Telly tribute to comedians of Blackpool's theatres

Cue music and send in the comedians. It’s Blackpool: Big Night Out.

That was the title of Monday night’s BBC2 documentary, recalling the great days of the resort’s summer season shows.

It was the most comprehensive TV tribute to date with performers past and present telling what it meant to get a long season in one of the resort’s theatres.

They included Cannon and Ball, Syd Little and his late partner Eddie Large, and the late Keith Harris.

Comedian Freddie Davies, who a few weeks ago gave his Funny Bones presentation to Showtown museum volunteers, recalled his first season here, at the ABC Theatre in 1966, with archive footage of his Mr Parrotface routine.

Coupled with the previous programme - Ken Dodd: How Tickled We Were - it was almost three hours of Blackpool showbiz memories, for we all know that Doddy loved the place.

With ten Blackpool summer seasons and almost 500 Sunday concerts and other appearances over a span of 64 years, Sir Ken knew more about the resort than any other artist.

The Big Night Out documentary brought up the figure of 36,000 theatre seats being sold every night during the heyday of summer shows.

But what producers and writers didn’t realise is that it was only half the story.

The 36,000 was a “ball park figure” originally totted up by yours truly for the Gazette’s 1971 holiday guide to “main stage” venues, which had two shows daily, Monday to Saturday, for up to 18 summer weeks (more for the Tower Circus)

We didn’t get into calculating how many visitors were frequenting about 15 Affiliated working men’s clubs and half a dozen big cabaret venues.

Let’s bounce the ball round the park again and guess that another 25,000 visitors (or more?) were enjoying shows every night in those other venues.

Checking off the cabaret spots, we locals of a certain age can remember the Planet Room at the Gardens, the Ocean Room at the Tower, the Lobster Pot venues, the Viking and the Norbreck Castle.

Several of the Affiliated clubs had big concert rooms, including the Philharmonic, Brunswick, Central, Number One, the Trades Club and Layton Institute.

The clubs had their own summer season bills with the best local musical and comedy talent alongside rising stars. For example, the Layton had Cannon and Ball and Paul O’Grady before they hit the big time.

The attraction to visitors who were members of affiliated clubs was the freedom to eat and drink and see a show; just like in their clubs back home.

But you might struggle to remember if you ever heard the shout “Pies have arrived” - as done by Colin Crompton in Granada TV’s Wheeltappers and Shunters Club.

Future history pieces about Blackpool’s show world may also discover another element in the resort’s dominance of summer showbiz. Many of the stars lived here all year round.

Frank Randle, George Formby, Charlie Cairoli, Tessie O’Shea, Al Read, Nat Jackley, Josef Locke, Dave Morris, Jimmy Clitheroe, the Nolan Sisters, Frank Carson, Bobby Ball, Syd Little, Freddie Davies, Joe Longthorne, Keith Harris, Arthur Worsley.

The coast of stars!