Michael Bentine

Sally James and guest presenters invite established stars and newcomers to contribute to a lively half-hour of music and conversation.

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Personal anecdotes as told to Dick Hills.

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Michael Bentine's Potty Time was a long-running British children's show, starring Michael Bentine, and directed and produced by Leon Thau for Thames Television on ITV. It ran from 1973 to 1980. The episodes consisted largely of distinctive, bearded puppets, comically re-enacting famous historical situations. The Potties' faces were always obscured by facial hair, with only their noses protruding. They were operated from beneath and had two distinct sizes - approximately two feet and one foot tall. All of the Potty characters were designed by Bentine, who also provided all of their voices. Their operators were from The Barry Smith Theatre of Puppets. In 2001, it was voted into 71st place in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows poll. Several Region 2 DVDs of the series have been released by Network DVD.

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Armitage runs a chemical company that is on the verge of producing a gas that causes temporary disability. Clearly the military want it but it is also sought by a group of Japanese. Both Armitage and Madam Greenfly hire different people in the same detective agency to guard the gas and steal it respectively... confusion, double crosses and hilarity ensue...

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Here is a short film produced by the UK 9.5mm film club 'Group 9.5' to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the 9.5mm 'home movie' film size in 1972. Entitled "Lights Out ... And The Stars Appear", (the title is based on a Pathescope advertisement fron the 1930s), it describes the start and history of this unique film gauge originally developed by the French Pathe-Freres company.

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An artist from Continental Europe arrives in England and proceeds to cause havoc.

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The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

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Made at a time when David Frost was hosting a chat show in the US and then jetting back to the UK to do three shows over the weekend, called (naturally enough) Frost on Friday, Frost on Saturday and Frost on Sunday. The latter concerned itself with the lighter end of the entertainment spectrum.

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A peek behind the scenes at the business of the comedian and how it is being expanded for film and television.

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A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.

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The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. Originally titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace, it began as a mid-season replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months. It was staged in Hollywood at the former Hollywood Playhouse on Vine Street, which was renamed The Hollywood Palace during the show's duration and is today known as Avalon Hollywood. A little-known starlet named Raquel Welch was cast during the first season as the "Billboard Girl", who placed the names of the acts on a placard.

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Lt Commander Badger, RN: an exceptionally likeable fellow, the Artful Bodger has one besetting sin a shining honesty which compels him to say the right thing at entirely the wrong time! When untimely remarks to some new recruits are splashed across the tabloids, the rush is on to find him a new posting somewhere far away.

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It's a Square World was a groundbreaking British comedy show starring Michael Bentine and produced by the BBC. It ran from 1960 till 1964. The series led Bentine to a BAFTA award in 1962 for Light Entertainment and a compilation show, screened by the BBC in 1963, won that year's Press Prize at the Rose d'Or Festival in Montreux. The shows were devised and written by Michael Bentine and John Law. Some sketches were released on an LP.

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Meet Mildred. A delightfully dotty older lady who’s carefree attitude means you need to be careful around her. Not the most obvious route into a sponsored film about BP’s air fuelling operation, but these are not the most obvious scriptwriters. Michael Bentine was embarking on “It’s a Square World” and Dick Lester would go on to direct features with The Beatles, and films in the Superman franchise.

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A group of misfit soldiers are desperately trying to fiddle themselves some leave. Instead they wrangle a posting to the British Middle-East protectorate of Darawa. Their frustrations and disappointment at landing one of the harshest territories is compensated when they discover a secret passage to the King's harem.

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Commander Peter Kent of the Royal Navy and his wife May have three children, ranging form five to eleven years: Peter, Anne and Fusty. Kent comes home after three years abroad with no idea how to handle the children. When Mary has to fly to Canada, Peter takes his children to his father's new country home, which turns out to be a windmill. They end up clashing with an American family in the neighborhood.

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Forces sweetheart, Judy James, is back in town and that means various admirers are showing up at the hotel where she stays.

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The Goon Show hits the big screen. Professor Pure Heart absent-mindedly loses the top secret formula in Harry Jones' Grocery Shop. "Bats of the Yard", as Harry calls himself, finds it and attempts to return it to the Professor.

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The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

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A musical set during the French Revolution.

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