest of the show is just mucking around and sodding about.

So it was a good vehicle for me to do what I do.

-Awight! Awight, mate?

-AUDIENCE: Awight!

Bob Monkhouse used to say that Michael Barrymore was a guy

that would go to the end of the gangplank

to find out there wasn't a boat there before stepping off.

And I can see that he would just mine these areas of people.

Ooh, what I wouldn't do to do your washing for a week!

-Do my washing?

-Yeah!

-You'd like to do my washing?

-Oh, yeah.

-Why?

Well, your pants would be blowing by my knicks on the line!

Here we go, we're off again!

He was unique at that time.

There was nobody like it - he was so daring, so audacious, so brilliant.

The incredible thing was people would say to me,

as the producer, "What's happening tonight?"

and really I had only the haziest idea.

Somebody apparently rang down when I was doing Strike It Lucky, said, "Tell him to keep still,

"you know, when he's mentioning the prizes?"

And Maurice said, "I ain't telling him to stand still, that's what he's all about."

-What do you do for a living?

-He's been in the navy.

Two weeks.

-Eh?

-Two weeks.

-For two weeks? What happened there, John?

-He got piles.

-He got piles?

-Yeah.

Nice of her to tell us this, wasn't it?

I can't wait till we get home.

I won't go on about it, John, we don't wanna embarrass you about things like this.

There's no need to embarrass people about these things.

So how long did you have them for, then, John?

Any game show or any quiz show, what I've heard, they're all an excuse,

whatever the format is, to ask general knowledge questions, that's all they are.

It's no more than that.

If you look at anything, it's a f...

a system of asking questions.

It's how you get to that.

Middle for the jackpot, come on! Oh!

This is for the jackpot, OK?

This is for £10,000.

Oh, God.

"The capital of...

"Australia is Canberra.

"Is that true...

"or false?" I'm like giving it to them and they still go...

And you see the audience going, "True, true, true!"

And I'm going, "Is it TRUE...?"

-True.

-£10,000!

APPLAUSE

He was so popular that when he went on the road with a new show, over 50,000 people turned up to meet him.

My Kind Of People was my idea, originally, I said, er...

If you look at My Kind Of People, it's the early days of...

version of Pop Idol,

cos we were the first ones to show all the bad ones and the good ones as well.

UNTUNEFULLY: # You are my sunshine

# My only sunshine

# You make me happy

# When skies are grey

# You'll never know, Michael

# How much I love you

# Please don't take Michael away. #

APPLAUSE

I've got to take you somewhere, you need some medication.

I'll be back. See you after the break, awight? Bye.

By 1995, Michael Barrymore had won every major award in television.

Ooh! And the winner is... Michael Barrymore.

'Even if he does blow the odd one out from time to time,

'he's generously applauded other people tonight,

'and now he receives his own award.'

Oh!

Strange place to keep the hostess.

It was an extraordinary ability.

Unfortunately, alongside it, he had his demons,

and he was,

as many performers are,

deeply lacking in self-confidence.

He knows he's special, he knows he's brilliant, and yet

maybe they'll all find him out, maybe it'll all go wrong,

maybe it'll stop tomorrow, cos really, what is it?

# Give me what I ask for

# You know the BBC will love it

# And they'll pay more! #

So the one half of his brain, he knows that he is probably as good as it gets, and the other half of

the brain is, he doesn't know what it is, and if he thinks too hard about it, it'll go away and maybe

he'll wake up tomorrow morning it won't be there, and of course that's actually what happened.

That's the danger you've got to watch with comedians.

They spend all their lives making everybody else happy, and they can be wretched inside, you know?

# Smile, though your heart is aching

# Smile, even though it's breaking

# When there are clouds in the sky

# You'll get by... #

But despite massive popularity, Barrymore was pursued relentlessly by the tabloid press.

Whoever you are, however tough you think you are, or however tough you happen to be,

no-one is immune to picking up newspapers which are being read by millions

and seeing hideous things written about yourself day after day after day.

Eventually, it all spiralled out of control.

'Flamboyant Michael Barrymore, one of Britain's best known TV quiz masters,

'now finds himself answering the questions posed by Essex detectives.'

I think the saddest thing about Michael Barrymore

is that he surrounded himself with...

with sycophants, and they...

did as much damage to him as he did to himself.

The job of a broadcaster

is to nurture your talent

until you don't need them any more.

Rightly or wrongly, the fact of the matter is,

if you're a popular entertainer one of the kind of requirements of that job is that you're popular,

and he clearly at that time was very unpopular.

Barrymore's fall from grace was spectacular.

# ..You'll see the sun come shining through

# If you just

# Smile. #

APPLAUSE

Today the biggest names in entertainment are

the first generation of all-rounders who have learned to entertain without working the variety circuit.

They never had an act, they never did the theatres

or the clubs or anything like that.

They started off as child actors in Byker Grove.

Argh!

He can't see!

BYKER GROVE THEME

They've come right through the ranks together, both as friends, as colleagues, as mates.

They're married.

They can bounce off each other, it's not just scripted.

It gives you the same feeling as you got when you were watching

Morecambe and Wise, two guys that could sit in bed together.

It brings the tears to your eyes, doesn't it?

That's the expression I was looking for, yeah.

Everyone wanted a friend like that,

that you could take the (BLEEP) out of

or you could just enjoy being with.

Wahey!

Dec...

-Dec, my friend?

-Yes.

-How do you feel?

I feel tired, emotional, a little bit itchy under me...

Oh-ho-ho! Oh!

People think they're unassailable - they're not.

They will have their time, and things will change.

But at the moment they quite rightly have their title, you know, kings of Saturday night, without a doubt.

Ironically, for all its success, their biggest hit, Saturday Night Takeaway,

is essentially a traditional variety show not a million miles from Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

So powerful are Ant and Dec that they've even managed to cash in

on the reality boom that killed off so many entertainment shows.

Those are our ten new celebrities, picked your favourite yet?

-Decided which one you fancy?

-I have.

-Hmm?

-Yes, well, there's a couple of tasty blondes in there, I can't quite choose between them yet.

-Yeah, I know what you mean.

-Jilly or Carol?

Which one is hotter, do you think?

Ah, you know, this job is getting more and more worthless,

because it seems that anyone can come in and do it.

The good thing is,

and I still stand by the fact that you may have been on a reality show,

and you may have become famous for a bit, and you might have made quite a bit of money,

but it depends on how long you can manage to sustain it on the TV.

So for the all-rounders willing to risk 24-hour surveillance, there was a possible way back to TV stardom.

And the lunatics are taking over the asylum.

For Joe Pasquale, who debuted 20 years before on New Faces, there was no looking back in 2004.

My agent phoned me and said, "Do you fancy doing it?" I went, "No, tell them where to stick it."

He said "Why not?" I said, "I want to go on telly and be a comic, that's what I've done for 20 years."

Reality shows are either brilliant, or they are absolutely the kiss of death.

So he said, "Well, look, there is no telly out there for what we do at the moment,

"but if you go and do this, and you're successful,

"then they would open up other doors for you to go back and do the stuff that you do."

Joe had been an attraction and remains one through his career,

but in television terms it bought him back into the TV eye.

He says, "Go out and do this -

"whatever you do, don't fart, don't lose your temper, don't scratch your nuts and don't swear."

"If you don't do those four things, you'll win."

So I didn't fart, didn't scratch me nuts, didn't swear and didn't lose me temper, and I won.

Wha-ha-ha-ha!

Expect the unexpected, that's all I can say.

# Bring me sunshine... #

It's hard work keeping everybody happy.

I shall rise to the occasion.

# ..Bring me laughter... #

# All the while... #

-HE SQUEALS

-Danger's my middle name.

-BLEEP

-I feel like Leonardo di Caprio in the Titanic.

It was great just have to wash round the Jacobs.

Jacobs.

Jacobs.

Jacobs.

It was amazing. Thank you.

For Michael Barrymore, it was a chance to see if his career could be resurrected.

-Oh, Michael?

-Yep?

Awight?

I would say it's probably one of the greatest experiences I've ever had as a person,

as a human being,

as a therapy,

considering I used to pay for it and they paid me, which made a change,

and, erm...and as a performer.

# I am human and I need to be loved... #

The buzz I have now on a daily basis

is the best buzz without putting anything down me throat

that I've ever had in me life, so I can't ask for more than that.

It's all extras.

'Michael, you have finished second.

'Please leave the Big Brother house.'

CROWD CHEERS

All performers have good times and bad times.

They all have moments when, erm...everything looks

bleak for them, and then suddenly they get reborn.

Remember Forsyth, interestingly, got reborn by going on Have I Got News For You.

60 odd years after his career began, Bruce Forsyth is back on top -

not so much a reinvention, but a reminder of just how good a game-show host he is.

Play Your Iraqi Cards Right!

-Ian, you go first.

-Thank you, Bruce.

It's the king of clubs, Izzat Ibrahim.

Think about this, the audience'll help you.

Do you think it's higher or lower?

AUDIENCE: Lower!

I'd say lower.

OK, now what have you got? You've got the eight of hearts,

Minister of Defence Sultan Hashim Ahmad.

I've been waiting 14 years for the show to be like this!

It was a chance to let people see that at 75 years old you're not over the hill, necessarily.

Within months, he was back on Saturday night TV.

"Keep going, you fool," I think, is the first thing that comes to mind.

I'm an entertainer, I'm a performer, I'm an all-rounder.

I do so many things.

-It's nice to twirl you, to twirl you...

-Nice!

And that's about all, really, I don't think there's anything else.

I'm not too keen on doing any more game shows.

# And now MacHeath spends... #

Arguably, today's best entertainers don't need a TV show to survive.

But for those all-rounders who are prepared constantly

to reinvent themselves, TV is there for the taking.

You've got some dirty ideas!

The enjoyment,

I have to say, every day of my life I say, "Thank you," and being part of light entertainment.

They haven't sussed me out yet.

I'm being paid a fortune,

and they like me.

It doesn't get any better than this.

If you want to stay in this business, I think you have to adapt,

and I don't think for one minute you should complain.

I still don't think...

..I've achieved what I wanted to achieve, not yet,

and I'm still working on it.

# Now that Mac is... #

I am very grateful, and I'm a lucky little devil.

Thank you...very, very much.

# Look out, old Mackie is back! #

HE GIGGLES

Was that all right?

Next time on The Story Of Light Entertainment,

we'll reveal how radio and television have been involved in a non-stop battle for supremacy

and the truth behind some of the casualties.

Radio is the mother of television. They're still looking for the father.

You can't underestimate how important radio has been in the development of British comedy.

If you've got anybody hailing Chris Evans as a genius,

something's very wrong with the world.

He should have been a big, big star.

And then it all fell apart.

It's very easy to go nuts.

It's a bugger of a business, this, when it goes wrong.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd