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Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (7th November 2010). |
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The Film
 Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV, 1955-67, 1973-4) One of independent television's first popular successes, Sunday Night at the London Palladium ran for twelve years, between 1955 and 1967, and was briefly revived in 1973. The series was one of the few big hits for commercial television: in 1957, a Gallup poll revealed that the only ITV show in its respondents' 'top five' was Sunday Night at the London Palladium - the other four programmes in the 'top five' were all BBC-produced (Hancock's Half Hour, Panorama, What's My Line? and This is Your Life) (see Turnock, 2007: 28). Along with other variety shows such as Television Music Hall (BBC, 1952-4) and The Good Old Days (BBC, 1953-83), Sunday Night at the London Palladium has been referred to as 'a shop window for the variety stage of the country' (Bennett, 2010: 49). During the 1950s, the music hall tradition began to die out just as television variety shows were offering a new platform for the kinds of acts that would previously have been showcased in the music halls; in the words of James Bennett, '[t]his death blow to music hall [ ] saw the establishment of televisual performance modes, as a roster of televisually skilled personalities [Benny Hill, Bruce Forsyth, Bob Monkhouse] developed during the early to late 1950s who became famous for their television performances' (ibid.). Long after the death of the theatrical music hall tradition, television variety shows were still popular and had cemented their position as a staple of weekend television: the Sunday Night at the London Palladium format was reworked in the 1980s as Live From Her Majesty's (LWT, 1982-5) (see Barfe, 2008: 304). According to Louis Barfe, Sunday Night at the London Palladium 'succeeded [ ] thanks to the prestige of the venue itself [ ] the quality of the bill on offer and the fact that the programme was visibly live' (96). Via 'Beat the Clock', the 'game show interlude [ ] in which married couples competed for household goods and a shot at a cash jackpot', Sunday Night at the London Palladium gave 'independent television its first original catchphrase' in the form of the question posed to winning couples, 'Can you come back next week?' (ibid.: 96-7). In fact, the inclusion of 'Beat the Clock' modeled on the American game show of the same name (Goodson-Todman, 1950-80) reflects the general boom in game show formats on British television during the late-1950s and anticipates some of the elements of Forsyth's popular BBC game show The Generation Game (1971-82, 1990-2002) (see Turnock, op cit.: 166). Initially presented by Tommy Trinder, for a number of years Sunday Night at the London Palladium struggled to find a stable host: Dickie Henderson, Hughie Green, Bob Monkhouse, Alfred Marks and Robert Morley all dabbled in acting as the show's compere. In 1958, Bruce Forsyth was appointed as the series' host after being recommended to producer Brian Tesler by Dickie Henderson (see Barfe, op cit.: 112). Forsyth quickly developed his own catchphrase, 'I'm in charge', and Forsyth imprinted his personality onto the show. Some commentators have noted that along with other variety shows, Sunday Night at the London Palladium offered opportunities to groups that were otherwise largely excluded from the landscape of popular television.Writing specifically about black British and American performers on television, Stephen Bourne has noted that the series both 'helped to nurture home-grown stars like Shirley Bassey and Cleo Laine' and provided an arena for American stars such as 'Eartha Kitt, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Harry Belafonte, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Billi Holliday, Paul Robeson and many others' who 'kept on coming' (Bourne, 2005: 64). However, as noted by Bourne (via comments made by the pioneering black agent and actress Pearl Connor-Mogotsi) there was a bias towards American acts: 'the American media and the American projection was so enormous that British people were comatose under its influence. The whole gimmick was if you were American they accepted you', Connor-Mogotsi has asserted (quoted in ibid.). Only six episodes of the original run of Sunday Night at the London Palladium survive. They are presented on this DVD. There is a clear discrepancy between the first two episodes and Forsyth-hosted episodes. The show benefits greatly from Forsyth's warm and energetic screen presence. The mixture of comedy, acrobatics, dancing and music is effective but aside from a few strong musical acts it's the comedy that sells the show. Some of the jokes are surprisingly fresh: in the first episode, compere Hughie Green asserts that 'Today, sport is really business. It really is very, very big business. And I can prove that to you [ ]: take Leyton Orient, they're always taking stock'. In the second episode, hosted by Tommy Trinder, Dick Shawn performs a comic monologue about mental illness that, in today's climate, would be seen as downright tasteless but which is utterly compelling in its energy. (This second episode also features a great comic performance of 'Jailhouse Rock' by Pinky and Perky.) From the third episode onwards, the show begins to become more consistent, arguably to some extent due to Forsyth's commitment to his role as the show's host. The highlight in this set is the fourth episode, from 1961, which was shot during the strike by Equity that began on the first of November of that year. The strike meant that Sunday Night at the London Palladium was almost threatened with having no guests. However, the late, great Norman Wisdom (a member of the Variety Artists' Federation rather than Equity) stepped into the fray, and he and Forsyth (also a member of the Variety Artists' Federation) performed the show as a two-hander. This episode is a delight to watch, filled to the brim with comic cross-talk and some wonderful slapstick sketches. The 1970s episodes, hosted by Jim Dale and Ted Rogers, are on the whole a little less impressive, aside from some strong appearances by Larry Grayson and Rod Hull and Emu in the first episode from 1973. The second 1970s episode, from the sixth of January, 1974, was one of a handful of Sunday Night at the London Palladium episodes that were hit by the Provisional IRA bombing campaign that took place over Christmas, 1973. Falling victim to a 'bomb scare', at least two of the episodes of Sunday Night (including this one) were pulled mid-broadcast which is a shame, because this particular episode features a great comic performance by Bob Monkhouse. (The other episode affected by the IRA campaign was broadcast on the twenty-third of December, 1973.) This release apparently marks the first time that this particular episode has been seen in its entirety. The final two episodes on the set are hosted by Ted Rogers and have an emphasis on musical performances (notably by The Drifters and Sacha Distel), with some comedy peppered throughout the episodes (including a brief appearance by Mike and Bernie Winters). Disc One: 24/11/1957 (39:15) 13/4/1958 (51:27) 10/4/1960 (52:02) 17/4/1960 (52:00) Disc Two: 3/12/1961 (51:30) 22/3/1964 (55:29) 25/11/1973 (55:15) 6/1/1974 (49:25) Disc Three: 24/3/1974 (49:25) 14/4/1974 (48:27) Special Features: Image Galleries: 'Promotional and Behind the Scenes' (13:10) 'Bruce Forsyth' (7:19) 'The Beatles' (00:50) 'Dusty Springfield' (7:49) 'Judy Garland' (6:32) 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows' (3:37) 'Artiste Gallery 1' (10:31) 'Artiste Gallery 2' (10:25)
Video
All of the episodes, shot entirely on video, are presented in their original broadcast screen ratio of 1.33:1. The first six episodes, from the series' original run, are monochrome, as per their original broadcasts. These episodes display periodic tape damage. The remaining episodes, from the series' revival in 1973-4, are presented in colour. These episodes are on the whole in much better shape, but there are still some examples of bad tape damage. The break bumpers are intact on the 1970s episodes.
Audio
Audio is presented via a two-channel mono track, which is inconsistent. The 1970s episodes are fine, but some of the episodes from the show's original run (in particular, the first episode) have weak audio that lack definition and is sometimes a little unclear. However, given the age of the material this is forgivable.
Extras
Disc three contains an array of image galleries. Image Galleries: - 'Promotional and Behind the Scenes' (13:10): images from the production of the show, including a 'behind the scenes' perspective on the ATV executives, and some promotional images. - 'Bruce Forsyth' (7:19): images from Brucie's tenure as the show's host, from 1958 to 1963. This gallery also includes some images of Forsyth and Norman Wisdom after their famous 'two hander' show. - 'The Beatles' (00:50): images from The Beatles performance on the show in 1964. - 'Dusty Springfield' (7:49): images of her performances on the show in 1962 and1963 (as part of The Springfields) and her solo appearances in 1965, 1967 and 1968. - 'Judy Garland' (6:32): images from 1963, 1964 and 1969. - 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows' (3:37): images from 1959 and 1965. - 'Artiste Gallery 1' (10:31): this gallery contains images of Larry Adler, Ray Allen and Lord Charles, Dave Allen, Paul Anka, Don Arrol, Arthur Askey, Winifred Atwell, The Bachelors, Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, Gene Barry, Shirley Bassey, Tony Bennett, Jack Benny, Michael Bentine, Acker Bilk, The Beverley Sisters, Cilla Black, Pat Boone, Bernard Bresslaw, Joe Brown, Max Bygraves, Roy Castle, Petula Clark, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and Tommy Cooper. - 'Artiste Gallery 2' (10:25): this gallery contains images of Johnny Dankworth & Cleo Lane, Sammy Davis Jr, Les Dawson, Adam Faith, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd, Jayne Mansfield, Spike Milligan, Bob Monkhouse, Rudolph Nureyev, Des O'Connor, George Raft, Paul Robeson, Peter Sellers, Sandie Shaw, Morecambe and Wise and The Supremes.
Overall
It is interesting to trace the development of Sunday Night over almost twenty years: as the show ages during the 1960s, there is an increased emphasis on comedy (and as the compere, Forsyth provides a strong, guiding presence) and then, during the 1970s revival, a gradual retrenchment into music and dancing. The series has strong historical value and features some very good performances (eg, Monkhouse's appearance in one of the 1974 shows) but is frequently inconsistent as is the nature of variety shows. However, the true gem in this set is the 1961 episode performed by Forsyth and Norman Wisdom; this episode is hugely entertaining, and the interplay between Forsyth and Wisdom is intoxicating. References: Barfe, Louis, 2008: Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment. London: Atlantic Books Bennett, James, 2010: Television Personalities: Stardom and the Small Screen. London: Taylor & Francis Bourne, Stephen, 2005: Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television. Continuum Publishing Group Hallam, Julia, 2003: 'Induction: The Development of Commercial TV in Britain'. In: Finch, John et al (eds), 2003: Granada Television: The First Generation. Manchester University Press: 1-24 Turnock, Robert, 2007: Television and Consumer Culture: Britain and the Transformation of Modernity. London: I B Tauris For more information, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
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