Steptoe and Son - Fifty Years of Magic

Forget the laughter. It was the tears, a trickle of real grief, that announced a new kind of comedy on television half a century ago. One Friday evening in January 1962, an episode of the BBC’s Comedy Playhouse series changed the face of sitcom for ever. Previous shows in the series, by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, had featured comedians such as Eric Sykes and Stanley Baxter. This episode was different: it starred two theatre actors, one a veteran of provincial rep, the other a devotee of the Method School of acting. Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett were cast as father and son, scraping a living from the rubbish people threw out, surviving on cold, tinned food and the dregs of bottles they collected from behind restaurants. They wore rags salvaged from the bags of clothes they picked up on their rounds, traipsing the streets of London with a horse and cart.

At the beginning of the Sixties, when Kennedy was U.S. President and the British had ‘never had it so good’, there was no future for the rag ’n’ bone man. And Corbett’s character knew it: he had to escape from the junkyard and his drunken, idle father. But he had nowhere to go. The final, achingly poignant scene has Corbett straining between the shafts of the cart, desperate to drag his possessions away from the ‘rathole’ where he was born. The cart is too heavy to move, and his father refuses to let him borrow the horse. Slowly, Corbett breaks down, screwing up his face and sobbing, then throwing himself face forward on the cart. ‘We couldn’t believe what we were seeing,’ Galton says, 50 years on. ‘I nudged Alan and told him: “Those are genuine tears. He’s really crying!” We were used to comics who would turn their backs and shake their shoulders, boo-hoo-hoo.’ The BBC commissioned a series, Steptoe And Son, based on this pilot. The first run, in the summer of 1962, was so popular the six episodes were immediately repeated. Galton and Simpson were in Spain working on a movie script, when Corbett flew out to see them. ‘It’s incredible,’ he told them. ‘We’ve started a national sensation!’

[Popular: Writers and Creators of the BBC series Ray Galton, left, and Alan Simpson, right.]

Steptoe And Son laid the rules for all the best sitcoms over the next decades. Its characters were trapped by their own flaws, convinced they were born for better things, but doomed to repeat their mistakes. Harold Steptoe could barely read, yet he longed to be an intellectual, a boulevardier. Instead, he had to look after the one person he despised most, his dad.

One early Steptoe episode shows Harold returning from the rounds to find his father soaking in a tin bath in front of the fire, his dinner balanced on his knees. ‘I got a bird coming round tonight,’ protests the younger man, and Albert smirks: he knows; that’s why he’s doing it.

‘You shouldn’t be eating your dinner in the bath,’ Harold scolds him. ‘Whichever way you look at it, to fish pickled onions out of your bath and put them back in the jar is an act of extreme dirtiness.’ Their antagonism reaches its highest pitch in perhaps the best-loved episode, Divided We Stand, where they build a plywood wall through their house and hurl insults over it. Even then, they can’t escape from each other — a kitchen fire starts, and they end up in hospital beds, side by side. Their fates and their flaws have twisted them together.

Count how many times, and in how many ways, that set-up has been mirrored in Britain’s favourite comedies. Dad’s Army’s Captain Mainwaring, desperate for respect but always feeling inferior to his deputy bank manager, the public school-educated Sgt Wilson; Basil Fawlty, loathing the wife who keeps him cringeing under her thumb. Del Boy, forever promising he’ll be a millionaire ‘this time next year’, though he knows he’ll never be anything but a small-time crook and David Brent, who tries to disguise his incompetence with jokes and jargon, and cannot quite grasp why his staff detest him. Sometimes the claustrophobia is real, like Fletch’s prison cell in Porridge or Father Ted’s island priest-hole. Sometimes it is self-imposed, like the Royle family’s living room. And sometimes it’s all in the mind, like Victor Meldrew’s persecution complex.

These situations are tragic, not funny. They are rooted in poverty, crime, age, class, greed and lack of education. So why do we laugh? When TV comedy started, it was modelled on the variety acts of the music halls. Galton and Simpson were 21-year-old novice gag-writers, friends who had spent their teens in a sanatorium recovering from tuberculosis, when they were hired by BBC radio to script comedy hours for the Light Programme.

They had a radical ambition, which they shared with comedian Tony Hancock — to create hilarious shows with no stand-up jokes, no punchlines, no silly voices, no guest stars and no sketches . . . just a single storyline with believable characters. All the comedy would be in the situation. They worked with Hancock for seven years — more than 100 radio episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour, 60 TV shows and a movie — before the comedian split from them, years later committing suicide. The BBC’s head of entertainment, Tom Sloan, was determined not to lose his star writers and made them an astonishing proposition. If they agreed to write a series of short comic plays, they could pick any subjects they wanted, hire any actors they liked, be the directors or even the stars if they felt like it.

‘That’s how Comedy Playhouse started,’ Simpson says today. ‘No other TV writers had ever been given such freedom, and I’m sure it could never happen now.’ W hen they han-ded the Playhouse concept over to other comedy writers, two years later, the series became a launchpad for great sitcoms, including Last Of The Summer Wine, The Liver Birds and Are You Being Served?

Its most controversial success was Till Death Us Do Part. The star was a bigoted, foul-mouthed, bullying racist called Alf Garnett, who became one of TV’s most perversely popular characters. Alan Simpson believes personalities such as Alf, or Albert Steptoe, spring from the same collective British consciousness that supplied the best-loved names in literature: ‘Dickens knew how to write characters with deep human failings who were unforgettably comic: Uriah Heep, Fagin, Mrs Gamp, Scrooge.’

Classical sources or not, the new wave of radical Sixties sitcom upset a lot of people. Mary Whitehouse, the self-appointed guardian of public morals, sued Till Death’s writer, Johnny Speight (he had called her a fascist). Steptoe went one better — questions were asked in the Commons after the B-word was broadcast in an episode about a piano. Harold and Albert are summoned to a penthouse to collect a baby grand. It’s too wide and heavy to remove. In the end, Harold declares: ‘What goes up can bleedin’ well stay up!’ Dr Donald Johnson, Tory MP for Carlisle, complained about this offensive ‘expletive’ and asked for the government to take action to ensure it was never broadcast again.

The Speaker, Sir Harry Hylton-Foster, ruled that no explanation could be forthcoming because it would involve ‘unparliamentary language’. Compare that to today, where the grossness of the language is the sum total of much that passes for comedy. Old Man Steptoe’s non-stop rants offended some because they highlighted how deeply injustice still ran in post-war Britain. Watch Inbetweeners or Benidorm and you’ll hunt in vain for a political point. The brand of intelligent comedy they pioneered is rare now, but Ray Galton, 81, and Alan Simpson, 82, are still around. They meet every Monday to drink coffee and swap stories. ‘We complement each other,’ Alan says. ‘He helps me up stairs, and I tell him what day it is.’ Ray grins, and puffs on his roll-up. ‘That’s fine, but he still thinks George V is on the throne.’ They both chuckle. Clearly, comedy writers might grow old but they never grow up.

Classic Brookside - Remembering Damon Grant (1982 - 1987)

Damon Grant was the first heart throb in the now defunct British soap opera Brookside and was played by Simon O'Brien. The character was part of the initial cast,appearing from episode one in 1982 until 1987. At the time of the soap'sinception, Damon was the youngest son of Bobby and SheilasGrant, with an older brother, Barry and older sister, Karen.

Damon was introduced after having broken into the Collins' house in the first episode on 2 November 1982, aged 14. When ques tioned about the theft of a lavatory and vandalism that occurs by Paul Collins, Bobby lashes out at Damon. Barry defends Damon after the occurrence, pointing out that he did not have the tools to remove the lavatory in the way it had been done and that the graffiti could not have been Damon either as "he only spells 'bollocks' with one 'l'".

The Brookside soap opera wasregarded as tackling social issues, andthis was no less true when dealing with the Grant family, and Damon. One of the first of the show's manyteenage characters to capture the viewing public's imagination, the role saw O'Brien catapulted tofame as a teen heart throb, andhis adoption of the "mullet" hairstyle proved to be in keeping withthe zeitgeist of the times,and saw the character further entrenched as a cultural reference point.

Storylines saw Grant presented initially as a cheeky, lovablecharacter, with a close group of friends. The manner of Grant'scharacterisation, both by the writers, directors and by O'Brien, led Jane Root, writing in Open the Box: About Television,to cite the character as evidence of "complex male characters andmasculine storylines". Root saw this focus as different from establishedsoap operas.

As the character grew olderand left school, the writers used storylines to comment on life in Thatcher's Britain. Unemployment was a serioussocial issue, especially in a dock citysuch as Liverpool, andGrant's character struggled to find work. Eventually he took a position as a painter & decorator throughthe recently introduced YTS scheme,the writers depicting the excitement and later despair when Grant'sparticipation failed to lead to a full-time job to great effect.

The character was then shown todevelop a relationship with DebbieMcGrath, played by GillianKearney. McGrath was an underage school girl, and the relationshipcaught the heart of viewers. WhenO'Brien decided to leave the show, the producers of Brookside decided to spinthis plotline into a separate show, Damon& Debbie, broadcast in a later timeslot than that in which Brooksidewas shown.

This three part series, credited as the first 'soap bubble'. moves the character out from Liverpoolin search of work. In the first episode the couple squat on a boat on theRiverOuse in York, in the second episode they moveto Morecambe and then Bradford, where Damon gets a job as agroundsman at Valley (thestadium of Bradford City footballclub) before they finally return to York in the third episode. Ultimately, thecharacter is stabbed by Crosby actor Jonathan Comer, and dies at the end of theseries at O'Brien's request, amove which sparked upset and outrage amongst fans of the show, and added toboth Brookside's fame and notoriety.

Within the Brookside show thecharacter's death was used as a catalyst for again exploring a number ofissues, including the grief of the character's mother, played by Sue Johnston, and that of the character's father, Bobby Grant, played by RickyTomlinson, who was shown as blaming the death upon his unemployment. Ultimately, Damon's death led to thesplintering of the Grant family within Brookside.

The character's funeral was watched by 7 million viewers,against Channel 4’s record ratingof 8.4 million set in 2005, andin The Daily Mirror,critic Clare Raymond claimed it to be one of the "most touching soapscenes". In 2001, JimShelley, writing for TheObserver, claimed the character's death to be one of two contenders for themoment where it all went wrong for Brookside, whilein 2002, with the announcement that Brookside was to end, the funeral scene waslisted as the fourth greatest episode in the soap's history by The Daily Mirror. In 2003, producer Phil Redmond discussed plans tocontinue the show through a series of DVD's,with one planned storyline involving '"Brookside's greatest untoldstory" -what would happen if Barry caught up with Damon's killers

Coronation Street - the 1970s

The 1970s saw Coronation Street's production team dealing with problems routinely besetting long-running soaps - how to write and structure the show when a favourite character leaves or dies, and how to manage audience reaction. When, in 1970, Arthur Leslie (who played the genial Rovers landlord, Jack Walker) died suddenly, his character was laid to rest too. Anne Reid determined to leave the show in 1971, and was written out, electrocuting herself with a faulty hairdryer. Granada's strategy to cope with these losses was to introduce new residents and allow established but smaller characters to step into the limelight. The characters of Bet Lynch, Deirdre Hunt and Mavis Riley were developed between 1972 and '73, while Gail Potter, Jack and Vera Duckworth and Rovers pot man Fred Gee all made their debuts during the decade.

In June 1970 the show celebrated its 1000th episode, and was being sold to ten countries including Sierra Leone, Hong Kong, Holland and Greece (with sometimes dubious subtitling). Colour came to the Street in mid-1972, and sets were expanded to allow viewers to see the houses' roofs and back gardens. In 1976 Bill Podmore, the Street's longest serving producer, joined the team, replacing Susi Hush. He immediately sought out the areas "crying out for a facelift or even a face change". Podmoreinherited such experienced writers as Adele Rose, Leslie Duxbury andHarry Kershaw, and his production background in television comedies ensured that humour became a stronger ingredient of the show.

Legendary couples Stan and Hilda Ogden and Jack and Vera Duckworth's marital spats frequently bordered on music hall turns, while other comic characters - including brassy and brittle Ivy Tilsley, with her background in cabaret, and Eddie Yeats, the ex-con turned bin man with a heart of gold - were brought to the fore.

The staple diet of births, ill-fated marriages and violent deaths continued. Storylines included the birth, in 1977, of Tracy Langton, the marriage of Brian Tilsley and Gail Potter in 1979, and the murder of Ernie Bishop during a robbery at the factory in 1978.

Despite the growing popularity of the daytime soap Crossroads (ITV, 1964-88; 2001-03), the Street had little competition, retaining its primetime slot and increasing its ratings. Novelist John Braine, writing inTV Times in 1970, accounted for the show's longevity: "the most important character in the Street is the Street itself. No matter who comes and goes, the Street remains".

Doing his Porridge - Remembering Lennie Godber

Leonard Arthur "Lennie" Godber was played by the late, great Richard Beckinsale in the classic BBC sit-com Porridge.

Godber is from Birmingham and supports Aston Villa F.C., has an O Level in Geography, and studies for a History O Level while in prison. Before he was arrested he shared a flat with his girlfriend Denise in nearby Cheswick in the West Midslands. In an effort to get her a gift, Godber broke into a neighbour's flat. He was caught, and it was for this that he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Denise later broke up with Godber through a Dear John Letter.

In the first episode, Lennie arrives at Slade Prison, along with Fletch. However, unlike Fletch, who has spent several five-year spells in prison, this is Godber's first stretch of 'porridge'. Fletcher felt strongly about someone of Godber's age being in prison. However, when Godber announces that upon his release he plans to 'go straight', Fletch is perplexed, announcing:

"Twenty-three and you want to go straight? What kind of talk is that? You've got your whole life before you!"

Fletch and Godber later become cell-mates, and Fletch is quick to take the naïve Godber under his wing, who learns much from him, and by the end of the series has inherited much of his cunning.

Godber also often came into conflict with the ever suspicious Mr Mackay, who appeared to find it very hard to believe that Lennie was not up to something. Even when he was, MacKay found it very hard to pin anything on him, thanks to Godber's penchant for dramatics, and occasionally to the cover-up efforts of Fletch and the sympathetic Mr Barrowclough.

Godber works in the prison kitchen where he has ample opportunities to steal valuable commodities such as butter and pineapple chunks for Fletcher. Godber also briefly took up a career as a Boxer in the prison, although this was short-lived when he got involved in match fixing.

Doe-eyed, optimistic Godber was the perfect sidekick for grouchy, world-weary Fletcher, and the banter between the two became one of the main attractions of the series. This was arguably best illustrated in the ambitious episode "A Night In", a bottle episode set entirely in relative darkness within the confines of their cell, with only the pair's conversation for entertainment.

This concept has been imitated by many other sitcoms, such as Friends ("The One Where No One's Ready") and Bottom ("Hole"). However, few, if any of these have managed to recreate the minimalistic feel of the original, falling back on other comedy devices (the former had several characters, each with their own storyline, and the latter was set atop a Ferris Wheel, and much of the comedy derived from this setting).

In the follow-up series Going Straight, Godber is a long-distance lorry driver, engaged to Fletch's daughter Ingrid (whom he began writing to shortly after Denise broke up with him). They were married in the final episode.

Due to Richard Beckinsale's premature death, Godber does not appear in the 2003 mocumentary Life Beyond the Box Norman Stanley Fletcher, although Ingrid receives a phone call from him, saying he's stuck on a motorway. They have one son, named Norman after his grandfather.

America's Finest - The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.

While the publication traces its historical roots to Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Gazette was first published in 1728 by Samuel Keimer. The following year (1729), Franklin acquired the Gazette from Keimer for a small sum and turned it into the largest circulation newspaper in all the colonies. It continued publication until 1815. The Saturday Evening Post was founded in 1821 and grew to become the most widely circulated weekly magazine in America. The magazine gained prominent status under the leadership of its longtime editor George Horace Lorimer (1899–1937)

The Saturday Evening Post published current event articles, editorials, human interest pieces, humor, illustrations, a letter column, poetry (with contributions submitted by readers), single-panel gag cartoons (including Hazel by Ted Key) and stories by the leading writers of the time. It was known for commissioning lavish illustrations and original works of fiction. Illustrations were featured on the cover and embedded in stories and advertising. Some Post illustrations became popular and continue to be reproduced as posters or prints, especially those by Norman Rockwell.

Curtis Publishing Co. stopped publishing the Post in 1969 after the company lostlandmark defamation suit and was ordered to pay over $3 million in damages. The Postwas revived in 1971 as a quarterly publication. As of the late 2000s, the Saturday Evening Post magazine is published six times a year by the "Saturday Evening Post Society", which purchased the magazine in 1982.

In 1916, Saturday Evening Post editor George Horace Lorimer discovered Norman Rockwelll, then an unknown 22-year-old New York artist. Lorimer promptly purchased two illustrations from Rockwell, using them as covers, and commissioned three more drawings. Rockwell's illustrations of the American family and rural life of a bygone era became icons. During his 50-year career with the Post, Rockwell painted more than 300 covers.

The Post also employed Nebraska artist John Philip Falter, who became known "as a painter of Americana with an accent of the Middle West," who "brought out some of the homeliness and humor of Middle Western town life and home life." He produced 120 covers for the Postbetween 1943 and 1968, ceasing only when the magazine began displaying photographs on its covers. Other popular cover illustrators include the artists John Clymer, W.HD. Koerner, J.C Leyendecker, Charles Archibald Maclellan, John. E. Sheridan, and N.C Wyeth

The magazine's line-up of cartoonists included Bob Barnes, Irwin Caplan Tom Henderson, Al Johns, Clyde Lamb, Jerry Marcus, Frank O'Neal, B. Tobey, Pete Wyma and Bill Yates. The magazine ran Ted Key's cartoon panel series Hazell from 1943 to 1969.

Each issue featured several original short stories and often included an installment of a serial appearing in successive issues. Most of the fiction was written for mainstream tastes by popular writers, but some literary writers were featured. The opening pages of stories featured paintings by the leading magazine illustrators. The Post published stories and essays by H.E. Bates, Ray Bradbury, Kay Boyle, Agatha Christie, Brian Cleese, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, C.O. Forester, Ernest Haycox & Robert. A Heinlein. ,

The Post readership began to decline in the late 1950s and 1960s. In general, the decline of general interest magazines was blamed on television, which competed for advertisers and readers' attention. The Post had problems retaining readers: The public's taste in fiction was changing, and the Post 's conservative politics and values remained controversial. Content by popular writers became harder to obtain. Prominent authors drifted away to newer magazines offering more money and status. As a result, the Post published more articles on current events and cut costs by replacing illustrations with photographs for covers and advertisements.

At a March 1969 postmortem on the magazine's closing, Emerson stated that The Post "was a damn good vehicle for advertising" with competitive renewal rates and readership reports and expressed what The New York Times called "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye". Otto Friedrich, the magazine's last managing editor, blamed the death of The Post on Curtis. In his Decline and Fall (Harper & Row, 1970), an account of the magazine's final years (1962–69), he argued that corporate management was unimaginative and incompetent. Friedrich acknowledges that The Post faced challenges as the tastes of American readers changed over the course of the 1960s, but he insisted that the magazine maintained a standard of good quality and was appreciated by readers.

That Was The News That Was: John Alford Guilty on Drugs Charges (1999)

Back in the 1990s I was a huge fan of London's Burning and was saddened and shocked when actor John Alford (Billy Ray) was arrested for offering to supply drugs to someone he believed was an Arab! A jury at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court found him guilty of one count of supplying 2.036 grammes of cocaine to an investigative reporter, as well as a similar charge involving 11.9 grammes of cannabis resin.

Judge Stephen Robbins remanded Alford in custody until May 26 and told him that a prison term was 'inevitable'. The verdict was greeted by gasps from the packed public gallery, and Alford's girlfriend, Tina Mahon, was seen to tremble and hold back tears. In August 1997, Alford had been lured to the Savoy Hotel in central London by a journalist posing as an Arabian prince and secretly filmed supplying cocaine and cannabis. The court heard Alford, 27, was so taken in by the "elaborate ... well-planned subterfuge" he even bowed to the bogus royal, who was in fact News of the World investigative editor Mazher Mahmood. The prosecution said Alford had acted out of "greed" after being offered the chance to join a celebrity line-up at the fake sheikh's nightspot opening in Dubai.

Alford, from Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, represented himself during the 10-day trial.

He told the judge: "I respect the verdict of the jury and I thank your honour for your tolerance of my inexperience in these matters." Before they delivered their verdict, Judge Robbins warned the five women and seven men trying the case they should not make decisions based on "emotion".

After the story broke, Alford was sacked from his £50,000-a-year role in the ITV television drama, based on the lives of a team of firemen.

Robin Gibb (1949 - 2012)

Sad news reaches us today of the passing of former Bee Gee, Robin Gibb. Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE was born on 22nd December 1949 and is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice and older brother Barry. He had another younger brother, Andy Gibb, who was also a very popular solo singer.

Born in the Isle of Man to English parents, the family later moved to Manchester before settling in Brisbane, Australia. Gibb began his career as part of the family trio and when the group found their first success they returned to the United Kingdom where they achieved worldwide fame. In 2004, the Bee Gees received their CBEs from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace for their "contribution to music". With record sales estimated in excess of 200 million units, the Bee Gees became one of the most successful pop groups of all time. After a career spanning six decades, Gibb last performed on stage in February 2012 supporting injured British servicemen and women at a charity concert at the London Palladium. On 20 May 2012, Gibb died after a lengthy battle with colorectal cancer.

Born to Barbara and Hugh Gibb in the Isle of Man, Gibb was the fraternal twin brother of Maurice Gibb, and the elder of the two, born 35 minutes before Maurice. The third-born of five children, Gibb had one older sister, Lesley (born 1945), and three brothers: Barry (born 1946), twin Maurice (1949–2003), and Andy (1958–1988).

Gibb was the subject of an edition of the BBC Genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? first broadcast on 21 September 2011. The programme revealed that Gibb's paternal great-grandfather was born into poverty in Paisley and went on to become a decorated soldier and his paternal great-grandmother was a midwife.

Gibb's mother Barbara was born in Worsley, Salford and in the 1950s the family returned to Manchester, England. The family lived on Keppel Road, Chorlton-cum Hardy and it was here that the young Gibb brothers sang together and performed in local theatres. In late 1958, the family moved to Brisbane, Australia. The family travelled to Australia on the same ship as Australian musician Red Symons. The brothers' music careers began in Australia and flourished when they returned to England in 1967.

Traditionally, Gibb's role in the Bee Gees was lead singer, for which he vied with Barry during the group's first period of British success in the late 1960s. This rivalry eventually prompted Gibb to leave the group and begin a solo career. The final irritant was when Gibb’s song "Lamplight" was relegated to the B-Side of Barry's song "First of May". Meanwhile, there were rumours during this period that Gibb was dealing with drug abuse problems, leading Gibb's parents to allegedly threaten legal action to make him a ward of court (the UK age of majority at that time being 21, and he was only 19).

In his solo career, Gibb was initially successful with a Number 2 UK hit, "Saved by the Bell", which sold over one million copies and received a Gold disc. However, Gibb's first solo album, Robin's Reign, was less successful and he soon found that being a solo artist was unsatisfying. Maurice played bass guitar on the song "Mother and Jack", but was subsequently removed from the project by producer Robert Stigwood. Despite having almost completed a second solo album, Sing Slowly Sisters, Gibb reunited with his brothers, who then revived the Bee Gees. The group came back on a high note, reaching No. 3 on the US charts with the song "Lonely Days" in 1970. In 1971, the Bee Gees had their first US No.1 hit, "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart", but after that their popularity started to ebb.

In 1974, with new producer Arif Mardin, the Bee Gees reinvented themselves with the song "Blue-Eyed Soul,". The group now entered their second period of phenomenal success in the disco-era late 1970s.

In 1978, Gibb performed on the Sesame Street Fever album for the Sesame Street children's TV program. On the "Sesame Street Fever" title track, he sang a song called "Trash" for the character Oscar the Grouch, and spoke on at least one other song.

While continuing in the Bee Gees, Gibb also promoted his new solo career. During the 1980s, Gibb released three solo albums (How old are you?, Secxret Agent, and Walls Have Eyes). These three albums were more successful in Europe than in the UK or US, withHow Old Are You? spawning the hit single "Juliet". However, Gibb's 1984 single "Boys Do Fall in Love" did reach the Billboard Magazine top 40 list of hits. Gibb also recorded several extended versions of dance songs, including "Boys Do Fall in Love", "Secret Agent", "Like a Fool" and the rarest, "You Don't Say Us Anymore"; many of these extended versions were released to radio Disc Jockeys only.

On 27 January 2003, fifteen days after Maurice died, Gibb released a new solo album, Magnet in Germany on SPV GMBV, and worldwide shortly afterwards. Magnet featured the Bee Gees song "Wish You Were Here" (from the 1989 album One) in a new acoustic version. The lead single, "Please", had coincidental lyrics about "loss". After Maurice's death, Gibb and Barry again disbanded the Bee Gees; however, in late 2009, the two brothers announced that they would reform and perform again as the Bee Gees whenever they could. In recent years, Gibb sang the vocals to the opening titles to the British ITV show The Dame Edna Treatment.

On 18 May 2008, Gibb released the song "Alan Freeman Days" in tribute to the Australian DJ Alan Freeman. The song was issued as a download only track, although a promotional CD was issued by Academy Recordings. In December 2008, "Alan Freeman Days" was followed by another downloadable song entitled "Wing and a Prayer", which shared the same name as a song from the 1989 One album. However, the new song was actually a reworking of the song, "Sing Slowly Sisters", that had remained unreleased since 1970. Later in December, Gibb issued another song, "Ellan Vannin (Home Coming Mix)", featuring the King William's College Choir from the Isle of Man. ("Ellan Vannin" is the Manx name for the Isle of Man.)

In 2008, Gibb completed a new solo album entitled 50 St. Catherine's Drive, but it was never released. However, in August 2009, a 50-second video clip of "Instant Love" from 50 St. Catherine's Drive appeared as a preview. "Instant Love" was a collaboration with Gibb's son Robin-John. A second version of "Instant Love" featuring Robin-John on vocals appeared in a short film called Bloodtype: The Search in which Robin-John appeared.

Gibb and Robin-John also wrote the score for The Titanic Requiem, recorded by Royal Philarmonic Orchestra for the 2012 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic Gibb was due to attend the piece's premier on 10 April 2012, but his failing health kept him away.

In 2010, Gibb was also a guest mentor on the Australian version of The X Factor, alongside Australian TV host Kyle Sandilands, Australian actor/singer Natalie Imbruglia, Irish singer Ronan Keating, and Australian singer Guy Sebastian.

In August 2003, Gibb announced the release of a new single of "My Lover's Prayer", a song first recorded by the Bee Gees in 1997, with vocals by Gibb and singers Wanya Morris and Lance Bass. "My Lover's Prayer" was played on the radio, but was never actually released. In October 2003, Gibb recorded a second version of this song as a duet with singer Alistair Giffin, a runner-up in the UK television program Fame Academy on which Gibb had appeared as a judge. In January 2004, the new "My Lover's Prayer" was released in the UK as a double A side CD single. It eventually reached number 5 in the UK music charts.

In January 2005, Robin joined his brother Barry and several other artists under the name One World Project to record a charity single in aid of Asian tsunami relief, titled "Grief Never Grows Old". Other artists who performed on the single included Boy George, Steve Winwood, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Sir Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman, America, Kenny Jones, Chicago, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Russell Watson and Davy Spillane.

In June 2005, Gibb joined X Factor runner up band G4 at a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, singing the Bee Gees song "First of May". In December 2005, a recording of this performance was released as part of a double A side single, credited as "G4 feat Robin Gibb" together with G4's cover version of the Johnny Mathis song "When a Child is Born". "First of May" also appeared on the platinum selling album G4 & Friends, which reached number 6 in the UK album charts.

In November 2006, Gibb released an album of Christmas carols called Robin Gibb – My Favourite Carols, backed by the Serlo consort, a London choir. The Serlo Consort. The album also featured a new song by Gibb called "Mother of Love", which was released in Europe as a download single. The song was inspired by Maurice and was Robin's first new composition since Maurice died. Gibb donated all royalties from "Mother of Love" to the "Janki Foundation for Global Healthcare", and dedicated the song to Dad Janki, the organisation's spiritual leader. Gibb dedicated the album to his mother, Barbara Gibb. Robin Gibb – My Favourite Carols has a bonusDVD disc titled A Personal Christmas Moment with Robin Gibb.

Gibb went back to the top of the UK charts in 2009 when he collaborated with singers Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon, and Tom Jones on a new version of "Islands in the Stream", written by Robin, Barry, and Maurice. The new version, inspired by the BBC comedy TV show Gavin & Stacey, was created to benefit the charity Comic Relief.

In September 2011, Gibb recorded the Bee Gees classic "I've Gotta Get a Message To You" with British Army men The Soldiers for a charity single in the UK, the video for which was produced by Vintage TV.

In late 2004, Gibb embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia, with singer Alistair Griffin as the opening act. On his return to the UK, Gibb released a CD and DVD of live recordings from the German leg of the tour, backed by the Frankfurt Nueue Philarmonic, Germany. In 2005, Gibb made a solo tour of Latin America.

On 20 February 2006, Gibb and Barry performed at a concert for the Diabetes Research Institute of the University of Miami in Hollywood, Florida. This was their first joint performance since Maurice's death. In March 2006, Gibb announced plans for more solo concerts in Shanghai, China and Portgual. In May 2006, Gibb took part in the Princes' Trust 30th Birthday Concert at the Tower of London along with Barry. They sang three songs: "Jive Talkin'", "To Love Somebody" and "You Should Be Dancing". In September 2006, Gibb performed "Stayin' Alive" at the Miss World 2006 contest finals in Warsaw, Poland. In November 2006, Gibb performed a solo concert, entitled "Bee Gees – Greatest Hits", at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, the Philippines.

Gibb marked his return to his birthplace by playing a concert at the Isle of Man TT festival in 2007. The Peel Bay TT Festival– 12 February 2007. Gibb donated all of his share of the money from this concert to the children's ward at Noble's Hospital, Isle of Man, and invited all emergency service staff and marshals for the TT to attend for free.

On 8 September 2007, Gibb performed a concert in Salt Lake City, Utah Energy Solutions Arena for the Nu Skin Enterprises Convention, singing a set of Bee Gees hits.

On 25 October 2007, Gibb performed a concert at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria and sang the Bee Gees' most famous songs.

On 25 October 2008, to mark the 30th anniversary of the song "Saturday Night Fever" topping the UK charts, Gibb performed with special guests including Ronan Keating, Stephen Gateley, Sam Sparro, Sharleen Spireti, Gabriella Climi and Bryn Christopher at the London music festival BBC Electric Proms.

On 30 January 2012, Gibb announced his intention to appear on stage at the Coming Home Concert at the London Palladium in February to benefit British soldiers returning home from Afghanistan; "I’m looking forward to appearing if possible and being able to continue my support for our servicemen and women. We owe a debt of gratitude to the dedication and professionalism of our armed forces.” It would be his last performance on stage.

On 14 August 2010, while performing in Belgium, Gibb began to feel abdominal pains. On 18 August, he was rushed to a hospital in Oxford, England and underwent emergency surgery for a blocked intestine, the same condition that killed Maurice. Gibb recovered and returned to perform concerts in New Zealand and Australia. During this time, Gibb was also involved in promoting fund-raising for the memorial dedicated to RAF Bomber Command in Green Park, London. Gibb also wrote The Titanic Requiem with his son Robin-John, which was recorded by the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 2012. Gibb continued to make television appearances and other events following his surgery, but in April 2011 he was forced by health problems to cancel his tour of Brazil. Another concert in Paris was cancelled in October 2011. On 14 October, Gibb was due to perform the charity single with The Soldiers, but was again rushed to hospital with severe abdominal pains. On 18 October, following his release from the hospital, Gibb appeared on ITV's The Alan Titchmarsh Show looking gaunt and frail.

On 27 October 2011, Gibb cancelled an appearance only minutes before he was due to perform at the Poppy Appeal Concert in London. Later the same week however, Gibb was seen in London and quoted as saying he felt "absolutely great".

On 20 November, it was revealed that Gibb had been battling liver cancer diagnosed several months earlier. A source close to the singer stated that his condition was "not good" and his wife, Dwina, had not left his bedside. His brother Barry and his wife Linda, as well as their mother Barbara and Robin's children, Melissa and Spencer, flew to the UK to be with him.

On 4 March it was announced that Gibb was in remission from cancer.^] On 28 March, Gibb's publicist announced that he had been hospitalised for intestinal surgery and was recovering and cancelled scheduled appearances.

On 14 April, it was reported that Gibb was "fighting for his life" after contracting pnuemonia and was in a coma in a Chelsea hospital. Gibb's two oldest children, his wife Dwina, his brother Barry and his mother were at his bedside.^] On 20 April, it was reported that Gibb was out of his coma and was making remarkable progress, according to his family. On 22 April, however, it was reported that he had advanced Colorectal Cancer.^] He died in London on 20 May 2012 at the age of 62.^]

Music historian Paul Gambacini described Gibb as "one of the major figures in the history of British music" and "one of the best white soul voices ever", while he noted that the Bee Gees were "second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music". Gibb's death left his brother Barry as the only surviving original member of the Bee Gees.

Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain. He and his wife Dale Evans, his golden Palomino, Trigger, and his German Shepherd Dog, Bullet, were featured in more than 100 movies and The Roy Rogers Show. The show ran on radio for nine years before moving to television from 1951 through 1957. His productions usually featured a sidekick, often either Pat Brady (who drove a Jeep called "Nellybelle"), Andy Devine, or the crotchety George "Gabby" Hayes. Rogers's nickname was "King of the Cowboys". Evans's nickname was "Queen of the West."

Leonard Franklin Slye was born to Andrew ("Andy") and Mattie (Womack) Slye in Cincinatti, Ohio, where his family lived in a tenement building on 2nd Street. (Riverfont Stadium was constructed at this location in 1970 and Leonard would later joke that he had been born at second base.) Dissatisfied with his job and city life, Andy Slye and his brother Will built a 12-by-50-foot houseboat from salvage lumber, and, in July 1912, the Slye family floated up the Ohio River towards Portsmouth, Ohio. Desiring a more stable existence in Portsmouth, the Slyes purchased land on which to build a home, but the flood of 1913 allowed them to move the houseboat to their property and continue living in it on dry land.

In 1919, the Slyes purchased a farm in Duck Run, located near Lucasville, Ohio about 12 miles north of Portsmouth. There they built a six-room home. Leonard's father soon realized that the farm alone would provide insufficient income for his family, so he took a job at a shoe factory in Portsmouth. He lived there during the week and returned home on the weekends, bearing gifts for the family following paydays. One notable gift was a horse on which Leonard learned the basics of horsemanship.

After completing the eighth grade, Leonard attended high school in McDermot, Ohio. When he was 17, his family returned to Cincinnati, where his father began work at another shoe factory. He soon decided on the necessity to help his family financially, so he quit high school, joined his father at the shoe factory, and began attending night school. After being ridiculed for falling asleep in class, however, he quit school and never returned.

Leonard and his father felt imprisoned by their factory jobs. In 1929, his older sister, Mary, moved to Lawndale, California with her husband. Father and son decided to quit their shoe factory jobs. The family packed their 1923 Dodge for a visit with Mary and stayed four months before returning to Ohio. Almost immediately afterward, Leonard had the opportunity to travel to California with Mary's father-in-law, and the rest of the family followed in the spring of 1930.

The Slyes rented a small house near Mary. Leonard and his father immediately found employment as truck drivers for a highway construction project. They reported to work one morning, however, to learn their employer had gone bankrupt. The economic hardship of the Great Depression had followed them west, and the Slyes soon found themselves among the economic refugees traveling from job to job picking fruit and living in worker campsites. (He would later read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and marvel at its accuracy.) One day, Andy Slye was told of a shoe factory hiring in Los Angeles and asked Leonard to join him in applying there for work. Leonard, having seen the joy that his guitar and singing had brought to the destitute around the campfires, hesitantly told his father that he was going to pursue a living in music. With his father's blessing, he and cousin Stanley Slye went to Los Angeles and sought musical engagements as The Slye Brothers.

In 1932, Leonard, now known as "Len," met Lucille Ascolese while on tour. That same year, a palomino colt was foaled in Santa Cietro, CA, named "Golden Cloud", and later renamed "Trigger" in 1938 after he was acquired by Roy. In May 1933, Len, 21, proposed to Lucille, 19, via a radio broadcast. Len then went on tour with the "O-Bar-O Cowboys" and in June 1933 met Grace Arline Wilkins at a Roswell, New Mexico radio station. She traded Len a lemon pie for his singing "Swiss Yodel" over the air. By August 1934, Len and Lucille had separated as she was reportedly jealous and tired of being a musician's wife. Len and Lucille's divorce was granted on May 28, 1935, and became final on June 8, 1936. Having corresponded since their first meeting, Len and Grace Arline Wilkins were married in Roswell, New Mexico, on June 11, 1936.

In 1941, the couple adopted a girl, Cheryl Darlene. Two years later, Arline bore a daughter, Linda Lou.

Rogers and Arline had a son, Roy Jr. ("Dusty") in 1946, but Arline died of complications from the birth a few days afterward on November 3. Rogers had met Dale Evans in 1944 when she was cast in a movie with Rogers. Following Arline's death, Rogers and Evans soon fell in love, and Rogers proposed to her during a rodeo at Chicago Stadium. They married on New Year's Eve in 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where a few months earlier they had filmed Home in Oklahoma. Rogers and Evans remained married until Rogers's death in 1998.

Leonard Slye moved to California to become a singer. After four years of little success, he formed The Sons of the Pioneers with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer, a Western Cowboy Musical group, in 1934. The group hit it big with songs like "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". From his first film appearance in 1935, he worked steadily in Western films, including a large supporting role as a singing cowboy while still billed as "Leonard Slye" in a Gene Autry movie. In 1938, when Autry temporarily walked out on his movie contract, Slye was immediately rechristened "Roy Rogers." Slye's stage name was suggested by Republic Picture's staff after Will Rogers and the shortening of Leroy. and assigned the lead in Under Western Stars. Rogers became a matinee idol and American legend. A competitor for Gene Autry as the nation's favorite singing Cowboy was suddenly born. In addition to his own movies, Rogers played a supporting role in the John Wayne classic Dark Command (1940). Rogers became a major box office attraction.

In the Motion Picture Herald Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars poll, Rogers was listed for 15 consecutive years from 1939 to 1954, holding first place from 1943 to 1954. He appeared in the similar Box Office poll from 1938 to 1955, holding first place from 1943 to 1952. (In the final three years of that poll he was second only to Randolph Scott.) Although these two polls are really an indication only of the popularity of series stars, Rogers also appeared in the Top Ten Money Makers Poll of all films in 1945 and 1946.

Rogers was an idol for many children through his films and television shows. Most of his postwar films were in Trucolor during an era when almost all other B-Movies were black-and-white. Some of his movies would segue into animal adventures, in which Rogers's horse Trigger would go off on his own for a while, with the camera following him.

With money from not only Rogers' films but his own public appearances going to Republic Pictures, Rogers brought a clause into a 1940 contract with the studio where he would have the right to his likeness, voice and name for merchandising. There were Roy Rogers action figures, cowboy adventure novels, and playsets, as well as a comic strip, a long-lived Dell Comics comic book series (Roy Rogers Comics) written by Gaylord Du Bois, and a variety of marketing successes. Roy Rogers was second only to Walt Disney in the amount of items featuring his name. The Sons of the Pioneers continued their popularity, and they have never stopped performing from the time Rogers started the group, replacing members as they retired or passed away (all original members are deceased). Although Rogers was no longer an active member, they often appeared as Rogers' backup group in films, radio, and television, and Rogers would occasionally appear with them in performances up until his death. In August 1950, Evans and Rogers had a daughter, Robin Elizabeth, who had Down Syndrome and died of complications with mumps shortly before her second birthday. Evans wrote about losing their daughter in her book Angel Unaware.

Rogers and Evans were also well known as advocates for adoption and as founders and operators of children's charities. They adopted several children. Both were outspoken Christians. In Apple Valley, California, where they made their home, numerous streets and highways as well as civic buildings have been named after them in recognition of their efforts on behalf of homeless and handicapped children. Rogers was an active Freemason and a Shriner, and was noted for his support of their charities.

Rogers and Evans's famous theme song, "Happy Trails", was written by Evans; they sang it as a duet to sign off their television show. In the fall of 1962, the couple co-hosted a comedy-western-variety program, The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show, aired on ABC. It was cancelled after three months, losing in the ratings to The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. He also made numerous cameo or guest appearances on other popular television shows, starring as himself or other cowboy-type characters, such as in an episode of Wonder Woman called "The Bushwackers" Rogers also owned a Hollywood production company which handled his own series. It also filmed other undertakings, including the 1955-1956 CBS western series Brave Eagle starring Keith Larsen as a young peaceful Cheyenne chief, Kim Winona as Morning Star, his romantic interest, and the Hopi Indian Anthony Numkena as Keena, Brave Eagle's foster son.

In 1968 Rogers licensed his name to the Marriot corporation, which converted its Hot Shoppes locations to Roy Rogers Restaurants, with which Rogers otherwise had no involvement. Rogers owned a Thoroughbread Racehorse named Triggairo, who won 13 career races including the 1975 El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita Park. When Rogers died of congestive heart failure on July 6, 1998, he was residing in Apple Valley, California. He was interred at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Apple Valley, as was his wife, Dale Evans, three years later.

It's A Knockout - Series Guide 1976

Having reached the BBC retirement age of sixty, British producer Barney Colehan stepped aside after ten years with It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières, his position taken by Cecil Korer. The tenth anniversary of the British domestic series was marked by a special feature in Radio Times magazine and original series personnel Charlie Chester and McDonald Hobley made a special appearance in the opening heat. New costume characters introduced into the Domestic series this year were the Tweedles and the Giants. In a new development, winning teams from theIt's A Knockout heats competed for the Knockout Trophy in a special event, It's A Championship Knockout. On the international stage, RTP of Portugal join the list of broadcasters, but at this point, Portuguese teams do not participate.

In addition to the by now traditional summer Jeux Sans Frontières competition, two countries got together to host the fifth series of Interneige, a version of JSF staged in the snows of winter, the first such competition since 1968. Two towns each from Switzerland and France competed for the Winter JSF Trophy. Competitors were generally sourced from specialist ski resorts and clubs.  At the end of the year, the West Germans enjoyed the spoils by winning their sixth Jeux Sans Frontières Golden Trophy, the first in seven years, with an outstanding score of 52pts (just four points short of the maximum achievable).

It's A Knockout 1976Great British Domestic Series Presenters: Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring / Referee: Arthur Ellis Scoregirls: Dinah May, Hazel Lyons, Leena Skoog and Marie Worth Games Arranger: Paul Trerise Designer: Paul Montague  Producer: Cecil Korer / Director: Geoffrey Wilson A BBC North West Production

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 1
Event Staged: Sunday 4th April 1976 Venue: Promenade, Morecambe, Lancashire Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 21st May 1976, 8.00-9.00pm Special Guests: Charlie Chester and McDonald Hobley
Teams: Blackpool v. Liverpool v. Morecambe
Team Members included: Blackpool - Bob Battersby (Team Captain), Sharon Hull, Mike Lomas, Janina Slusarski,Stuart Thompson, Cheryl Whitham; Liverpool - Vaughan Thomas (Team Coach), Dave Jones, John O'Brien; Morecambe - Ian Robson (Men’s Team Captain), Margaret Berry (Ladies’ Team Captain), Maurice Albon, Brian Bonney, Michael Driscoll, Karen Evans, Mark Evans, David Holleley, Mark Milner, Peter Nolan, Alice Robinson, Alina Ross, Denise Shorrock, Phil Sutcliffe, Stuart Whiteley, Janice Wyatt.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 3rd	Blackpool  Morecambe  Liverpool	21 20 16
Blackpool qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Nîmes, France: staged on Wednesday 2nd June 1976
Did You Know? Original It's A Knockout presenters McDonald Hobley and Charlie Chester returned for this programme in a special one-off appearance to mark the 10th anniversary of the Domestic Series. The first two teams to appear in the original series - Blackpool and Morecambe - were invited back to compete (along with Liverpool) in this celebratory edition. After the debacle of the previous hosting in 1966, when the tide came in and flooded the games’ area, the BBC took no chances and staged the programme on the resort’s promenade adjacent to the western pier. When the winning team’s name of Blackpool was placed on the scoreboard, the venue for the International Heat was shown as the city of Lyon. This was shown for three weeks until at the end of Heat 4, the correct venue of Nîmes had taken its place on the scoreboard. Despite the final score, this competition was much closer than it might appear. The team of Liverpool had been leading throughout most of the programme due to the fact that both Blackpool and Morecambe did not play their Jokers until the last game. After the Marathon points were allocated, Morecambe were leading with 16pts, and both Liverpool and Blackpool had 15pts each. This situation now meant that Liverpool could not stop either of the other teams from being victorious as both were playing their Jokers. The game itself proved to be very close with Blackpool crossing the line just ahead of Morecambe, and a place in Jeux Sans Frontières (as well as the new It’s A Championship Knockout) had been secured. The team of Blackpool trained regularly at the Derby Baths for this event. Although this may not sound out of the ordinary, in 1981 it was to be the venue for the first-ever indoor British Domestic Heat, when Blackpool hosted the programme for a second time. Blackpool team captain Bob Battersby had previously participated in the series in 1971 as team manager of the Blackpool team. Radio Times magazine ran a feature to mark the anniversary, comprising interviews with Eddie Waring, Charlie Chester, David Vine, McDonald Hobley and Stuart Hall. Eighteen year old Liverpool team member John O'Brien would return to participate again twenty-three years later as a competitor, when the city participated in the revamped 1999 It's A Knockoutseries.
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 2
Event Staged: Sunday 11th April 1976 Venue: The Bowling Green, Hanley Park, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 28th May 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Birmingham v. Stoke-on-Trent v. Tamworth
Team Members included: Stoke-on-Trent - Norman Harrison (Team Manager), Graham Kirk (Men’s Team Captain), Susan Massey (Ladies’ Team Captain), Julie Baskeyfield, Paul Bilbie, Anthony Brindley, Jennifer Frost, Glen Gordon, Bill Jackson, Jack Jackson, Terence Jones, Pauline Kemp, Trudie McDonald, Lynne Meredith, Diane Morris, Robert Wain, Geoffrey Ward, David Wells, John Wiggins; Tamworth - Geoff Beales (Men’s Team Captain), Barbara ‘Bunny’ Culclough (Ladies’ Team Captain), Stanley Ashmore, Martin Baker, Denise Battersby, Keith Bowater, Natalie Burrows, Wendy Chappell, John Davis, Ralph Graham, Stephanie Heal, Ann Lyth, Brian Mandry, Petra Morgan, Michael Pointon, John Sedgwick, Dawn Sewell, Chris Shilton, Jenny Smale, Steve Walters, Bob Wesley, Sue Wileman.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 3rd	Tamworth  Birmingham  Stoke-on-Trent	21 20 18
Tamworth qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Milano, Italy: staged on Wednesday 16th June 1976
Did You Know?This heat was held on the bowling green of Stoke-on-Trent’s Hanley Park. The park itself was opened on 20th June 1897 and occupies around 63 acres of land. The area on which it stands previously comprised a large waste ground called Stoke Fields. In addition to the bowling green, the park also consists of a basketball court, a football pitch, four separate children’s play areas and a bandstand. At the western end of the park, there is a small 12-acre area known as Cauldron Park. The start of this competition was delayed due to electrical failure of one of the BBC’s cameras. The actual start time of the recording was 30 minutes later than expected at 5.15 pm, and the programme finished just before 6.30 pm. Producer Cecil Korer had expressed his worries to the local press after the programme that there would not be enough light available for the final games. Fortunately, the sunny conditions had just held out long enough for the cameras to get acceptable pictures. After the Tamworth team had won this heat, local coach firm Arnold’s was offering trips to Milan for £85. Leaving Tamworth on Sunday 13th June and returning to Tamworth on Saturday 19th June, the trip included five overnight stops and channel crossing by hovercraft!
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 3
Event Staged: Sunday 18th April 1976 Venue: Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 4th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Cirencester v. Newbury v. Winchcombe
Team Members included: Cirencester - Walter Gray-Brown (Men’s Team Captain), June Lock (Ladies’ Team Captain), Sarah Acres, Penelope Allberry, Kenneth Anthony, Shaun Barron, Debbie Bates, Peter Britton, Edward Butler, Anne Crane, Anthony Crane, Barry Gardner, Patricia Harris, Andrew Hughes, Kevin Magee, Anita Newnham, Paul Perry, David Williams, Joy Williams Newbury - John Norgate (Team Manager), Mike Hart (Team Coach and Men’s Team Captain), Sue Robertson (Ladies’ Team Captain), John Bauer, Hilary Bowden, Timothy Cornish, Susan Grantham, Paul Heggis, Julian Hendy, Melvin Kastelnik, Rachel King, Mark Morris, Louise O’Neill, John Rice, Wenda Rice, Alisdair Ross, Douglas Smith, Richard Smith, Colin Street, Moyna Turner Winchcombe - Barrie Lewis (Team Coach), Ken Dancer.
Games: Get a Sack!, You’re Hoopless, What a Knight!, Goals of Victory, Hungry Henry, Knights of Favour and The Castle’s Riches; Marathon: Bursting to Win.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 2nd	Newbury  Cirencester  Winchcombe	23 18 18
Newbury qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Caslano Malcantone, Switzerland: staged on Wednesday 23rd June 1976
Did You Know?This heat was held in the grounds of the Elizabethan Sudeley Castle. Dating back to the 10th century, the castle is noted for its gardens, and its chapel is the final resting place of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. The castle remains in use as a full-time residence and is only open on specific dates. The castle is said to be haunted by a tall woman wearing a green Tudor-styled dress. Local folklore states that the Lady in Green who looks out of a window and walks through the Queen's garden is thought to be the ghost of Catherine Parr. With its historical setting, the games at this heat had a medieval theme with knights and armour. Although Newbury had finished in third place during the morning rehearsals, the other teams were somewhat dubious of their credibility. Despite this, the team were still lying in last place after five games, some 6pts behind the leaders. But the team pulled out all the stops to win their Joker game and the Marathon, and incredibly had attained enough points to have secured victory before the final game, leading Winchcombe by 3pts! Newbury team player Wenda Rice had been a member of local football team Newbury Ladies FC, and during a match against Southampton in December 1976, four members of the team including Wenda, were badly injured and they ended up in Reading Hospital. Wenda had been kicked in the stomach and had to be taken for X-rays to ensure that no serious injury had occurred. In July 2011, Newbury team coach and captain Mike Hart celebrated 40 years of keeping his local residents fit and healthy. Mike, 64 and still working as a physical education teacher at St. Bartholomew’s School, was at the centre of a special event for people, past and present, who had participated in his keep-fit classes over the years. Commenting on his classes which he started back in 1971 after working out to music, Mike said, "I liked the idea of bouncing around to music. I keep my keep-fit simple and basic. Some of the people here have been coming [to my classes] for 35 years, so I must be doing something right. I’ve still got another 15 years left in me still".
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 4
Event Staged: Sunday 2nd May 1976 Venue: Princess Mary Playing Fields, Littletown, Liversedge, (Cleckheaton), West Yorkshire Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 11th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Doncaster v. Kirklees v. Leeds
Team Members included: Kirklees - Rob Blackshaw (Team Coach and Captain), Janet Fidler (Ladies' Team Captain), Karen Athey, Julie Athey, Eddie Berry, Kim Booth, Alan Conroy, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, Gillian Gaskin, Brian Hayhurst, Barry Hodgson, Ian Jowett, Barry Kenny, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Julie Mallalieu, Eileen Marchant, Dave Millman, Graham Overhead, Lesley Rowell, Lynette Thompson and Janet Williams (Original Team Sheet - PDF).
Games: In the Ring, Brolly Ball, Catapulting Bags, Give Me A Ring, Goal-Creeping, Filled to the Brim and Carrying the Can; Marathon: Post the Ball.
Result:	Team:	Points:	Final Scoreboard:
1st 2nd 3rd	Kirklees  Leeds  Doncaster	25 24 13
Kirklees qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Leeds, Great Britain: staged on Wednesday 14th July 1976
Did You Know? This heat was held on the Princess Mary Playing Fields in Liversedge, south of Cleckheaton, adjacent to the field which was the scene of a pivotal event in 19th century British history with the Luddite rising. One of the most serious Luddite attacks took place at Rawfold’s Mill near Brighouse in Yorkshire. William Cartwright, the owner of Rawfold’s Mill, had been using cloth-finishing machinery since 1811. Local croppers began losing their jobs and after a meeting at Saint Crispin public house, they decided to try and destroy the cloth-finishing machinery at Rawfold’s Mill. Cartwright was suspecting trouble and arranged for the mill to be protected by armed guards. Led by George Mellor, a young cropper from Huddersfield, the attack on Rawfold’s Mill took place on 11th April, 1812. The Luddites failed in gaining entry and by the time they left, two of the croppers had been mortally wounded. Seven days later, the Luddites killed William Horsfall, another large mill-owner in the area. The authorities rounded up over a hundred suspects. Of these, sixty-four were indicted. Three men were executed for the murder of Horsfall and another fourteen were hung for the attack on Rawfold’s Mill. When Stuart Hall introduced Eddie Waring he referred to him as the King Luddite - in reference to the Luddite rising. When interviewed for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner in 2010, Kirklees team member, Eddie Berry, 60, recalled: "Leeds were favourite to win the first round held at Cleckheaton. The winner went through to the European heat to be held in Roundhay Park and we were sure that the BBC favoured Leeds to be the ‘home’ team. The Leeds team were made up from physical education students at Carnegie College and therefore were considered to suit this programme perfectly. However, the selection process of Kirklees meant that our team was a balance of members with a range of attributes in speed, strength, stamina and suppleness. In the rehearsals, we never set out to win – once we found the best way to do a particular competition the instructions were to mess it up so as not to give anything away. It was a lot of fun, but when it came to the competition, we took it very seriously." Doncaster and Leeds took the lead at different stages but gradually Kirklees caught up. Their master-stroke was in playing the Kirklees Joker on the sixth game, which they won with ex-British gymnast and Huddersfield youth worker Brian Hayhurst first past the finish line. Before the final game - 'Carrying the Can' - Leeds were in the lead and Kirklees hopes again rested with Brian Hayhurst. After the Leeds team member fell off the cans, victory belonged to Brian and the Kirklees team. Also interviewed were Dave Millman and Eileen Marchant. Dave, 60, then a Physical Education instructor at Huddersfield Sports Centre, recalled: "I think there were 200 people who applied and the trials went on for a week. After I won a place on the team I was in training at the Sports Centre three nights a week for the three weeks leading up to the programme. The BBC had sent us diagrams and explanations of the games we were to play at the Yorkshire heat in Cleckheaton. [At the end of the competition] it was very close, but we beat Leeds by just one point. They were devastated and they were asking for re-runs because Leeds was hosting the British International Heat. [The borough of Kirklees] hadn’t been going very long at that stage so it was sweet to beat Leeds". Eileen, 65, now an Almondbury magistrate said, "I remember it absolutely poured down from start to finish in Cleckheaton. There was one game which involved throwing flour bags over a net which was quite difficult in the rain." The team were supported by a group of cheerleaders which included Jane Morton and Anita Steven, wand the team's mascot was Kenny the Lamb. The event was reported as being attended by in excess of 4,000 spectators. Amateur cine film of this event was shot by what was then called the Huddersfield Cine Club (now The Huddersfield Film Makers Club). Club treasurer Trevor Spencer was also interviewed by theHuddersfield Daily Examiner and commented: "On the day of the competition at Cleckheaton, everyone got very wet when halfway through it poured down. All the crew had to put on their waterproofs and they even had coats for the cameras. We were granted very good access to the competition, the only instructions being 'keep out of the way of the cameras and don't stray from the footboards'." This amateur behind-the-scenes footage was included as part of an excellent feature on the BBC regional programme Inside Out on Monday 12th December 2011. Forming one third of a half an hour programme the It's A Knockout item featured Stuart Hall returning to the scene of the 1976 IAK heat from Liversedge (Cleckheaton) and being reintroduced to former members of the Kirklees team. The item built up to an It's A Knockout competition between the Kirklees team members in the Liversedge swimming pool. Team members taking part in the feature were Team Coach/Captain Rob Blackshaw, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Eileen Marchant and Dave Millman. Sadly, between the making of the programme and its broadcast, team member Jonathan Crossland had died. He had won the mini-It's A Knockoutcompetition in the Inside Out programme. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends. Kirklees was created under the Local Government Act of 1972, and includes the towns of Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Holmfirth and Huddersfield.
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 5
Event Staged: Sunday 9th May 1976 Venue: Harlow Sportcentre, Harlow, Essex Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 18th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Harlow v. Lee Valley Park v. Thurrock
Team Members included: Harlow - Mike Orshourn (Team Manager), Dave Patey (Team Coach), Ken Walton (Assistant Team Coach), John Beer, Carol Bull, Barry Burton, Veronica Cullen, Alan Dainton, Alan Green, Michael Hall, Alison Harkin, Colin Hendrie, John Jackson, Peter Jesse, Karen Larn, Sue Mapstone, Craig Mitchinson, John Rickards, Christopher Saunders, James Sullivan, Janet Unwin, Alison White and Stephen Wilson; Thurrock - Malcolm Gow (Team Manager), Terry Lax (Team Captain), Julie Bannister, Jack Benton, Michael Brightwell, Costa Buller, Trevor Burge, Malcolm Burton, Geoffrey Cave, John Chapman, Colin Elsden, Andrea Eustace, Geraldine Gray, David Groom, Tony Hills, Alan Jousiffe, Susan Jousiffe, Susan Kane, Gloria Kemp, Michael ‘Doc’ Leckenby, Valerie McCormack, Kay Meiklejohn, Erica Morris, Ray ‘The Star’ Page, Jack Palmer, Colin Paxman, Ray Smallcombe, William Smith, Gary Telfer, Bob Williams.
Games: The Stilted Walk, Steady Hands, Netball Obstacle Race, The Dynamic Dumpteys,Quadruplet Rings, Pancake Throwing and Stack-dem-Sacks; Marathon: The Cymbalists.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 2nd	Thurrock  Harlow  Lee Valley Park	23 19 19
Thurrock qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Liège, Belgium: staged on Wednesday 11th August 1976
Did You Know? Opened in 1960, Harlow Sportcentre was the first community sport centre in the UK. Since that time, it earned a deserved reputation for its outstanding range of facilities, clubs, coaching programmes and school and community links. As well as a comprehensive range of indoor facilities, the centre boasted floodlit tennis courts and a cricket and athletics field. It also had its own all-weather ski-slope. The track surrounding the football pitch of Harlow Town FC was in such a poor state of repair that after 1995 no further meetings were staged there. By the beginning of 2000, plans were on the table to build a new leisure centre in the town, but work on it did not start until 2009. The £25 million Leisurezone facility, which includes a 25 metre eight-lane swimming pool, tennis and squash courts and a new home for Harlow Town Football Club, finally opened in June 2010 at which time the old Sportcentre closed its doors to the public for the last time. The site has since been demolished and the land will be used for additional car parking for the town, as well as a new housing development. Starting this year and until 1981, the BBC scheduled a Domestic heat as close to London as possible around the first or second Saturday in May. The reason for this was that It’s A Knockoutcommentator Eddie Waring would be in London on commentary duties at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final (held on one of the aforementioned Saturdays) and as he had now reached the age of 66, the BBC assisted in reducing his travelling commitments. Lee Valley (Regional) Park is a 26 mile (42 km) long area, running through the North East of London from the River Thames to Ware in Hertfordshire, through areas such as Hackney, Camden, Tottenham, Enfield, Cheshunt, Broxbourne and Hoddesdon. Thurrock was created under the Local Government Act of 1972, and includes the towns of Gray’s Thurrock and Tilbury.
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 6
Event Staged: Sunday 16th May 1976 Venue: Seafront Boating Lake, Redcar, Cleveland Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 25th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Carlisle v. Durham v. Redcar
Team Members included: Carlisle - Dick ‘Wellie’ Bell, Joy Calvert, Barbara Davidson, Philippa Dodd, Judith Harrison, Norman Leighton, Peter Reay, Joe Smith, Olive Smith; Durham - George Wardle (Team Coach), Barbara Power (Team Captain), Shirley Armstrong, Geoffrey Bell, Janet Bowman, Linda Brown, Cliff Featherstone, Stanley Gelson, Bill Hofman, Geoffrey Kershaw, Jackie King, Fred Lowes, Andrea Riddell, David Ritchie, Michael Roberts, Ernest Sarfield, Malcolm Thomas, Alan Walton, Janis Wilton; Redcar - Fred Proctor (Men’s Team Captain), Denise Appleby (Ladies’ Team Captain), Clive Birkbeck, Peter Howe, Ann Miller, Corinne Miller and Alex Vickers.
Games: When the Tub Comes In, Hello Sailor!, Frog-Marching (on Stilts), Making Light Work of It, The Gravy Boats, They’re Flagging and Over the Board Walk!; Marathon: The Mallet Balloon Burst Balance.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 3rd	Redcar  Durham  Carlisle	25 19 15
Redcar qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Bad Mergentheim, West Germany: staged on Wednesday 25th August 1976
Did You Know? This heat was held at one of the smallest towns to host the programme. Redcar had originated as a fishing town in the early 14th century, trading with the larger adjacent town of Coatham. It was not until the mid-19th century, with the opening of the Middlesbrough to Redcar Railway in 1846 that the town emerged as a seaside tourist destination. A major £700,000 refurbishment programme of the boating lake itself was originally planned to begin in 2008 which involved draining the lake and excavating the whole area. This work was put on hold until early 2009 due to council elections and bad weather. Finally completed, the boating lake was re-opened on Friday 23rd October 2009 and included a large circular mosaic depicting the Rt. Hon. Mo Mowlam (1949-2005), who was MP for Redcar for almost 14 years (1987-2001) surrounded by images including the beach where she used to walk, racehorses to depict Redcar Racecourse where she celebrated her wedding, the steelworks, the Zetland lifeboat, hands clasped for peace and doves to depict the Northern Ireland peace process (for which she instigated and saw through the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998) and the Houses of Parliament. The opening shots of this heat show presenter Stuart Hall wearing a waterproof suit aboard a small craft on the boating lake, and as he is introducing the programme buckets of water are continuously thrown at him to give the illusion of being at sea in rough weather. However, it did not take much to give the illusion, as the weather had changed drastically to those days leading up to the contest! The resort had enjoyed two days of glorious warm weather leading up to the day of the contest, but the conditions changed dramatically on the day of competition. A westerly gale force wind blew in from the North Sea and as the games were all held inside or on the water, it caused havoc for the teams. The winds were so strong that the BBC had to change the format for the games throughout the filming so as not to disadvantage any teams. After the recording, series producer Cecil Korer stated, “The weather has certainly caused us [the BBC] some problems today. We had to play each game by ear, because we did not want any of these wonderful teams to feel that their opponents had been treated advantageously. This resulted in changing many of the original game ideas right up to the last minute, because as most of the games were played on the water’s surface, the wind could have disadvantaged some more than others”.
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB	It's A Knockout 1976	Heat 7
Event Staged: Sunday 23rd May 1976 Venue: Kings Park, Stirling, Central Scotland, Scotland Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Friday 2nd July 1976, 8.00-9.00pm
Teams: Edinburgh v. Linlithgow v. Stirling
Team Members included: Edinburgh - Charlie Jackson and Anna Munroe; Linlithgow - Douglas Forman (Team Manager), Douglas Ball (Co-Team Coach), Donald Ford (Co-Team Coach), Jackie McFadyen (Co-Team Coach), Graeme Harvey (Men’s Team Captain), Rosemary French (Ladies’ Team Captain), Ronald Bamberry, Dale Couper, Norman Cummings, John Forgan, Diana Gilmore, Bill Henderson, Robert Hogg, Derek Isles, Gerard Keating, Glen McFee, Susan McMaster, Derek Marshall, Kathleen Pedie, Michael Tierney.
Games included: Wheelbarrow Balance, Over the Humps, Beat the Goalie, The Castle Turrets and Posting the Letters.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 3rd	Edinburgh  Linlithgow  Stirling	2219 18
Edinburgh qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Groningen, Netherlands: staged on Wednesday 8th September 1976
Did You Know?The venue for this heat had caused some stirrings by Linlithgow MP, Tam Dalyell (later to become Father of the House). Ever since the team had been chosen as one of the three teams, he had campaigned tirelessly to get the BBC to change its mind and hold the heat in Linlithgow. His wish was to have had it staged on Linlithgow Peel, a small green area located next to Linlithgow Palace which stands overlooking the shore of Linlithgow Loch. The BBC remained adamant that the venue in the grounds of Stirling Castle (in fact it was to be the main car park outside the castle) was not going to be changed. However, just three weeks before the actual event, the BBC switched venues and announced that the event would take place in Kings Park, albeit still in Stirling! Kings Park is Stirling’s biggest and best used park. It offers many amenities and leisure activities and during the summer months (and particularly when there is good weather), the park is usually heaving with locals relaxing and spending time with their families. Amongst these amenities can be found Crazy Golf, a putting green, a giant draught and chess board with similar-sized playing pieces, tennis courts, climbing frames, trampolines and there is even a permanent helter-skelter. In more recent times, an additional ‘wheelie park’ has been added, catering for all things on wheels i.e. skateboards, skates and BMX bikes. While there’s plenty of space to run around and to explore, the park’s proximity to the golf course means that visitors still have to look out for low flying golf balls! Interestingly, the competing teams’ local newspapers had contrasting scores of the final result. The Stirling Gazette published the final result ending Edinburgh 21 pts, Stirling 17 pts and Linlithgow 12 pts. The Linlithgow Courier showed the town’s down-hearted team captain, Graeme Harvey standing in front of the final scoreboard with the correct scores of those shown above. The Stirling team mascot was Humperdinck, an Arabian camel from the Blair Drummond Safari Park, which is located about 5 miles north-east of Stirling city centre.
Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB - F	It's A Championship Knockout 1976	Domestic Final
Event Staged: Sunday 27th June 1976 Venue: Arena North, Park Hall, Charnock Richard, Lancashire Transmission: BBC1 (GB): Wednesday 4th August 1976, 7.15-8.30pm Radio Times Trophy presented by: John Inman of Are You Being Served?
Teams: Blackpool v. Edinburgh v. Kirklees v. Newbury v. Redcar v. Tamworth v. Thurrock
Team Members included: Blackpool - Bob Battersby (Team Captain), Sharon Hull, Mike Lomas, Janina Slusarski, Stuart Thompson, Cheryl Whitham; Edinburgh - Charlie Jackson and Anna Munroe; Kirklees - Rob Blackshaw (Team Coach and Captain), Karen Athey, Julie Athey, Eddie Berry, Kim Booth, Alan Conrey, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, Janet Fidler, Gillian Gaskin, Brian Hayhurst, Barry Hodgson, Ian Jowett, Barry Kenny, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Julie Mallalieu, Eileen Marchant, Dave Millman, Graham Overhead, Lesley Rowell, Lynette Thompson and Janet Williams (Original Team Sheet - PDF); Newbury - John Norgate (Team Manager), Mike Hart (Team Coach & Men’s Team Captain), Sue Robertson (Ladies’ Team Captain), John Bauer, Hilary Bowden, Timothy Cornish, Susan Grantham, Paul Heggis, Julian Hendy, Melvin Kastelnik, Rachel King, Mark Morris, Louise O’Neill, John Rice, Linda Rice, Alisdair Ross, Douglas Smith, Richard Smith, Colin Street, Moyna Turner; Redcar - Fred Proctor (Men’s Team Captain), Denise Appleby (Ladies’ Team Captain), Clive Birkbeck, Peter Howe, Ann Miller, Corinne Miller and Alex Vickers; Tamworth - Geoff Beales (Men’s Team Captain), Barbara ‘Bunny’ Culclough (Ladies’ Team Captain), Stanley Ashmore, Martin Baker, Denise Battersby, Keith Bowater, Natalie Burrows, Wendy Chappell, John Davis, Ralph Graham, Stephanie Heal, Ann Lyth, Brian Mandry, Petra Morgan, Michael Pointon, John Sedgwick, Dawn Sewell, Chris Shilton, Jenny Smale, Steve Walters, Bob Wesley, Sue Wileman; Thurrock - Malcolm Gow (Team Manager), Terry Lax (Team Captain), Julie Bannister, Jack Benton, Michael Brightwell, Costa Buller, Trevor Burge, Malcolm Burton, Geoffrey Cave, John Chapman, Colin Elsden, Andrea Eustace, Geraldine Gray, David Groom, Tony Hills, Alan Jousiffe, Susan Jousiffe, Susan Kane, Gloria Kemp, Michael ‘Doc’ Leckenby, Valerie McCormack, Kay Meiklejohn, Erica Morris, Ray ‘The Star’ Page, Jack Palmer, Colin Paxman, Ray Smallcombe, William Smith, Gary Telfer, Bob Williams.
Games: Over the Nets, Over the Hurdles, Balloons over Pool, Tweedles, Dropping Sails, Under the Mats, Balancing on Trolley and Giants; Marathon: Collecting Eggs.
Result:	Team:	Points:
1st 2nd 3rd 3rd 5th 6th 7th	Blackpool  Edinburgh  Tamworth  Thurrock  Kirklees  Newbury  Redcar	41 40 38 38 31 29 26
Did You Know? Previously awarded to the team scoring the highest number of points in the domestic heats, the Knockout Trophy is, from here on, awarded to the winner of a massive head-to-head between all the winners from the year's domestic heats.