The Golden Shot (ITV-ATV 1967-1975)

[yorkshire]

I was just watching an old (Bob Monkhouse - 1970) episode of the Golden Shot I recently taped off Challenge and it suddenly struck me. How many episodes of the Golden Shot are still existing:

Can you lot please tell me how many exist on:

2" quadruplex tape
16mm film
home video recordings
sound recordings

and can you please tell me the total number of episodes completely missing (i.e. not even sound recordings exist)

Finally, can you please tell me, how many of the episodes survive from each of their presenter's eras? (e.g. Presenter, number of episodes on 16mm film, same on 2", home recordings, sound recordings and completely missing episodes from that presenter's time)

Thanks in advance

[Stephen Doran]

have you any eps from 1968 when Grapefruit and the Paper Dolls were on the show?

[Peter Elliott]

I read on the newish ITV site devoted to seeking out lost shows that just 6 shows in all are left of "The Golden Shot", a mere fraction of what was broadcast.

I know at least one edition exists on colour VT from when Charlie Williams hosted the show which featured Michael Ward and a rather politically incorrect comedian whose name I don't know (parts of this were shown in Victor Lewis Smiths' "TV Offal" show a few years ago) and it also appears to be Williams final show for a clip shows one of the female hostesses bidding him goodbye.

The very last edition exists only as a black and white telerecording that was given to Bob Monkhouse after the show was broadcast as a souvenir. Monkhouse wrote about this in one of his books. In this he had Charlie Williams and Norman Vaughan guesting with him on a musical number.

I can't say I've seen any clips of Norman Vaughan hosting the show so don't know what exists of his era.

I haven't seen the 1970 edition you mention... I was told by a mate of mine he saw an episode on Challenge TV which featured Jack Douglas and Clive Dunn and that Dunn comes on to remove Douglas' glasses to then go into a rendition of the dreaded "Grandad"! I don't know if this was in the show you saw or not, but that edition exists anyhow.

Monkhouse wrote in great detail about a 1969 show which featured Del Shannon and Norman Wisdom and stated that none of it was even recorded which I guess was the case for virtually all the live shows.

I don't know about off air sound or video recordings but officially at least, theres next to nothing left.

[Westy 2]

One Norman Vaughan does exist!

It's an episode from 72, where they fake a breakdown with the Monkhouse 1970 titles, then Vaughan comes on & says there's a problem 'Nothing unusual with this show!'

A new set of titles is unveiled,which are the same as the existing full Charlie Williams episode.

Only exists as a B&W film recording, & was repeated in Challenge's gameshow repeats season a few years back, along with a surviving Jackie Rae, the Monkhouse edition featuring Clive Dunn & Jack Douglas, & music from Dunn, performing 'Grandad' & Jackie Lee, performing 'Rupert' from the ATV/ITC 1970 kids film series of the same name, & the Williams(only one on Colour Video screened!), featuring Carl 'The Move'Wayne as the music, which also mentioned his marriage the next day to Susan 'Miss Diane from Crossroads' Hanson!

[Peter Elliott]

Thanks Westy 2 for the additional info. So at least one edition does exist of each of the hosts.

I would guess the surviving Norman Vaughan episode then is his first after Monkhouse was given the heave ho for alleged advertising or sponsorship dealings which would explain Vaughans opening quip since as Monkhouse told it in his book there was quite a scandal about the allegations. Been a while since I read Bobs' book so I can't remember the full details of what allegedly went on.

Interesting to learn the Charlie Williams episode features Carl Wayne since I am a fan of Waynes' work so its nice to know theres a performance of his out there I've yet to track down!

So of the 6 allegedly existing episodes we have one edition from 1970, 1972 and 1975 in black and white and one from 1973 or 1974 in colour which leaves just two unaccounted for. Would be interesting to know if theres anything surviving from the 60s though I pretty much doubt it.

[Stephen Doran]

What year was lonnie donegan on it?

[Deleted]

The Jackie Rae one must be late '67 / early '68 and the NFTVA apparently have a Monkhouse show from '68 (it lists this in their "A For Andromeda To Zoo Time" holdings book). So this would account for the six presumably.

[Peter Elliott]

Excellent Laurence. Thanks for that.

So, to answer Yorkshires' enquiry as to what exists, it appears to be...

1967 or 1968 - with Jackie Rae (b+w t/r)
1968 edition (b+w t/r)
1970 - with Clive Dunn, Jackie Lee and Jack Douglas (b+w t/r or VT?)
1972 - Norman Vaughan hosted show - probably his first (b+w t/r)
1973 or 1974 - Charlie Williams last show with Carl Wayne and Michael Ward (Colour VT)
1975 - The final show with Monkhouse with Vaughan and Williams guesting (b+w t/r)

A very pitiful amount with just one colour VT.

I would had thought had off air video or film recordings existed, they would had eventually found themselves into Bob Monkhouse's collection so though its not impossible that any exist, its rather unlikely. There might well be some audio recordings about since some contestants I would imagine might had made such a recording as a souvenir of their appearance on the show, but otherwise the list above is all that is left.

Thanks everybody for the additional info since I myself was curious to know what remained of this show.

[Sherwood]

peterelliott said:

Excellent Laurence. Thanks for that.

So, to answer Yorkshires' enquiry as to what exists, it appears to be...

1967 or 1968 - with Jackie Rae (b+w t/r)
1968 edition (b+w t/r)
1970 - with Clive Dunn, Jackie Lee and Jack Douglas (b+w t/r or VT?)
1972 - Norman Vaughan hosted show - probably his first (b+w t/r)
1973 or 1974 - Charlie Williams last show with Carl Wayne and Michael Ward (Colour VT)
1975 - The final show with Monkhouse with Vaughan and Williams guesting (b+w t/r)

A very pitiful amount with just one colour VT.

I would had thought had off air video or film recordings existed, they would had eventually found themselves into Bob Monkhouse's collection so though its not impossible that any exist, its rather unlikely. There might well be some audio recordings about since some contestants I would imagine might had made such a recording as a souvenir of their appearance on the show, but otherwise the list above is all that is left.

Thanks everybody for the additional info since I myself was curious to know what remained of this show.

On the BFI database the 1968 edition is listed as TX 4 February 1968. The shot list however indicates that it is incomplete with only parts two and three being held.

Musical guest is Ivor Emmanuel.

[Hartley]

it is possible that some may turn up in LWT's archive?.

As during the very early 1970s LWT never screened the show live but on the following Saturday morning amongst the kids programmes.
As documented here previously LWT and ATV were having a little
spat with each other and were showing each others programmes out of prime time.

[Sherwood]

Hartley said:

it is possible that some may turn up in LWT's archive?.

As during the very early 1970s LWT never screened the show live but on the following Saturday morning amongst the kids programmes.
As documented here previously LWT and ATV were having a little
spat with each other and were showing each others programmes out of prime time.

Very doubtful because they would have either recorded them 'down the line' from ATV or physically been sent the tapes. Down the line and they probably would have wiped them straight after transmission and if they'd had the tapes they would have sent them back to ATV...... who would have wiped them! Also, all ITV's two inch tapes have been logged and copied at the BFI now.

A poster over at the Mausoleum Club once said that the late Golden Shot episodes were no longer live - something to do with potential for hoax calls and IRA bomb threats.

A few selected examples for a run of game shows is probably fair enough, however The Golden Shot is slightly different in that they used to have musical guests so it's a shame we won't see any more!

I once saw a stilll of The Sweet appearing on the Golden Shot which I think was around 1971.

Another point about GS is that it had an interesting production history - starting at Elstree before moving to Alpha Studio at Aston and finally on to ATV's new Broad Street headquarters.

[Peter Bradford]

There was a third option - ATV playing it off tape to LWT for TX directly - plenty of circuits between ATV/London/London/LWT

[Simon Mclean]

peterelliott said:

1973 or 1974 - Charlie Williams last show with Carl Wayne and Michael Ward (Colour VT)

Nope, there are two seperate Charlie Williams ones surviving - the one with Carl Wayne also features the Brotherhood of Man, Ken Dodd and a magician who's name escapes me at the moment. It's the penultimate Williams edition, the one with Michael Ward being his last one the week after.

The comedian who tells the 'Are you sikhs?' joke as featured in Charlie's last edition (and TV Offal) was Alton Douglas, who was the Shot's warm-up man for many years.

[Simon Mclean]

Oh, and further to Sherwood's comments, the Charlie Williams ones were pre-recorded - hence, no contestants live over the phone, they were all present in the studio directing the crossbow from a booth on the side of the set.

[Dirk Winchester]

I think it goes without saying that the Charlie Williams ones HAD to be recorded - bless him and lovely man though he was.

In the same vein I often wondered what they left out of the Max Bygraves Family Fortunes, coz if what we saw was the edit version