''The Winifred Atwell Show'' was the title of both a British TV and radio series in the mid-1950s. They starred pianist

Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or 27 April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her ye ...

, who had had a number of hits on the UK charts.

Television

The television series was broadcast 21 April to 23 June 1956 on ITV as "

Bernard Delfont Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont (born Boris Winogradsky; 5 September 1909 – 28 July 1994) was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario. Life and career Delfont was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Governorate, Russi ...

presents The Winifred Atwell Show",. The series was initially booked by ITV for 6 episodes, but this was extended to 10 by popular demand. Regulars included singing act Teddy Johnson and Pearl Carr and the comedy act

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...

. The show switched to the BBC for 7 weekly episodes starting 13 April 1957. All episodes of both series are believed to be lost. Atwell did a later TV series in the early 1960s called ''The Amazing Miss A'', of which most episodes survive. She was likely the first black woman to have her own series on British television.

Radio

A separate 15 minute "The Winifred Atwell Show" ran 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 ...

on Sunday evenings from 1954 to 1960, sponsored by

Currys Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is an electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones. E ...

. The show also featured Johnson and Carr and was recorded in front of live audiences at various locations around England. At least one radio episode is available online.

References

External links

''The Winifred Atwell Show'' on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winifred Atwell Show 1956 British television series debuts 1957 British television series endings Lost BBC episodes Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows 1950s British television series British variety television shows