Guest Panellists: Duncan Norvelle, Wendy Richard, David Wilkie, Cherry Gillespie, Charlie Williams and Debbie McGee.
The panel debut of Debbie McGee, and the last appearances of swimmer David Wilkie and Les regular Cherry Gillespie. The verbose McGee is the one to focus on, as she's overexcited and acts as a great foil to Les's withering remarks, including the straightforward bluntness of: "Put it down now... and shut up." In four other episodes Les also makes remarks about Debbie's boyfriend (husband the following year), magician Paul Daniels, including asking if a subdued audience were his "overspill".
It's a great combination for a few laughs, though not everyone may see it that way, including friend of the site Rick McWhirter, who felt that Les didn't like her. As mentioned in earlier articles, Rick was kind enough to share a letter he'd received from producer Stanley Appel, hoping that Stanley's response to his Q & A might help. In this regard, then Stanley confirmed that: "He had no enemies - not even Debbie."
There are a couple of odd moments in this edition. One is Les telling someone on the panel that the difference between them and him is that he doesn't care if he gets a laugh or not - Charlie Williams and Debbie seem confused as to who the offbeat remark was aimed at. There's also a racier gag where Les pretends to have misheard Cherry Gillespie's remark of "bucket", and asks her to clarify - not the only time he does the gag this series. Lastly, a sign of the time is that we get the first Blankety Blank question to involve police riot shields.
Les asking Duncan Norvelle about his rich tan sees Norvelle say he wouldn't have bothered if he knew Charlie Williams was on, and that he bet Charlie's tan didn't "cost him £300". It's a little cringy today, and it's hard to really remember when such things became outmoded. Just a couple of years earlier, a summer 1985 special of Russ Abbot's Madhouse saw Les Dennis as one of three men "blacked up" as "The Four Bottoms", contemplating getting Charlie Williams in as a replacement after Russ's black skin had "washed off" in the rain. That same year, The Drifters were guests on an episode of The Little and Large Show where Norman Collier did his "Al Jolson" routine.
While it's often claimed that alternative comedy "did away" with the old school, it wasn't actually quite true, and the phrase "political correctness" hadn't really reached the wider public lexicon until the early 1990s. Even in the mid-90s David Baddiel was dressing up in blackface to impersonate a footballer - something that gets regularly retweeted to him, fairly or not, whenever he makes a point about equality.
Guest Panellists: Kenny Lynch, June Brown, Gary Davies, Samantha Fox, Henry Kelly and Pamela Armstrong.
Making their last appearances here are Kenny Lynch and Samantha Fox. While Fox had been on the show four times before (three times as a panellist), this was only Kenny's second show. It's also the only appearance of June Brown (Dot Cotton from EastEnders) in the original run, although she did return for the Lily Savage revival version.
Things start off slowly but soon pick up with Henry Kelly trying his best to get some laughs (Les suggests he joins the show as a "cold up") and Fox does get in some fairly witty retorts to Les. There's also perhaps the rudest joke in the entire run - or what appears to be - when Les says "Really?" after a contestant tells him they want to stick with "June's hunt" for a Supermatch Game. This might not sound so rude, but Les delivers the gag in the same "Did I hear you correctly?" style that he does Cherry Gillespie's bucket.
The panel don't really come alive in this one, but it's not important as Les is in another childish mood, cracking kid's cracker jokes and upping his mockery of accents. Contestants from Wales and Birmingham get full abuse, as does RP newsreader Pamela Armstrong. As the second show of the night, there's the suspicion that Les has had one or two more than normal again, but it just adds to the fun.
Guest Panellists: Emlyn Hughes, Jan Leeming, Ted Robbins, Jessica Martin, Tom O'Connor and Sally Thomsett.
Very much a fresh panel, as, apart from a returning Tom O'Connor and Jan Leeming, it's all new faces. Making their sole appearances are Sally Thomsett and Jessica Martin, Thomsett almost certainly best known for her role as "Jo" in Man About The House. Martin at this time was still a TV impressionist, and a year away from a straight acting role in Doctor Who. (Though ironically enough Doctor Who is the subject of one of the questions this week.) Those with long memories may recall an interview Jessica gave (possibly on Wogan in August 1985) where she mocked Glynis Barber's lazy eye, a note of unfortunate bitchy cruelty that would be unlikely to be said in the current age. (And if my memory has played tricks, then this was 37 years ago.)
Making their panel debuts - both would return for another episode each - are Emlyn Hughes and Ted Robbins. Hughes, an ex-professional footballer, always seemed a decent enough sort, known for having the highest voice on "sports bores laugh at each other's tedious attempts at witticisms" quiz A Question of Sport. Ted has made a living as an actor in such things as Phoenix Nights and Coronation Street, though at this time was also doing the rounds as an impressionist with his sister Kate Robbins. Indeed, just 8 days after this episode aired, viewers could have seen a Christmas edition of Kate and Ted's Show. It returned in 1988 with Ted still involved, but then known as The Kate Robbins Show.
Thomsett doesn't really make much of a splash, and although Jessica Martin tries, adding any of her impressions to the IMDb's "Movie Connections" for this episode would rely heavily on being able to tell who they're supposed to be. But this remains a fun edition, with four truly terrible contestants who score badly (spoiler: Just 4 out of 34 revealed answers are matches) and make Les and Tom O'Connor frequently enter hysterics.
Guest Panellists: Joe Brown, Claire Rayner, Paul Heiney, Dana, Frankie Vaughan and Janice Long.
Les is in a bouyant mood for most of series eleven. Although the previous year had seen heartbreak and the following year would bring health problems, in 1987 he was fairly content. He was open that his dream was to be a full-time novelist, but also acknowledged that he wasn't selling enough books for this to become a reality. (The previous March he had published a dystopian novel, A Time Before Genesis, which now goes for massive prices.) He ended 1987 by proposing to his second wife-to-be, confident that his first wife would approve of him being happy and having spiritual feelings as a result.
Although press intrusion into his new relationship caused the couple stress, he described his time with Tracy as "bliss", and acknowledged that he was cutting down on physical activity: "Blankety Blank loomed on the horizon, and it was off to London for the recordings. Although the BBC provided a car and driver to take us to London and back, it was nevertheless tiring and Tracy voiced her concern at our workload. [...] Because of this we approached the BBC and told them that fatigue was becoming a major problem, and they agreed to fly us on the Manchester shuttle to London instead. This was a much better arrangement and our good friends at the St. James Court Hotel gave us one of their apartments at a special rate. It was an ideal situation: fly down from the north on one day, do the programme, stay the night at the apartment and fly home the following day. Despite flying instead of driving, it was still a pretty exhausting period, but our happiness was a stimulant and just being together without some idiot poking a camera in our faces was contentment enough."
Les is noticeably relaxed in this one with some of the panellists that he's clearly most comfortable with. Although Les gets on with everyone, seeing the likes of Joe Brown, Frankie Vaughan and Janice Long on a panel is a sure sign that Les knows he's got people to bounce off. There are one or two ruder gags this series, as mentioned in other entries, yet here it's Joe Brown's turn for a saucy one, getting in "shih tzu" when there's a question about dogs.
The show gets off to a good start when a contestant with a cackling laugh finds Les funny and laughs at all his jokes. By now Les's routines are so shopworn some of them are even being reused two or three times a year, so even Les looks shocked when someone is genuinely laughing. The momentum continues when the male contestant, wearing a kilt, reveals himself to be a significant height. It's not stated just how tall contestant Dick Hamilton is, but he's almost two head heights taller than Les.
The fun doesn't quite carry over to the second set of contestants, who don't have the same rapport with Les, but by that time the momentum of the show is enough to carry it along. There's also possibly a unique situation at the end, whereby both contestants have to play a tiebreaker as neither of them have won any prizes on the Supermatch Game. While contestants have played a tiebreaker before when neither have scored any points, this might be the first time when both have played it when they did score points, but neither won anything in their respective Supermatches. (And yes, I deduct myself a thousand nerd points for not being certain.) Les explains that in the situation whoever wins will get the 150 point prize and then get to play for the maximum 300 points in the Head To Head.
Guest Panellists: Ian Krankie, Jeanette Krankie, Alvin Stardust, Karen Kay, Bill Owen and Anna Raeburn.
The episode where Les decides it's a good idea to put a contestant in a headlock. Where he introduces the Krankies as a double act who can "brighten a stage just by leaving it". The one where Alvin Stardust, in his only spot on the show, gives a somewhat forced smile when Les mutters about how long it's been since he had a hit record. (Three years.)
There's other things to see, such as Bill Owen, making his only appearance in the original run (he came back for a revival episode in 1999) talking in his real voice. Sadly, this isn't something that gets to be heard that much, as he's sitting next to Karen Kay, who does her usual disruptive interrupting until Les tells her "Shut up, you!" There's also Les doing a daft joke about an alien from outer space, or sweating at his heaviest under the studio lights, being fanned by Karen Kay.
Guest Panellists: Joe Brown, Angela Rippon, Victor Kiam, Ellie Laine, Charlie Daze and Nerys Hughes.
Les at his most savagely abusive, asking a contestant with a ginger beard if his head is on the right way round, or blasting stand-up Charlie Daze, in his last appearance, with: "he started in showbusiness at the bottom, and he's still there". There's also a female contestant with no front teeth and a hooting laugh, who gets a lot of stick from Les and becomes the sole contestant from the eleventh series to get a kiss actually on the lips.
This is the only episode from the original run to feature Angela Rippon, who finally came back in 2021 with the most recent revival series. It's also the first of three appearances from comedienne Ellie Laine, who we'll look at in a bit more detail next time. Then there's 60-year-old Victor Kiam, famous for Remington and his commercial catchphrase: "I liked it so much, I bought the company". Kiam would go on to buy an American football team the following year (New England Patriots) and the appearance of the CEO of a business appearing as a panellist may seem an odd choice for the BBC, even if Kiam was a publicly-known figure due to the ads. This was something addressed by Stanley Appel in his previously-mentioned letter, who noted: "Victor Kiam [was] booked as [he was] in the public eye at the time. Just like Cynthia Payne."
Victor's presence on the panel is perhaps the most intriguing, as there's always something a little dead behind the eyes, as if he doesn't quite grasp the nuance that Les shouting and hurling abuse at the contestants - and this is one of his Les's loudest performances - is meant in jest.
It's something of a culture clash, and, while Kiam can be seen laughing in the background at one of Les's mother-in-law gags, it's a shame he's not in shot when Les does an impression of a plantation worker from Gone With The Wind. As often covered in the article on The Goodies, while America was showing Roots, the BBC was still showing The Black and White Minstrel Show, and it's quite fascinating watching these two very different cultural worlds collide. Or, as Les tactfully puts it, "Nice to know they've still got a sense of humour in the States. They must have, they've got Reagan."