In May 2024, I published a new Kindle book. Cuddly Toy: The Unofficial, Unauthorised Guide To The Generation Game is a complete-as-possible look at the original Bruce Forsyth run from 1971 to 1977.
On Saturday 27th July 2024, as part of a classic TV retrospective package (and an alternative for those who don’t rate relentless Olympics stuff much), BBC4 screened a rare repeat of the New Year’s Day 1973 edition. Because I’m such a nice guy, here is a sample chapter of that broadcast – free of charge, and complete with accompanying screengrabs!
I’m In Charge
“How dare you try to be me!” fumes an indignant Bruce as Odd Job takes his place in the opening walk-on. “You don’t do much better yourself,” grunts Odd Job.
On his birthplace: “I was born in Victoria Road. Not THE road.”
Note on Ernie’s boxing history: “Don’t… take… any… liberties… with this one…”
On being a reluctant parachutist: “I can’t even wear a jumper.”
On Monica’s husband retiring from being a headmaster: “Well, I hope he did it gracefully.”
On Seana’s yoga: “Do you like the Lotus position? It makes me dizzy…”
Give Us A Twirl
Anthea’s defiantly not making any New Year resolutions and doing so while dressed in a Bacofoil blouse and black flares.
Let’s Meet The Eight Who Are Going To Generate
Ernie & Sherry Marshall: Father & Daughter
Ernie: Living just down the road from where Bruce was born (Tottenham – Bruce was born in Edmonton), Ernie used to be a welterweight boxer, but today deals with boxes of another kind as he’s a recruitment officer for London’s post office branch. Practises yoga.
Sherry: Works for the RAF, as an air stewardess, and is a member of the Number 10 Air Squadron. Likes lots of sports, is a very keen gymnast, and her ambition is to go parachuting.
NB: Since the book, I realised that Sherry went on to enjoy further TV coverage when she appeared as one of the bailiffs in Channel 5’s Call The Bailiffs: Time To Pay Up.
Monica & Christopher Riley: Mother & Son
Monica: In charge of an old folks’ home in Duckingfield, Cheshire, and gets the chance to wave hello – especially to one of the Walters, who’s a bit of an old rascal.
Christopher: Teacher Christopher had an unhappy Christmas after losing one of his teeth. But if he plays his cards right, he could be in with a shot with Sherry. Hey – he has his own boat, you know!
Eddie Collins & Seana Wilmott: Father & Daughter
Eddie: If only Eddie had been chosen for the first game, he would have most likely scored top marks as he’s mad keen on Scottish country dancing and playing the bagpipes! Eddie works for an insurance company, and is a budding movie maker, not only making small films, but recording soundtracks.
Seana: Lives with her husband and three sons who range in age from six months to six years. She was once voted Best Nurse Of The Year and hobbies-wise, likes swimming, music and again, yoga!
Freda & Ewan Rennie: Mother & Son
Freda: Native Aberdonian Freda likes a spot of golf, curling and bridge.
Ewan: Wears a kilt for the occasion. Has a bachelor of science qualification in psychology and is currently on a teaching course. He likes rugby, bridge, reading and scouting. Visited Israel the previous year, but only learnt to say “Shalom”.
Nice To See You…
Jon Pertwee
Originally an actor with great comic timing, Jon found fame on the radio with The Navy Lark. But it was the 1970s in which he really made his mark on the landscape of classic TV, thanks to two roles.
The first was his hugely popular Third Doctor – the dashing dandy of action in Doctor Who which he regularly played between 1970 and 1974 (The Three Doctors would have been on two days before this episode was broadcast – and two days after this episode was recorded!). The second was a big contrast at the tail end of the decade, portraying down-on-his-luck scarecrow, Worzel Gummidge, which he’d star in – both in this country and in Australia – until 1987.
Pertwee would also host his own gameshow, Whodunnit (replacing Edward Woodward) from 1974. He also provided voiceovers for SuperTed (as Spotty) and the narration for Skeets And The Little Green Man.
Liza Goddard
In the 1960’s, Liza’s big break bounced into action while she temporarily lived in Australia. The success of Clancy Merrick in Skippy The Bush Kangaroo was swiftly equalled upon her return home to Blighty where she appeared in a string of TV programmes including Take Three Girls, Yes Honestly, Pig In The Middle, The Brothers (as April Merroney) and Bergerac (as Philippa Vale).
Liza replaced Una Stubbs as team captain on Give Us A Clue, while those of a certain age may remember her in Woof.
June Whitfield
Legendary actress best known for playing her namesake in both Happy Ever After and Terry And June with Terry Scott. She’s also famous for her Carry On movie cameos as well as for playing the ditzy gran in Absolutely Fabulous.
Dinny & Nosher Powell
Stuntmen brothers who performed stunts in the likes of James Bond, The Saint, The Avengers and Doctor Who.
I Hope You’re Playing This At Home
In the flower making task, Ronnie and co play a cover of Lynn Anderson’s 1971 smash, Rose Garden.
All Right, My Fluffs?
Bruce fluffs Phyllis Foy’s name – although as the man himself says, you try saying that on near-live telly.
I Wanna Play The Game With New
Celebratory bells chime in with the theme tune to mark the new year.
Good Games
Game Number One: Crossed Swords
It’s New Year’s Day! Which means that the first game begins with the sound of Hogmanay. Jimmy McGinn the piper ushers in two professional Scottish dancers, Linda Watkins and Colin Robertson of the Scottish National Dance Company. The pair give a demonstration of classic Highland dancing – right down to the crossed swords. I don’t know whether these are real or whether the dancers have mastered the art of avoiding ripping their shoes to shreds.
Both Ernie and Sherry and Monica and Christopher give the dancing a go, and in Ernie’s case, enters the spirit of the game with considerable gusto. He’s very good at the air waving and while Monica and Christopher have a jolly good try and put a “tremendous amount into it”, they trail by three points on five to “not far off professionals” Ernie and Sherry’s eight.
Eddie and Ewan would’ve smashed it, though.
Game Number Two: Character Judgement
After the furious energy of Scottish dancing, the next game is more sedate. Monica and Christopher have the chance to make up the three points by matching the right character to the right book. For their reading pleasure, there’s The Boys Of Greyfriars, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Winnie The Pooh, Alice In Wonderland, Just William, and What Katy Did.
The good news for Monica and Christopher is that they get top marks!
The bad news for Monica and Christopher is that so do Ernie and Sherry.
Meaning that Monica and Christopher are out of the race. Plus, Christopher may be crestfallen to learn that Sherry’s got a later date with The Invisible Man. It’s really not the poor chap’s week.
Game Number Three: Flowers
Bruce may have trouble with her name, but Phyllis Foy has no such strife when it comes to making clay flowers. The trick is to start off with the centre of the fake flower, then to grab another bit of clay and use it to make petals to go round the middle. Then create a stalk at the base, and after shaping it to look convincingly like the real thing, you have your very own flower!
Poor Eddie’s hands are shaking. It can’t be easy before a studio audience, let alone a viewing audience of millions. Fair play to the man though – he hasn’t let his nerves get the better of him, and gets a decent four points. Seana hasn’t done too badly either, scoring five.
Ewan and his mum don’t quite reach these heights, sadly. Phyllis observes that Ewan has no “control over his centrepiece”. Not saying a word… Meanwhile Freda’s long-stemmed attempt doesn’t even have a centrepiece, looking more like a Scottish rose after the wind has blown.
Phyllis has a totally unexpected gift of a small vase of flowers for Bruce, which he gratefully receives. He hasn’t done too badly this series, come to think of it – wine, miniature soldiers, honey…
Game Number Four: Where In The World
That’s the question that our final guinea pigs have to suss out. Six famous places around the world are covered up by 60% of coloured cardboard. The remaining 40% may or may not be a clue. As ever, three bogus locations are added to the six mix. The right ones are Athens, Moscow, Rome, Blackpool, Brighton and San Francisco.
Both teams do well, but the sneaky trick of making the Blackpool Tower look like the Eiffel Tower means that Ewan and Freda can’t quite make the points to overtake Eddie and Sheana. Ewan’s off to enjoy Hogmanay, giving the game away that this isn’t being broadcast live (it was recorded on 28th December 1972).
But then Jools Holland’s infernal Snooze-a-nanny makes the pretence of being live every year, which is even worse.
Semi-Final Game: The Thing Meets The Mummy’s Ghost
Dark plots are being brewed in the depths of BBC TV Centre, Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ. Evil schemes are being plotted.
No, I’m not talking about the wretched orange duvet monster from Doctor Who’s forthcoming Frontier In Space story. But a horror movie put on by the Balls Pond Road Theatre Club and starring none other than the Doctor himself – Jon Pertwee! Jon is outlining his dastardly deeds to June Whitfield while made up as an evil vampire called Bruno. To add to the collection of telly legends, Liza Goddard’s hapless maiden is brought in to witness Bruno Pertwee’s terrifying experiments with a bubbling glass of perilous potion (probably Ribena).
Which turn him into a bloke with a pig mask. At least you can say it’s more convincing than the pig mask blokes in the Doctor Who Daleks In Manhattan farrago which came 34 years later. But with General Bruce Von Bratwurst/Von Sausage/Von Frankfurter to the rescue, he saves the day, shooting Bruno at point blank range. Cue a suitably OTT John Wayne demise from Pertwee.
Alas, General Von Bruce doesn’t get the girl, as June scoots off with Bruno’s monstrous henchman and Liza has a date with the invisible man.
Our budding thespians are now about to have a go at starring in this terrifying horror movie. Eddie is up first playing Bruno with Sheana cast in the maiden role. Eddie is good – not Oscar award material by a long chalk, but he’s a natural with the evil laughter. Sheana – now with the same clunky reading glasses as her dad – isn’t bad either, but I think that the best may be yet to come.
Which it does with Ernie and Sherry. Ernie (also with thick 1970s glasses) does the evil laughter well too, but goes one better with various added quirks such as biting into the flying toy bat, ad-libbing (“You’ll fiend out soon enough!”) and giving a death scene that out-hams Pertwee’s. While wearing a mask of Ted Heath. Sherry too, is very good, doing better with the invisible pinches on the derrière by her see-through date.
Auditions are over. And alas, Eddie and Sheana get to be the understudies this evening on 16, as Ernie and Sherry get the awards with a very cool 19.
The Crunch
Q: What special significance does 1st January 1973 have to Great Britain. A: Entry into the Common Market (sob).
Ernie is off the mark.
Q: Who said: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen?” A: Harry S Trueman.
Ernie’s guess of Fanny Cradock earns plenty of laughs, but alas, it’s wrong.
Q: How many days are there in February 1973? A: 28.
Sherry says 29. Ernie says 28. Ernie’s right, so off he pops to the conveyor belt.
On The Conveyor Belt Tonight, We Have…
A tea trolley! A table lamp! A step stool! A Polaroid camera! A panda! An electric toaster! A record player! A rotisserie! Some gardening tools! A jug and six glasses! An ice bucket and soda siphon! Stereophonic headphones! A travelling case! A food mixer! A tennis racquet and balls! A cigarette lighter! A rose bowl!
Didn’t He Do Well? (With Bruce’s Help?)
Ernie’s mind has gone blank. That’s what turning into Ted Heath does for you. But with a little – well, a lot of – help from Bruce, Ernie gets the trolley, the briefcase, a toaster, gardening implements, a record player, the camera, a mixer, a teddy (the panda), glasses and the stool!
Actually not too bad with 10 prizes out of 17, but it must be a nerve-racking process. That’s it for now, but Bruce “hopes” to see everyone again later this year. He needn’t have worried about commissions – because the show will be back in the Autumn! For a 22-episode run!
If you enjoyed reading this blog post, you might like my guide to Brucie’s original run of The Generation Game, which you can buy at Amazon for just £2.99!
Buy here!
(Screengrabs credited to BBC and Channel 5/Shergroup TV)
