Tonight At The London Palladium

Jason Manford episode review

It's all perfectly fine... but 'fine' is something of a comedown for what was, in its heyday, the must-see show of the week.

Radio Times review

Those viewers who are scoffing at the idea of reviving a variety show should reflect on the massive success of Britain's Got Talent, which many originally thought would die a death.

We love a bit of variety and although there don't seem to be any performing dogs or obscure magic acts on the bill, tonight's line-up ranges from disco legends Earth, Wind and Fire to a troupe of Canadian acrobats called Les 7 Doigts de la Main.

Holding it all together is Mancunian comedian Jason Manford, whose "man of the people" style and observational comedy should make him an ideal host.

Jason Manford interview

Jason Manford has revealed he wants a Sir Bruce Forsyth style career path after landing a job hosting Sunday Night At The Palladium.

Last night, ITV tried and failed to revive legendary, classic and once classy variety show Sunday Night at The London Palladium under the inexplicably shortened title Sunday Night at The Palladium.

If Simon Cowell had produced it, the show could have retained some class. Instead, ITV transformed class into crass and the result was somewhere between a reality show produced by Endemol on an off night and Saturday Night at Butlins for Essex Man.

Stephen Mulhern presented it like an edition of Big Brother's Bit On The Side and it came complete with what looked very much like an audience plant towards the start of the show.

To compound the felony of failing to revive an old classic rather than thinking up a new idea - and rather than have highly original variety acts - they went for Cirque du Soleil performers Les Beaux Freres who nicked the idea of the Greatest Show On Legs' classic 1982 Naked Balloon Dance and replaced the balloons with towels.

They performed perfectly serviceably and at least, unlike many acts, they changed the music and the objects. But original it most certainly was not.

Sunday Night at The London Palladium used to go out live. It did not last night. It went out dead.

Radio Times review

My reaction of "Ah, Beat the Clock, the Tiller Girls, the goodbye wave from the revolving stage" was met with a blank look from the younger staff at RT. But viewers of a certain age will remember the variety show that was the cornerstone of ITV schedules during the late 1950s and early 60s.

It's being revived with guest hosts (Rob Brydon and Bradley Walsh among them, although it's the affable Stephen Mulhern tonight), who introduce a mix of famous acts and downright obscure ones. It's highly unlikely that the Tiller Girls will come out of retirement to kick off the show, though.

Sunday Night at the Palladium: Less than satisfying

Sunday Night at the Palladium was entertaining in parts but never really came wholly to life.

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