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All Star Comedy Carnival

Revision as of 02:13, 18 November 2018 by Jtomlin1uk (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Plot: spelling correction)
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Christmas 69-2

All Star Comedy Carnival was a television show broadcast on ITV every Christmas night from 1969 to 1973. It was a blatant copy of a similar programme by the BBC titled Christmas Night with the Stars which ran, with three exceptions, from 1958 to 1972. Both were hosted by a leading star of the time and featured mini-editions of favourite situation comedies and light entertainment programmes, with some musical interludes in-between. For ITV, the programme segments were produced by the individual companies who made the standard editions of the series in question.

For the first two years, in 1969 and 1970, the programme featured a short edition of Coronation Street made by Granada Television, featuring the cast acting out a specially scripted yuletide-themed mini-episode of the serial. Both editions of the overall spectacular and the Coronation Street inserts themselves are missing from the ITV archive, though the soundtrack of the 1969 spectacular was located in 2016. This had been recorded by a viewer at the time of broadcast and is incomplete, though the Coronation Street section exists in its entirety. Two publicity photographs are also known to exist and from this and the TV Times billing it is possible to summarise the plot, cast and crew for this edition.

1969

This two-and-a-half hour edition, transmitted at 6.00pm, was introduced by Des O'Connor, musical spots were by Liberace and The Bachelors and the other programmes featured were:

The linking material was written Tony Hawes and Bryan Blackburn, Albert Locke was the coordinating producer while Bill Ward was the executive producer for ATV who coordinated the enterprise for the ITV Network.

Plot

1969 xmas

Emily has organised an outdoors Carol concert for the residents of Coronation Street. Ena and Minnie approach Albert's house and are late as Minnie digging out an old lamp to bring with her. They and Emily knock on Albert's door but he refuses to join them as its too cold and they have no musical accompaniment for him. He's told he's wrong as Stan and Ken are among the menfolk heaving Ena's harmonium out of her flat. Emily gets Len and Elsie to join them as all of the other residents gather together in the middle of the street with a handful of children. Ena decides on Silent Night for their initial Carol. Their first attempt is drowned out by a passing train on the viaduct and their second attempt is drowned out when a Salvation Army brass band approaches and plays Hark The Herald Angels Sing far more loudly than the carollers can hope to compete with. Ena goes off to speak to them and comes to an agreement - the band will play and the residents will sing along. She wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and asks them to pray for peace all over the earth - at least "them of us that knows how". The residents happily sing Silent Night along with the band.

Cast

Credits

Notes

This segment was staged entirely on the Grape Street set and was probably OB recorded in colour following the conventions of the programme at the time. Moreover, the set had just been rebuilt in brick and this was the first true appearance of this incarnation as the initial view of it in the main programme didn't occur until Episode 944 (12th January 1970).

1970

This edition was introduced by Max Bygraves. Like the previous year its duration was two-and-a-half hours and it was transmitted at 6.00pm. The other programmes featured were:

The linking material was written Vince Powell, Harry Driver, Spike Mullins and Dick Vossburgh, Peter Frazer-Jones was the producer/director while Philip Jones was the executive producer for Thames Television who coordinated the enterprise for the ITV network.

Plot

No script, synopsis or soundtrack is known to exist for the Coronation Street segment. TV Times is silent on the content of the mini-episode but a regional newspaper of the time does state that it involves a party in the Rovers Return Inn.

Cast

Credits

Notes

  • The segment was probably recorded during the period of the ITV Colour Strike which began on 13th November 1970. Even if it was recorded in colour, it was transmitted in black and white as the dispute did not end until 2nd February 1971.

Gallery

TV Times panel billings for the editions in question

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