Weekend In Wallop
Encyclopedia
Weekend in Wallop was a made for TV documentary of the First Nether Wallop International Arts Festival. The premise was the creation of a new arts festival to compete with the world renowned Edinburgh Festival. It was broadcast on Channel4 in 1984.
The village of Nether Wallop
is located in rural north Hampshire
close to Middle Wallop
and Over Wallop
. It was used as a location for the BBC TV version of Miss Marple
starring Joan Hickson
.
Nether Wallop hosted the festival on a scale far less grand than Edinburgh. The main review show was held in the scout hut with a video feed for the overflow audience in the village pub (the hall looked as if it could only hold about 150 people). Ned Sherrin
and Gore Vidal
vied in the village shop for the best location to hold their book signing sessions. Norman Lovett
did his turn on the back of a farm vehicle. The festival included a guided walk of the village with Michael Hordern
and a quiz hosted by Bamber Gascoigne
which pitted village locals against the greatest minds in the world featuring the philosopher A. J. “Freddie” Ayer (the locals won!).
The main review was compered by a local dignitary (Major Billy Jepson Turner) and performers included Rowan Atkinson
, Mel Smith and Peter Cook (as two members of a 'lesbian' synchronised swimming team), Rick Mayall first as 'Kevin Turvey' and then later singing “Trouble” with Jools Holland
on piano and John Otway
on guitar, Jenny Agutter
, Wayne Sleep
, Hugh Laurie
, Stephen Fry
, Arthur Smith
, John Wells
, Roger McGough
, Stanley Unwin
in a sketch as a school teacher trying to dissuade Bill Wyman
from going and playing that Rock and Rollode. It also featured local people doing their “turn”. The closing act was Billy Connolly
.
Although the festival was a 'one off' and was not repeated, all the stars gave their time for free in aid of charity. A seed was sown in Nether Wallop and many of the same performers went on to found the highly successful Comic Relief which has raised millions for charity since.
The village of Nether Wallop
Nether Wallop
Nether Wallop is a village in central Hampshire, England.It is part of The Wallops: Nether, Middle and Over Wallop. The name derives from 'waella' and 'hop' or 'the valley of springing water'...
is located in rural north Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
close to Middle Wallop
Middle Wallop
Middle Wallop is the local name given to an area between the two Parishes of Over Wallop and Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England. As it does not have its own parish technically it does not exist, however road signs and maps make reference to the location and have done so since the 18th century,...
and Over Wallop
Over Wallop
Over Wallop is a small village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The village lies approximately north-west from Stockbride, just off the Hampshire-Wiltshire border....
. It was used as a location for the BBC TV version of Miss Marple
Miss Marple (TV series)
Miss Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It starred Joan Hickson in the title role, and aired from 1984 to 1992. All twelve original Miss Marple Christie novels have been dramatised. The screenplays were written by T. R...
starring Joan Hickson
Joan Hickson
Joan Hickson OBE was an English actress of theatre, film and television, famed for playing Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple.- Wivenhoe :...
.
Nether Wallop hosted the festival on a scale far less grand than Edinburgh. The main review show was held in the scout hut with a video feed for the overflow audience in the village pub (the hall looked as if it could only hold about 150 people). Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
and Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
vied in the village shop for the best location to hold their book signing sessions. Norman Lovett
Norman Lovett
Norman Lovett is an English stand-up comedian and actor, best known for the role of Holly in Red Dwarf during the first, second, seventh and eighth series. His comedy has a quiet, dead-pan surrealism, and in 2000 he made a successful stand up tour, co-headlining with Chris Barrie, who played...
did his turn on the back of a farm vehicle. The festival included a guided walk of the village with Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
and a quiz hosted by Bamber Gascoigne
Bamber Gascoigne
Bamber Gascoigne, FRSL is a British television presenter and author, most known for being the original quizmaster on University Challenge.-Biography:...
which pitted village locals against the greatest minds in the world featuring the philosopher A. J. “Freddie” Ayer (the locals won!).
The main review was compered by a local dignitary (Major Billy Jepson Turner) and performers included Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
, Mel Smith and Peter Cook (as two members of a 'lesbian' synchronised swimming team), Rick Mayall first as 'Kevin Turvey' and then later singing “Trouble” with Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
on piano and John Otway
John Otway
John Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...
on guitar, Jenny Agutter
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
, Wayne Sleep
Wayne Sleep
Wayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith may refer to:*Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith , American guitar player and composer*Arthur Donaldson Smith, American explorer of Africa*Arthur Henderson Smith , American missionary in China, author of books on Chinese culture...
, John Wells
John Wells
John Wells may refer to:People* John C. Wells , British linguist, phonetician and Esperantist* Jonathan Wells , real name John Corrigan Wells...
, Roger McGough
Roger McGough
Roger Joseph McGough CBE is a well-known English performance poet. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please and records voice-overs for commercials, as well as performing his own poetry regularly...
, Stanley Unwin
Stanley Unwin (comedian)
Stanley Unwin , sometimes billed as Professor Stanley Unwin, was a British comedian and comic writer, and the inventor of his own language, "Unwinese", referred to in the film Carry On Regardless as "gobbledegook".Unwinese was a mangled form of English in which many of the...
in a sketch as a school teacher trying to dissuade Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
from going and playing that Rock and Rollode. It also featured local people doing their “turn”. The closing act was Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
.
Although the festival was a 'one off' and was not repeated, all the stars gave their time for free in aid of charity. A seed was sown in Nether Wallop and many of the same performers went on to found the highly successful Comic Relief which has raised millions for charity since.