I only saw Ken Dodd live on stage once. It was the early
seventies on a family holiday in Scarborough. The Futurist Theatre was full of
laughter that evening. I'm not sure that I'd ever seen my parents laugh so much
before or since. Doddy was certainly building his much-famed bridge to his
audience that night. Even at that tender age I still recall that certain
frisson amongst the audience when they realised they were in for a long
session. Would we be able to get back into our holiday apartment in Chatsworth
Gardens before the front door was locked? The Yorkshire audience got value for
money that night.
At the time for us kids in the audience Ken Dodd was best
known for performing with his Diddymen and as a souvenir of the show and that
holiday my sister Vanessa and were each treated to a model of a Diddyman.
Could've been Dickie Mint, but I'm hazy on that detail. It remained on my
bedroom window sill until one day he got knocked off and lost his foot. Even
glued back together again his appeal soon faded and he was, more than likely, consigned
to the loft.
Live performances were the lifeblood of Ken Dodd. Though he
made hundreds or radio and TV broadcasts from the mid-50s onwards it was his
tours of the nation's theatres that kept him coming back year after year long
after the regular broadcast work had all but dried up.
Ken got his first radio break, as so many did at that time,
on Workers' Playtime. Touring the
nation's workplaces every weekday meant the programme had a voracious appetite
for seasoned and novice comedians, singers and musicians. That first show on 23
December 1954 came from the canteen of the now demolished Barton power station
near Eccles with 'Cheerful' Charlie Chester, singer Carole Carr and the Jimmy
Leach Organolian Quartet. He made over 20 appearances on the show as well as
other guest spots on Blackpool Night and Midday
Music Hall.
First starring vehicle on the North Home Service on 16 April 1957 |
Doddy's TV shows started in 1959 initially on the BBC and then on ABC with 'Diddy' David Hamilton as his straight man. A Sunday teatime run of Ken Dodd and the Diddymen (1969-70) is probably where I first saw him before that Scarborough show. Although regular series ended after 1977 he continued to guest star on chat shows, panel games, The Good Old Days as well as the oft-repeated An Audience with ... shows in 1994 and 2002.
As an audio treat here's an edition of Doddy's Different Show, a 6-part Radio 2 series from 1981. Ken is
back with his old producer James Casey. In the cast are Peter Wheeler, brother
of Geoffrey who'd been the producer on that first Workers' Playtime show; ace impressionist Peter Goodwright who'd
starred in Ken's first radio series in 1958; Welsh actor Talfryn Thomas
("Dodd's brother in denistry") a co-star in Ken's TV series for ATV
and BBC1 in the early 70s and actress Marlene Sidaway who Casey had already used
to work alongside Les Dawson (Our Les),
Tony Brandon (The Family Brandon) and
Roy Castle (Castle's on the Air). First
heard on Sunday 8 November 1981 this is a recording of the Friday 13 November
repeat. It's not been heard since.
Of an earlier vintage, and cropping up on Radio 4 Extra now
and again, is this show from the Star
Parade series. First broadcast in April 1963 it features BBC staff
announcer Judith Chalmers as well as John Laurie, Cardew Robinson, Harold
Berens and music from The Springfields and the BBC Revue Orchestra.
In 2006 Doddy spoke to Ed Doolan about his life and career.
To read more about Ken Dodd I can thoroughly recommend the
latest tome from Louis Barfe, a man with a deep passion and a great knowledge
of 'light' entertainment. Louis's book Happiness
and Tears: The Ken Dodd Story is available in hardback from all the usual
outlets.
Ken Dodd 1927-2018
1 comment:
I see that dozens of episodes of 'Pull The Other One!' (Radio 2 1987-93) with Ken Dodd have popped up on YouTube this week, if you're interested. I don't think that this programme has ever materialized online before.
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