Seaside Special - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Seaside Special was a BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

light entertainment

Light entertainment

Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances. These include comedies, variety shows, quiz/game shows, sketch shows and people/surprise shows.-Light entertainment in Britain:...

show broadcast from the mid-late 1970s. It was an outside broadcast and was always filmed in a big top in a British seaside resort. Originally the big top belonged to various circuses (principally Gerry Cottle's Circus), but in later seasons, the BBC purchased their own big top to act as the venue. The programme was developed by BBC producer Michael Hurll.

The show

It was essentially a variety show, hosted by Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

and Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

DJs, consisting of a music act, a comedy act, and dancers New Edition and featured a beauty competition in the 1977 series.

Typical acts were Little and Large

Little and Large

Little and Large were a British comedy double act comprising straight man Syd Little and comic Eddie Large . They formed their partnership in 1962, appearing as singers in local pubs around the North-West of England...

, Keith Harris and Orville, Lena Zavaroni

Lena Zavaroni

Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...

, The Jimmy Brown Dancers, Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton is a British comedian and entertainer, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, Don Maclean and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....

, Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...

, The Wurzels

The Wurzels

The Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...

, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...

, Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

, Val Doonican

Val Doonican

Val Doonican is an Irish singer. From 1965 to 1986 he was a regular fixture on the BBC Television's schedule with The Val Doonican Show, which featured his own singing performances and a variety of guest artists...

, Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett

Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...

, The Goodies

The Goodies

The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...

and Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...

. Some segments of the show were shot outside the big top, including one memorable occasion when the Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s, most notably by winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me"....

sang "My Sweet Rosalie" whilst sitting in a particularly unstable looking lifeboat.

The shows theme, "Summertime City", written and sung by Mike Batt

Mike Batt

Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...

, was a UK Top 10 hit in 1975.

History

Although very successful in its day, many (e.g. Grace Dent)http://www.radiotimes.com/content/features/tvod/week1/13/, now regard the programme as epitomising the worst aspects of 1970s television.

The show was briefly revived in the 1980s, but by then the tastes of the viewing public had moved on (see Variety shows history).

1975

5 July 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...

? Although most of the Torbay shows were at Brixham

Brixham

Brixham is a small fishing town and civil parish in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Brixham is at the southern end of Torbay, across the bay from Torquay, and is a fishing port. Fishing and tourism are its major industries. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of...

Pontins Wall Park Holiday Camp.

guests - The Spinners

The Spinners (UK band)

The Spinners were a 1960s folk group from Liverpool, England formed in September 1958. They consisted of:* Hughie Jones...

were filmed on a pontoon in Brixham harbour.

12 July 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - The New Seekers

The New Seekers

The New Seekers are a British-based pop group, formed in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music had rock as well as folk influences...

, Clive Dunn

Clive Dunn

Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn OBE is a retired English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.-Early life:...

, and Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

.

19 July 1975

Location - Blackpool

guests - Mike & Bernie Winters, The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group. Formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, the group has always been a trio though there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fourteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney,...

, Peter Gordeno & New Edition. With hosts David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

and Paul Melba

26 July 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - unknown

2 August 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - unknown

9 August 1975

location - Gerry Cottles Circus, Torbay

Torbay

hosts - Noel Edmonds

Noel Edmonds

Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...

and Val Doonican

Val Doonican

, guests - Windsor Davies

Windsor Davies

Windsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:...

and Don Estelle

Don Estelle

Don Estelle was a British actor and singer.Born Donald Edwards in Crumpsall, Manchester, he was brought up in a house on Russell Street, Crumpsall. During World War II, at the age of eight, he was evacuated to Darwen, Lancashire, twenty miles away from his home town, to escape the German bombing...

(from the TV comedy It Ain't Half Hot Mum

It Ain't Half Hot Mum

It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...

) singing Whispering Grass

Whispering Grass

"Whispering Grass " is a popular song written by Fred Fisher and his daughter Doris Fisher. The song was first recorded by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra in 1940. The Ink Spots also recorded it the same year....

, Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett

, Lynn Rogers

Lynn Rogers

Dr Lynn Leroy Rogers is an American biologist specialising in the study of wild black bears. He is the founder of the North American Bear Center....

, Peter Hudson

Peter Hudson

Peter John Hudson AM is a former Australian Rules Football player, considered one of the greatest full-forwards in the game's history....

, Ian Lavender

Ian Lavender

Arthur Ian Lavender , better known as Ian Lavender, is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.-Early life and career:...

, Bill Pertwee

Bill Pertwee

William Desmond Anthony Pertwee MBE is a British comedy actor. He is best known for playing the part of antagonist ARP Warden Hodges in the popular sitcom Dad's Army.-Early and personal life:...

(both from Dad's Army

Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

), John Inman

John Inman

Frederick John Inman was an English actor best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served?, a British sitcom in the 1970s and 1980s. Inman was also well known in the United Kingdom as a pantomime dame....

and Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

DJs Mike Read

Mike Read

Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.-Early life:...

, David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

(and his wife Tessa Wyatt

Tessa Wyatt

Tessa Wyatt is an English actress who first came to the public spotlight through her marriage to Tony Blackburn. She later starred in the sitcom Robin's Nest.-Early life:...

)

16 August 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - unknown

23 August 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - unknown

30 August 1975

Location - unknown - Torbay

Torbay

?

guests - unknown

1976

19 June 1976

location - Gerry Cottles Circus, Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

guests - Wendy Richard

Wendy Richard

Wendy Richard, MBE was an English actress best known for playing Miss Brahms in Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders...

, Mollie Sugden

Mollie Sugden

Isobel Mary 'Mollie' Sugden was an English comedy actress best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985. She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour, which ran from 1992 to 1993...

, Frank Thornton

Frank Thornton

Frank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...

, John Inman

John Inman

, (all from Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...

), Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...

and The Goodies

The Goodies

, with hosts Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis , also known professionally as DLT and the Hairy Cornflake, is a British radio presenter, best known for his career on BBC Radio 1.-Early life:...

.

26 June 1976

location - unknown - Scarborough ?

guests - Dana

Dana Rosemary Scallon

Dana Rosemary Scallon , known in her singing career simply as Dana, is an Irish singer and former Member of the European Parliament ....

, Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson (comedian)

Jim Davidson OBE is a British comedian, actor and television presenter. He has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment, particularly of British service personnel in conflict zones.- Biography :The son of a Glaswegian father, Davidson was born in...

, with host David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

3 July 1976

Location – Scarborough (American Bicentennial edition)

guests The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees

, Kenneth McKellar, Brother Lees, Dailey and Wayne, New Edition

10 July 1976

Location - Southsea

Southsea

Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....

guests Lulu

Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

, Mike & Bernie Winters

Bernie Winters

Bernie Winters was an English comedian and the comic relief of the double act, Mike and Bernie Winters with his brother, Mike. He later performed solo, often with the aid of his St...

, Janet Brown, Dream Express, Ron Martin, host Paul Burnett

Paul Burnett

Paul Burnett is an English radio disc jockey, who began his radio career while in the Royal Air Force in the Persian Gulf in 1964. In 1966 he joined offshore radio station, Radio 270, broadcasting off Scarborough, North Yorkshire...

, and New Edition

17 July 1976

Location - Blackpool

Blackpool

guests Al Dean, Kate T. Fields Rod Hull and Emu

Rod Hull

Rodney Stephen Hull , better known as Rod Hull, was a popular entertainer on British television in the 1970s and 1980s. He rarely appeared without Emu, a mute, highly aggressive arm-length puppet of the flightless emu bird...

, Little and Large

Little and Large

, New Edition

24 July 1976

Location - Southsea

Southsea

Southsea is a seaside resort located in Portsmouth at the southern end of Portsea Island in the county of Hampshire in England. Southsea is within a mile of Portsmouth's city centre....

featured acts from Gerry Cottles Circus.

guests Tony Monopoly

Tony Monopoly

Tony Monopoly was a popular Australian cabaret singer and actor who enjoyed success in the United Kingdom.Born Antonio Rosario Monopoli in Adelaide, Australia, he was a regular on the national radio show Kangaroos on Parade at the age of nine. At the age of sixteen he became a Carmelite monk and...

, Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...

, Cannon and Ball

Cannon and Ball

Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire...

, Surprise Sisters, Mary Chipperfield

Mary Chipperfield

Mary Chipperfield was a 1970s circus entertainer who specialised in a chimpanzee act. She was also known as an animal trainer, providing numerous animals for various BBC productions and the 1967 movie Dr. Doolittle.-The Chipperfield heritage:...

– chimpanzee act, Jacko Fossett and Little Billy, Cimarro Brothers, host Mike Reid

Mike Reid (entertainer)

Michael Reid was an English comedian, actor, author and occasional television presenter from Hackney in east London, who is best remembered for playing the role of Frank Butcher in EastEnders and hosting the popular children's TV show Runaround...

, New Edition

31 July 1976

Location - Weymouth

guests The Bachelors, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

, Grumbleweeds, Keith Harris and Orville, Kenny Lynch

Kenny Lynch

Kenny Lynch, OBE is an English singer, songwriter, entertainer and actor from London. Lynch appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s...

, Jimmy Tarbuck

Jimmy Tarbuck

Jimmy Tarbuck OBE or Tarby is an English comedian. Growing up he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.His first television show was It's Tarbuck 65! on ITV in 1964. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game...

, New Edition

7 August 1976

Location - Weymouth and Cherbourg (Anglo-French edition)

guests Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s, most notably by winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me"....

, Frank Carson

Frank Carson

Frank Carson is a Northern Irish comedian and actor, best known on television in series such as The Comedians and Tiswas.-Early life:...

, Alan Randall, Child (Dave Cooper, Graham Bilbrough, Tim Atack & Keith Atack), Santus Julian troupe, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

, New Edition

14 August 1976

Location - Torbay

Torbay

guests Vince Hill

Vince Hill

Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...

, Roger De Courcey and Nookie the Bear, Patton Brothers, Fivepenny Piece

Fivepenny Piece

Fivepenny Piece are a five-piece band, originally formed in 1969 in the area of East Lancashire around Ashton-under-Lyne and nearby Stalybridge in Cheshire...

, Jodie Grey, Alan Stewart, Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

, New Edition

21 August 1976

Location - Torbay

Torbay

guests Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...

, Moira Anderson, Don Maclean

Don Maclean

Don Maclean is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....

, Black Abbots

Russ Abbot

Russ Abbot is an English musician, comedian and actor who first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.Continuing...

, Sidney Devine, Wayne King, hosts Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis , also known professionally as DLT and the Hairy Cornflake, is a British radio presenter, best known for his career on BBC Radio 1.-Early life:...

, David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, Paul Burnett

Paul Burnett

, New Edition

28 August 1976

Location - Torbay

Torbay

guests Nicky Benton, Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

, Larry Grayson

Larry Grayson

Larry Grayson , born William Sulley White, was an English stand-up comedian and television presenter of the 1970s and early 80s...

, Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

, Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...

, Diane Solomon, Wurzels, Fiddlygig, Terry Turner, New Edition

New Edition

New Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...

7 September 1976

Location - Southsea

David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, Boney M

Boney M

Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...

and New Edition

New Edition

1977

11 June 1977

Location Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

First heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest

guests Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett

, Anne Hart, Nolans, Janet Brown, Patton Brothers, Dick Sheppard, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, New Edition

18 June 1977

Location Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Second heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest

guests Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd

Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...

, Diane Traske, Don Maclean

Don Maclean

Don Maclean is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....

, Roger De Courcey and Nookie the Bear, Jeff Phillips, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, New Edition

25 June 1977

Location Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

Third heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest

guests John Inman

John Inman

, Ronnie Dukes, Ricki Lee, Berni Flint, Miquel Brown, Mike Hope, Albie Keen, host David Hamilton, New Edition

2 July 1977

Location Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

Fourth heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest

guests Les Dawson

Les Dawson

Leslie "Les" Dawson was a popular English comedian remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife.-Life and career:...

, Dana

Dana Rosemary Scallon

Dana Rosemary Scallon , known in her singing career simply as Dana, is an Irish singer and former Member of the European Parliament ....

, Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton is a British comedian and entertainer, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, Don Maclean and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....

, Brother Lees, Stuart Gillies, host David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, New Edition

9 July 1977

Location – Great Yarmouth

Fifth heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest.

guests Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

(performed "I Wanted To Call It Off"), Vince Hill

Vince Hill

Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...

, Frank Carson

Frank Carson

Frank Carson is a Northern Irish comedian and actor, best known on television in series such as The Comedians and Tiswas.-Early life:...

, Dream Express, Jeff Phillips, Lennie Bennett

Lennie Bennett

Lennie Bennett was an English comedian and game show host.After attending the Palatine Secondary School in Blackpool, Bennett became a journalist for the West Lancashire Evening Gazette before becoming a professional entertainer and appearing on The Good Old Days in 1979. Bennett starred in the...

, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, New Edition

16 July 1977

Location Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

Sixth heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest.

guests Little and Large

Little and Large

, Bachelors, Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...

, Dave Ismay, James Boys, Shades of Love, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, New Edition

23 July 1977

Location Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Seventh heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest.

guests Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

, Stu Francis, Michael Barrymore

Michael Barrymore

Michael Kieron Parker , better known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is a British comedian who appeared as a presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s and 1990s. These included Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People, My Kind of Music and Kids Say...

, Bobby Crush, Jodie Grey, host David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, New Edition

30 July 1977

Location Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Eighth heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest.

guests Val Doonican

Val Doonican

, Fiddlygig, Stan Boardman

Stan Boardman

Stan Boardman is an English comedian.- Early life :Boardman was evacuated with his family to Wrexham during World War II, and after the family returned to their Merseyside home mistakenly thinking the area had escaped the German bombs, his elder brother Tommy was killed in a bombing raid.He had...

, Les Wilson, Van Buren & Greta, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, New Edition

6 August 1977

Location Honfleur

Honfleur

Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie...

First of two programmes from France

guests Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, Claude Francois, Half Wits, Norman Caley, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

13 August 1977

Location Honfleur

Honfleur

Second of two programmes from France

guests Mireille Mathieu, Boney M

Boney M

, Marie Myriam, host Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

20 August 1977 8pm to 9pm BBC1

Location Torbay

Torbay

The Final of the Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest

guests Jeff Phillips, Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

, Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...

, Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson (comedian)

, Wurzels, Tony Selby

Tony Selby

Tony Selby is an English actor.He has appeared in many television programmes including a starring role in RAF National Service comedy Get Some In!, and a recurring role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as the intergalactic conman Sabalom Glitz...

, Patton Brothers, host David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, New Edition

27 August 1977

Location Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

Features the first colour TV transmission of the `Battle of the Flowers'.

guests Johnnie and Roy, Mission Hall Jazz Band, Des O’Connor

Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...

, Jack Douglas

Jack Douglas (actor)

Jack Douglas, born John Roberton was an English actor most famous for his roles in the Carry On films.- Career :...

, George Truzzi, Roger Kitter, Brian Taylor, Shades of Love, Californians, Page Three, host David Hamilton

David Hamilton (Radio DJ)

David Hamilton is a British radio presenter. Since his broadcasting career began in 1959, Hamilton has hosted over 12,000 radio shows and more than 1,000 TV shows...

, New Edition

30 September 1977 6.55pm to 7.40pm BBC1

Special end of Summer edition.

1978

8 July 1978

Location Torbay

Torbay

guests Little and Large

Little and Large

, Caterina Valente, Sheila B. Devotion, Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man

Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s, most notably by winning the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me"....

, Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy

Showaddywaddy are a 1970s pop group from Leicester, England. They specialised in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, and dressed as Teddy Boys.-History:...

, Hoppe's Unrideable Mules

15 July 1978

Location Torbay

Torbay

guests Clive Webb, Boney M

Boney M

, Joe Dassin, Plastic Bertrand

Plastic Bertrand

Plastic Bertrand is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi".-Early life and bands:...

, Matia Bazar, Ian Dury

Ian Dury

Ian Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...

, Roy Walker

Roy Walker

Robert "Roy" Walker is a television personality and comedian from Northern Ireland, who worked for many years as both a television presenter and comedy actor...

, Peter Hudson

22 July 1978 7.35pm to 8.25pm BBC1

Location Torbay

Torbay

guests Marti Caine

Marti Caine

Marti Caine, born Lynne Denise Shepherd was an English actress, dancer, presenter, singer, writer, and comedienne who gained fame from the television talent show New Faces and became a major variety star....

, Roy Castle

Roy Castle

Roy Castle OBE was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. He attended Honley High School, where there is now a building in his name...

, Jean Vallee, Brother Lees, Black Gold, Colin `Fingers' Henry, Inarros Sisters

29 July 1978 8.20pm to 9.10pm

Location Torbay

Torbay

guests Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

, Nicole Croisille, Smokie

Smokie (band)

Smokie is an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire who found success in Europe in the 1970s.-Early years:Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar School in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw...

, Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton

Bernie Clifton is a British comedian and entertainer, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, Don Maclean and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....

, Stu Francis

Stu Francis

Stu Francis is a British comedian with a camp style of delivery who achieved celebrity as lead presenter on the children's television programme Crackerjack , on which his catchphrase was "Ooh! I could crush a grape". His principal "co host" was Basil Brush...

, Paul Nicholas

Paul Nicholas

Paul Nicholas is an English actor and singer who has had considerable success on stage, screen and in the pop charts.-Biography:Nicholas was born as Paul Oscar Beuselinck in Peterborough, England...

, Charivari.
Rolf sang a variation of 'Flogging Molly' with the chorus
'Come day go day, Wish in my hearty it was Sunday, Drinking buttermilk all the week, And whiskey on a Sunday.'

5 August 1978 8.30pm to 9.20pm

Location Torbay

Torbay

guests Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson (comedian)

, Roger De Courcey and Nookie the Bear, Berni Flint, Larry Parker, Samson and Delilah, Udo Jürgens

Udo Jürgens

Udo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...

, Annie Cordy

12 August 1978 8.30pm to 9.20pm

Location St Malo

guests Joe Dassin, Chantal Goya, Laurent Voulzey, Était Une Fois, Café Crème, Arlene, Tony Crosse

19 August 1978 8.15pm to 9.05pm

Location St Malo

guests Band a Basile, Chris Woodward, Arthur Scott and his Sealions, Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....

, Baccara

Baccara

Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos and María Mendiola . The pair rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", which reached number one across much of Europe...

, Alain Souchon, Annie Cordon, Patrick Juvet, Jeane Manson, Martin Circus

26 August 1978 8.10pm to 9.00pm

Location Jersey

Jersey

and features the `Battle of the Flowers' (again)

guests Jackie Hall, Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan

Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...

, Wurzels, Stuart Gillies, Black Abbots

Russ Abbot

, Tony Hatch

Tony Hatch

Anthony Peter "Tony" Hatch is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger and producer.-Early life and early career:...

, Jackie Trent

Jackie Trent

Jackie Trent is an English singer, songwriter, and actress.-Career:Trent's first stage appearance was as a ten-year-old ingenue in the pantomime Babes In The Wood, but her primary interest was a career in pop music...

, Bobby Bennett

2 September 1978 8.10pm to 9.00pm

Location Jersey

Jersey

guests Charlie Daze, Memory Lane, Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee

Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

, Mike Burton, Dooleys, Brian Marshall, Californians, Good Vibrations, Ron Martin

9 September 1978 8.20pm to 9.10pm

Location Weymouth

guests Mike Carter, Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry

Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...

, Mike Hope, Albie Keen, John Inman

John Inman

, Dana Gillespie, Salena Jones, Norman Collier

Norman Collier

Norman Collier is a long-serving comedian. He is best known for his 'faulty microphone' routine and for his chicken impressions.- Career and reputation :...

, Bobby Crush

Bobby Crush

Bobby Crush is an English pianist, songwriter and television presenter.-Career:Crush first came to public attention after making six winning appearances on Hughie Green's British ITV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, in the early 1970s...

22 September 1978

Location Weymouth

guests Lennie Bennett

Lennie Bennett

, Jerry Stevens, Allan Stewart, Valerie Masters, Diane Cousins, Bobby Knutt, Turnstyle

1979

This series was more of a Eurovision production with French, Dutch and Swiss TV companies involved as well as the BBC. Although technically unrelated, a series of shows featuring some of the world's biggest pop stars were filmed in a winter setting at the BBC big top in Switzerland, for broadcast across Eurovision at Easter 1979, with a Christmas Special being taped at the same time. Abba in Switzerland was one of the successful shows that formed part of this series.

14 July 1979 at 8.15 to 9.05pm

Location Blackpool

Blackpool

guests Little and Large

Little and Large

, Mick Miller

21 July 1979 at 8.25 pm to 9.15pm

Location Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

guests Boney M

Boney M

, Amii Stewart

Amii Stewart

Amy 'Amii' Paulette Stewart is an American contemporary R&B/disco/dance-pop singer, dancer and actress most famous for her hit disco record "Knock on Wood". Stewart is the stepsister of actress-singer Miquel Brown and aunt to Brown's actress-singer daughter Sinitta.-Career:Amy Stewart was the...

, Clive Webb, Chantal Goya, Patrick Hernandez, Gerard Lenorman, Jeane Manson

28 July 1979 at 8.25 to 9.15pm

Location Blackpool

Blackpool

guests Tony Brutus, Angels, Ken Dodd

Ken Dodd

Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...

and his Diddymen, Brother Lees

4 August 1979

Location Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...

guests Cilla Black sang Bright Eyes with some kids holding rabbits

11 August 1979

Location Honfleur

Honfleur

guests Rod Hull

Rod Hull

and Emu, Plastic Bertrand

Plastic Bertrand

Plastic Bertrand is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi".-Early life and bands:...

, Eruption, Gibson Brothers

Gibson Brothers

The Gibson Brothers are a France based musical group, who had their greatest success during the disco boom of the late 1970s. Their best known hit singles included "Cuba" and "Que Sera Mi Vida"....

, Santos `Loonies', Amanda Lear

Amanda Lear

Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....

18 August 1979

Location unknown

guests The Krankies

The Krankies

The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo that enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and releasing their own music single. They entered semi-retirement in 1992, but they have regularly appeared in pantomime since.The duo...

25 August 1979

Location Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

guests Frank Carson, Bobby Knutt, Diane Cousins, Tony Kent, Greg Bonham, Iris Williams

Iris Williams

Iris Williams OBE is a Welsh singer. Williams reached the peak of her popularity during the 1980s.Williams was born in Pontypridd, South Wales. Brought up in a children's home, she won a scholarship to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama...

1 September 1979

Location Poole

Poole

guests unknown

9 September 1979

Location unknown

guests Lennie Bennett

Lennie Bennett

and Ruby Winters.

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