''Cool for Cats'' was one of the first shows on British TV to feature music for a teenage audience. It was produced by

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder for Greater London, London and parts of Home counties, the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 an ...

, part of the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network, and ran from December 1956 to February 1961. The show was presented by

Kent Walton Kent Walton (22 August 1917 – 24 August 2003), born Kenneth Walton Beckett, was a British television sports commentator, presenter and actor. He is best remembered as the predominant commentator on ITV's coverage of British professional wrestl ...

. It lasted 15 minutes. Discs were played and then commented upon. Sometimes

The Dougie Squires Dancers Douglas William Squires (born 1932) is an English choreographer, known best for his work in television from the mid-1950s. He was born in Nottingham. Choreography The groups he has choreographed for television include: *The Young Generation *The ...

, which included the then unknown

Una Stubbs Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...

, performed dance routines to the music, and sometimes Tony Hart would draw a relevant cartoon while the record played. The programme was originally broadcast on Mondays at 7:15 pm and later moved to Thursdays. Owing to its success, it was a twice-weekly show (the second a repeat), later expanding to half an hour. The show's initiator was director Joan-Kemp Welch, the drama innovator, and the first—and the show's longest-running—choreographer was

Dougie Squires Douglas William Squires (born 1932) is an English choreographer, known best for his work in television from the mid-1950s. He was born in Nottingham. Choreography The groups he has choreographed for television include: *The Young Generation *The ...

. Kent Walton took the title from a show of the same name he hosted on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

External links

The TV Rock n' Roll Years
at Whirlygig TV

at the Bradford time line
Something about Una
''Independent on Sunday'', 22 February 2004 1956 British television series debuts 1961 British television series endings 1950s British music television series 1960s British music television series {{UK-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub