ITV’s 50 Greatest Shows
Louise
Gold featured (uncredited) performing The Queen from Spitting Image, and
(credited) as herself a Muppet Puppeteer on The Muppet Show. Broadcast on ITV1
from 19:00 on Saturday 10 September 2005
Cast
Presenters
Cat Deely
Philip Schofield
Credited Participants
Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden)
Elkan Allan (Executive Producer of Ready Steady Go)
Susie Amy (Chardonnay Pascal)
Peter Andre
Ant & Dec
Mark Austin
George Baker (No 2 in The Prisoner)
Richard Bates (Executive Producer of The Darling Buds Of May, Writer on The Avengers, and Executive Producer of A Touch Of Frost)
Cilla Black
Tony Blackburn
Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale)
Roy Bottemly (Writer and Programme Consultant of This Is Your Life)
Lord Melvyn Bragg
Caroline Brett (Writer and Producer of Survival)
Fern Britton
Todd Carty (PC Gabriel Kent in The Bill)
Nicki Chapman
Eric Chappell (Producer and Writer of Rising Damp)
Ted Childs (Director of The Sweeney, Executive Producer of Inspector Morse)
Mark Chinnock (Martin Dingle)
Irene Cockcroft (Producer of Jimmy’s)
George Cole (Arthur Daley)
Simon Cowell
Russell T Davis (Television Writer)
Angus Deayton
Les Dennis
Mark Durden-Smith (Judith Chalmers’s Son)
Christopher Eccleston (Trevor Hicks in Hillsborough, and a DCI in Cracker)
Peter Fluck (Co-Creator of Spitting Image)
Derek Fowlds
Neil Fox
Philip Franks (Cedric Charlot)
Robin Gibb (from The Bee Gees)
Louise Gold (Puppeteer and Voice Artiste from The Muppet Show)
Trudie Goodwin (Sgt June Ackland in The Bill)
Robson Green
Shobna Gulati
Trevor Hicks
Paddy Joe Hill
Amanda Holden
Engelbert Humperdinck
John Hurt
Sally James
Sir David Jason (Pop Larkin, and, Inspector Frost)
Mark Jordan
Professor Simon Kay
(Plastic Surgeon at St James’s Hospital,
Matthew Kelly (Presenter of Stars In Their Eyes 1993-2004)
Martin Kemp
Patsy Kensit (Sade King)
Judith Keppel
Kermit The Frog (probably Steve Whitmire)
Verity Lambert (Executive Producer of The Naked Civil Servant)
Claire Lewis (Producer of 49 Up)
David Liddiment (Producer of Stars In Their Eyes, and, Producer of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire)
Sally Lindsay
Gaby
Gary Lucy (Kyle Pascoe)
Sir Trevor MacDonald
Art Malik (Henry Kumer)
David Mane
Jean Marsh (Co-Creator of Upstairs Downstairs / Rose Buck)
Julian Maynon (Reporter Death On The Rock)
Davina McCall
Patrick McNee
Jackie Melton (Script Consultant on The Bill)
Dame Helen Mirren
Sheree Murphy (a real Footballer’s Wife)
Al Murray
Denis Norden
Hermione Norris
Cyril Nri
Tara Palmer-Tompkinson
Brian Park (Executive Producer of Footballers Wives, and, Producer of Coronation Street from 1997-1998)
Nicholas Parsons
Trisha Penrose
Dr Raj Persand (This Morning psychiatrist 1994-2003)
Arlene Phillips (Choreographer of Hot Gossip)
Tim Piggott-Smith (Reginald Merrick)
Miss Piggy (probably Eric Jacobson)
HRH The Queen from Spitting Image (voiced and probably performed by Louise Gold)
Diana Quick
Neil Reid (Opportunity Knocks winner)
Sir Cliff Richard
Keith Richardson (Executive Producer of Heatbeat)
Fay Ripley (Jenny Gifane)
William Roache (Ken Barlow)
Denise Robertson (This Morning’s Agony Aunt)
Alan Root (Writer and Producer of Survival)
Nicola Shindler (Producer of Hillsborough)
Jerry Springer
Charles Starridge (Director of Brideshead Revisited)
Melaine Stykes
Claire Sweeney
Chris Tarrant
Sue and Alex Tatham
Gillian Taylforth
George Jesse Turner (Camerman on World In Action)
Tony Walker
Bradley Walsh
Don Warrington
Dennis Waterman (a Sergeant in The Sweeney, and, Terry McCann in Minder)
Gary Webster (Ray Daley)
Kevin Whatley (Inspector Lewis)
Alan Whicker
Simon Williams (James Bellemy)
Holly Willoughby
Dale Winterton
Dale Winton
Glenda Wood (Make-up Designer for Stars In Their Eyes)
Susan Wooldridge (Daphne Mamer)
Dan Worrington (Philip Smith)
Natasha Znack (Executive Producer of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here)
Probable Uncredited
Participants
Louise Gold (voicing and probably performing The Queen from Spitting Image)
Eric Jacobson (as Miss Piggy from The Muppet Show)
Steve Nallon (voicing Margaret Thatcher from Spitting Image)
Steve Whitmire (as Kermit The Frog from The Muppet Show)
Production Team
Graphics – Hello Charlie
Post Production Fascilities – 3 Sixty Media
Archive Courtesy of – Granada, Freemantle Thames, Talkback Thames, 19 Television, Ralph Edwards Productions, Canule Image Uk Ltd, Celador, ITN/Pathe, Shed Productions, Endmol, International BV, The Muppets Holding Company, Buena Vista International Inc, Universal Studios, Fauna Productions And Southern Star International, ITV Sport Archive, and, ITV Archive
With Thanks To – Julian MacDonald Adler
Camera - Jeremy Bishop, Dave Hamilton Green,
Sound – Ryan Chandler, Richard Eades, and, Mick Close
Studio Camera Supervisor – Cameron Whitle
Studio Sound Supervisor – Andy Wenhan
Lighting Director – Tom Kinane
Set Designer – Alex Craig
Online Editor – Dave Dill
Dubbing Mixer – Dave Sanson
Production Accountant – Phil Crabb
Production Co-ordinators – Annette Capstick, Liz, Phillips, and, Samantha Parkin
Production Executive – Samantha Stamp
Head Of Production – Carol McKenzie
Script Consultant – Andy Milligan
Research – Becky Swale
Archive Researcher – Suzanne Thompson
Assistant Producer – Archive – Camilla Wheeler
Assistant Producers – Louise Ireland, and, Yvette Lyons
Editors – Doug Faircloth, and, Nigel Davies
Insert Producer – Nickie Lister
Studio Director – Chris
Power
Executive Producers – Clare Pizey, and, Mark Robinson
Produced & Directed by – John Piper
Copyright - (c) – Yorkshire Television Ltd 2005
Production Company – A
50 Greatest Shows
50. Family Fortunes
49. It’ll Be Alright On The Night (1977 to Present)
48.
47. Whicker’s World
46. The Jewel In The Crown
45. Tonight With Trevor MacDonald
44. Candid Camera
43. This Is Your Life (1969-1995)
42. The South Bank Show
41. Ready Steady Go
40. Death On The Rock
39. Survival (1961-2001)
38. Heartbeat
37. Sunday Night At The
36. Jimmy’s
35. Blind Date
34. Brideshead Revisited
33. The Benny Hill Show
32. World In Action
31. Seven Up
30. The Prisoner (1967-1968)
29. The Naked Civil Servant
28. The World At War
27. The Darling Buds Of May
26. An Audience With
25. The Kenny Everett Video Show
24 Hillsborough 1996 (programme about the Stadium disaster)
23. Upstairs Downstairs (1971-1975)
22. Stars In Their Eyes (1990-present)
21. Rising Damp
20. Tiswas (1974-1982)
19. The Sweeney (1975-1978)
18. Prime Suspect (1981-Present)
17. The Avengers (1961-1969)
16. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (1998-Present)
15. Minder
14. Footballers Wives (2002-Present)
13. This Morning (1988-Present)
12. Cracker (1993-1996)
11. Cold Feet (1997-2003)
10. Spitting Image (1984-1996)
9. Pop Idol (2001-2003)
8. The Muppet Show (1976-1981)
7. The Bill (1984-Present)
6. I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here (2002-Present)
5. Emmerdale Farm
4. Inspector Morse (1987-2000)
3. A Touch Of Frost (1992-Present)
2. Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (2002-Present)
The Bill, Up The
Garden Path, ABBA - The Reunion, Spitting Image Must See TV, ABBA – The Mamma Mia Story, The Ghost Of Faffner
Hall, Best Ever Spitting Image,
and, Coronation Street were all first shown
on ITV 1, as well as The Muppet Show, and, Spitting Image.
Besides
working on The Muppet Show, and, Spitting Image, Louise Gold has also appeared in The Bill,
and subsequently in Coronation Street. Her
mother also acted one shot parts in The Bill and on Inspector Morse.
Steve Whitmire had also worked on The
Muppet Show, though not performing Kermit.
Philip Schofield, and, Nicholas
Parsons had previously appeared in The Wonderful World Of Puppets.
It
is not quite clearly whether It’ll Be Alright On The Night
producer
Honour Blackman had previously appeared in Nunsense (Stage Show) and on the associated album
Nunsense (recording).
Les Dennis, and, Derek Fowlds took part in Kids At
Heart, which Lord Melvyn Bragg may have also taken part in. Some
actors from The Bill also took part.
George Cole had previously appeared in The Pirates Of Penzance (Stage
Production), and in the associated galas: The Pirates Of
Penzance (Gala Performance), The Pirates Of Penzance
(Gala Preview), and, The
Pirates Of Penzance (Benefit Preview), as well as appearing as a member of
that cast in The Royal Variety
Performance (1982).
Dennis Waterman also took part in The Royal Variety Performance
(1982).
Angus Deayton,
Peter Fluck worked on Spitting
Image and of course the Spitting Image
Pilots. He also contributed to the Spitting
Image Auction, he appeared at Spitting Image – BFI Event, and on Best Ever Spitting Image.
Derek Fowlds, Sir
Trevor MacDonald, and, Nicholas
Parsons appeared in the Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary Gala.
Philip Franks has appeared in Noises
Off.
Trudie
Goodwin appeared in The Bill.
Shobna Gulati, and, William Roache appeared in Coronation
Street.
John Hurt starred in The Alan Clark Diaries.
It
is not clear whether of not the Claire Lewis who produced 49 Up could
be the same person as the actress of the same name in Billy The Kid And The
Green Baize Vampire.
Sir Trevor MacDonald appeared on Best Ever Spitting Image.
Nicholas Parsons, and, Chris Tarrant
appeared in Roland Rat – The Series.
Tim Piggott-Smith took part in the Regents Park 70th Anniversary Gala.
Claire Sweeney presented A Week In The West
End, and was Guest Of Honour at Dress
Circle Grand Re-Opening. Her recording credits include Defiant Dames.
Dennis Waterman also appeared in A Week In The West
End.
Simon Williams appeared in Alice In Wonderland.
Steve Whitmire also puppeteered
on The Muppet Show (though not performing
Kermit) and as such appeared in the documentary Of
Muppets And Men. He also puppeteered
on The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Go To The Movies, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth,
Tale Of The Bunny Picnic, and, The Animal Show. He has puppeteered
Kermit on: Sesame Street, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, and, I Love The Muppets.
He has also appeared in The All Time Get Around Sometimes Play Together Every Other Friday Night
Vaudeville Show, and, at Jim
Henson’s Memorial Service. His recording credits include: The Muppet Show Music Album, The Great Muppet Caper (Soundtrack
Album), John
Denver & The Muppets A Christmas Together, John Denver &
The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM, Favourite Songs From Jim
Henson’s Muppets, Muppet Music Sampler,
Muppet Hits 1, Muppet
Hits 2, Muppet Music Mix, The Muppet Christmas Carol
(Soundtrack Album), Music Mayhem &
More, Christmas For Kids, John Denver Christmas, and, Put Some Zing In Your Spring.
Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson’s recording credits include A Green & Red Christmas.
Steve Nallon was a voice-artiste and a puppeteer on Spitting Image itself, he also took part in: Spitting Image Auction, Spitting Image BFI Event, Spitting Image Must See TV, and, Best Ever Spitting Image. His recording
credits include Spit In
Your Ear.
Jeremy Bishop, Richard
Eades, Samantha
Parkin, and, Samantha Stamp also
worked on Best Ever Spitting Image,
which was also produced by Yorkshire
Television Ltd.
The
Studio Director Chris Power may
possibly be the dancer and choreographer of the same name who worked on The Pirates Of
Penzance (Film), The Royal
Variety Performance (1982), and, Kids At Heart.
Kevin Whatley went on to appear in Gypsy.
Critics Comments
Review
by Emma Shane, ©August 2011
This
is a very long documentary, it lasts something like two and a half hours, as
far as I can recall, and watching it can get very tedious. However, it does
have some memorable moments, and a lot of participants many of whom worked on ITV’s greatest shows. The last two
segments, which deal with the shows 10 to 6 and finally the top five
respectively are perhaps the most interesting. The only trouble is you have to
watch everything else first. The second to last segment is the only one really
of great interest to puppetry enthusiasts, since tenth place goes to Spitting
Image, and eighth place to The Muppet Show. However both legendary
puppet programmes are quite well represented, in so far as any legendary
television programme can be well represented in a slot on a big compilation
such as this. The lead into the commercial break immediately before this
segment shows both Kermit The Frog from The Muppet Show and The
Queen from Spitting Image,
so we sort of know those two programmes are coming next.
The
slot about Spitting Image includes a variety of contributors, such as for
no apparent reason Trudie Goodwin (from The Bill),
Even
better, however, is the slot about The Muppet Show. Again we have a
number of miscellaneous contributors comprising Christopher Eccelstone, Robson Green, and rather more
appropriately
All
in all quite a jam packed celebration of ITV,
with some unusual contributors, but one where specific bits will be of interest
to particular people (those who follow whichever of the 50 programmes is under
the spotlight at that moment). Probably there is something there for nearly
everyone. But at the same time nearly everyone will also find many parts of it
tedious and dull, with a few scattered gems.
Links about ITV’s 50 Greatest Shows
IMDB Entry for the Programme: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480762/fullcredits#cast
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