0:00:09 > 0:00:13He's one of Britain's last great variety entertainers.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Well, how tickled I am to be here with you tonight!
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Has anybody seen my show before? AUDIENCE: Yes!
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Would you mind telling me what I do next, please?
0:00:24 > 0:00:26At the age of 86,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30he's still touring and performing up to three shows a week.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34I feel absolutely tattyfilarious and full of plumptiousness.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Celebrating 60 years in show business next year -
0:00:37 > 0:00:42his Diamond Jubilee - he is as constant as Her Majesty
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and also as mysterious.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50For all that time,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Ken Dodd's tattyfilarious sense of humour has been tickling
0:00:53 > 0:00:55the nation's funny bone.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Well...haven't you brought yours?
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Being top of the bill with your name in lights,
0:01:00 > 0:01:01that's what it's all about.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05# Tears for souvenirs... #
0:01:05 > 0:01:09His hit singles have competed in the charts with The Beatles.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11You'd like to do a bit more comedy?
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Yeah, but it's so hard, isn't it? Well...
0:01:14 > 0:01:17He was the fifth Beatle.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21If he'd just have kept his hair flat...
0:01:21 > 0:01:23He's appeared in Doctor Who.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Surprise! Surprise!
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Tonight is your lucky night.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30# We are the Diddymen... #
0:01:30 > 0:01:32His Diddymen put Knotty Ash on the map.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34# We are the Diddymen... # Come on, kids,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37let's go to the jam-butty mines and see how business is.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39THROWS VOICE: 'I'm jacking it in.'
0:01:39 > 0:01:43# We are the Diddymen who come from Knotty Ash. #
0:01:44 > 0:01:46And Liverpudlians have voted him
0:01:46 > 0:01:49the greatest Merseysider of all time.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52And a man uncoiled himself, he said,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55"Cripes! What a horrible sight!"
0:01:58 > 0:02:03His sticky-out teeth, his mad hair, his tickling sticks -
0:02:03 > 0:02:07they're just props that surround this comedy genius.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12But Ken has known difficult times too.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I shall never forget the way he said, "Well, a comedian's role
0:02:16 > 0:02:21"is not too different from that of a priest," and very poignantly
0:02:21 > 0:02:24he said, "And of course,
0:02:24 > 0:02:26"they're both quite lonely professions."
0:02:27 > 0:02:31A court which is trying Ken Dodd on tax charges...
0:02:31 > 0:02:36In the 1980s, he was tried and acquitted of tax evasion.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41If he'd have gone inside, he would've died. He would've died.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Ken still lives in Liverpool
0:02:43 > 0:02:46and is part of the congregation at the Anglican cathedral.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50I said, "What would you have done, Ken, if you weren't a comedian?"
0:02:50 > 0:02:52He said, "I wouldn't mind being a vicar."
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Maybe that's the reason I'm here.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57I've been blessed with a chuckle muscle.
0:02:57 > 0:02:58Ladies and gentlemen,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01I feel absolutely tattyfilarious and full of plumptiousness.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Ken Dodd is hugely charismatic
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and, yet, on the other hand, intensely enigmatic.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Does anybody really know him? Who is the man behind the laughter?
0:03:31 > 0:03:35I was expecting to meet Ken Dodd in his natural habitat, a theatre.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38But instead, he's asked me to meet him here
0:03:38 > 0:03:40in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45It's a place where he says he feels a greater connection with God.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56When I first came to here,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01I was absolutely amazed, enthralled,
0:04:01 > 0:04:06and a wonderful feeling of the music and the choir.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09It's a wonderful service, the Evensong.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14And when I'd done it a few times I thought,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17"Am I coming here to be entertained?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19"Am I coming here because it's show business,
0:04:19 > 0:04:24"or am I coming here to communicate with my creator?"
0:04:24 > 0:04:28And I still wonder a little bit sometimes
0:04:28 > 0:04:30cos I do enjoy it, I must admit.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32SWING MUSIC PLAYS
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Kenneth Arthur Dodd was born on 8th November 1927
0:04:44 > 0:04:47in a suburb of Liverpool called Knotty Ash.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01His father, Arthur, was a coal merchant. His mother was Sarah.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The business was run from the family home.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Because it was a very hard-working household,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11they struggled, like most people did,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14to make a living - Ken was caught up in that.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19But that it was a household where there were the traditional values.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23He quite often talks about his father who was in the coal business,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27who was a brilliant teller of gags,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29and that's what got him going.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31He said his dad used to tell jokes brilliantly.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37Ken had an older brother, Billy, and younger sister, June.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42They lived just across the road from St John's Church.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47This... This is the playground of the infant school
0:05:47 > 0:05:50and this was my favourite subject - playtime. That and singing,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53singing in the choir of St John's Church there.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56# All for the wings
0:05:56 > 0:05:59# Of the wings of a dove... #
0:05:59 > 0:06:02He was a chorister at St John's in Knotty Ash,
0:06:02 > 0:06:03and people think Knotty Ash
0:06:03 > 0:06:05is just a fictional place
0:06:05 > 0:06:08but in fact Knotty Ash is a very real place.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12He was always full of fun, laughing.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I wouldn't say centre of attention,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16but popular.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21For someone who messes his hair up,
0:06:21 > 0:06:22pulls through his hair,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25protrudes his teeth and pulls funny faces,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29I wanted to know, was he funny child at school?
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Did he make other kids laugh?
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Was the humour still there then?
0:06:33 > 0:06:35But he said, no, he wasn't.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40He was probably too good-looking, as he says, to be a funny child.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42I had the most marvellous mother and father.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45I never saw two people work so hard in their lives as my mother
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and father when they ran the coal business.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Yeah. And they were so kind to us.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Were you a religious family?
0:06:53 > 0:06:58Well, my mother taught us prayers and a couple of hymns, yes,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00and my dad, who was,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03as well as being a coal merchant, he was also a musician.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06You know, he used to play the saxophone, which, as everybody knows,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09is an ill wind that nobody blows good
0:07:09 > 0:07:11but he'd play the hymns on the saxophone.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15So, yeah, I suppose we were, yes. And we'd go to church like most children.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19I went to Sunday school and heard the usual, er...
0:07:19 > 0:07:23stories, the famous, you know, Moses and the bulrushes.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25I was a choirboy for a long time
0:07:25 > 0:07:28till they found out where the noise was coming from.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And we'd take turns
0:07:30 > 0:07:37in flicking pellets...paper pellets across the choir stalls.
0:07:38 > 0:07:44The usual reading comics while the vicar was preaching his sermon.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53But when he was still a baby, Ken fell seriously ill.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59There were fears that he wouldn't survive.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06At two years old, I had a very, very bad case of pneumonia.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Both, both lungs, yeah.
0:08:12 > 0:08:13And, erm...
0:08:15 > 0:08:16..people prayed for me.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23I was told the story. It's a little bit personal so a little bit private
0:08:23 > 0:08:28but somebody came along and prayed for me all night.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And in those days they didn't have antibiotics,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and you had to wait for what they called "the crisis".
0:08:36 > 0:08:40And the crisis came...and went.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42And I was spared, so...
0:08:43 > 0:08:45So you've always felt that?
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Maybe I have been told to hang about and do something worthwhile.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52I'd like to think so.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00And it wasn't long before the young Ken found his purpose in life.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15On family outings to the theatre, he fell in love with the stage.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20My dad and my mother, and my brother and sister,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23we used to go down to a little theatre here in Liverpool
0:09:23 > 0:09:28in a place called Fraser Street, called The Shakespeare Theatre of Varieties.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Ooh. And this was variety theatre.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36And as a boy of about nine or ten, I was... I fell in love with this...
0:09:36 > 0:09:42this dark room and this lovely smell of cigars and oranges.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47And suddenly this curtain went up and this magical place was revealed.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50All... Everybody looked so healthy.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53I didn't realise what it was... It was called "five-and-nine".
0:09:53 > 0:09:56That's the pan stick. Five-and-nine. No, long before pan... Greasepaint.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Greasepaint. Actually they were called "five-and-niners".
0:09:59 > 0:10:02And I saw this wonderful place,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and everybody came on looking so healthy and so happy,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and men in big checked suits started shouting at the audience
0:10:09 > 0:10:12and making them laugh. I thought, "That's the job I want."
0:10:14 > 0:10:17The aspiring young entertainer turned to his parents
0:10:17 > 0:10:20for guidance on a career in show business.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23According to my mum,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26in life you can be anything you want to be,
0:10:26 > 0:10:27as long as you want to be.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32And I wanted to be... I wanted to be an entertainer.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34You said earlier, your father was a very funny man.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36He taught me how to tell jokes. Did he?
0:10:36 > 0:10:38I went to him one day, I said, "Dad,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41"I've watched all these shows and it seems to me that
0:10:41 > 0:10:46"the boss, the engine driver is the comedian, he's top of the bill."
0:10:46 > 0:10:50In the variety shows? Yeah. "So how do you comede?"
0:10:50 > 0:10:55And he told me some jokes, and he told me how to...
0:10:55 > 0:10:57well, how to tell a joke.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Ken started doing shows for family and friends
0:11:02 > 0:11:04at his house in Knotty Ash.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10We went to the "coal yard", as we used to call it, Doddy's place,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and watched him there.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16It was good fun, because he made everybody laugh without being
0:11:16 > 0:11:21unkind or critical in any way. He was just great fun to be with.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23I can remember if you made the mistake
0:11:23 > 0:11:25and knocked on the front door,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Mum would shout, "Get round the back!"
0:11:29 > 0:11:34Ken saw an advert in a comic for how to be a ventriloquist.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37He sent off for it straightaway.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39I'm proud to say I was very intellectual.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I used to read The Wizard and The Hotspur.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43SHE LAUGHS
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The Wizard, The Hotspur and The Rover.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And I saw on the back page, it had this big advertisement.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54It had a man with a big box on his back and the bubble came, "Help!"
0:11:54 > 0:11:59And the advert said - "Fool your teachers, amaze your friends.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03"Send sixpence in stamps. Become a ventriloquist." So I did.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Didn't I? THROWS VOICE: 'Yes!' And that's how I started.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10So, I had this ventriloquist figure.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Didn't I? 'Yes!'
0:12:12 > 0:12:16And she used to pack my case for me with my props in,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20and send me off to a gig, a little job somewhere.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24And she said, "Kenny, I don't care where you go or what you do,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26"as long as you wear a clean shirt."
0:12:28 > 0:12:29That's Mum. Yeah.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33NEWSREEL: 'Coal is one of the most vital raw materials
0:12:33 > 0:12:35'required for war production.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37'It's the cheap source of power for the factories now forging
0:12:37 > 0:12:42'the weapons with which we will deal Hitler the knockout blow.'
0:12:42 > 0:12:46By the time Ken was 14, Britain was in the middle of World War II.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52He left school and went to work in the family coal business.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54From there he would branch out on his own,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57selling household goods door-to-door.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02But by night, Ken was supplementing his wages doing gigs.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06It makes me absolutely discumknickerated to see that
0:13:06 > 0:13:09so many of you have turned up for the free soup and...
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Ken's ambition is to make people laugh,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13and I think he figured that
0:13:13 > 0:13:16if he could consistently make people laugh,
0:13:16 > 0:13:17good things would happen for him.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22In the days of variety when he was doing 10 to 15 minutes,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24there was a part of him,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28I now know with hindsight, that was trying to break out of that mould.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33He did not want to be like anybody else, he wanted to be Ken Dodd.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38He was proud of where he came from, he was proud of Knotty Ash,
0:13:38 > 0:13:39he was proud of his roots,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43and he wanted to extend that in a manner that perhaps at that time
0:13:43 > 0:13:47he didn't know, but he knew there was more to just telling jokes.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49It makes me absolutely...
0:13:49 > 0:13:53In 1954, Ken became a full-time professional comedian.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Are you all enjoying yourselves? AUDIENCE: Yeah!
0:13:57 > 0:13:58Why, what are you doing?
0:14:01 > 0:14:02My first foray into comedy,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06I would bill myself as Professor Yaffle Chuckle Butty -
0:14:06 > 0:14:08operatic tenor and sausage-knotter.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12And that was my first character. Where did he come from?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15My dad used to tell us all stories about...
0:14:15 > 0:14:19If you were poorly, if you had chicken pox or something like that,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23my dad would say, "We'll get Doctor Chuckle Butty to come and see you."
0:14:23 > 0:14:25When I first played the Glasgow Empire,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29which to most English comedians is the house of terror...
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Mmm.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Hmm, it would have 1954.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35I'd only been pro about four or five weeks,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37and they sent me up to Glasgow.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Yes. And the manager, lovely man, came out on a Monday morning
0:14:42 > 0:14:47and he said, "Right, no football gags, cos we need the seats.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50"And you'll get the bird on Friday night." What?!
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Getting the bird means...?
0:14:52 > 0:14:56Means getting either the slow handclap or...
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Abuse. You know, shouts of "Get off!"
0:15:00 > 0:15:03I went on the stage as Professor Chuckle Butty
0:15:03 > 0:15:05with a battered old trumpet,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09with my shirt hanging out, and my bow tie all over here...
0:15:09 > 0:15:12"Haw haw haw!" Like this. And my teeth like this.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14And I looked at the Glasgow audience,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and I said, "I suppose you're all wondering why I've sent for you."
0:15:19 > 0:15:21And...?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23And a man uncoiled himself,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27from the third row, with half a bottle of whisky, and he said...
0:15:27 > 0:15:30IN SCOTTISH ACCENT: "Cripes! What a horrible sight!"
0:15:30 > 0:15:31SHE LAUGHS
0:15:31 > 0:15:34I got a big laugh and that was probably the only laugh.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35Anyway, I got off to a good start!
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Ken's professional career took off.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44He toured right across the North -
0:15:44 > 0:15:47including performing in the premiere location
0:15:47 > 0:15:49for any northern entertainer - Blackpool.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Everyone's enjoying themselves here at Blackpool down on the beach.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57D'you know, it's so crowded here in Blackpool,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01the corporation's had to send to Morecambe for more seagulls.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Me Auntie Nellie, me big Auntie Nellie...
0:16:04 > 0:16:06'I first was aware of Ken Dodd
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'when I went to Blackpool for my holidays.'
0:16:08 > 0:16:11..he said, "would you mind getting off the beach?
0:16:11 > 0:16:13"The tide's waiting to come in."
0:16:13 > 0:16:15'And he was working in Blackpool,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17'I think he was at the Central Pier,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19'and this has got to be in'
0:16:19 > 0:16:20late '50s.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23And I went to see the show. I loved to go, I loved Blackpool
0:16:23 > 0:16:26cos they got more shows than anywhere else
0:16:26 > 0:16:27outside of Las Vegas, I think.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31And I went to see Ken, not knowing who he was, what he was.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35And I laughed and I laughed and I laughed.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Yesterday she dived into the sea,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39and six trawlers were beached at the Isle of Man.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'It was really the top venue for summer shows,'
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and that was the place to go to be in,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49it was a place to go to if you wanted to see
0:16:49 > 0:16:51the great comics of their time.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55And he went to Blackpool almost, I think, as an unknown.
0:16:55 > 0:16:56But the audiences there,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59they loved comedy and immediately they took to Ken.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02He gave them value for money.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr Ken Dodd!
0:17:05 > 0:17:08APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Ken's popularity grew out of his rapport with the audience.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17'The great thing about Ken, he works off an audience and to me,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20'that's what a great comedian should do.'
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Picking out the woman in the audience,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25somebody who's got a laugh or really gave a big laugh,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29and then everything would be aimed at her, and that is just like
0:17:29 > 0:17:30dropping a pebble into a pool.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33If you get that one going, the ripples go out
0:17:33 > 0:17:36and the whole audience suddenly come in and he's got them all.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Watching him create a joke, build the audience up,
0:17:41 > 0:17:42Ken does that so well.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45He owns the whole stage. He's by himself on it,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47but you feel as if he's on the whole stage.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I remember him once telling me that
0:17:50 > 0:17:54there is no greater thrill or pleasure
0:17:54 > 0:17:57than standing in front of a thousand people
0:17:57 > 0:18:01and saying something, and in one moment and at the same time,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05a thousand heads throw back
0:18:05 > 0:18:05and come out with the greatest laugh.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and come out with the greatest laugh.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I think that's what sustains him.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Yuletide, Yuletide, ladies and gentlemen, is nearly upon us.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Only 12 more shoplifting days till Christmas.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Another wonderful day...
0:18:21 > 0:18:24But Ken's chosen profession was double edged.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33To earn the applause, he had to stand and face the world alone.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41What it must be like when that curtain opens
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and then suddenly you've got to perform.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47But not just tell a story, you want the response of hearing laughter.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49If you don't laugh at the jokes,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51I'll follow you home and shout them through your letter box.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I was in a shop in Leeds the other morning,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and I said to the fellow, "Can you help me out?"
0:18:56 > 0:18:58He said, "Certainly. Which way did you come in?"
0:18:58 > 0:19:00I shall never forget the way he said,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04"Well, a comedian's role is not too different from that of a priest."
0:19:04 > 0:19:09"You're observers of life. You observe the absurdities of life.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13"You try and make some sense of it through humour,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16"or, you know, through stories."
0:19:16 > 0:19:21And then at the end, there was a pause and very poignantly
0:19:21 > 0:19:26he said, "And of course, they are both quite lonely professions."
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Preparing your mind to go on, you've seen a race horse
0:19:37 > 0:19:41in the stalls, you've seen them, and sometimes they sweat up
0:19:41 > 0:19:44or sometimes they kick their back legs up...
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Well, that's... An entertainer is like that,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51when you're waiting to go on, it...it's terrifying.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Do you have a ritual? Yes.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Are you going to share it with us?
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Yes, if you want to. Yes, please. You have word with head office.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04Is that it? Yeah. A little word...
0:20:04 > 0:20:07A word with head office. What do you say? Say a little prayer.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09And say, you know...
0:20:09 > 0:20:14could I have...have another piece of help, please?
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Do you talk to head office a lot? Yes. Do you? Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Regularly? Just chatting, or do you make time to sit and pray?
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Erm...
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Most of the time I think, because I am me,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29I am asking for things.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31So I, er...
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Daily I ask for...you know, a little bit of help.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40And hope that I'm doing the right thing, yeah.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43And does he talk back to you? I think so.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Yeah? I think so, yes.
0:20:44 > 0:20:44You just have to be... You have to believe that there is, er...
0:20:46 > 0:20:49You just have to be... You have to believe that there is, er...
0:20:49 > 0:20:53an all-powerful creator that made us,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55and for some reason or other,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59we are here. Maybe it's just to tell jokes.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03A teacher at Sunday School said, "Where does God live?"
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And a little boy said "In our bathroom."
0:21:08 > 0:21:12"Hmm? How do you..." "God lives in our bathroom." "How do you mean?"
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"Every morning my dad bangs on the door and says,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16"'God, are you still in there?'"
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Maybe that's it.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Maybe that's... Maybe that's the reason I'm here.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24I have been blessed with a chuckle muscle.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28# So still runs the river
0:21:28 > 0:21:31# While I wait... #
0:21:31 > 0:21:34But Ken's act had always been more than comedy.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Songs were also an important part of the show.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I remember years and years ago Ken saying,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45"You must sing in the middle of it, don't just go on pattering."
0:21:45 > 0:21:48The thing is that's Ken's got a great voice
0:21:48 > 0:21:49and he uses it extremely well.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52I mean, the songs he picked were smashing songs,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and probably the best one of the lot because it sums him up
0:21:55 > 0:21:58better than anything else, Happiness, Happiness.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01# Happiness, happiness
0:22:01 > 0:22:04# The greatest gift that I possess... #
0:22:04 > 0:22:07He looks, when he's singing that on the stage,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10he looks happy and he is happy
0:22:10 > 0:22:13because he's happy doing what he does.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15# ..Human in the human race
0:22:15 > 0:22:17# I've got no silver and I've got no gold
0:22:17 > 0:22:20# But I've got happiness in my soul... #
0:22:20 > 0:22:25As Ken's popularity increased, record producers saw an opportunity.
0:22:27 > 0:22:33This somewhat zany comedian had romantic ballads on the charts,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36that were sung beautifully. it has to be said.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41He could sing in a manner that Andy Williams would almost die for.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45# Tears for souvenirs
0:22:45 > 0:22:49# Are all you've left me... #
0:22:50 > 0:22:55In 1965, Ken's hit single Tears for Souvenirs
0:22:55 > 0:22:57topped the charts for five weeks.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03# ..I just can't believe
0:23:03 > 0:23:07# You could forget me... #
0:23:07 > 0:23:10What happened was, you do three songs as a session.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12And I had to choose.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Ohh...hmmm...mm...
0:23:14 > 0:23:16And then one day somebody said,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19"Oh, yes, that's definitely a back of the chara' song."
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Tears. You know... HE HUMS THE SONG
0:23:23 > 0:23:24Ahh.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26I said, "That's the one."
0:23:26 > 0:23:29So we... And it...two million. Amazing.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Two million?! Two million.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Two gold discs, yeah.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Unbelievable. I'm a nut from Knotty Ash.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39I'm a nut, I'm a comic...
0:23:39 > 0:23:40You did Top Of The Pops.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Yeah. Several times, yes.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44I'm going, yes.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46And all these kids, you're going... HE MIMES
0:23:46 > 0:23:50I was going... # So still runs the river... #
0:23:50 > 0:23:52FERN LAUGHS
0:23:54 > 0:23:59# Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift... #
0:23:59 > 0:24:041965 was also the year that Ken smashed all box office records
0:24:04 > 0:24:08at the London Palladium, with a 42-week sell-out season.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11# ..To me this world is a wonderful place
0:24:11 > 0:24:15# I'm the luckiest human in the human race... #
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Being top of the bill with your name in lights,
0:24:17 > 0:24:18that's what it's all about.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21It's the recognition of success.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23# ..measuring a man's success
0:24:23 > 0:24:26# Don't count money, count happiness... #
0:24:26 > 0:24:32'It was years since the Palladium had seen a comic that good.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'I used to say, "I bet your bottom dollar you will paralyse them,"
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and he did.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40They'd never seen anyone with that attack,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42and that caring about the work
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and everything has got to be dead right, he was marvellous.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49And he really did wipe the floor with everybody a long time before
0:24:49 > 0:24:51and a long time afterwards.
0:24:51 > 0:24:58# ..I've got more than my share of happiness! #
0:25:02 > 0:25:05One of the most terrifying experiences I ever had
0:25:05 > 0:25:07was when I opened my first night at the Palladium.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11People come from all over Britain to this wonderful, wonderful theatre,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13this temple, this...
0:25:13 > 0:25:18this absolute pinnacle of show business variety,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22the London Palladium, and when you play there, that's it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26You're standing on the spot where Bob Hope and Danny Kaye,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30Judy Garland, all these people they all stood there
0:25:30 > 0:25:32and yeah, it's a wonderful feeling.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36We opened up on a Good Friday, and the place was packed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40And it was a big show.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42I'd look through the curtain - "Oh!"
0:25:43 > 0:25:46"Ooh!" I was terrified.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Really? Your mouth goes dry.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Your teeth stick to your top lip
0:25:51 > 0:25:53FALSETTO: "Hello, everybody."
0:25:54 > 0:25:58And you're supposed to go on there, 2,500 people.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And you're supposed to go on there
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and prove to them that you're a comedian.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09I went out and I was absolutely petrified,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12really, I was, oh...
0:26:12 > 0:26:14And I couldn't have been more wrong.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17A wall,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19a wall of affection and encouragement came from that audience.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11so I think there was great respect from the Fab Four for the Fab One.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35and a friend, George Martin, phoned me
0:27:42 > 0:27:43"for St John's Ambulance?" I said, "Yeah, OK."
0:27:43 > 0:27:43I went along there about 4pm in the afternoon,
0:27:50 > 0:27:51and they were making the most awful row.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54There were kids jumping up and down in the seats in the cinema
0:27:54 > 0:27:56chucking orange peel at each other,
0:27:56 > 0:28:01there were ladies going to the ladies. Oh! I said, "S-s-ssh-ssh..."
0:28:01 > 0:28:04He said, "They're terrible, I'll get them off."
0:28:04 > 0:28:07And about three years later, I was doing a radio show
0:28:07 > 0:28:10and, er, the guests were The Beatles.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13They hadn't quite got there yet but they were near enough
0:28:13 > 0:28:15and Paul McCartney said to me,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17"We've been on with you before, you know, Doddy."
0:28:17 > 0:28:19I said, "No, not with me, son, no."
0:28:19 > 0:28:23He said, "Yeah, don't you remember? That talent show at Maghull."
0:28:23 > 0:28:25"That wasn't you, was it?"
0:28:25 > 0:28:27NEWSREEL: 'The show business personality of 1965,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31'King of the Diddypeople, Ken Dodd.'
0:28:31 > 0:28:33But this A-list celebrity
0:28:33 > 0:28:36was not terribly enthusiastic about the trappings of fame.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Ken's never been one for...
0:28:40 > 0:28:44er, the kind of traditional showbiz celebrity life,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47popping up at parties, you know. He keeps himself to himself,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50he's got his own life, he's got his own world.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53He'll turn up when it's necessary
0:28:53 > 0:28:56for him to turn up and do publicity or whatever it is,
0:28:56 > 0:29:01but he's not one for, er, the sort of celebrity lifestyle.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Ken has never really been a great joiner of things, you know,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08and he's like every great comedian -
0:29:08 > 0:29:10they do keep themselves to themselves,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13which is right, and so they should.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16They've got a huge responsibility, have people like Ken.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19He's adored by the public and everything
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and he doesn't ever let them down,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26and he works at what he does for a living, and that needs...
0:29:26 > 0:29:29not people round him all the time, you know?
0:29:29 > 0:29:32You were the toast of the town.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36You had everybody coming round to the dressing room.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38You could have gone to every party there was,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40there were The Beatles around.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43That must have been an extraordinary time.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46How do you keep your feet on the ground
0:29:46 > 0:29:49when you are suddenly given so much fame?
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Well, fame is a very, erm...
0:29:53 > 0:29:54It's very fragile.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Er, fame is very, erm...
0:29:59 > 0:30:02It come and goes, it happens and...
0:30:02 > 0:30:04You know that now, but at the time?
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Oh, yes, I knew it then.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08I was never really, erm...
0:30:08 > 0:30:13never really impressed by it. I was more concerned by what I was doing.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16I was more... I wanted to be a good comedian.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19I wanted to be a good performer - I still do.
0:30:19 > 0:30:24I wanted to be a good act, yeah, I wanted to be good at what I do.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29So, er, yeah, I've had some magnificent bouquets thrown at me
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and yeah, yeah, it's all, it's very nice
0:30:32 > 0:30:36but you mustn't take it seriously, you mustn't start...
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Once you start thinking you are somebody really special,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43you're in trouble, you're in big trouble. No, no.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45But just performers, artists, entertainers,
0:30:45 > 0:30:51we're just people who were blessed and er, and try to deliver.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59By the 1970s,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03television was no longer the preserve of affluent households.
0:31:03 > 0:31:08Many families now owned a TV and it was the popular market to crack.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14# We are the Diddymen
0:31:14 > 0:31:16# Itty-bitty Diddymen
0:31:16 > 0:31:19# We are the Diddymen who always have a bash. #
0:31:19 > 0:31:21A handful of characters designed
0:31:21 > 0:31:25to appeal to the children in Ken's audience came into their own.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28# ..who come from Knotty Ash. #
0:31:28 > 0:31:32The Diddymen of Knotty Ash had been played by children on stage
0:31:32 > 0:31:37and occasional appearances on TV as string puppets.
0:31:37 > 0:31:43But now they got their own returning TV show, comic stories and annuals.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Och, by the blathering bagpipes o' Killiecrankie!
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I've got fireflies in me kilt.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52Och! Quick! Quick! Put me oot! Someone put me oot!
0:31:52 > 0:31:55I'll put you out, Hamish, me bucko.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Quick! Stand over this soda siphon. That's it, me boy.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01When I was growing up,
0:32:01 > 0:32:02I bought TV Comic in those days
0:32:02 > 0:32:06and that was full of Ken Dodd stories and Diddymen.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08# We are the Diddymen
0:32:08 > 0:32:10# Doddy's dotty Diddymen
0:32:10 > 0:32:13# We are the Diddymen who always have a bash... #
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I used to believe that they lived in Knotty Ash
0:32:16 > 0:32:21in a little glen and I always wanted to go to the jam-butty mines.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24# ..Diddy socks, diddy shoes, diddy hats, diddy trews
0:32:24 > 0:32:27# Around the diddy city, we sing our diddy ditty!
0:32:27 > 0:32:29# We are the Diddymen... #
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Kids absolutely loved them, they really did.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35And it was a great thing, that was another string to Ken's bow.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39You know, he was a marvellous children's entertainer as well
0:32:39 > 0:32:43and he can be a bit naughty on the stage with the gags and things
0:32:43 > 0:32:46but quite different with the Diddymen again.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50It's the personality of the man and it shines through all the time.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52He doesn't have to try.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55There was a word in our house, in our family - "diddy".
0:32:55 > 0:33:00It meant anything that was quaint, whimsical, lovable.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Look at that little diddy house. Look at that little diddy man.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Look at that diddy bike. Look at that diddy cloud, look at that...
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Everything was diddy.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10I had to find a Scot, a gentleman from Scotland,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13who became Wee Hamish from Invercockieleekie.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18I got that off a tin of soup. Wee Hamish from Invercockieleekie.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23I got, erm, from London, the Honourable Nigel Ponsonby-Smallpiece.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Er, from Wales was little Evan from Llantyllellyn.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31England... Ireland was Mick the Marmalizer. That's it.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36To marmalize is a Liverpool word, a verb. To marmalize anybody
0:33:36 > 0:33:40means to give them what for. "I'll marmalize you!"
0:33:40 > 0:33:43And this little Irishman was always very belligerent
0:33:43 > 0:33:45and then of course, I wanted one from Liverpool
0:33:45 > 0:33:49so he became, he was Dicky Mint Dicky Mint. Dicky Mint.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Remember, Dicky, ambition, the grass is always greener
0:33:52 > 0:33:54the other side of the street? You know who said that?
0:33:54 > 0:33:56THROWS VOICE: 'Tom Jones.'
0:33:56 > 0:33:57LAUGHTER
0:34:00 > 0:34:03But whilst his Diddymen thrived on television,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Ken seemed to find TV a bit restrictive.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09There's no question that Ken Dodd was,
0:34:09 > 0:34:11in theatre, the world of theatre,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14drawing crowds and filling theatres,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17was as big as Morecambe Wise, as big as they came.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19What he didn't conquer...
0:34:20 > 0:34:24..to the extent that Eric and Ernie did, he didn't conquer television.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26He's not designed for television.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28His performance is too big,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31it's between him and the audience, not him and the camera.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33# In your smile!
0:34:33 > 0:34:35# Dig out a pleasant outlook
0:34:35 > 0:34:37# Stick out that noble chin... #
0:34:37 > 0:34:41You have to stand on a certain thing, you have to...
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Time is very, very important, you have to work to cameras,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49and you have to, in effect, forget about the audience.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53But that isn't what great comedians are all about.
0:34:57 > 0:34:58APPLAUSE
0:34:58 > 0:34:59Thank you!
0:35:02 > 0:35:05But Ken was most at home on the stage,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09using his finely-tuned instincts to work the crowd.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12He was in charge, and disciplines that mattered on TV -
0:35:12 > 0:35:16like keeping to time - sometimes went out of the window.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22We always knew he was bound to overrun.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24And one night at the Palladium
0:35:24 > 0:35:27he went on so late, and he went on so long...
0:35:27 > 0:35:30We used to have to set the finale.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32You know, he'd finish his set
0:35:32 > 0:35:35and he'd go off and they'd set the finale, there'd be a big finale.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37And the stage manager just set the finale
0:35:37 > 0:35:39while he was still doing his gags.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Things were dropping in, and he threw the keys on
0:35:42 > 0:35:44and said, "You can lock up yourself tonight, Ken,"
0:35:44 > 0:35:45and just threw the keys on the stage.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50# Oooooooo... #
0:35:50 > 0:35:54The first review I ever did, it finished at 20 past 12.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57# ..Or an hour... #
0:35:57 > 0:36:01All the trains were off, so I had to get a taxi.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03And I got paid ?10 for the review. The taxi fare was ?30.
0:36:05 > 0:36:05And I got paid ?10 for the review. The taxi fare was ?30.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10And...the taxi driver who took me home said, "Ah, that'll teach you,"
0:36:10 > 0:36:13and I said, "I didn't know!" and he said, "Oh, we love him."
0:36:13 > 0:36:16All the taxi drivers loved him cos that's how people were getting home.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19Time matters not one jot. Let's say all that together.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Time matters not one jot. ALL: Time matters not one jot.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I'll ask you again in about six hours.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29There's a wonderful story about him and Eric Sykes
0:36:29 > 0:36:33and they were doing a charity show, and Eric by then
0:36:33 > 0:36:38couldn't hear very well, he couldn't see very well, he was not good.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41And they're standing in the wings, waiting to go on,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45and Eric turned to Ken and he said, "What a funny combination we are!"
0:36:45 > 0:36:47He said, "I don't know when to go on
0:36:47 > 0:36:49"and you don't know when to come off!"
0:36:51 > 0:36:56This whole business of you famously overrunning your shows.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Oh, that's a load of rubbish. It's a gimmick, a gimmick.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02You do it, don't you? It's a gimmick, yes.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04You do it, and I was reading stories - you can tell me
0:37:04 > 0:37:06if this is true or not.
0:37:06 > 0:37:07It wasn't... At the Palladium...
0:37:07 > 0:37:11You couldn't do that at the Palladium, no. No? Wow, no, no, no.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14If you ran a minute over you'd get told off.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16That's not what Michael Grade says.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18What happened was, it happened...
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Once I'd done the Palladium three times,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23four times, five times, six times,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26and played many weeks there and recording
0:37:26 > 0:37:30and had a double golden disc and a silver and that,
0:37:30 > 0:37:35you know, you get quite... Quite confident.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41And I was so confident, I started backing my own shows.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46So put your own money into getting the show off the ground. That's it.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48And that makes you very nervous,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52very nervous, I can tell you. Until you hear the tills ringing.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55You can hear the sound of empty seats though,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57if you're not careful!
0:37:57 > 0:38:01But then, it was my show, you see,
0:38:01 > 0:38:03and...I was the governor.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Then you could break the rules. Ahhhhh!
0:38:06 > 0:38:08DOCTOR WHO THEME
0:38:10 > 0:38:14But by the '80s, popular taste in comedy was changing.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17Ken still made guest appearances on television, though.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21Are we going to have a whole space cruiser to ourselves?
0:38:21 > 0:38:27Oh, no. You're going on a scheduled tour with the Navarinos 1950s Club.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31But the heyday of variety on television was fading.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Then, in 1989, Ken received unwelcome news.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41The comedian Ken Dodd has been accused of hiding
0:38:41 > 0:38:43hundreds of thousands of pounds from the taxman.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50Ken faced charges of tax evasion and a possible prison sentence.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56NEWSREADER: 'Eric Sykes told the court that
0:38:56 > 0:38:58'in show business Ken Dodd was King.'
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Celebrity friends turned out to provide character references
0:39:03 > 0:39:05for the comedian.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10When the trial was on and we were all sat up there, we were all
0:39:10 > 0:39:13on tenterhooks, and so was Ken, about whether he'd go inside or not.
0:39:13 > 0:39:19But if he'd have gone inside, he would have died. He would have died.
0:39:23 > 0:39:24He's a very, very
0:39:24 > 0:39:25private person,
0:39:25 > 0:39:30and this was elements of his whole life being broadcast,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32being written about in papers,
0:39:32 > 0:39:34and that, I think, was the hardest part for him.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38In the end, Ken was acquitted of the charges.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44'When your life is at stake, cos that's what was at stake -
0:39:44 > 0:39:47'my life...
0:39:47 > 0:39:52'I don't really think, if anything had gone terribly wrong,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55'I don't think I could have ever appeared in public again.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59'So my life was... My life is show business.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03'I've only lived for show business, so my life was at stake.'
0:40:03 > 0:40:08I've had so many wonderful letters and so many communications
0:40:08 > 0:40:15from people who said, "Does this sound like we're praying for you?"
0:40:15 > 0:40:19And I have to say, I believe in the power of the prayer.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24Yes, I do. Honestly, yes.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29A lot of people when they hear Ken talking about the court case
0:40:29 > 0:40:34will hear him tell that joke about the self-assessment, you know,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37when he says, you know, "They have just introduced this new idea,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39"the Inland Revenue self-assessment.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41"Actually they got that idea from me," he says,
0:40:41 > 0:40:43and he sort of laughs it off.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47But those who know Ken and know the spiritual side to him
0:40:47 > 0:40:51know that he is also a deeply reflective person.
0:40:51 > 0:40:57And I think, like most people, he will have those moments
0:40:57 > 0:41:00when, out of the public glare,
0:41:00 > 0:41:05he is quiet and reflective and takes things to heart.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Nobody's life runs the smoothest course, nobody's.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11We've all had stuff...
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Some things that happened quietly and privately,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16some things that happened publicly and noisily,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19and some things that are very difficult to deal with.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23You had a horrible time with a court case.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Everybody in life has trials. You are being tried out.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29The secret is really...
0:41:29 > 0:41:32It's not a secret, but the answer is how you react to it.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Do you let it get you down, do you let it beat you?
0:41:36 > 0:41:39As I say, I have been very blessed, and...
0:41:39 > 0:41:42I do have a faith and I do say prayers
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and I do ask for help and I know that I've received help.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51You never felt that your faith was tested through trials?
0:41:51 > 0:41:55Many times, many times. Your faith is tested every day. Yeah.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58That something happens and you say, "Well, you know,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03"how do I react? Do I just let it go or do I fight it
0:42:03 > 0:42:07"or I do start feeling sorry for myself?"
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Yeah, and they are all normal human reactions.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Have you ever had days when you felt...
0:42:13 > 0:42:17"I just, I can't put one foot after another today,
0:42:17 > 0:42:22"I don't want to." No, no, my life has been so,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25so blessed that it's been very wonderful.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:42:27 > 0:42:29By Jove!
0:42:29 > 0:42:35Ken celebrated 40 years in show business in the 1990s.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Television hadn't always been his favourite medium,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42but he wowed new audiences with a TV special.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46Thank you!
0:42:46 > 0:42:49I only ever think of Ken Dodd as Ken Dodd.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53There's very few entertainers, and I am not being ridiculous
0:42:53 > 0:42:56and comparing him to Frank Sinatra,
0:42:56 > 0:42:58but there is a comparison where Sinatra
0:42:58 > 0:43:03suits some mediums maybe better than others, but what you think of
0:43:03 > 0:43:06when you think, is Frank Sinatra the man.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09And when you think of Ken Dodd you think of Ken Dodd the man,
0:43:09 > 0:43:11you don't think of a TV series,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Or you don't think of a hit record, you just think of Ken Dodd.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18I think it would be a good idea... We watched you all coming in, you know.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21We peeped through the curtains, saw you staggering along the South Bank,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26all using your inhalers... Elastic stockings flapping in the breeze...
0:43:26 > 0:43:31He is a throwback in certain ways, he's a throwback in his approach
0:43:31 > 0:43:34and his delivery and all that, but he's not a throwback when
0:43:34 > 0:43:39it comes to thinking and comes to doing topical jokes and new jokes.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Five o'clock this morning in Knotty Ash,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44I flung the bedroom windows open, climbed in...
0:43:44 > 0:43:47I'd like to do a scientific experiment
0:43:47 > 0:43:51and get a room full of people who really can't stand him,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53don't like him or never heard of him,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57and say, "Right, you are going to sit and you are going to watch
0:43:57 > 0:44:01"Ken Dodd in the theatre, and you mustn't laugh."
0:44:01 > 0:44:06And I tell you, three...maximum six gags in, they'll be cracked up.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08You know, you just can't help it.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11He is still the funniest, funniest, funniest man.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21This Is Your Life, the 500th for Thames Television,
0:44:21 > 0:44:24and we've got a bumper, extended edition.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Now the Master of Mirth whose name is on this book is at this moment
0:44:27 > 0:44:29approaching another London theatre.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33This Is Your Life marked its 500th anniversary
0:44:33 > 0:44:36with a special edition dedicated to Ken.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38It does look nice.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42It's also a beautiful day for me to say...Ken Dodd. Oh, no!
0:44:42 > 0:44:47This is your life. Oh! Oh! Oh!
0:44:47 > 0:44:50How discumnockerating!
0:44:50 > 0:44:52APPLAUSE
0:44:54 > 0:44:59Fiancee Anne Jones made a rare public appearance at Ken's side.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02I used to work nine to five, and now it's nine to five
0:45:02 > 0:45:04but I finish at five in the morning!
0:45:05 > 0:45:06KEN MOUTHS
0:45:06 > 0:45:08It's a hard life!
0:45:08 > 0:45:09LAUGHTER
0:45:12 > 0:45:15Ken is the most private of celebrities.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17He has never written a biography,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20and rarely discusses details of his personal life.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25He doesn't want people to know how, why he got here or there
0:45:25 > 0:45:29or, you know, what food he eats, apart from jam butties.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33But...it's that privacy and I think that is why
0:45:33 > 0:45:36he's one of the few celebrities who won't let you in.
0:45:36 > 0:45:37You're only allowed so far.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41Someone else you have in your life who looks after you wonderfully
0:45:41 > 0:45:44is Anne. Oh, yes. Anne Jones.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48She is an amazing, wonderful, wonderful person.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53And...yeah...absolutely. I can't...
0:45:53 > 0:45:55I can't say any more than that.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59Yes. And how long has she been with you?
0:45:59 > 0:46:02You've been together how long? Oh, all day!
0:46:02 > 0:46:07May I ask you a little bit about how you met? No. No?
0:46:07 > 0:46:11No. See, you are incredibly private.
0:46:11 > 0:46:18I think when people are asking you very personal details of your life,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21I think it's like somebody going through your laundry.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25You know? There are certain things and certain parts of your life
0:46:25 > 0:46:30that you want to keep...not private, I've got no secrets, but personal.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34None of us like anybody, you know, trying to have a look
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and see what we've got hidden away in the cupboard.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39I haven't got anything hidden away, honestly.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42I haven't got anything hidden away.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45I resent people being a nosy parker, you know. Yes. They can ask me
0:46:45 > 0:46:50anything they like about Ken Dodd the entertainer, the performer.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Yeah, I'll tell you anything about that.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56Tell you all my secrets there. But no...
0:46:57 > 0:47:00When it's personal, it's personal.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04Fair enough. I wear a vest. Is that what you'd like?
0:47:04 > 0:47:08And sometimes I sleep in my socks.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12How much more personal do you want it? That's pretty personal!
0:47:12 > 0:47:14THEY LAUGH
0:47:25 > 0:47:29We say, "Welcome to Liverpool, the greatest city in the world."
0:47:29 > 0:47:32Yeah, I was going to ask you about this skyline.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Throughout his career, Ken has been a proud ambassador
0:47:36 > 0:47:38of his beloved Merseyside.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45When they tunneled all the soil
0:47:45 > 0:47:49and the rock and the granite and the stuff out of the Mersey Tunnel,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52they brought it here and made this beautiful Otterspool Promenade.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06The great thing about Ken is that,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10unlike other people who may move up in their career,
0:48:10 > 0:48:13he hasn't moved away.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16And he's stayed, and he's stayed in Knotty Ash,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20and he loves the people of Liverpool, and they love him and...
0:48:20 > 0:48:23You can never open the Liverpool Echo without there being
0:48:23 > 0:48:28a story about Ken, and if you read those stories,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33they're about him encouraging local people, local charities.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35You must have enough now.
0:48:35 > 0:48:36Thank you.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39What's your name? Eileen. Eileen?
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Eileen from Skelm. "Eileen" to the left or the right?
0:48:42 > 0:48:44'You only have to see him walk down the street,'
0:48:44 > 0:48:48you only have to see people at the stage door who just love him,
0:48:48 > 0:48:54you know, cos he gives out love and he gets it back in fair measure.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Over the years, Ken has sometimes
0:49:00 > 0:49:03gone against the main tide of opinion in Liverpool.
0:49:05 > 0:49:11He supported Mrs Thatcher in the run-up to the 1979 General Election.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Liverpool is hardly Thatcher heartland.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Er...I think the Thatcherite supporters
0:49:18 > 0:49:22knew they were on with a winner with someone like Ken,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24all-wholesome entertainer.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27He certainly would make it more light-hearted, wouldn't he?
0:49:27 > 0:49:30And more believable. I mean, put Ken Dodd anywhere,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32he's going to get people to come to it and...
0:49:32 > 0:49:35and listen to him, and I am sure Mrs Thatcher was delighted.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37What was she like?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41Lovely. Absolutely wonderful, a wonderful lady, yeah.
0:49:41 > 0:49:48And a very... A very caring lady, a lady who gave you confidence.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52Yeah, she was a lovely lady, yeah. She came to see the show.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57She came... The party conference at Blackpool, she came in there
0:49:57 > 0:50:01and I happened to mention I was at the Palladium in a few weeks' time.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03"Oh," she said, "We must come and see you!"
0:50:03 > 0:50:08I said, "Oh, would you like to?" She said, "Yes, we'd love to."
0:50:08 > 0:50:12I forgot all about it, and so a fortnight beforehand,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16the phone rings. "Mrs Thatcher would like ten seats."
0:50:16 > 0:50:21So she came along there and I come on the stage, er...
0:50:21 > 0:50:24And she is sitting in the audience and my first spot...
0:50:24 > 0:50:26I must have been very cheeky.
0:50:26 > 0:50:27I must have been...
0:50:27 > 0:50:32I said, "Isn't this wonderful, Mrs Thatcher? This is a first.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35"I'm talking and you're listening!"
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Politics aside, in 2003,
0:50:40 > 0:50:45Liverpudlians voted Ken the greatest Merseysider of all time.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48# For Knotty Ash... #
0:50:48 > 0:50:53For years he has quietly supported small local charities.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59Each year she's just took a staggering 2,000 kids up the canal.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02And even brings one or two of them back!
0:51:02 > 0:51:08And he was awarded an OBE for his work on behalf of charitable causes
0:51:08 > 0:51:10and for services to show business.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Presumably you'll be opening a few bottles this evening?
0:51:13 > 0:51:16Oh, I shall go and open a bottle of tickle tonic right away,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19immediately, if not before. So, it's a great day, is it?
0:51:19 > 0:51:21It is indeed. Great day for Knotty Ash,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24and all the Diddymen and Diddy Ladies.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30He has helped the choir immensely, financially,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33because he's just been so incredibly generous.
0:51:33 > 0:51:34As he is. He's known for it,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37and he has done so many shows for us
0:51:37 > 0:51:40completely gratis just because he wanted to help the choir.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44# Last night I had a dream
0:51:44 > 0:51:47# I was walking on the sand... #
0:51:49 > 0:51:53And for a private man, Ken has never shied away from
0:51:53 > 0:51:55being open about his faith.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00He has recorded religious songs, including one adapted by Anne
0:52:00 > 0:52:03from the Christian poem Footsteps in the Sand.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07# ..Your steps were next to mine
0:52:07 > 0:52:09# All the time... #
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I can remember... I can tell this story because he's given permission
0:52:14 > 0:52:16for me to say it.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19I was preaching in one of our churches
0:52:19 > 0:52:23not too far from where Ken lives,
0:52:23 > 0:52:26and I felt constrained in my sermon to say,
0:52:26 > 0:52:30"If you've come here tonight to be entertained by the music,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32"you know, to listen to an interesting sermon," I said,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35"I think you may be very disappointed,
0:52:35 > 0:52:37"but if you have come here tonight
0:52:37 > 0:52:42"and are looking for God to speak to you, then maybe he will."
0:52:42 > 0:52:46And then the service was over and I stood at the door
0:52:46 > 0:52:50and shook hands and I was conscious of a figure in the shadows,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53just waiting till everybody had gone. And it was Ken.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00And he took my hand in both of his and he said, "You know, tonight,
0:53:00 > 0:53:06"I came in to the church and I knelt down and I just said to God,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09"'Speak to me, speak to me.'"
0:53:09 > 0:53:12And he said, "When you stood up in that pulpit
0:53:12 > 0:53:16"and said, 'If you have come here tonight to hear God speak to you'",
0:53:16 > 0:53:20he said, "If angels had appeared, I would not have been surprised."
0:53:20 > 0:53:23MUSIC: "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful"
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Ken is a regular member of the congregation
0:53:26 > 0:53:28at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32He always comes in quietly, unobtrusively.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34People look and say,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37"Is it? Is it?" and we go, "Yes, but sh."
0:53:37 > 0:53:40But then he makes his way straight to sit down
0:53:40 > 0:53:43and he is part of the congregation.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45There is no laughing or joking then.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47To see him worshiping and to see him
0:53:47 > 0:53:51listening intently to the music and to the lessons and things,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54it really does have a large part to play in his persona, I think.
0:53:54 > 0:53:59And he... I would say he is a spiritual man, and to he and Anne,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01coming here as their spiritual home on a Sunday
0:54:01 > 0:54:03does mean very much to them.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12Ken has even hinted that if his life had taken a different turn,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15he may have considered a bigger role in the church.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22I said, "What would you have done, Ken, if you weren't a comedian?"
0:54:22 > 0:54:24He said, "I wouldn't mind being a vicar."
0:54:24 > 0:54:26I was taken aback by this.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31He said, "Yeah, I would." I thought, what a fantastic vicar Ken would be,
0:54:31 > 0:54:36what wonderful services they would be. The sermons would be amazing.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39The problem is that if you went into morning service
0:54:39 > 0:54:41you'd still be there for Evensong!
0:54:44 > 0:54:47But Ken's life is firmly on the stage.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52At the age of 86, he is still touring, with no plans to stop.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00He doesn't tell rude jokes, he doesn't tell nasty jokes,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03he doesn't tell jokes that score points out of people.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07He talks to an audience like friends.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09I have special place for Ken.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12I think he is a really lovely man and a super comedian.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17He'll sit in his dressing room, if you see him before the show,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19he sits there and he's sort of nodding off, you know,
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and you think, "Oh, you know, "Ken, you shouldn't be doing this."
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And then you go and sit out front and on comes this man
0:55:26 > 0:55:30who is 40 years younger than the one you saw in the dressing room,
0:55:30 > 0:55:34and the magic is still there, and he is still bringing happiness.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ken Dodd!
0:55:38 > 0:55:41APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:55:41 > 0:55:44You never stop being a priest or a bishop.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50And as Ken so wonderfully shows, you never stop being a comedian,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52because it's not just a job.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55It's a way of life, it's an attitude to life.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58How do you spend Christmas day?
0:55:58 > 0:56:01Try to get up early on Christmas day because I don't want to waste it.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05Go to the midnight service here on Christmas Eve
0:56:05 > 0:56:09and we just go to bed and get up again the next morning
0:56:09 > 0:56:14for the first morning service here. Yeah. Christmas Eucharist.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17I can say it. At one time a few years ago
0:56:17 > 0:56:19I found Christmas rather depressing.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24Why? Well, because not having my family any more, here,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27to celebrate Christmas. But I read somewhere
0:56:27 > 0:56:31the best way to beat depression is to make someone else happy.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33And that's good, yeah.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36This time of the year I do a lot of... Quite a lot of...
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Here, I am doing two carol concerts,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43and I get a chance to go into in the pulpit,
0:56:43 > 0:56:47so I can pretend I'm the Archbishop of Canterbury.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51To me, the most telling of Christmas symbols
0:56:51 > 0:56:55is a baby who represents hope.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Who represents...a better world.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03Hope, and, please God, happiness.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Happy Christmas,
0:57:06 > 0:57:10and congratulations on your diamond anniversary in show business.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure, thank you.
0:57:12 > 0:57:19May I present to you, as...the journalist of the year,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23the Fern that grows in a beautiful garden,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25your very own tickling stick.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28Bless you. I shall treasure it.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: "Happiness" by Ken Dodd
0:57:40 > 0:57:44Ken Dodd. An intensely public man,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47and yet also an intensely private man.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51I wondered at the beginning if he was as mysterious and enigmatic
0:57:51 > 0:57:54as I thought. I don't think he is.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57I think what you see is what you get.
0:57:57 > 0:58:02He shares his gift of laughter with us and we love him for it.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05As he would say, Happy Ticklemas!
0:58:06 > 0:58:10Next week I meet world champion, Olympic gold medallist,
0:58:10 > 0:58:14and Sports Personality Of The Year nominee Christine Ohuruogu
0:58:14 > 0:58:18to ask how her faith has helped her to overcome difficulties
0:58:18 > 0:58:22and become one of the greatest female athletes ever.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25# I thank the Lord that we've been blessed
0:58:25 > 0:58:28# With more than our share of happiness... # Everybody!
0:58:28 > 0:58:31# Happiness, happiness
0:58:31 > 0:58:34# The greatest gift that you possess
0:58:34 > 0:58:37# I thank the Lord that we've been blessed
0:58:37 > 0:58:40# With more than our share of happiness
0:58:40 > 0:58:49# More than our share of happiness! #
0:58:49 > 0:58:52Happiness for you!
0:58:52 > 0:58:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd