Category: Entertainment

Fanny Cradock (1909-94) was not quite the first TV chef to grace British screens, but she could lay claim to being the first ‘celebrity’ TV chef. With her partner, Major Johnnie Cradock (she took his name by deed poll as a previous husband would not grant her a divorce), she inspired women to be more adventurous in the kitchen after the ending of food rationing in 1954.

Fanny and Johnnie had an ‘act’ which may or may not have been true to their real-life relationship ~ she the domineering, bossy snob and he the hen-pecked underling. They performed this in theatres before being asked to bring it to television.

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Fanny was an ardent admirer of Continental cuisine and gave all her dishes French names. She wore lots of make-up, with large false eyelashes, and she often wore chiffon ball-gowns with no protective apron whilst cooking. Her eccentricity unfortunately made her a figure of fun in later years. Fanny is credited with introducing pizza to the UK and inventing the prawn cocktail. Of convenience food she said: “It’s a load of muck”.

(Image: Allan Warren at Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)

To be ‘in dire straits’ means to be in a poor state, but many people would instead think of the massively successful blues-rock group called Dire Straits, active from 1977 to 1988 and 1991 to 1995. They may have been in dire straits at the beginning, but their very first single, ‘Sultans of Swing’ was a big hit, initially in Europe, then the USA and the UK. This was the time of teenage punk rock and the well-crafted, warm, atmospheric style of Dire Straits was a breath of fresh air for the older audience.

Original group members were brothers Mark and David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. Mark Knopfler was the front man, with his own laid-back singing style and brilliant guitar technique. Their biggest album was the 1985 classic ‘Brothers in Arms’, the first album to sell at least a million copies in the CD format. It actually sold thirty million copies in all. The group were keen to try digital technology and were among the first to put out music videos.

With over one hundred million record sales to their name, Dire Straits provided us with the enduring musical genius of Mark Knopfler and a sound that conjures up a decade.

(Image: Heinrich Klaffs at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Sir Tom Jones, OBE, was born into a mining family in Pontypridd, South Wales, in 1940 as Thomas Woodward. He was soon singing and loved to take the spotlight as a soloist. He suffered a bout of tuberculosis in his early teens but by the age of sixteen was married with a child on the way. His son, Mark (1957-), went on to become his manager in 1986.

Tom got his show business break in 1963 when he was talent-spotted whilst singing in a group in his home area. He was whisked off to London, changed his name to Tom Jones and signed a recording contract. His second record was ‘It’s Not Unusual’ and this reached no. 1 in the charts in 1965. He amassed huge numbers of adoring female fans who were dazzled by his looks, his swinging hips and his punchy style of conducting the band..

In the same year he met and became friends with his hero, Elvis Presley. Tom and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and he performed regularly in Las Vegas. He has had hits even in his seventies and is currently a coach on The Voice TV programme in the UK.

(Image: Wayne Dilger at Flickr.com / CC BY-ND 2.0)

Two graduates from Oxford (Michael Palin and Terry Jones), three from Cambridge (John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle) and one from the Occidental College in Los Angeles (Terry Gilliam) formed the comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1969. The BBC had granted them a slot on television, thanks to comedy writer Barry Took, and all their university-style humour then went into producing three-and-a-half series up to 1974.

Their influences included ‘The Goons’ and ‘Beyond the Fringe’ and they had separately performed and written scripts for the Cambridge Footlights and the Oxford Revue. The TV show, interspersed with Gilliam’s collage animations, overturned the norms of the day, including the idea that a sketch should have a punchline. It became extremely successful and fans revelled in knowing off-by-heart the lines to the Dead Parrot sketch, for example, or singing along to the Lumberjack Song.

The team’s matured wackiness then took the form of three innovative and hugely successful fims ~ ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’, ‘The Life of Brian’ and ‘The Meaning of Life’. Although these attracted a little controversy, they contain classic moments, such as Brian’s mother shouting from her window “He’s NOT the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!”.

(Image: it.wikipedia.org / Public domain)

The Eurovision Song Contest was first staged by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in 1956 in Switzerland. The UK had its first entrant the following year, missed 1958, then from 1959 has participated every year. It is one of the ‘Big Five’ countries who are guaranteed a place in the final by dint of paying the highest application fees to the EBU.

At first, broadcasting Eurovision to multiple countries was a technical challenge, since there were no satellites in those days, but it has evolved along with the technology and today is viewed all across the world. The UK has won the contest five times, in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997 and been runners-up fifteen times.

However, coinciding with the inclusion of eastern European countries in the 21st century, the British public have begun to question our continued participation, since we now do very badly, finishing last on four occasions so far. No currently successful British pop star will take part, for fear of a low finishing place ruining their career. In 2018, the UK contestant’s performance was interrupted by a man who grabbed the microphone and shouted anti-establishment slogans.

(Image: Albin Olsson at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sir Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) was an award-winning star of silent films in his trademark character, ‘the tramp’. He drew on his own childhood experiences of destitution in London, which included being sent to a workhouse at age seven. His acting talent sent him from rags to riches, which he used to buy his own film studio and take complete control of his films ~ writing, acting, directing, producing, editing and composing the music. Three of his songs became chart hits, including the beautiful and poignant ‘Smile’, sung by Nat King Cole.

It was whilst working in Los Angeles during WW1 that he learnt all aspects of the film-making business. His films were being churned out weekly and the public loved them. After the War, he went to a different studio and began to make films with more pathos in the story-line, as he realised that quality rather than quantity was important.

He became extremely rich and was able to found United Artists with three other film stars. However, he left the USA in 1952 as they were intolerant of his political views and he went to live in Switzerland. He was married four times and had eleven children.

(Image: Insomnia Cured Here at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sir Elton John, CBE, was born in 1947 in Middlesex and is an award-winning, record-breaking musical phenomenon. Not only was he playing the piano from age 3, but he has been touring since the age of 17. His tribute song ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’ which he played at Princess Diana’s funeral and never again, was the fastest and biggest-selling single since Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’. All the profits went to charity.

He met his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, in 1967. From 1970 to 1976 they had hit after hit, with chart-toppers such as ‘Your Song’, ‘Crocodile Rock’, ‘Rocket Man’, and ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’. There was already a ‘Greatest Hits’ album by 1974! Elton was an immediate success in the USA and developed a flambuoyant, showman-style act.

Since then, his keenness to collaborate with other musicians ~ John Lennon, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Billy Joel and Nik Kershaw, to name but a few ~ has been part of his continuing success. With Tim Rice he wrote the music for Disney’s Lion King animation, for which he received an Oscar in 1994. His three-year farewell tour round the world, ending in 2020, is a measure perhaps of how difficult stepping away will be.

(Top image [cropped]: Cindy Andrie at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

‘Come Dancing’ first appeared on British TV screens in 1949 ~ a time when people were ready to engage in light-hearted pastimes once again, after the end of World War 2. In its first few years, its aim was to teach the viewers the different ballroom dance steps. From 1953 onwards it took on a competition format, awarding trophies to the best couples and regional teams.

The female dancers’ glamorous dresses were always a key attraction of the show, even before the advent of colour television in 1966. Puffy skirts, sequins, rhinestones and feathers were described in detail by the show’s presenters, including information such as “.. all hand-sewn by her mother”.

The venues included the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry, the Lyceum in London, Blackpool Tower and Winter Gardens and finally, Bournemouth International Centre until the final run in 1998. Six years later, the BBC decided to bring the show back with a celebrity element and re-name it ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

(Image: pixabay.com)

Reality TV, the docu-soap and the fly-on-the-wall documentary can all thank the BBC’s 1974 television programme ‘The Family’ for their emergence. Producer Paul Watson came up with the idea of making a twelve-part series in which a real family on low income would be filmed in their everyday lives. There would be no script, just real life, warts and all.

The Wilkins family was selected because there were various issues in their living conditions and relationships, which could all be highlighted as they developed over the weeks. The whole family became famous but it was the outspoken, wise mother ~ Margaret ~ and the rebellious teenage daughter ~ Heather ~ who were the most memorable and drew most comments from the media and the public.

After the twelve weeks were over, the public wanted more, but there were no further episodes. Nevertheless, it had set a precedent for a new source of TV material.

(Image of Whitley Street, Reading, home of ‘The Family’: Chris Matson at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Born in Surrey in 1919 as Margaret Hookham, Dame Margot Fonteyn‘s mother was key to her future success. She put her in for ballet lessons at the age of four and made sure she continued practising, even when the family moved to China for a while. Her daughter would go on to become Britain’s most famous ballerina and the most celebrated dance partner of Rudolf Nureyev (pictured above).

Away from the stage, her Panamaniam husband, Dr Roberto Arias, involved her in a failed attempt to overthrow his country’s government in 1959 and she was briefly put in prison. In 1964 he was shot several times and became paralysed for the rest of his life.

Amidst all of this, Dame Margot was gaining fame and celebrity across the world as a prima ballerina. She had three main dance partners, the last of which was Rudolf Nureyev, nineteen years her junior. They were an exquisite pairing and audiences were willing to pay double the price to see them perform. They remained very close friends and when Dame Margot was dying from cancer in 1991, Nureyev paid towards the cost of her treatment.

(Image: Eric Koch at Wikimedia Commons / CC0)