Marti Caine

An attractive young widow thinks that she is investing in a respectable riding school, only to find out she has bought a brothel.

In 1986, six hopefuls awaited their turn on New Faces, the popular TV talent show. Among them were comedians, singers, a teenage violin prodigy, and a Birmingham club crooner. New Faces had launched stars like Victoria Wood, Jim Davidson, and Les Dennis. For these six contestants, it was a night that changed their lives in unexpected ways. Their subsequent 25 years involved tangled love stories, international drama, a business collapse, an appearance in Britain's Got Talent semi-finals, and even prison and homelessness.

A British comedy sketch show from 1975 featuring winners of the ATV talent show New Faces; made by ATV for the ITV network Designed to emulate the fast moving style of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, it featured Marti Caine, Lenny Henry, Victoria Wood, impressionist Aiden J Harvey and singer Trevor Chance. To help out with the first show was the more experienced TV personality Leslie Crowther. The Summer Show consisted of five, forty five minute specials on the subjects of "holidays", "health and strength","mystery and crime","kids", and "entertainment". The performers, who were paid £175 a week for their efforts, were encouraged to diversify. Thus it featured the unlikely sight of Wood and Crowther duetting and other thrown together combinations for songs, sketches and dances. Wood said of the experience "it was one of those really bad variety shows where they got the scripts out of other people's dustbins. It was just dreadful." She was told by costumers, who said she was too big for the costumes, "if only you'd lose two stone you could wear this of Anna Massey's" Wood immediately went back to the unemployment queue when it ended. Whereas the series was a springboard for other cast members. Caine got her own TV series and Henry joined The Black and White Minstrel Show. [1]

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

A Saturday evening magic show which ran from 1990 to 1992. Linda Lusardi starred with the host and was replaced by various guest stars for the third and final season. Each episode featured a number of close-up tricks and comedy sketches, before closing with a large scale illusion.

The Little and Large Show was a comedy variety television show featuring Syd Little and Eddie Large. Its first series in 1978 was entitled just Little and Large and it was cancelled in 1991 after 11 seasons.

Marti Caine presents a star studded variety show in which she performs comedy material, sings and dances alongside special guests.

Personal anecdotes as told to Dick Hills.