0:00:02 > 0:00:04What is it? What is it? What is it?
0:00:08 > 0:00:10And now it's all joined up again.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14- ..To see you, to see you...- Nice!
0:00:18 > 0:00:21- What are you gonna do? - I'll tell you, Piggy.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23I'm going to fire you, Piggy, you are fired!
0:00:33 > 0:00:37It was a world of wonder, of excitement, thrills and delights.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40There were acrobats, puppets and magicians,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43men swallowed swords, women were sawn in half.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47It was colourful, exotic and bizarre.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53Part circus, part freak show, it was the greatest show on earth, all together under one roof.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57It was called...variety.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02There'd be a juggling act or maybe a singer, and then after that,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06there'd be another comic, and that's what it'd be, different acts.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08A night at the variety theatre
0:01:08 > 0:01:11was the best live entertainment money could buy.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13They thought it would last forever,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17but out of the blue came rock and roll, and everything changed.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21We got booed off. Booed off, for the first time in our lives.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Even the Apes got booed off.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Bill Haley rocked around Britain and the kids went crazy.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31All of a sudden, these kids got up and danced in the aisles, you know,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34to Rock Around The Clock, and we thought, "Wow!"
0:01:34 > 0:01:41Variety would never be the same again. Its theatres closed, but its spirit survived.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45It moved on to television and beyond, and never lost its magic.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- It's breaking, it's breaking. - There's a crack.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52You can... Look, it's very.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55APPLAUSE
0:01:55 > 0:01:59New variety acts found fame on the television talent shows.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Opportunity Knocks was a variety show -
0:02:02 > 0:02:05singing dogs and four-year-old kids that could play drums.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08You were seeing a little bit of everybody's talent.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13You know, only three minutes of it, but everybody's talent was there for you to watch.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Colourful characters came along, each one more bizarre than the one before.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23It's like most people who have, you know, a thing on their hand,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26whether it be a boxer or a ventriloquist,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28or whatever, they actually...
0:02:28 > 0:02:30They're slightly mad, basically.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I mean, they're not like you and I.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36I love Vince, I actually have a real soft spot for Vince.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I think it's the most bizarre way to earn a living, I really do.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Nobody is too weird for variety -
0:02:45 > 0:02:50home of the speciality act or "spesh acts," as they're known in showbiz.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56It's the same kind of thing as when you see a woman being cut in half.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01You know it's a trick, but you don't know how it's done.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05There are highs and lows, and nothing is as it seems.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11I made millions, but I was bulimic, I had panic attacks, I had anxiety attacks.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I had everything, but nothing.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Variety, in all its many guises never goes away.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23It changes and improves, and comes back just like new.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27I think Strictly Come Dancing is entertaining, it's glitzy
0:03:27 > 0:03:31and it's fun, and it's glamorous, dressed up Saturday night telly.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37Who would've thought that very much a middle-aged form of entertainment, which is dancing,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40which most people think had sort of disappeared,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42could be brought back into prime time
0:03:42 > 0:03:46and turn out to be a show that could appeal to a broad audience?
0:03:46 > 0:03:52Variety has come a long way, but the journey's not over yet.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Variety grew out of the rowdy world of the Victorian music hall -
0:03:57 > 0:03:59entertainment for the working man.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05And the acts shared the limelight with huge quantities of alcohol.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11When a chairman banged his gavel, and said, "order, order,"
0:04:11 > 0:04:15it wasn't to get the audience to be quiet and listen to the next turn.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21"Order, order," was an instruction to the audience to order another round of drinks.
0:04:21 > 0:04:28But after the First World War, theatrical entrepreneurs moved in and cleaned up show business.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Drinking was discouraged,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32and the now respectable variety theatre became
0:04:32 > 0:04:35the number one form of entertainment in the 1920s.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Now, when I pronounce the magic word, ooh-ja-koo-shay, the bird disappears.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Up your sleeve.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50The term "variety" became just another word for light entertainment,
0:04:50 > 0:04:55but originally, it described the variety of different acts all in the same show
0:04:55 > 0:04:58at the local hippodrome or Empire theatre.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04The key thing to remember about variety is the word "variety".
0:05:04 > 0:05:07The fact if you went for an evening at the Palace of Delights
0:05:07 > 0:05:10to see a variety bill, you would get a bit of everything.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14There'd be a juggling act, or maybe a singer,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18and then after that there'd be another comic,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and after that there'd be the second top of the bill,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24who could be anything, a magician, or something like that.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26And that's what it'd be - different acts.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33You had a programme with all the names of the artists,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and there was a board on the side of the stage
0:05:36 > 0:05:38which had lights on, with numbers.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42And so whatever number came up, you knew that was the number in the programme.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48And your programme would say, "1, the Marie de Vere Dancers, 2, the new-style comedian Max Bygraves,
0:05:48 > 0:05:513, Eddie Calvert and his Golden Trumpet."
0:05:51 > 0:05:55And the number would go up, "Oh, it'll be the dancers now.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57"Now it's Max, now it's Eddie Calvert."
0:05:57 > 0:06:03One of the great favourites on the variety bill has always been magic.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08The pioneer of stage magic was the great American illusionist Harry Houdini.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13His incredible feats of escapology made him internationally famous.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Magic has always been a great draw on variety bills. It's always been a great draw to the public.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The idea that you think you're seeing something
0:06:21 > 0:06:25that can't possibly be done, be done, is very, very attractive.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Magicians shared the variety bill with all kinds of acts.
0:06:28 > 0:06:35Some had to be seen to be believed, like Joe Adami, the human billiard table.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44One of the biggest variety acts in the '20s and '30s were Wilson Keppel and Betty.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48They sprinkled sand on the stage, never spoke a word,
0:06:48 > 0:06:52and shuffled around doing a thing they called The Sand Dance.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Audiences couldn't get enough.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57One famous story about Wilson Keppel and Betty is that
0:06:57 > 0:07:01they went to Las Vegas to perform, and brought their own sand.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06And when customs were questioning why they were bringing sand to Vegas, it was in the desert,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10they explained that in Vegas they had the wrong sort of sand.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14They were artists and they needed this particular sand and this particular sound.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16They were perfectionists.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Today you wouldn't see, for example, a contortionist.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25You wouldn't see a star playing the xylophone.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29You wouldn't see three acrobats on a stage.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33And you see, these variety people, the great variety people,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36they could go round and round and round, just doing the same act,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39year after year in all the same theatres.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46By the 1940s, variety's greatest stars came to represent the nation itself.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49# I go window cleaning to earn an honest bob... #
0:07:49 > 0:07:53George Formby and his ukulele banjo were internationally famous.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58# I'd rather have his job than mine when I'm cleaning windows. #
0:07:58 > 0:08:02The other great singing star of the era was Gracie Fields,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05who was one of the highest paid female stars in the world,
0:08:05 > 0:08:06the Madonna of the 1930s.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11# Land of hope and glory
0:08:11 > 0:08:16# Mother of the free... #
0:08:16 > 0:08:20WILD CHEERING
0:08:20 > 0:08:26A typical evening of variety entertainment could include stand up comedians, like Max Miller,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29as well as performing animals like Nino the Wonder Dog.
0:08:29 > 0:08:35Circus acts and adagio, a dangerous acrobatic ballet.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39That was an artistic piece of work too.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Ventriloquists also took their place on the variety bill.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45The first big puppet star was Charlie McCarthy.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51Edgar Bergen was the ventriloquist who made him a huge star in the United States.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56The Charlie McCarthy Show ran from 1937 to 1956.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Well, this has really been a wonderful day for us.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Yes, it has.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Lunch at the White House.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Pot luck with the Roosevelts.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11Edgar Bergen wasn't a very skilled ventriloquist, but that didn't matter on the radio.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15No-one cared, since Charlie McCarthy was such a funny little character,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20and the biggest stars in the world appeared on his show, like Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23- Charlie.- Ooh, Marilyn Monroe.
0:09:23 > 0:09:24I'm here.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Darling, would you mind if I kept on working?
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Well, now Marilyn, let's get this straight.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35I wear the pants in this family.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37- You're absolutely right.- Yeah.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41It's a shame, because I make around 50,000 a year.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Oh, you do?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Well, now, you might look good in slacks.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Edgar Bergen's daughter, Candice Bergen, would grow up to be a top Hollywood actress,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57but as a child, she was forced to share the spotlight with her father's puppet sidekick.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02His daughter, Candice, said that it was very worrying when she was
0:10:02 > 0:10:07a kiddie, because she had a brother that was a doll.
0:10:07 > 0:10:13But she had to treat him like a human being, otherwise her father would be very annoyed.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy
0:10:15 > 0:10:18earned a fortune through their hit radio shows.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Inspired by this, Peter Brough launched the same act in Britain.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Are you enjoying it?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25- Yes, thank you. - You are.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Archie Andrews was the puppet,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and his hit radio show was called Educating Archie.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Hello, who's there?
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- Look what's coming round the corner of the potting shed.- What?- A big pot
0:10:36 > 0:10:37LAUGHTER
0:10:37 > 0:10:39This is Archie Andrews,
0:10:39 > 0:10:45who was the first really famous ventriloquial doll in Britain,
0:10:45 > 0:10:51because he had a ten-year radio series called Educating Archie.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55- Andrews, Monica, what are you two doing here at midnight by this lily pond?- Fishing.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- - Yeah. - - Don't be ridiculous, there aren't any fish in this pond.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Jolly good job too, we haven't any bait.
0:11:02 > 0:11:03Come on, Archie, run for it.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Come back here!
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Eric Sykes used to write it.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08He had guests on it
0:11:08 > 0:11:11like Tony Hancock, Beryl Reed, Max Bygraves, Julie Andrews,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14all these people were guests on that show and became stars.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Everyone used to tune into it every week.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Archie Andrews was this naughty schoolboy, and he was a huge star.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24- What did Julius Caesar say when he was stabbed by Brutus?- Ouch.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Ignorant boy.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30I was writing a show for the BBC, radio, called Educating Archie.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33It was about a dummy, Peter Brough and Archie Andrews.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37And we had a tutor, Archie's tutor,
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Robert Morton, and unfortunately, after a few months, I think,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45I'm not sure, a couple of years, but he died,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and I had the sudden inspiration, this...
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Tony Hancock, never been on radio before.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Didn't you say there were seats in all parts?
0:11:53 > 0:11:55I'm sorry, sir, there isn't a seat in the 'ouse.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Isn't that rather uncomfortable for your customers?
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The customers we get don't know any better, they're used to sitting...
0:12:02 > 0:12:04LAUGHTER
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Get back in line.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09I saw you trying to dodge to the front of the queue.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10But we're the only two here.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13That's no excuse, you should've come earlier.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17By now, variety was everyone's idea of great entertainment,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20and when television began to take off in the 1950s,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24it was always the variety shows which were top of the TV ratings.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26The first and best of these was
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Sunday Night At The London Palladium
0:12:29 > 0:12:31which was brought to the screen
0:12:31 > 0:12:34by ATV's Lew Grade in 1955.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44The show with the biggest impact from the beginning of ATV
0:12:44 > 0:12:47was Sunday Night At The Palladium.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52That was the iconic show that changed the whole tone of television.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56It couldn't be more different from the tone of the BBC,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58the attitude, the point of view of the BBC.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01This was entertainment for the people.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06The show had it all and more.
0:13:06 > 0:13:12The Tiller Girls' high-kicking dance routines brought West End glamour to all corners of the British Isles.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16The glamour of a line of girls, 12, 16 wide,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21moving absolutely in synch, high kicking with spangles
0:13:21 > 0:13:23and feathers, and skimpy costumes,
0:13:23 > 0:13:27and these girls coming up kicking in synch, wonderful stuff, wonderful.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31# Da bump, da da da da da da da da da da da. #
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Great style.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Well, the Tiller Girls was a thing,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38you know, that was so sort of special,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41because it wasn't like kids romping around doing jazz steps,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44or somebody coming on and doing a tap routine.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47These were like ponies on parade, you know,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49like drilled, you know, to precision,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53and I think the excitement was seeing this amazing accuracy
0:13:53 > 0:13:58that you know must've taken hours and hours of rehearsal to perfect.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Very exhausting and exacting routines,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03I mean, you could not keep it up.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05The Army could not keep it up.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12What excited me with the Tiller Girls, of course...
0:14:12 > 0:14:14with their legs in the air, and my God,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16trying to catch a glimpse of their knickers.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Are you mad? That's what we looked at. Ooh!
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Better not let your mother know you were looking at that,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25or your mother would go mad, but that's what you looked for.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28# We've been of service, with a smile
0:14:28 > 0:14:32# We've been of service, with a smile... #
0:14:32 > 0:14:36For the first time, millions of British viewers got a taste of real
0:14:36 > 0:14:40big-time show business, and they loved it.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45Then, one day, rock and roll came to town and changed everything.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48# One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock
0:14:48 > 0:14:51# Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock
0:14:51 > 0:14:53# Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock
0:14:53 > 0:14:56# We're going to rock around the clock tonight... #
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I remember seeing Bill Haley And The Comets -
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Rock Around The Clock - it changed my life.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03# I'm going to rock around the clock... #
0:15:03 > 0:15:07All of a sudden, these kids got up and danced in the aisles
0:15:07 > 0:15:09to Rock Around The Clock, and we thought, "Wow!"
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I mean, that was a big deal to do.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15You know, "We're really being naughty here, we are actually
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"not sitting in our seats, we're dancing in the aisles."
0:15:18 > 0:15:21When Bill Haley And The Comets brought their rock and roll
0:15:21 > 0:15:26stage show to Britain in 1957, the world of entertainment was shaken to the core.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30- We were a double act going round the theatres.- Beautiful life.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35All we lived for was to get up in the morning, go to the cinema,
0:15:35 > 0:15:36go to the theatre, come home,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39have our baked beans, go to bed, and so on.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44And all of a sudden, my sister wrote us a letter from Wales,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49and she said, "Twins, have you seen Bill Haley?"
0:15:49 > 0:15:52And I telephoned her up, I said, "Who's this Bill Haley?"
0:15:52 > 0:15:54"Who is Bill Haley?"
0:15:54 > 0:15:57"Well," she said, "he's caused a riot in Wales."
0:15:57 > 0:16:01# One more time, big time, when the big times... #
0:16:01 > 0:16:05As Bill Haley and Elvis Presley's music shook up the nation,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07a new wave of home-grown rock and roll acts
0:16:07 > 0:16:12sprang up and were initially welcomed as variety's latest attraction.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15# And I'm ready, ready, ready Ready to rock and roll #
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Traditional speciality acts
0:16:17 > 0:16:20shared the bill with the likes of Billy Fury, Adam Faith,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Lonnie Donegan, Cliff Richard and later, The Beatles,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26but it was a recipe for disaster.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30The rock and roll audience only wanted to see rock and roll.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32We didn't think like today, like,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36"Oh, my God, there's The Beatles AND an old-fashioned act."
0:16:36 > 0:16:41When The Beatles first went on tour, the compere with them was a comedian,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44and he would introduce them and he'd do his own act.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47He had a kilt, and it was funny to lift his kilt up.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50You know, "Hey, och aye," and whatever he used to say.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55We hated the funny comperes, we wanted what we came to see.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58We had to wait to get to see the act.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01The great fun was you were allowed to throw things,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and we used to throw chips at the acts.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Really brilliant acts, and I feel so sorry
0:17:06 > 0:17:09to think that I actually did that with a lot of kids,
0:17:09 > 0:17:15and they were earning their living, and we were throwing chips at them, because that was something to do.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16We had so little respect by then.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It was a different type of audience -
0:17:18 > 0:17:21they had their feet up on the bandstand rails.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23- Murder. - Throwing orange peel on the stage.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Throwing orange peel at us, and all that. We weren't used to it, you see.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- We got booed off.- Booed off, for the first time in our lives.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Even the Apes got booed off.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38The teenage rock and roll fans and the older variety audience just didn't mix. Something had to give.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41For a few years, they struggled on together,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44but in the end, rock and roll went off and did its own thing.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48Traditional variety theatre was left for dead.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50I dunno if rock and roll killed it.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53The public decided that that's what they wanted,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and what happened was that it's also the artists.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00For instance, when we did shows in those days,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03The Shadows and I would close the bill and do about 25 minutes.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09I can only do about six songs in 25 minutes, so we started to branch out.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12We'd do the whole of the second half, so you used less artists.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14So I thought, "I'll do the whole show."
0:18:14 > 0:18:18So partly selfishness and partly doing what the public want,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and that's why I guess we can be blamed to a certain extent that variety went.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25We played The Alhambra, Bradford,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- number one theatre with a terrific show.- True.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33- And we were playing there and we were half-empty.- All the time.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38All the time, for the week, and we looked out through the window...
0:18:38 > 0:18:44- One Friday evening. - And we saw men on horseback, police on horseback.- Police.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48And there was a queue, miles long, in this cinema.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51And Freddie said, "Look at that,"
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and we looked through that window,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55it was Cliff Richard and the Shadows.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59- And they were packing the place. - And that was when we knew...
0:18:59 > 0:19:03- It was on the wane... - We were going down very badly.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05CLIFF: There was a furore about it.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07And the music was new then, of course,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10and I love the fact that I was right there,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14and was screamed at and had my shirts ripped open, fabulous.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Rock and roll took away a large section of the variety audiences.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The variety theatres couldn't survive without them,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and very quickly, they were forced out of business.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Live entertainment was left to the young and rebellious.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Everyone else stayed at home with their new-fangled central heating and watched television.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Television now created its own stars.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47The comperes of Sunday Night At The London Palladium -
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Jimmy Tarbuck and Bruce Forsyth - became famous overnight.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53# Good evening!
0:19:53 > 0:19:56# Ladies and Gentlemen
0:19:56 > 0:19:59# Welcome to Sunday Night At The London Palladium. #
0:19:59 > 0:20:03I was very lucky to get a job that suited me so well,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and you've always got to have that bit of luck that
0:20:07 > 0:20:10if you're offered a job and it's the right thing for you,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14to be able to take it, grab hold of it and don't let it go.
0:20:14 > 0:20:20Sunday Night At The London Palladium was known internationally all around the world, and it was the one show
0:20:20 > 0:20:23that international stars wanted to be on in England.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27And so it had such kudos that you could easily summon up
0:20:27 > 0:20:30a Frank Sinatra or a Shirley Bassey,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32and they would always say yes.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37In those days, for Aunty Flo in Dundee and Mrs Jones in Wigan,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40and they're seeing Shirley Bassey in their house...
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Bob Hope... Now, they might not have been able to get down to London
0:20:45 > 0:20:46to see them in theatres,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50but here they were, in their kitchens and lounges and dining rooms.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52There they were, on the telly.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to get on.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00I've been made up since breakfast.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07I wouldn't even let the waiter see the real me.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12TV rescued variety from the jaws of rock and roll
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and transmitted its best acts to millions of viewers.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19But TV wasn't good news for every variety performer.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22# We'll be educating Archie
0:21:22 > 0:21:25# Oh, what a job for anyone... #
0:21:25 > 0:21:29When television came along, radio's puppet superstar Archie Andrews
0:21:29 > 0:21:34got his own TV show, Here's Archie, but it wasn't a great success.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Archie was a big, big name.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41The trouble was, that was on radio.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43The reason it worked on radio was because
0:21:43 > 0:21:46people didn't see Peter's mouth.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52Peter Brough had never needed to be a technically good ventriloquist on the radio,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57but on TV, the illusion that Archie Andrews spoke for himself was no longer believable.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Every trick in the book was employed to hide Brough's moving lips.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04The Archie Andrews puppet even had its own chair,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06so that Brough could be out of sight.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11But nothing worked, and Brough's poor ventriloquism proved difficult to avoid.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Well, nice morning, isn't it? Now, have you had your breakfast?
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Ooh, yes, Brough, I had eight sausages and three eggs.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21What, you ate all that alone?
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- Ooh, no, I had some salt and mustard with them.- Oh, did you?
0:22:24 > 0:22:30Of course, as a ventriloquist, he wasn't very good.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31Mind you, he knew it.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34He said to me one day, he said, "Do you realise, Ray,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37"I'm probably the highest paid ventriloquist in Britain,
0:22:37 > 0:22:38"and probably the worst?"
0:22:38 > 0:22:40You know, listening to that story...
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Your mouth's getting worse! >
0:22:43 > 0:22:44I'll put this cigar in.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48- Yeah, I'd like to see you do it. - That's enough, Archie.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Television exposed a whole generation of ventriloquists
0:22:51 > 0:22:55whose technique was good enough for radio and the variety theatre,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58but couldn't survive the scrutiny of the close-up shot.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Bad ventriloquists became an easy target for jokes,
0:23:02 > 0:23:06and were mercilessly taken apart by comedians like Sandy Powell.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Now tell me. Tell me, my little man, how are YOU this evening?
0:23:11 > 0:23:14HE MUMBLES DELIBERATELY
0:23:14 > 0:23:17HE GAGS, CROWD LAUGHS
0:23:18 > 0:23:20HE COUGHS
0:23:21 > 0:23:24It's just at first, it'll be all right.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31When television came along,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34a lot of those ventriloquists had been so used to variety,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36and worked for so many years in variety,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38they were too old to change.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40And I don't mean old in age, particularly,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43but they'd been doing the same thing for so long, in that way,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45that they couldn't change,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48they couldn't believe there was a way of moving on
0:23:48 > 0:23:51to the new world of television.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58What television needed was ventriloquists who could actually talk without moving their lips.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Enter Arthur Worsley.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03When he was only three months old, this lad...
0:24:03 > 0:24:05- You don't mind me talking about you, do you, son?- Mmm?
0:24:05 > 0:24:10When he was only three months old, he was on a doorstep
0:24:10 > 0:24:14for three days and three nights, in a little basket.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And nobody picked him up,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19so his mother and father took him in again.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Arthur Worsley was probably the greatest ventriloquist that I ever saw -
0:24:26 > 0:24:29with Charlie Brown - and he was fantastic,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and could turn a show around.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37When I was boy, I mean, Arthur was considered to be the number one, the top ventriloquist.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40In actual fact,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44technically, he wasn't really as good as people thought he was.
0:24:44 > 0:24:50Ray Alan thought he could do better, and he did.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51The whole thing had to change,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and I saw that, and I worked and worked on a technique
0:24:55 > 0:24:58that I wanted to be able to have the television camera
0:24:58 > 0:25:00come as close as he wanted to
0:25:00 > 0:25:03without having to feel that they can't go any closer.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I don't know, they've all gone raving mad here, you know?
0:25:06 > 0:25:08- What's the matter? - Well, I mean, there I am,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11with a glass in my hand, this damned fool with
0:25:11 > 0:25:13the ear muffs on comes dashing up,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18snatches the thing out of my hand and says, "You're on, you're on".
0:25:18 > 0:25:23- Didn't even tell me what the bet was, the silly- BLEEP.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Ray Alan was a fantastic ventriloquist because
0:25:26 > 0:25:30the character that he imbued the dummy with was totally believable.
0:25:30 > 0:25:37This sort of a tipsy lord, a constantly drunk character, but that could think on his feet.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43Have you ever tried to say "hospital" without moving your mouth?
0:25:43 > 0:25:45No. I don't really bother.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47- Well, go on, do it.- What, now?
0:25:47 > 0:25:51I insist. Say hospital without moving your mouth.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52And watch this, watch this.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Go on.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Hoscital.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Television was now the new home of variety,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07but magicians were reluctant to get involved,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11fearing the camera would reveal the secrets of their tricks.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13But for one magician, TV held no fear.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17He could see its potential and used the new technology
0:26:17 > 0:26:20to create illusions nobody had ever seen before.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24In the process, he became the first star of TV magic.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26His name was David Nixon.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29David Nixon was...
0:26:29 > 0:26:33the father of magic on television, without any shadow of doubt.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Can I have a little bit more... That's lovely, thank you.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Now look, all you do, what you do first of all, you take the wire,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43like this, or the string, and you take your scissors.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Only one tricky move.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48After you've cut it, now this is a little bit more difficult, but...
0:26:48 > 0:26:50SILENCE
0:26:52 > 0:26:55LAUGHTER
0:26:55 > 0:26:57SILENCE
0:27:04 > 0:27:07And then, of course, it's all joined up again.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09That's how it's done.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14He used the new technology of television, which was brand new then,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19so people watching a television screen had only ever seen news reels.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23They'd never actually seen special effects.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28Nixon proved that magic could work on TV, and soon a variety show wasn't
0:27:28 > 0:27:34a variety show unless somebody was pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or producing a dove from their pocket.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39The explosion of magic on TV led one performer down a strange path to stardom.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43It was magic, but not as we know it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47You just get one of the loops - three pieces there like that, see.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49One of them there, look, like that, see.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53- LAUGHTER - And what you do then, see...
0:27:54 > 0:27:58You put this into...into a loop, like that, a loop there,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01then you get that one, you put that into a loop there, like that.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04And you get the third one, and you put...
0:28:05 > 0:28:09No, I made a mistake, look, you get a long piece of rope.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13- Aha, yes! - 'His physical appearance helped.'
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I mean, he had this huge great body,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19with this enormous head stuck on top of it,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23with ridiculous bits of black hair sticking out from this stupid fez.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Add to that the voice, and the looks,
0:28:27 > 0:28:32he was a natural clown, a comedy genius.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Gee, he was a funny fella. I mean, if he walked in now -
0:28:35 > 0:28:38please God, he could, I'd love it - and he'd just go, "Hello,"
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and you'd go...and he'd go, "What are you laughing at?"
0:28:41 > 0:28:45He'd take a little bit of offence. "You laughing at me?"
0:28:45 > 0:28:48And I'd say, "Tommy, they love you." "I love them."
0:28:48 > 0:28:49Thank you very much.
0:28:49 > 0:28:54Tommy Cooper took the traditional magic act and turned it into comedy.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57It was an in-joke for the viewers who had become blase
0:28:57 > 0:29:01about the small-scale trickery of the TV magician.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Tommy Cooper was a tremendous influence
0:29:04 > 0:29:08for comedians and for people on television to...
0:29:08 > 0:29:12break from the formality of a performance.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14I think he was the first person
0:29:14 > 0:29:18on television that looked like he was unrehearsed,
0:29:18 > 0:29:23that looked like it wasn't a script, that looked like
0:29:23 > 0:29:26he hadn't quite got ready before he came out.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34LAUGHTER
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Cooper's whole act ridiculed a major part
0:29:38 > 0:29:40of variety entertainment,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43but in doing so, he created a unique comedy character.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47And out of this empty bag, I will produce...
0:29:47 > 0:29:50a live dove.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Television showcased all kinds of weird and wonderful characters
0:29:59 > 0:30:01into the nation's living rooms,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04but ordinary people still wanted a night out.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09In Britain, there was still one thing more popular than television, and that was alcohol.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Nightclubs gave people what they wanted -
0:30:12 > 0:30:16beer, cigarettes and non-stop entertainment.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21HE CROONS
0:30:27 > 0:30:30At that time, the working men's clubs were massive.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Every town like Sheffield and Birmingham had a nightclub,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37where a magician or a novelty act, or, you know,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41somebody on a trapeze or on stilts. There were places for people to work.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45We started off, didn't we, Jeanette, as a song and dance act.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47- Yeah.- It was bloody awful.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51I couldnae dance and she couldnae sing.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55Can you hear me all right down below? Can you hear me all right round the room?
0:30:55 > 0:30:58- Yes.- Can you hear me at the bar?
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Good, two pints.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06A new generation of variety artistes now had somewhere
0:31:06 > 0:31:10to learn their trade, but it was a tough, no-nonsense environment.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14I don't know who books the turns here, but sometimes they're good,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17and sometimes they're bad.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19We were unlucky tonight.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21If they liked you, you were great,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26but if you died, you had to walk through the club to get your money.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30You had to go the bar and be paid over the bar by the steward,
0:31:30 > 0:31:35and he would count your money out in full view of all the punters.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37One, two... And if you were on 20 quid,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39which was a lot of money in those days,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41this hush would fall over the bar,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and everyone could see what your money was.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47And it was some kind of demeaning ritual, I think,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49they devised, to put you in your place.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52We did Bernard Manning's club - we did three a night,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54seven nights a week - and he gave us 50 quid.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57And I saw him a couple of months ago, and I told him that.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00He said, "You can come back any time for the same money."
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Can I have order, please? I must have order!
0:32:06 > 0:32:14ITV's Wheeltappers & Shunters Club captured the atmosphere of this new home of variety.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Every club used to have four or five, six acts on a night,
0:32:17 > 0:32:24like Paul Daniels doing his tricks, Cannon and Ball.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Marvellous night. Place heaving.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31Seven waiters going out with full trays every two seconds,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33coming in and out, white coats on.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Yeah, that was the heydays, I'll tell you.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48The accessibility of the nightclub scene encouraged
0:32:48 > 0:32:52the public to believe that, with a bit of talent and a lot of luck,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54they too, could become stars.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Opportunity Knocks was a TV variety show
0:32:57 > 0:33:00which promised to launch newcomers into stardom.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05Strong man Tony Holland, the musical muscle man.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Flexing muscle men competed with comedians, while jugglers
0:33:10 > 0:33:14tried to outdo singers for a place in the spotlight.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16The TV talent show was born.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19You were seeing a little bit of everybody's talent.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21You know, only three minutes of it,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24but everybody's talent was there for you to watch,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28and most of the light entertainment stars came from that era,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31with your Les Dawsons and your Little and Large,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Paul Daniels, everybody came through.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35They were given a chance.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39And the people we've met here... Hilda Baker.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41"Ooh, you big girl's blouse!"
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Eddie Waring, "Well, here we are on Opportunity Knocks!"
0:33:44 > 0:33:48Deputy Dawg, "OK there, Muskrat!"
0:33:48 > 0:33:51- John Wayne. - You haven't met John Wayne.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53"The hell I have."
0:33:53 > 0:33:57We thought we were too good for Opportunity Knocks. How daft is that?
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Not realising that you go on Opportunity Knocks,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03and 12 million people see you. If you went round the clubs for 80 years,
0:34:03 > 0:34:0612 million people wouldn't see you. It was fantastic.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09It was one of those times you care to forget.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12I remember it was a time of misery and depression,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15the wife had ran off with the fella next door and...
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Ooh, I did miss him.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24The diversity of acts on Opportunity Knocks reflected the belief that variety WAS show business.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29Opportunity Knocks was a variety show, but it was of the day.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I mean, in those days people used to juggle for a living
0:34:32 > 0:34:36and stand on their hands, and all that, and there was singing dogs.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39And now we're going to have a boxing match. Time!
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Go on, that's it, that's the idea, go on.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Punch him on the nose, that's the idea, you're winning.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Go on, that's it. You're down, and you're out!
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Right, good girl.
0:34:50 > 0:34:51Thank you.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57New Faces was a TV talent show which came with a brilliant innovation,
0:34:57 > 0:35:03a panel of judges to ridicule and humiliate the wannabe stars.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08New Faces was bizarre in that you were judging like against unlike,
0:35:08 > 0:35:14because you'd have a comedian, maybe a juggler, a singer,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18a group, and something else, and so it's very hard to sort of say,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20"Is that person more entertaining than that?"
0:35:20 > 0:35:23# Nowhere...
0:35:23 > 0:35:30# Nowhere... #
0:35:30 > 0:35:33APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING
0:35:33 > 0:35:35I found it pretty boring.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38We're not going to see him in two or three years.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41With television hungry for new variety acts,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45the TV talent show could deliver stardom.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Les Dawson, Freddie Starr, Little and Large,
0:35:48 > 0:35:54Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood, all had the X-factor in the '70s.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57# I've heard about marital rights
0:35:57 > 0:36:00# It sounds like hell So it's just as well
0:36:00 > 0:36:03# It only happens on Saturday nights. #
0:36:03 > 0:36:07New Faces was a great stepping stone for people to go on
0:36:07 > 0:36:10and have their cabaret act exposed on television,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12and then they sort of shot up the ladder.
0:36:12 > 0:36:17Variety talent was now coming from all directions, and things were changing fast.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Up to now, puppets had been cute and cheeky,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23but from the other side of the world came a puppet
0:36:23 > 0:36:26that hated everything and everybody.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35Rod Hull and Emu arrived from Australia and stole the show everywhere they went.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Rod Hull and Emu were fascinating.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40When Emu went onto his arm, it ceased being on his arm
0:36:40 > 0:36:43and became a real person, like an alter ego in a sense.
0:36:43 > 0:36:49It did the naughty things that Rod would love to have done himself.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55I think Rod was an absolute genius in being able,
0:36:55 > 0:36:59almost mentally and psychologically,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01to separate himself from the emu.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04It was almost as if the thing on his arm
0:37:04 > 0:37:06was an actual, independent being.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10And you looked at it, you looked at it as though it was real, and your fear,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13your fear was, "This thing's gonna go for me in a second,"
0:37:13 > 0:37:17and you know Rod is going to blame it and say, "Nothing to do with me."
0:37:17 > 0:37:22In his legendary 1976 interview on Parkinson,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Hull lost control of Emu in a spectacular way.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Does it take to people, you know, straightaway?
0:37:29 > 0:37:30I mean, or do I have to...?
0:37:30 > 0:37:32LAUGHTER
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Yes, it does, of course it does, yes.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37I don't have to make friends with it or try hard?
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Yeah. He's quite friendly, if you just stroke him like that.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42- Really?- See, look.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44LAUGHTER
0:37:44 > 0:37:48I was quite prepared to have a decent conversation with Emu,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50but it wasn't prepared to talk to me.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53He was the kind of Meg Ryan of birds, basically.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55Michael Parkinson wanted a serious interview,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57but then that's Michael Parkinson.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00You can't have a serious interview with Emu.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03LAUGHTER
0:38:03 > 0:38:05LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:38:12 > 0:38:17It's like most people who have, you know, a thing on their hand,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19whether it be a boxer or a ventriloquist or...
0:38:19 > 0:38:23They actually... They're slightly mad, basically.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25I mean, they're not like you and I.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28This emu had a life of its own.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31He's all right once you get to know him, isn't he?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34I knew we should never have booked it.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37In the age of punk rock, here was a puppet
0:38:37 > 0:38:41that was both vicious and rotten to everyone he met.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45The attack on Michael Parkinson made Hull and Emu even more famous,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49and soon The Emu Show was getting audiences of 11 million.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53SCREAMING
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Hull made a fortune from Emu,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59but unpaid tax bills eventually led to bankruptcy.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03In 1999, the man who made a living from knocking other people to the ground
0:39:03 > 0:39:09fell off the roof of his house and died while trying to adjust his TV aerial
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Although Rod Hull is gone, Emu lives on.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15His son Toby is following in his father's footsteps,
0:39:15 > 0:39:21giving Emu another chance to create anarchy, with a new series on ITV.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25I can never, ever be as good as my father.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28What I can hope to be is be different from my father.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Emu will, hopefully, in essence stay the same.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34It's quite nice. In a way it feels like he's there, watching.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41Whilst Emu was causing mayhem, the king of variety himself, Lew Grade,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43had teamed up with a crazy genius
0:39:43 > 0:39:47from America's Sesame Street to revolutionise the puppet show.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53For Lew Grade, this was a chance to reinvent
0:39:53 > 0:39:56Sunday Night At The Palladium,
0:39:56 > 0:40:02this time hosted by puppets with big-name human guest stars.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05But these weren't just puppets, they were Muppets.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The Muppet Show was a brilliant creation by Jim Henson,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16and Lew absolutely fell in love with them.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Now tonight, I'm gonna try and put something new in my act.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Yeah, like comedy, maybe.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23The Muppet Show was seen
0:40:23 > 0:40:27in something like 105 countries by season three or four,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29and I think for a very brief time,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31it was the most popular show in the world,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34right before Dallas became the most popular show in the world.
0:40:34 > 0:40:35But it was huge.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40Three, two, one, fire!
0:40:42 > 0:40:44It's OK, everything is fine, folks.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Gonzo merely got knocked off stage by the impact,
0:40:48 > 0:40:50but I think... Yes, he caught the cannonball!
0:40:54 > 0:40:58For some of the Muppets, coping with that success was kind of hard.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00I'm a pretty simple frog,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02I just go back to the swamp when I'm not working,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04hang out with my family,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and I don't really get the opportunity to get a huge ego.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Now there were certain Muppets, whose names I won't mention,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13but their initials might be MP,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16who had a little trouble with that fame.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I will not stand around while you do dumb things like that, Piggy.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23You have done that to me too many times! I will not stand for it.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26- What are you gonna do? - I'll tell you what I'm going to do!
0:41:26 > 0:41:28I'm going to fire you. Piggy, you are fired.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31You are fired, Piggy! You are fired! Fired!
0:41:31 > 0:41:36The Muppets were totally different than anything we'd ever seen before.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37They were real characters.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Every one of them almost had a psyche,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45every one of them had their own personality, every one of them had their own problems,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and you never really saw that in puppets until then.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52The stars of The Muppet Show were the nervous compere,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56Kermit the Frog, and the difficult diva, Miss Piggy.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Kermit was already established when The Muppet Show began,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03and Piggy came out of the chorus of these background characters,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07and during one episode, she turned and said, "I know that frog,"
0:42:07 > 0:42:10or something like that, and suddenly it defined her
0:42:10 > 0:42:14as being this character who was trying to be one up on everyone else.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19- What is that?- Er, well this is Fozzie's agent, Irving Bizarre,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21we're negotiating a contract.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Hey, how you doing baby, kiddo, sweetheart?
0:42:24 > 0:42:25Not bad-looking for a pig!
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Want me to handle you?
0:42:27 > 0:42:30I already have an agent, short stuff.
0:42:30 > 0:42:35I don't wanna be your agent, I just wanna handle you.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Well, handle this! Hi-ya!
0:42:40 > 0:42:43But whilst it was clear variety entertainment
0:42:43 > 0:42:47was dramatically evolving, one show proudly remained unchanged.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51The Royal Variety Show began in 1912, and is still going today.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56By the '70s, it was one of the highlights of the television calendar.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58All the best acts in one long show,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01giving it all they'd got in front of the Royal Family.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20It's always a total enigma to me.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22One of the biggest viewing figures.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Always, it's in the top-ten viewing figures,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27The Royal Variety Performance, you know?
0:43:27 > 0:43:32Now, if people hate variety so much, and it's not accepted,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36why is it ALWAYS in the top-ten of television programmes
0:43:36 > 0:43:37of the entire year?
0:43:37 > 0:43:39With typical randomness,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43the acts could range from the Jackson Five to Alf Garnet.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46- Here, who's that with her now? - Oh, that's Bernard de la Fonte.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50LAUGHTER
0:43:50 > 0:43:52- He's not a sir.- No!- Isn't he?
0:43:52 > 0:43:59- No.- The way he's all over the Queen Mum there, I bet he's hoping to be.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03The Royal Variety Show is now the only place in town
0:44:03 > 0:44:05where this eclectic mix of artistes continues.
0:44:07 > 0:44:13In 2005, The Royal Variety Show ranged from trick cyclists to comedian Catherine Tate.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Catherine Tate was difficult. Difficult for me.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20I don't think it was difficult for Her Majesty, but it was difficult
0:44:20 > 0:44:24for me cos I wasn't sure how far she was prepared to go,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26cos she did go beyond where she went in rehearsal.
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Am I bovvered?
0:44:28 > 0:44:30It was the first time that anybody
0:44:30 > 0:44:34had ever spoken directly to the Royal box in such a manner,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37and I think I was more nervous and more embarrassed,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39in a sense, than Her Majesty was,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42who seemed to take it and was amused and not really very bothered by it.
0:44:42 > 0:44:48As the new heroes of variety become as cool as the rock stars that once threatened to destroy them,
0:44:48 > 0:44:54it is clear that the art of variety entertainment continues to cast its spell on a large audience.
0:44:54 > 0:45:00Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world capital of light entertainment, Las Vegas.
0:45:00 > 0:45:05The interesting thing in Las Vegas, 20 years ago, it was the big lounge singer acts,
0:45:05 > 0:45:08your Tom Jones and your kind of Elvis wannabes.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12Then the big magic shows took over, your Siegfried and Roys,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16and these days, it's a circus thing and all the spesh acts have gone over to...
0:45:16 > 0:45:22I mean, Cirque du Soleil currently has five or six shows in Las Vegas, full-time,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24so that's the new home of variety.
0:45:24 > 0:45:30Cirque du Soleil shows us how dazzling the variety skills of a circus performer can be.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35Thanks heavens for Cirque du Soleil, where if you wanna see great variety
0:45:35 > 0:45:38done in a rock'n'roll way, it's absolutely stunning.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42And what are they? Acrobats, cyclists, mime artists,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46and they're there, but it's just wonderful.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49In Las Vegas, variety artistes can hit the jackpot,
0:45:49 > 0:45:54as the shows now bring in nearly as much money as the casinos.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58But every artist secretly wants to end up in Las Vegas,
0:45:58 > 0:45:59cos that's where the money is.
0:45:59 > 0:46:05Another variety format on the up and up is our old favourite, the talent show.
0:46:05 > 0:46:12In 2001, Popstars was the first of many to resurrect the formula of Opportunity Knocks and New Faces.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15I'm sure the tune was in there somewhere.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19Right now, there's nothing more popular than watching a bitchy panel
0:46:19 > 0:46:22tear apart a selection of talentless no-hopers
0:46:22 > 0:46:23# Hit me, baby...
0:46:23 > 0:46:28- It was completely out of tune. - Try and give us more of a performance tomorrow.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31- We're not gonna invite you back tomorrow.- OK.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33Variety has never gone away,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36variety has just dressed up in different outfits.
0:46:36 > 0:46:41American Idol, Pop Idol, as we know it in the UK, is a variety show.
0:46:41 > 0:46:49You know, all of these reality shows, in some way, are variety shows.
0:46:49 > 0:46:55Pop Idol and the X-factor cleverly took the format of Popstars and ran with it.
0:46:55 > 0:46:56The winner
0:46:56 > 0:47:01of Pop Idol 2002...
0:47:01 > 0:47:02is...
0:47:03 > 0:47:05..Will!
0:47:07 > 0:47:14I remember when we sold it to ITV, we were confident enough at the time
0:47:14 > 0:47:19to say, "We genuinely believe that this result will stop the country,"
0:47:19 > 0:47:23that's how bullish we were about the show being successful.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28But to be fair, we were coming off the back of Popstars, which had been a ratings monster,
0:47:28 > 0:47:33so, we were taking a lot of what they did, in terms of the auditions,
0:47:33 > 0:47:38- and just saying, "We think we can do it a bit better." - # ..everything I can
0:47:38 > 0:47:43# I'll build your dreams with these two hands
0:47:43 > 0:47:48# We'll hang some memories on the wall... #
0:47:48 > 0:47:51You couldn't resist the show because it had
0:47:51 > 0:47:54the old-fashioned principles of a great variety show.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57To an extent, elements of a freak show as well.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02# Let me entertain you... #
0:48:02 > 0:48:03No.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Girls, individually, you sound horrendous,
0:48:06 > 0:48:11together, you sound even worse. I don't think anyone will ever pay to hear you sing.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14- What are you actually looking for? - The absolute opposite of you.
0:48:14 > 0:48:21Now, as we're talking today, the buzzword in TV, once again, is light entertainment.
0:48:21 > 0:48:28All the people who were put on the scrapheap - Bruce Forsyth, Noel Edmonds -
0:48:28 > 0:48:33who were considered past it, are suddenly the hottest presenters on TV again.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Nearly 50 years after the heyday of Sunday Night At The London Palladium,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43its young compere, Bruce Forsyth, is back on the dancefloor.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51Jane Lush, who was the BBC at the time, asked me, we had lunch,
0:48:51 > 0:48:58and she said, "We've got this show that hasn't been commissioned yet,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01"but it's called Pro Celebrity Come Dancing."
0:49:01 > 0:49:03That was the original name of it.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07And my manager and I, Ian Wilson, we started laughing like mad,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09we were laughing and laughing and laughing.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13And Jane said, "Are you laughing at us or with us?"
0:49:13 > 0:49:18"No, we're laughing with you, we think this is the greatest idea we've heard in years."
0:49:18 > 0:49:21# Whoa-whoa, she's a lady... #
0:49:25 > 0:49:30Strictly Come Dancing brings back the exuberance and sheer fun of dance
0:49:30 > 0:49:34that TV audiences first enjoyed when the Tiller Girls high-kicked
0:49:34 > 0:49:37into the nation's living rooms back in the '50s.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39Who would've thought that very much
0:49:39 > 0:49:43a middle-aged form of entertainment, which is dancing,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46which most people think had disappeared,
0:49:46 > 0:49:48could be brought back into prime time,
0:49:48 > 0:49:54and given the benefit of a makeover,
0:49:54 > 0:49:59and turn out to be a show that could appeal to a broad audience?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02All present and correct, so it looks like we're ready to begin, Bruce.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06- Yes, yes.- Marvellous. And I should explain that tonight...- Oh.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10- ..there are two rounds in the competition.- Yes, yes.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12First, the ballroom round and then a Latin round.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16I think entertainment was pushed to one side and forgotten.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18Which is a shame, we all missed it.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21That's why, when Strictly Come Dancing came back,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24it hit, it hit that niche, there was a huge gap for it,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27there was nothing on Saturday nights at that time.
0:50:27 > 0:50:32There was nothing that made you want to stay in, that you could watch with the whole family,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36appointment-to-view television, like we all grew up with.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Programmes on a Saturday night you'd make an effort to be in for,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42it was part of your week, part of your Saturday.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47Strictly Come Dancing discovered that the TV audience still longs to escape
0:50:47 > 0:50:50into the unreal world of glitzy entertainment,
0:50:50 > 0:50:55and more dance-based shows have waltzed their way onto our screens.
0:50:55 > 0:51:00Strictly Dance Fever has gone back to the essence of the original Come Dancing,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03with an all-amateur line-up of contestants.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09I think these dance shows are paving the way for big variety shows
0:51:09 > 0:51:13where you'll have circus acts coming on to the studio,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17and you'll have magicians back doing wonderful conjuring
0:51:17 > 0:51:20and, you know, fantastic balance acts.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23They're still out there around the world,
0:51:23 > 0:51:28and to see somebody being flown in from South America, doing something spectacular,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32or the Chinese acrobats - they're all still out there,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35they just need a platform. And I think that platform's back.
0:51:35 > 0:51:41Up to now, the new talent shows have concentrated on delivering their discoveries into pop stardom -
0:51:41 > 0:51:46the next step is a 21st-century take on the true variety talent show.
0:51:46 > 0:51:52There was a time here where there were so many derivative shows of Idol, running at the same time,
0:51:52 > 0:51:58I thought, "If I hear one more 21-year-old murder Get Here by Olita Adams, that's it."
0:51:58 > 0:52:03And at that point, I thought, I would be very, very curious
0:52:03 > 0:52:08to see the same principle going beyond just music.
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Which is, what if we expanded it to include comics, magicians,
0:52:13 > 0:52:18jugglers, dog acts, whatever, along with music?
0:52:18 > 0:52:19Would I watch it?
0:52:19 > 0:52:21Yes, I would.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26If you asked a lot of people if there was, say, a travelling show,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30and you asked somebody, would they rather watch a show full of singers,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33or would you rather watch a variety show,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36I think a lot of people would choose the latter now.
0:52:36 > 0:52:44And for me, there's the same level of fascination in the magician who wants to be David Copperfield
0:52:44 > 0:52:47as the singer who wants to be Mariah Carey.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52With dance, magic and the talent show once again the most popular entertainment on TV,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55variety is once again king of the airwaves.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59Things might even be looking up for our old friends, the puppets.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02Put your hands together, go mad, for Nina Conti.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Nina Conti has discovered that an audience raised on Orville the duck
0:53:08 > 0:53:11can't get enough of Monk, her foul-mouthed monkey.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Just before we came to Edinburgh, we flew to Ireland
0:53:14 > 0:53:19and I put the monkey in my bag and put my bag in the hold.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21And I didn't get to Ireland.
0:53:21 > 0:53:22AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:53:22 > 0:53:26We don't know where he flew to, but it wasn't Ireland. Where did you go?
0:53:26 > 0:53:30- I dunno, I spent 24 hours with a hairbrush up my- BLEEP.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Nina Conti is a vent act
0:53:34 > 0:53:38and I read in the Independent the other day that vents have had it,
0:53:38 > 0:53:42post-modernism had done it in via Harry Hill, it said.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46And yet, Nina can take her puppet away, and finally it's her hand,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and you're all watching her hand, so it survives.
0:53:49 > 0:53:55- When I click my fingers, you're gonna wake feeling refreshed and happy. Do you understand?- Yes, Nina.- OK.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Oh, I feel refreshed and happy.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Good. OK, right.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Now do you think you can get in here?
0:54:04 > 0:54:07- Oh, my God.- What?- It's gorgeous.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Even ventriloquism has had to move with the times.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16After street magic, comes street ventriloquism and Paul Zerdin.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19BABY CRIES
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Ventriloquism must be funny. To be entertaining, it must be funny.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45It doesn't matter if you're not technically... I regard myself as technically, you know, OK.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47- Go on, show me.- What?
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Say something without moving your lips.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52- What?- Say something.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Say the word "ventriloquism".
0:54:54 > 0:54:55Ventriloquism.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58- Did I move my lips?- I don't know.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Ventriloq...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03- Ooh, that's good.- Thank you.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05- You're welcome.- You do it.- OK.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07Ventriloquism.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09Do it again.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13- Hmm?- Say "ventriloquism" without moving your lips.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Ventriloquism.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17That felt good.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23One new face of street magic is Dynamo, an artful dodger with a pack of cards.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Cool showbiz parties aren't complete without a few of his tricks.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33Take one out. Look at it, I'll turn round, show it to the others.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37- Have you done that?- OK, yeah, yeah.
0:55:37 > 0:55:42- Cool. What I'm gonna do, I'll place it about halfway down, yeah?- Yeah.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43Watch.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54- Oh, my God!- Jesus Christ.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57How the hell are you doing this?
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Now and again, they say variety's dead,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02but it's all still here and thriving.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06The modern TV schedule itself is like a variety bill -
0:56:06 > 0:56:09comedy followed by music, magic followed by dancing,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14any combination we want, on as many channels as we can handle.
0:56:16 > 0:56:22People like Michael Grade arrange their evening like a variety bill.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26"That won't clash with this and that will be good following that."
0:56:28 > 0:56:32The funny thing about light entertainment is that for probably 12 years,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36certainly through the '90s, it was the dirtiest word in television.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41Ironically now, everybody wants to make light entertainment shows.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45The history of light entertainment is that you have to reinvent things.
0:56:45 > 0:56:50I mean what is X-factor, what is Pop Idol, if it's not reinventing the talent show?
0:56:50 > 0:56:52It's still Opportunity Knocks.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56Wherever we look there's variety. Wherever there's a stage or a screen
0:56:56 > 0:57:03it'll be there, changing, improving and entertaining each new generation.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Variety, light entertainment, it's what the people want.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10No matter what, the show must go on.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Entertainment is a part of us.
0:57:13 > 0:57:18It will come out, flow out of us in one way or another.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21People ask me all the time, whatever happened to The Muppet Show?
0:57:21 > 0:57:25And the truth is, we're still doing it, you just don't see it.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30Every week we go in a little theatre, we dust off the stage, wipe it down and do our show.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34Of course, there's nobody in the audience, but we're in good practice.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38If we ever wanted to bring the thing back, sure, we can do that. Sure.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41We still do variety, we sing, dance, do comedy...
0:57:41 > 0:57:45Yeah, but we... It's just, people either laugh or they don't.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48If they laugh, it's all right, if they don't, you're history.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50The history of variety.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53# Ha-ha, funny men are we
0:57:53 > 0:57:56# Ha-ha, we're chirpy as can be
0:57:56 > 0:57:59# We look alike, we dress alike, and we do everything alike
0:57:59 > 0:58:01# Ha-ha, funny men are we. #
0:58:03 > 0:58:08# Hello, hello, hello, hello
0:58:08 > 0:58:11# Hello, hello, hello
0:58:11 > 0:58:15# With the lights out It's less dangerous
0:58:15 > 0:58:19# Here we are now Entertain us
0:58:19 > 0:58:23# I feel stupid and contagious
0:58:23 > 0:58:27# Here we are now Entertain us
0:58:27 > 0:58:29# A mulatto
0:58:29 > 0:58:31# An albino
0:58:31 > 0:58:33# A mosquito
0:58:33 > 0:58:35# My libido
0:58:35 > 0:58:39# A denial, a denial
0:58:39 > 0:58:43# A denial, a denial
0:58:43 > 0:58:47# A denial, a denial. #
0:58:47 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd