''At Last the 1948 Show'' is a satirical television show made by

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

's company, Paradine Productions (although it was not credited on the programmes), in association with

Rediffusion London Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

. Transmitted on Britain's ITV network in 1967, it brought

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

humour to a broader audience. The show starred

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and became president o ...

, Graham Chapman, John Cleese,

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boo ...

and

Aimi MacDonald Aimi MacDonald (born 27 February 1942) is a Scottish actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as ''"The Lovely" Aimi MacDonald'' in the television sketch comedy show ''At Last the 1948 Show'' (Rediffusion, 1967). Background and ear ...

. Cleese and Brooke-Taylor were also the programme editors. The director was Ian Fordyce. Chapman and Cleese would later be among the founders of the Monty Python comedy troupe, and several of the sketches first performed in ''At Last the 1948 Show'' would later be performed by Monty Python in various formats. While only two episodes of the show had been thought to survive, efforts to locate missing episodes have been fruitful, with seven episodes being accounted for by 2013. On 23 October 2014, two episodes were recovered by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

from the

collection, and a further two episodes were recovered the following year, making the number of complete episodes eleven out of thirteen.

History

Frost approached Cleese, Chapman and Brooke-Taylor to star in a sketch series. They suggested Marty Feldman, until then a comedy writer. The series bridged the radio series ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that originated from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, '' Cambridge Circus''. This is a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted ...

'' and television's ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known a ...

'' and '' The Goodies''. It also led to Feldman's television series '' Marty'' (which also featured Tim Brooke-Taylor). The convention of comedy scenes interspersed by songs was abandoned. It still used

punchlines ''Punchlines'' was a comedy panel game show that aired on ITV from 3 January 1981 to 22 December 1984 and was hosted by Lennie Bennett. The show itself was based on a failed 1979 American game show pilot of the same name hosted by Bill Cullen, w ...

, which would often be dispensed with in ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. Several sketches came from the 1963

Cambridge Footlights Revue The ''Cambridge Footlights Revue'' is an annual revue by the Footlights Club - a group of comedy writer-performers at the University of Cambridge. Three of the more notable revues are detailed below. 1963 revue "A Clump of Plinths" — "Ca ...

entitled '' Cambridge Circus'' (the revue was previously entitled ''A Clump of Plinths''), including Graham Chapman's solo routine " One-Man Wrestling". Certain sketches from the show would later be reused in the one-off John Cleese special ''

How to Irritate People ''How to Irritate People'' is a US television broadcast filmed in the UK at LWT on 14 November 1968 and written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Cleese, Chapman, and Brooke-Taylor also feature in it, along with ...

'' ("Freedom of Speech"), as well as the second episode of ''

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus ''Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'' (''Monty Python's Flying Circus'') are a pair of 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television. The two episodes were respectively first broadcast in Janu ...

'' ("One-Man Wrestling" again – now with play-by-play commentary added by Cleese – and "Hearing Aid Shop"). Further sketches were reprised in the Python stage shows, including the "

Four Yorkshiremen The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to ...

" sketch (as featured on ''

Live at Drury Lane ''Monty Python Live at Drury Lane'' is a live album released by Monty Python in 1974. It was recorded on the final night of their four-week run at the Drury Lane Theatre in London earlier that year and edited onto disc with new studio linking m ...

'', '' Live at City Center'', '' Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl,'' and ''

Monty Python Live (Mostly) ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' (also billed as ''Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go'') was a variety show by the Monty Python comedy group at The O2 in London in July 2014. Planned as a single performance for 1 July, it was expanded ...

''), "One-Man Wrestling" once again (''Drury Lane'', ''City Center'', and ''Hollywood Bowl''), "Secret Service" (''Drury Lane'' only), and a few that have never received official release: "Beekeeper," the aforementioned "Hearing Aid Shop," and "Minister Falling to Pieces." The "Beekeeper" sketch was also performed in the Secret Policeman's Ball stage shows, as were "Top of the Form" and "Take Your Clothes Off!". Another, the "Bookshop" sketch, was recorded in modified form for '' Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album''. New versions of "Door to Door Undertaker" and "Memory Training Course" were also recorded during that album's sessions, but not included on the final version (they would, however, end up appearing on the widely bootlegged '' Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck'' album). "Psychiatrist", "Tea Boy on a Mission", and "Grublian Holidays" were also performed again by ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, ser ...

''. Monty Python's catchphrase, "And now for something completely different," parodying a phrase often used on

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

, originated in ''At Last the 1948 Show'', and was originally spoken by

. The shows had no relationship to the year 1948; according to Cleese, the title referred to television executives' tendency to dither extensively over commissioning decisions. Feldman claimed in ''eyE Marty'', his posthumously published autobiography, that he came up with the title, which "meant nothing." The series was video-taped at what was later Fountain Studios,

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broades ...

, Wembley. A total of thirteen 25-minute episodes were made within a year, six in the first series and seven in the second.

Survival of episodes

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

discarded the material once they had acquired the

archive, and all but two episodes were destroyed. John Cleese became aware of tapes from two surviving episodes after Feldman's wife left them to him in her will. Five compilation episodes for Swedish television also survived. Much missing material has been recovered in video, and surviving video has been restored by the

. The majority of a previously missing episode (season 2, episode 6 tx 31.10.67) was recovered from a private collector in May 2010. On 23 October 2014, the BFI announced film copies of two previously missing episodes – the first and final episodes of the series (broadcast 15 February 1967 and 7 November 1967) – had been recovered from the private collection of the show's executive producer

.Pre-Monty Python TV comedy episodes rediscovered
bbc.co.uk, 23 October 2014 A year later, the BFI announced the recovery of another two episodes from a fan's collection, with one of the new recoveries - the third episode of the first series (tx 1 March 1967) – to be screened at the ''Radio Times'' Festival at Hampton Court on 25 September 2015. Out of an original total of 13 episodes, eleven now exist in complete or near-complete form, while two remain incomplete. While most surviving episodes are from original tapes or

telerecordings Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

, two of the complete episodes have been reconstructed from footage recovered from five compilation tapes returned from Sweden. The two incomplete episodes' surviving footage also comes from these compilations. The complete audio of all 13 episodes exist, recorded off air by several fans. A 1967 LP release featured sketches taken from the soundtrack of the show's first series, accompanied by a 7" single featuring newly recorded versions of "The Ferret Song" and "The Rhubarb Tart Song". These have since been reissued on CD.

Home media

The five Swedish compilation episodes were released on DVD in July 2005 by Tango Entertainment in the US (Region 1) and in January 2007 by Pinnacle Vision in the UK (Region 2). This includes the

Four Yorkshiremen sketch The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to ...

, written and performed by Cleese,

Chapman Chapman may refer to: Businesses * Chapman Entertainment, a former British television production company * Chapman Guitars, a guitar company established in 2009 by Rob Chapman * Chapman's, a Canadian ice cream and ice water products manufacture ...

, Brooke-Taylor and

. The DVD incorrectly states these as "recently recovered episodes", presents them as episode numbers 1 through 5, in the wrong compilation-series order (the correct order is DVD ep# 4, 3, 1, 5, 2), with no mention on the DVD that the content is in fact a compilation. The episodes on all DVD releases are soft, grainy, and generally low picture quality, even considering the material's age. Eric Idle appears in three of the episodes (2, 4, and 5), but never speaks except for a brief line in the teaser of episode 4. The DVD was re-released in May 2012 by One Media iP, a digital-only (streaming media format) label (no physical DVD) based in the UK, available for free on their OMP YouTube channel. This release has the compilation episodes in the same (mis-)order, and includes the 2 bonus interview tracks from the original DVD as well. They describe the episodes as compilations, but their description of what original episodes they are taken from is wrong (one episode claims the excerpts are all from series 1 when in fact they are all from series 2). In October 2015, One Media iP acquired the rights to three original full episodes that had recently been discovered, and released them on their YouTube channel as well. They are the two episodes discovered in David Frost's archives, ep. #1.1 and #2.7, and the episode discovered in a fan collection and screened in 2015, ep. #1.3. The three episodes are presented in the wrong aspect ratio: the picture is squeezed horizontally to a ratio of 1:1 square. In recent years, some of the other surviving, original full episodes have been uploaded on YouTube and other video-sharing websites. All of these have since been removed, and new uploads continue to be removed, due to claimed copyright restrictions and new YouTube rules, as well as internet policing by One Media iP. The five compilation episodes (in the same mis-order) plus the three original full episodes released by One Media iP are still available for free on YouTube, on the free streaming service Tubi, and on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

, the subscription streaming provider. On Tubi and Amazon Prime, the three original episodes are numbered 6 through 8 in order of broadcast: ep. #1.1, 1.3, and 2.7 respectively. On these latter two providers, the squeezed 1:1 aspect ratio of episode #7 (1.3) is corrected. The

released a comprehensive three-DVD set of the surviving material on 16 September 2019, including audio-only portions for all missing segments. In July 2020, the BritBox streaming service has the thirteen episodes available for viewing.

Guest stars

Barry Cryer Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory ...

as director in Chartered Accountants and Gorilla / first person to sit in Thief in Library / Nigerian guide & Eskimo guide in Studio Tour / Feldman in Scottish Opera / deerstalker hat detective in Detective Sketch / Wine waiter in Four Yorkshiremen / miscellaneous voice-over announcements *

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton, ...

as depressed patient/Kowalski in Detective Sketch * Christine Rodgers as Mrs. Lotterby / waving co-host / Susan / opera-host / introduces self in "I'm The Loveliest" show intro * Eric Idle Librarian in Thief in Library / Beethoven patient / waiter / elevator operator in Detective Sketch / end of row opera patron in Scottish Opera *

Jo Kendall Josephine Mary Kendall ( Robinson, 17 February 1940 – 29 January 2022) was a British actress and writer. She was known for her work on the BBC radio comedy show '' I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'', which debuted in 1964, and for her role as ...

as Mary in John and Mary in Malaya / Sara Mellish in Studio Tour *

Mary Maude Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

as Lady in bath / introduces self in "I'm The Loveliest" show intro *

Dick Vosburgh Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his f ...

as director in Studio Tour / bearded front row patron in Scottish Opera *

Antony Jay Sir Antony Rupert Jay, (20 April 1930 – 21 August 2016) was an English writer, broadcaster, producer and director. With Jonathan Lynn, he co-wrote the British political comedies ''Yes Minister'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister'' (1980–88). He als ...

stage manager in Studio Tour * Frank Muir Jordanian entourage member in Studio Tour * Denis Norden Jordanian entourage member in Studio Tour *

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promin ...

wrestling stage hand in Studio Tour * Frances Dean accented opera-host / introduces self in "I'm The Loveliest" show intro * Karin Feddersen Long haired brunette patron in Scottish Opera * Jacqueline Rochelle as magic amulet opera-host *

Penny Brahms Penny Brahms (born Penelope K. Brams in 1951) is a British model and film and television actress whose career was active in the 1960s and 1970s. She co-starred with Joanna Lumley in the 1971 sex comedy '' Games That Lovers Play''.Limbacher p.859 ...

introduces self in "I'm The Loveliest" show intro * Joan Crane as receptionist in Spiv Doctor / introduces self in "I'm The Loveliest" show intro * Vicki Murden * Anne Lewington * Natalie Shaw * Jenny Walton *

Patricia Franklin Patricia Franklin (born 11 September 1942) is an English actress best known for her roles in five '' Carry On'' films. Early life Born in East Finchley, London, Franklin and her family frequently went to see shows at the nearby amateur theatre ...

* Dick Holmes

List of episodes

Not all ITV regions screened the series, and those that did so on different transmission dates and times, with the series beginning and ending at different times of the year. Unless stated otherwise, the dates below reflect the transmission dates of the series in the London ITV region - Rediffusion's ITV franchise. Audio recordings exist for all 13 episodes, with only a very few missing segments. These have been used to reconstruct the order of sketches in complete episodes.

Series 1

Series 1 was not shown in the Granada region.

Series 2

In the Granada region, each episode was shown three days after the dates specified below at 10.30 in the evening.

References

External links

Comedy Guide - ''At Last the 1948 Show''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childre ...

( Internet Archive copy) * *
British Film Institute Screen Online
{{The Goodies 1960s British television sketch shows 1967 British television series debuts 1967 British television series endings Black-and-white British television shows ITV sketch shows English-language television shows Monty Python British satirical television series Television shows produced by Associated-Rediffusion Rediscovered television