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My chance meeting with ‘courageous’ BBC journalist 150 150 mhamer

My chance meeting with ‘courageous’ BBC journalist

Here is my November LEP column where I tell of my chance meeting with this wonderful courageous lady @OrlaGuerin in Manchester Airport on my way to New York this summer!

Jimmy Cricket has been recalling the moment he met a BBC TV news reporter on his way to catch a plane.

The famous entertainer was travelling to the United States to attend his daughter Jamie’s wedding earlier this year.

In his latest Lancashire Post column, Jimmy tells about his encounter with news presenter Orla Guerin.

He posted the image above and an accompanying comment on Twitter about his November column.

Jimmy said: “I tell of my chance meeting with this wonderful courageous lady @OrlaGuerin in Manchester Airport on my way to New York this summer!🎭”

Orla Guerin MBE is an Irish journalist currently working as a BBC International Correspondent based in Istanbul.

Jimmy says: “How many times have we looked at our television screens and heard those dulcet Irish tones calling out from some war-ravaged part of the globe?

“Shining a light on injustice, holding dictators to task and giving a platform to the oppressed and downtrodden?

‘Spoke with affection’

“Now here she was standing opposite me uttering these immortal words ‘what’s your surname again?’

“Yes readers, I was face to face with BBC correspondent Orla Guerrin. And she couldn’t have been nicer.

“We weren’t in a life-threatening situation now, although going through security at Manchester Airport can be quite stressful.

“Orla was a delight.

“She smiled and, after she’d retrieved her belongings from the security belt, Mrs Cricket took a photograph of the two of us.

“Then, later on in the airport lounge, we talked about comedy and the entertain industry.

“She spoke with affection about the entertainers from her hometown in Dublin that we both knew.

“Then she was off to Istanbul for another assignment and we were off to New York for our daughter Jamie’s wedding.”

Follow Orla on Twitter here

‘Many happy memories’ of the late Barry Chuckle 150 150 mhamer

‘Many happy memories’ of the late Barry Chuckle

Jimmy remembers the late Barry Chuckle in his October column in the Lancashire Post

Jimmy Cricket has paid tribute to the late Barry Chuckle in his latest newspaper column.

Barry, one half of the comedy duo, the Chuckle Brothers, whose main catch phrase was  “To me, to you”, died in August this year aged 73 following a short period of ill health.

The popular and likeable entertainer, whose real name was Barry Elliott, most famously starred in ChuckleVision with his brother Paul on the BBC between 1987 and 2009.

In his October column in the Lancashire Post, comedian Jimmy recalls when he performed alongside Barry and Paul in panto.

He writes: “The untimely death of Barry Chuckle in August has prompted a cherished memory of working in pantomime with him and his brother Paul 28 years ago. It was 1990, the Darlington Civic.

“The subject was Cinderella and the boys played Brokers’ Men while I played Buttons. Now wait for this readers, it was a 10-week season. These days most pantos don’t last half that long.

“I got particularly close to Barry because we both stayed in a hotel near the theatre, whereas Paul and his wife rented a cottage a few miles away. As well as loving comedy, something else bonded Barry and I together – food. Let me explain, folks.

“When you’re away from home working in a long run, one of the top priorities is getting a decent meal. Oh yes, you can get a good hearty breakfast in your hotel in the morning, but as the day progresses the hunger pangs start kicking in around tea time, especially in panto, where you have lots of matinees as well as evening performances.

“Barry found the answer to our problems when he discovered Crombie’s. Crombie’s served delightful home cooked grub and, in a sea of fast food establishments, it was an oasis. There we would hold court discussing the joys and perils of showbusiness and generally putting the world to right.

“Yes Barry, you and your brother have given us all so much fun over the years, and you personally have given me so many special happy memories of the meal and laughs we shared together.”

Read the full article at https://www.lep.co.uk/news/column-jimmy-cricket-tribute-to-barry-chuckle-1-9392112

 

BBC Pebble Mill at One – images from 1996 show 150 150 mhamer

BBC Pebble Mill at One – images from 1996 show

Pebble Mill from March 1996 - @TheRossKing welcomes (amongst others) Jimmy @jimmy__cricket and The Barron Knights

Jimmy Cricket had a trip down memory lane recently when he was reminded of his appearance on BBC’s Pebble Mill at One more than 22 years ago.

The famous comedian appeared on the show, hosted by Ross King, along with The Barron Knights, a British humorous pop group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.

Pebble Mill at One was a live daily chat show broadcast on weekdays at 1pm on BBC One, screened from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986 and again from 20 October 1991 to 25 May 1996.

It was transmitted from the Pebble Mill studios at BBC Birmingham, being hosted unusually from the centre’s main foyer area, rather than a conventional television studio.

It was a posting on social media channel Twitter, which provided the flashback for Jimmy.

The tweet, from Dame Agnes Guano‏ (@agnes_guano), said:  “Pebble Mill from March 1996 – welcomes (amongst others) Jimmy and The Barron Knights.”

Ross King MBE is a Scottish television presenter, actor and writer best known for being LA Correspondent for ITV  breakfast programmes Lorraine and Good Morning Britain. He hosted Pebble Mill at One for five years.

BBC Radio Lancashire interview about first play 150 150 mhamer

BBC Radio Lancashire interview about first play

New #theatre show about a #comedy double act on their last night in the spotlight called #NoMoreFiffingandFaffing on @ThwaitesEmpire. The very funny @jimmy__cricket, @ColinMeredith52 who's been in lots of TV shows chat 2 @Gillylancs on @BBCLancashire?➡️https://www.bbc.co.uk/radiolancashire – at BBC Radio Lancashire

Jimmy Cricket has been interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire about the staging of his first play later this month.

The famous comedian was accompanied by fellow actor Colin Meredith to talk about No more Fiffing and Faffing, which will be performed at the Blackburn Empire Theatre on Sunday 16 September at 7.30pm.

Appearing with Jimmy and Colin, who has had several notable appearances in ITV’s Coronation Street over the years, will be Jonathan Young from The Bachelors.

Tickets cost £10. You can also book by telephoning 01254 685 500. The theatre’s email address is boxoffice@blackburnempire.com.

Listen to Jimmy and Colin chatting to BBC Radio Lancashire presenter John Gillmore here (the interview starts at 1.50.20)

Read more about the play and book online 

Jimmy Cricket's new play is called No more Fiffing and Faffing

A look back to when Mrs Cricket was also surprised on TV’s This Is Your Life! 150 150 mhamer

A look back to when Mrs Cricket was also surprised on TV’s This Is Your Life!

Jimmy Cricket's May column in the Lancashire Evening Post

Jimmy Cricket has been recalling the day he was presented with the famous ‘big red book’ on This Is Your Life – and how his wife May also got a massive surprise!

In his latest column for the Lancashire Evening Post, Jimmy explained how in the late 1980s he had been asked by his publishers to go to London for the launch of his Letters From My Mammy book.

Jimmy was informed the event was going to take place on a building site the following day, when in reality he was going to be met by This Is Your Life presenter Eamonn Andrews.

In the popular and long-running show, the host would spring unexpectedly on a special guest, before going to a studio to take them through their life with the assistance of the ‘big red book’ and the help of friends and family.

The surprise element was a very important part of the show; if the guest heard about the plans beforehand, it would immediately be abandoned.

After arriving in London, Jimmy bumped into his sister-in-law Evelyn much to his amazement (and hers!), as she had moved to Australia several years earlier.

Evelyn had been asked to come back to appear on the show and clearly hadn’t expected to meet Jimmy in the street, but she managed to come up with a story that she had returned to Britain as a special surprise for her sister May, Jimmy’s wife.

Hence, as things turned out, Jimmy was able to turn the tables on May during the show by telling her that Evelyn was in fact there (May had been told her sister could not make it).

The show was broadcast on Wednesday 4 November, the eve of Eamonn Andrews’ death.

This Is Your Life was originally broadcast live, and alternated between on the BBC and  on ITV over the years.

Watch Jimmy’s show below:

‘Fantastic night supporting the wonderful @jimmy__cricket’ 150 150 mhamer

‘Fantastic night supporting the wonderful @jimmy__cricket’

Blue D13SEL supported Jimmy Cricket at the Hebburn show

Jimmy Cricket was supported by a six-piece rock band when he performed in the North East of England recently.

Blue D13SEL played on the same show as the famous Northern Irish comedian at St Aloysius Catholic Church Hall in Hebburn, which is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England.

The band tweeted: “Fantastic Night last Saturday supporting the wonderful St Aloysius Church Hall in Hebburn.”

Hebburn is also the subject of an eponymous BBC television comedy series set in the town. The six-part series commenced broadcasting on BBC Two on 18 October 2012 starring Kimberley Nixon and Chris Ramsey.

 

Sir Ken Dodd: Jimmy Cricket pays tribute at funeral in Liverpool 150 150 mhamer

Sir Ken Dodd: Jimmy Cricket pays tribute at funeral in Liverpool

Jimmy Cricket was among those to pay a special tribute to the late Sir Ken Dodd at the legendary comedian’s funeral.

The Northern Irish entertainer joined other stars like actors Ricky Tomlinson, Stephanie Cole and Miriam Margolyes, and fellow comics Jimmy Tarbuck and Stan Boardman at the service at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday.

Sir Ken died at the age of 90 earlier this month.

Jimmy said he was “one of the most original, innovative and gifted comedians we’ll ever see”.

“Comedians like Ken only come once in a lifetime – we thank God today that he came in ours,” he told a packed congregation.

“He had time for everybody. He said we were all walking miracles, every one of us and we all had stories to tell.”

Fellow comedian Jimmy Cricket has been paying tribute to Sir Ken Dodd at his funeral.

BBC News

Members of the public lined the route taken by Sir Ken’s funeral cortege from his Knotty Ash home to the cathedral in his home city. Some of them sang his 1964 song Happiness as the horse-drawn hearse passed.

Tickling sticks were also placed around Liverpool in tribute to the famous entertainer who was loved by millions and whose shows would nearly always overrun, sometimes by hours.

The BBC called Sir Ken Dodd a comedy legend

The BBC called Sir Ken Dodd a comedy legend when it reported his death