''The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club'' was a British television variety show produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

from 1974 to 1977. It was set in a fictional

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

in the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

and was hosted by comedian

Colin Crompton George Colin Crompton (22 June 1931 – 24 August 1985) was an English stand-up comedian. Biography Crompton, born in Manchester, Lancashire, found fame on the Granada Television programme '' The Comedians'' in the early 1970s. Before his big ...

as the club's chairman. The show's compere was usually

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...

, who as well as telling jokes and introducing acts often finished the show with a song. Crompton was frequently the butt of his jokes, acting as Manning's stooge. The set was arranged like a club, so that, rather than being arranged in terraced seating the

studio audience A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned ...

would be seated around tables and be served beer and snacks, join in a singalong and otherwise engage in audience participation. Crompton, as chairman of the club, would sit at a small table in the corner watching proceedings with apparent lack of interest. He had a large manual fire bell which he would wind and sound purportedly to attract the audience's attention after an act, with various notices from "the Committee" (that is, the officials of the social club of which he was chairman), usually misdemeanours by the club's members or the committee itself: On New Year's Eve a special episode of ''Wheeltappers and Shunters New Year's Eve'' would be broadcast.

Acts

The show featured acts regularly seen on the Northern club circuits and often well-established performers who did well in theatres and clubs but did not succeed so well on British television, such as 1950s crooner

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

. But it also gave newer acts their first television exposure, such as Cannon & Ball,

the Grumbleweeds The Grumbleweeds are an award winning British comedy band, performing music and comedy. They were mostly popular on radio and television in the 1980s, including ''The Grumbleweeds Radio Show'' which ran from 1979 to 1988 on BBC Radio 2

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and

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. Some artists to appear on the show were: *

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 ...

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Karl Denver Karl Denver (16 December 1931 – 21 December 1998) was a Scottish singer, who, with his trio had a series of UK hit singles in the early 1960s. Most famous of these was a 1961 version of " Wimoweh", which showed off Denver's falsetto yodel ...

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and

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's ''Feetwarmers'' *

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* Terri Rogers *

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* Malcolm Roberts *

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* Dukes and Lee *

The show was produced by

Johnnie Hamp Johnnie Hamp (sometimes referred to as John Hamp, or Johnny Hamp) is a British television producer, now retired. He is responsible for the early British television appearances of such acts as the Beatles, Burt Bacharach, Cannon and Ball, Paul Dan ...

Granada Studios Old Granada Studios (known simply as Granada Studios and previously known as The Manchester Studios) is a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programm ...

in Manchester, although it was once filmed at the Layton Institute,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Actress

Elizabeth Dawn Sylvia Ann Ibbetson (''née'' Butterfield; 8 November 1939 – 25 September 2017), known professionally as Elizabeth Dawn or Liz Dawn, was an English actress, best known for her role as Vera Duckworth in the long-running British soap opera '' ...

appeared as a waitress before she became more famous for her role as

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in ''

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'' (also recorded by Granada in Manchester). A clip from the show can be seen in the film '' 24 Hour Party People'', where

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, in his formative years, is seen watching Karl Denver perform "

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" ("Wimoweh"). The music video to

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' single "Black Star Dancing" depicts the band performing on the show.

Origins of the name

Wheeltappers and

shunter A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small Rail transport, railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as Shunt (railway operations), ''switching'' (US) or ...

s are railway workers. They were commonly employed by steam railways in Britain and elsewhere, but are still found both on British railways and in Eastern Europe. Although often called "working men's clubs", most such clubs admitted the wives and other women family of the working man, at least some days of the week. This is echoed in the programme's audience being as much female as male.

Episode guide

''Series 1'' *Episode 01: Original Air Date—13 April 1974 *Episode 02: Original Air Date—20 April 1974 *Episode 03: Original Air Date—27 April 1974 *Episode 04: Original Air Date—4 May 1974 *Episode 05: Original Air Date—11 May 1974 *Episode 06: Original Air Date—18 May 1974 *Episode 07: Original Air Date—25 May 1974 ''Series 2'' *Episode 08: Original Air Date—27 July 1974 *Episode 09: Original Air Date—3 August 1974 *Episode 10: Original Air Date—10 August 1974 *Episode 11: Original Air Date—17 August 1974 *Episode 12: Original Air Date—24 August 1974 *Episode 13: Original Air Date—31 August 1974 *Episode 14: Original Air Date—7 September 1974 ''Special'': *Episode 15: Original Air Date—31 December 1974 ''Series 3'' *Episode 16: Original Air Date—15 February 1975 *Episode 17: Original Air Date—22 February 1975 *Episode 18: Original Air Date—1 March 1975 *Episode 19: Original Air Date—8 March 1975 *Episode 20: Original Air Date—15 March 1975 *Episode 21: Original Air Date—22 March 1975 *Episode 22: Original Air Date—29 March 1975 *Episode 23: Original Air Date—5 April 1975 ''Series 4'' *Episode 24: Original Air Date—19 July 1975 *Episode 25: Original Air Date—26 July 1975 *Episode 26: Original Air Date—2 August 1975 *Episode 27: Original Air Date—9 August 1975 *Episode 28: Original Air Date—16 August 1975 *Episode 29: Original Air Date—23 August 1975 *Episode 30: Original Air Date—30 August 1975 ''Special'': *Episode 31: Original Air Date—31 December 1975 ''Series 5'' *Episode 32: Original Air Date—15 May 1976 *Episode 33: Original Air Date—22 May 1976 *Episode 34: Original Air Date—29 May 1976 *Episode 35: Original Air Date—5 June 1976 *Episode 36: Original Air Date—12 June 1976 *Episode 37: Original Air Date—19 June 1976 *Episode 38: Original Air Date—26 June 1976 ''Special'': *Episode 39: Original Air Date—23 February 1977 ''Series 6'' *Episode 40: Original Air Date—14 April 1977 *Episode 41: Original Air Date—21 April 1977 *Episode 42: Original Air Date—28 April 1977 *Episode 43: Original Air Date—5 May 1977 *Episode 44: Original Air Date—12 May 1977 *Episode 45: Original Air Date—19 May 1977 *Episode 46: Original Air Date—26 May 1977 *Episode 47: Original Air Date—2 June 1977 *Episode 48: Original Air Date—9 June 1977 The series was, for at least part of its run, confined to a midnight slot by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

and

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

, who felt it did not suit their, perceived, more upmarket demographics.

DVD releases

The complete first series of ''The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club'' was released on DVD in September 2009 and the second series (including the New Year's Eve Special) was released in July 2010 with the complete third and fourth series being released in February and June 2011. The complete fifth series was released on 23 April 2012. The complete sixth (and final) series is now available as well. The format for the sixth series has changed, each episode being 30 minutes with just one major performer in each.

References

External links