donna

right Gazza never missed it when I was young, Beat the Clock now seems corny but at the time was good.

willothewisp

If i'm not mistaken the Beatles did do the revolving stage. It was the Stones who once refused to do the end bit at one of those type of shows much to the outrage of the media.

donna

my memory must be bad , thought the Beatles , do remember the empty revolving stage at the end. thanks willow for pointing that out.

donna

just thought about it Willow was it the Beatles who messed around with the big letters at the end, think it was now. yep your right. thanks

Jackdaw

Always watched the show as a kid, and the highlights for me were the pop acts topping the bill, especially Buddy Holly in 1958.

donna

didnt have a tv in 58 , think we were the last in the street to get one, couldnt wait to get the big (H) on the roof to show everyone we had a telly.

Amethyst_Isle

I remember when they repeated an episode when due to a strike (first time around I might add ) Bruce Forsyth and Norman Wisdom did the whole show live all on their own.

I can not think of anything similar to anyone doing that before live on tv...bloody genius of those two as well.

There's a lot of dignity in that, isn't there? Going out like a raspberry ripple.

Steve Crook

Norman Forsyth and Bruce Wisdom




Steve

Moor Larkin

I reckon Brucie probably bribed them to go on strike, just so he could have the run of the place!!

donna

know what you mean hes not happy unless he shines or their talking about him, still hes a trouper and going well at his age.

bhowells

Donna I do have a few memories of the Sunday Night at the London Paladium, one abiding memory was when I saw Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker making guest appearances this must have been about 1967, so by reckoniong Jimmy Tarbuck was the compere then, I could be wrong though.

I heard a story not sure if it is true, but Judy Garland was once a guest on the show, not sure of the year but anyway she was so emotinonally overwrought that night she refused to appear on the revolving stage at the end of the show.

alan french

Hi.
I also remember Judy Garland who very sadly had problems on this show. Unfortunately she forgot a line in one song and covered up by singing or saying that there were some words in there someplace.

I also remember Pearl Bailey performing. She may have had one drink too many.
At one point, she got a man out of the audience and danced with him.

There was also a legal or rule or regulation that made it awkward for Frankie Lyman with or without the Teenagers to sing live on the show. I cannot rememeber if he was pre-filmed or had to mime or what. I know that just before hand the then current compere, Tommy Trinder explained the situation as best he could. I know he for some reason had to give reference to the BBC. He made some comment that this was not the BBC and he had money in his pocket to prove it. Remember the show was on commercial television.

A lot of people thought that The Beatles were appearing in the show earlier than they actually did. At one point, the curtain opened and as the lighting at the back began to glow, silohuettes of what were taken to be the group were seen in their mop head hair cuts. The teenage girls went mad and screamed. Then the lights went on more and revealed that it was not The Beatles, but four mops arranged in a way so that seen in dimly, as they had been they looked like The Fab Four. Bruce Forsythe I think then made a comment that you (meaning the audience)would scream at anything. Not only were the Beatles a success that night, but also their fellow Liverpudlian, Jimmy Tarbuck. In fact, I think it was this edition of Sunday Night At The London Palladium, that made him a houshold name.

Alan French.

crunchie

I used to love this show as a kid. I still have a reel-to-reel sound recording of an appearance by Cliff and The Shadows, but, over the years, I've acquired three full shows on DVD's yet I'm sure there are many more lying around the ATV and BBC archives. They should dust off what they have and show them again.

donna

I remember Judy Garland on, dont know if she was drunk or what, very sad, she had on a dark glittery jacket and straight skirt and her hair was short and tousled, does anyone remember Bruce talking to an older woman in the audience called Beatty think it was, he made a thing of it every week.

Geoffers

Beatty was a "character" who had appeared amusingly on an earlier edition of Beat The Clock and he suddenly spotted her in the audience. It was probably set-up but it went down very well with the audience.

I also remember Bruce doing a very funny impression of Adam Faith and then repeating it to duet with Adam when he later starred on the show. That episode is definitely in the archives.