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Blackpool Big Night Out: Relive it on BBC’s iPlayer 150 150 mhamer

Blackpool Big Night Out: Relive it on BBC’s iPlayer

Blackpool Big Night Out in on BBC's iPlayer

Jimmy Cricket and a host of other top entertainers have featured in a special programme about Blackpool – and you can catch it on iPlayer.

The 74-year-old Northern Irish comedian has performed at the popular Lancashire seaside resort many times over the years.

In the BBC documentary, he talks fondly about his feelings for the coastal town.

Blackpool is described as the beating heart of British entertainment.

The Lancashire coastal town launched the careers of Morecambe and Wise, attracted stars as big as Frank Sinatra and is still the spiritual home of the likes of the late Sir Ken Dodd, Cannon and Ball and many more.

Jimmy Cricket is among those interviewed on Blackpool Big Night Out

Jimmy tweeted: “Hi folks, here is a link to the BBC’s nostalgic look at this great seaside resort.”

He says on the programme about Blackpool: “I remember arriving and seeing the trams.

“There were people advertised on the trams, like Cilla Black and Val Doonican.

“And you think, you’ve arrived when you’ve got your name on a tram – this is incredible.

Blackpool Big Night Out on BBC's iPlayer“I remember once doing the south pier and actually saw my name on a tram.

“I thought ‘I must get on here!'”

The programme went out on BBC Two on Monday 27 April 2020 at 9.45pm.

You have just 11 days left (until 27 May) to watch on the BBC iPlayer.

Watch it here

Jimmy features about three quarters of the way through the hour-long programme.

Also read: From the archives – Norman Wisdom and Ernie Wise

Jimmy Cricket is seen performing on Blackpool Big Night Out

David Bell: ‘Legendary maestro of TV variety’ 150 150 mhamer

David Bell: ‘Legendary maestro of TV variety’

The late great David Bell whom my generation of fellow performers had the great pleasure of working with! David was gone too soon!

Jimmy Cricket has been delving into the archives again to fondly remember those with whom he has worked.

With the coronavirus pandemic meaning no shows for the foreseeable future, comic Jimmy has been looking through his old photographs.

And he found the picture above of the late David Bell, who was one of British television’s best light entertainment producers.

Award-winning David died aged 53 in June 1990 at his London home after being ill for several months.

The Scotsman worked for Scottish Television, the BBC and London Weekend Television (LWT) during a very successful career.

He worked with many big names in television, including Benny Hill, Bruce Forsyth, Dame Edna Everage and Elton John.

Hawick-born David was the man behind most of the ITV royal variety shows.

As controller of entertainment at London Weekend Television, he was in charge of many of ITV’s most popular series.
These included The Stanley Baxter Show.

Jimmy tweeted: “Going through archives, and here remembering the legendary maestro of Variety and sketch shows on Television…

“The late great David Bell whom my generation of fellow performers had the great pleasure of working with!

“David was gone too soon!”

Read how the Herald in Scotland reported on David’s death back in 1990

From this website – Golden memories: Performing in front of Princess Diana

 

Team Cricket just miss out on final two of BBC TV show 150 150 mhamer

Team Cricket just miss out on final two of BBC TV show

Henry Kelly and Jimmy Cricket are two of the contestants in the Ireland-themed edition of Pointless

Jimmy Cricket and his team partner Henry Kelly just missed out on reaching the final two of a BBC TV quiz show.

The pair were among four teams on BBC One’s Ireland-theme edition of Pointless on Saturday (14 March).

The programme went out on BBC One at 6.05pm.

It also featured Foster and Allen, Pauline McLynn, Vogue Williams, Clodagh McKenna and Anna Haugh.

Radio and television broadcaster Henry (pictured above with Jimmy), presented Going for Gold from 1987 to 1996.

There was a jackpot of £2,500 which would go to two charities chosen by the finalists – but only if they guessed a pointless answer.

Jimmy, who came up with a particularly good answer of ‘Hale’, and Henry did well in the first round.

And they just missed out on getting any further by only a few points in round two.

Author and actor Pauline McLynn and model and media personality Vogue Williams were the eventual winners.

They beat folk music duo Foster and Allen who finished off the show with a rendition of ‘Maggie’.

Pointless is a quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible.

Watch the programme here

To do this, they must come up with the correct but obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

All the questions asked were previously to a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey.

Alexander Armstrong hosts the show with help from Richard Osman.

The programme first aired in 2009 and has had 22 regular series, plus 11 celebrity ones.

Belfast-born Jimmy, who now lives in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said before the show he really enjoyed the experience.

“Well folks, what a fun show to be part of,” he said, though he clearly could not reveal the result beforehand.

Find out where Jimmy is performing and his other forthcoming shows by viewing all his tour dates on this website.

Don’t miss Ireland-themed edition of BBC’s Pointless 150 150 mhamer

Don’t miss Ireland-themed edition of BBC’s Pointless

Henry Kelly and Jimmy Cricket are two of the contestants in the Ireland-themed edition of Pointless

The BBC TV edition of Pointless featuring Jimmy Cricket is on Saturday (14 March).

The programme will be broadcast on BBC One at 6.05pm.

The Ireland-themed edition also features Foster and Allen, Pauline McLynn, Vogue Williams, Clodagh McKenna and Anna Haugh.

Radio and television broadcaster Henry Kelly (pictured above with Jimmy), who presented Going for Gold from 1987 to 1996, is another of the contestants.

Pointless is a quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible.

‘What a fun show to be part of’

To do this, they must come up with the correct but obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

All the questions asked were previously to a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey.

Alexander Armstrong hosts the show with help from Richard Osman.

The programme first aired in 2009 and has had 22 regular series, plus 11 celebrity ones.

Belfast-born Jimmy, who now lives in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said he really enjoyed the experience.

“Well folks, what a fun show to be part of,” he said.

“Will be televised on Saturday 14th March, let’s make it a date everyone!”

Find out where Jimmy is performing and his other forthcoming shows by viewing all his tour dates on this website.

Find out if BBC TV show really was Pointless! 150 150 mhamer

Find out if BBC TV show really was Pointless!

Well folks what a fun show (despite being called Pointless) to be part off. Will be televised on Saturday 14th March, let’s make it a date everyone!

Jimmy Cricket has appeared in a celebrity version of BBC’s Pointless.

The Ireland-themed edition also featured Foster and Allen, Pauline McLynn, Vogue Williams, Clodagh McKenna and Anna Haugh.

Radio and television broadcaster Henry Kelly, who presented Going for Gold from 1987 to 1996, was another of the contestants.

The programme will be on BBC One at 6.05pm on Saturday 14 March.

Pointless is a quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible.

‘Let’s make it a date everyone!’

To do this, they must come up with the correct but obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

All the questions asked were previously to a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey.

Alexander Armstrong hosts the show with help from Richard Osman.

The programme first aired in 2009 and has had 22 regular series, plus 11 celebrity ones.

Belfast-born Jimmy, who now lives in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said he really enjoyed the experience.

“Well folks, what a fun show to be part of,” he said.

“Will be televised on Saturday 14th March, let’s make it a date everyone!”

Find out where Jimmy is performing and his other forthcoming shows by viewing all his tour dates on this website.

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