One off variety special The Big Send Up, from the golden age of light entertainment didn’t quite pull it off probably in part because of the lack of big name stars, it did feature Bernard Manning (who was then riding high for Granada as one of the stars of their stand up show The Comedians) as well as magician Paul Daniels, David Copperfield, Mark Raffles, Tony Brutus, The Cherokees and The Ukranian Black Sea Cossocks.
Not overly memorable then but a good reminder that variety (which of course is going through its own renaiisance at the moment) has never really gone away. It’s just that nowadays TV production teams would seemingly rather not pay their performers preferring to take the amateur wannabe route instead.
production details
UK / ITV Network – Granada / 1×60 minute episode / Broadcast Wednesday 26 October 1977 @ 8.00pm
Musical Director: Derek Hilton / Producer: John Hamp / Director: Nicholas Ferguson
