What A Performance! Pioneers Of Popular Entertainment
- TV documentary
- BBC Four
- 2015
- 3 episodes (1 series)
Frank Skinner & Suzy Klein explore the history of British popular entertainment in the 100 years before the arrival of television. Features Frank Skinner and Suzy Klein.
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 2 - The Rise Of Variety
Further details
In the second episode, Frank Skinner and Suzy Klein explore the golden age of Variety Theatre, which spanned from the start of the 20th Century to the outbreak of the Second World War.
They immerse themselves in the careers of mega-stars including George Formby and Gracie Fields, who both remain household names today. They also get to grips with some lesser-known artists, including La Loie Fuller, a stunningly innovative Chicago-born choreographer and dancer, who took London by storm during the Edwardian era.
Frank and Suzy also attempt to recreate performances from two other stars of the pre-World War 1 era, the Scottish comedian and singer Sir Harry Lauder and the once hugely famous Vesta Tilley, a talented male impersonator.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Thursday 10th December 2015
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- BBC Four
- Length
- 60 minutes
Cast & crew
| Frank Skinner | Host / Presenter |
| Suzy Klein | Host / Presenter |
| Vicky Butterfly | Self |
| Jimmy McWilliams | Self |
| Jonathan Lipman | Self |
| Harry Brünjes (as Dr Harry Brünjes) | Self |
| Oliver Double | Self |
| Jacky Bratton (as Jackie Bratton) | Self |
| David Bret | Self |
| Andy Eastwood | Self |
| Lenna Cumberbatch | Self |
| Jeff Morgan | Director |
| Amy Morgan | Producer |
| Aisling O'Connor | Executive Producer |
| Jamie Isaacs | Executive Producer |
| Claire Whalley | Executive Producer |
| Jeff Morgan | Producer |
| Jonathan Skilton | Editor |
| Alex Harwood | Composer |
Press
As the 19th century became the 20th, music hall morphed into something called "variety" - a showcase for acts such as "the stud of cantankerous and educated ponies, introduced by Mr Boswell". Frank Skinner and Suzy Klein pick up the story, celebrating megastars such as Harry Lauder, gender-bending Vesta Tilley, Gracie Fields and that leer on legs, the brilliantly disgusting George Formby, with his little stick of Blackpool rock ("It's nice to have a nibble at it now and again").
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 10th December 2015