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An Audience with...

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An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television (now part of ITV Studios), in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a lighthearted revue/tribute style.

An Audience with...
Also known as
  • Another Audience with...
  • One More Audience with...
GenreComedy, drama, Music, Entertainment
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes60 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time60–90 minutes (including adverts)
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release26 December 1980 (1980-12-26) –
present
Related
ITV Specials

History

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The show's title began as An Audience with Jasper Carrott, for a normal six-part television series for the comedian. His first television show, it was broadcast in 1978 and produced by London Weekend Television (LWT). From 1980 onwards, the show became An Audience with...[name(s) of host(s)], with one-off special guest hosts performing in front of celebrity audiences.

The show was traditionally broadcast on ITV on Saturday nights, while some shows in the 1980s were broadcast on Channel 4. The show has been commissioned at varying intervals, with ten shows broadcast in the 1980s, followed by twenty in each in the decades of the 1990s and 2000s. From 1994 until 2011 there were at least one show, and often several, broadcast per year, with the exception of 2000 and 2003.

Some hosts appeared multiple times. Dame Edna Everage was host three times, while Freddie Starr, Ken Dodd, Joan Rivers, Shirley Bassey, Al Murray, Donny Osmond and Kylie Minogue were all asked to return once. One show, for Jeremy Beadle, was hosted posthumously in 2008. In 2010, a five-part highlights series of the show, 30 Years of An Audience With, was broadcast on ITV.

More recent shows focused more on musicians and singers rather than comedians - the last comedian given An Audience with... was Al Murray in 2007.

An Audience with Jasper Carrott

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The An Audience With title was first used in a television series produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for the comedian Jasper Carrott, which aired for six episodes in 1978.[1]

An Audience with...

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From 1980, the show took on a format where a special guest would host a one-off show in front of a celebrity audience, and have their name appended to the title. Dame Edna Everage was the first host of An Audience with... in 1980.[2]

The show has had numerous hosts since then, mostly comedians and singers. Occasionally, pop groups, actors and television presenters also hosted the show. Unusual hosts have included a puppet, Sooty, cast members of ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and boxer Lennox Lewis. The Spice Girls were the first pop group to host the show, in 1997.[2] In 2006, An Audience with Take That was the first time the show was performed live. The second was the next show, An Audience with Lionel Richie.[3]

Hosts were often joined on stage by special guests. Singer Lionel Richie was joined by Westlife,[3] Lulu was joined in a duet with former husband Maurice Gibb,[3] the Bee Gees performed with Boyzone, Ricky Martin was joined by Kylie Minogue,[4] and Take That performed Relight My Fire with Lulu.[5] All round entertainer Des O'Connor was joined on stage by Martine McCutcheon, and dueted with Lionel Richie in a version of "Three Times a Lady".[6] Comedian Ronnie Corbett had his long-time comedy partner Ronnie Barker as his special guest, while Lennox Lewis had football player Ian Wright as his special guest conducting an interview with him.[6]

Comedian hosts often involved audience members on stage, such as Brian Conley's sword-and-card trick on Christine Hamilton performed blindfolded and [3] Freddie Starr's act of seemingly throwing knives at a blindfolded Garry Bushell.[4] Comedians will also interact with the audience, with Freddie Starr throwing maggots over Faith Brown,[4] and Al Murray, in his Pub Landlord persona, spilling drinks over them.[6] Singing based shows also sometimes involved comic relief, with Frank Skinner appearing in drag as one of Lulu's backing singers,[3] and Kylie Minogue being joined on stage by Kermit the Frog for a romantic duet.[6]

An Audience Without... Jeremy Beadle

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After the death of the television practical joker Jeremy Beadle on 30 January 2008, ITV decided to commission An Audience Without... Jeremy Beadle, to celebrate his best work and raise money for some of his favourite charities. Broadcast on 16 May 2008, the show was hosted by Chris Tarrant, and included the results of an ITV public vote choosing his top-5 best ever pranks from his show Beadle's About. This episode was produced by Talent Television.[7]

30 Years of An Audience With

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In 2010, ITV broadcast 30 Years of An Audience With, looking back at the history of the series, with interviews from past guests, and clips from old shows. The show was broadcast in five-hour-long episodes, from 17 July 2010[2] to 14 August 2010.[6]

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Series 1, Episode 1"17 July 2010 (2010-07-17)
The first episode looked back at the shows featuring Dame Edna Everage, The Spice Girls, Bob Monkhouse, Joe Pasquale and Donny & Marie, and featured interviews including Dame Edna, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Joe Pasquale.[2]
2"Series 1, Episode 2"24 July 2010 (2010-07-24)
The second episode looked at the shows hosted by Ken Dodd, Lionel Richie, Brian Conley, Victoria Wood, and Lulu, with interviews from all five hosts.[3]
3"Series 1, Episode 3"31 July 2010 (2010-07-31)
The third episode looked at the shows hosted by Freddie Starr, The Bee Gees, Joan Rivers, Bruce Forsyth and Ricky Martin, with interviews including Robin Gibb, Joan Rivers and Bruce Forsyth.[4]
4"Series 1, Episode 4"7 August 2010 (2010-08-07)
The fourth episode looked at the shows hosted by Dame Shirley Bassey, Take That, Sir Cliff Richard, Jackie Mason and Jimmy Tarbuck, with interviews from Jackie Mason and Jimmy Tarbuck.[5]
5"Series 1, Episode 5"14 August 2010 (2010-08-14)
The fifth episode looked at the shows hosted by Des O'Connor, Al Murray, Ronnie Corbett, Kylie Minogue and Michael Bublé, with interviews from O'Connor, Murray and Corbett.[6]

Les Dawson

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In June 1993, Les Dawson was due to record an edition of An Audience with..., but died a fortnight prior to the planned recording.[8] On the 20th anniversary of the comedian's untimely death, ITV decided to mark the occasion with the use of a technology which gave the illusion he was on stage.

The chief executive of Musion Systems the company that provided the technology, told the Today programme's Sarah Montague: "...it's not actually a hologram but the world perceives what we do as holograms, so we call it holograms." He explained how the technology allows people "to appear as though [they are] on stage".[9][10]

Return to the singer format

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On 2 November 2021, it was announced that the format would return for one night only on 21 November for a show hosted by Adele. The singer's fourth album, 30, was released two days prior, and this was the first televised performances of songs from the album in the United Kingdom. The special was filmed on 6 November, at the London Palladium, with the audience consisting of Adele's personal heroes, friends, musicians, actors, artists, sportspeople.[11][12] In the United States, the special aired on 20 March 2022, on NBC.[13] It debuted in New Zealand in May 2022, on TVNZ [14]

In August 2023, ITV announced that An Audience with Kylie would be made by their Lifted Entertainment sub-division (in association with Minogue's label BMG Records), with filming due to take place at the Royal Albert Hall.[15][16]

List of episodes

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No. Guest Genre Channel Air date Notes
1 Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage Comedian/Fictional Character ITV 26 December 1980
2 Dudley Moore Actor ITV 26 December 1981
3 Kenneth Williams Actor/Comedian Channel 4 23 December 1983
4 Mel Brooks Comedian Channel 4 4 February 1984
5 Joan Rivers Comedian Channel 4 17 March 1984
6 Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage Comedian/Fictional Character Channel 4 31 December 1984 Titled Another Evening with...
7 Billy Connolly Comedian Channel 4 26 October 1985 A longer version of the show was subsequently released on video
8 Peter Ustinov Actor Channel 4 3 January 1988
9 Victoria Wood Comedian ITV 10 December 1988 Won two BAFTA awards,[3] subsequently released on video and DVD
10 Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage Comedian/Fictional Character ITV 25 December 1988 Titled One More Audience with...
11 Jackie Mason Comedian Channel 4 27 December 1990
12 Bob Monkhouse Comedian ITV 21 May 1994
13 Jimmy Tarbuck Comedian ITV 22 October 1994
14 Ken Dodd Comedian ITV 3 December 1994
15 Shirley Bassey Singer ITV 21 October 1995
16 Freddie Starr Comedian ITV 2 March 1996
17 Sooty Puppet ITV 24 October 1996
18 Paul O'Grady as Lily Savage Comedian/Fictional Character ITV 6 November 1996 Titled An Evening with...
19 Bruce Forsyth Presenter ITV 1 February 1997
20 Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett Actor/Fictional Character ITV 5 April 1997
21 Elton John Singer ITV 27 September 1997
22 Freddie Starr Comedian ITV 11 October 1997 Titled Another Audience with...
23 Ronnie Corbett Comedian ITV 25 October 1997
24 Spice Girls Pop Group ITV 29 November 1997 All-female audience[2]
25 Rod Stewart Singer ITV 30 May 1998
26 Bee Gees Pop Group ITV 7 November 1998
27 Simply Red Pop Group ITV 12 December 1998
28 Lennox Lewis Sportsman (Boxer) ITV 3 April 1999 Took the form of an interview with Lewis conducted by Ian Wright
29 Tom Jones Singer ITV 25 September 1999
30 Sir Cliff Richard Singer ITV 13 November 1999 Featuring members of Chicken Shed Theatre Company
31 Diana Ross Singer ITV 11 December 1999
32 Des O'Connor Presenter ITV 20 January 2001
33 Ricky Martin Singer ITV 10 February 2001
34 Kylie Minogue Singer ITV 6 October 2001
35 Ken Dodd Comedian ITV 9 February 2002 Titled Another Audience with...
36 Lulu Singer ITV 18 May 2002
37 Brian Conley Comedian ITV 25 May 2002
38 Donny Osmond Singer ITV 23 November 2002
39 Harry Hill Comedian ITV 16 October 2004
40 Joe Pasquale Comedian ITV 19 February 2005
41 Al Murray as The Pub Landlord Comedian/Fictional Character ITV 19 March 2005
42 Joan Rivers Comedian ITV 14 January 2006 Second show, but titled An Another Audience with...
43 Shirley Bassey Singer ITV 10 March 2006 Titled Another Audience with...
44 Coronation Street Soap Opera ITV 22 April 2006
45 Take That Pop Group ITV 2 December 2006 First live edition[3] titled An Audience With Take That: Live!
46 Lionel Richie Singer ITV 9 December 2006 Second live edition[3]
47 Al Murray as The Pub Landlord Comedian/Fictional Character ITV 27 October 2007 Titled Another Audience With, last comedian to be given An Audience With to date.
48 Celine Dion Singer ITV 22 December 2007
49 Jeremy Beadle Presenter ITV 16 May 2008 Posthumous; titled An Audience Without... and hosted by Chris Tarrant[7]
50 Neil Diamond Singer ITV 31 May 2008
51 Donny and Marie Osmond Singers ITV 11 November 2009 Donny returns after hosting in 2002
52 Michael Bublé Singer ITV 23 May 2010
53 Barry Manilow Singer ITV 28 October 2011
54 Les Dawson Comedian ITV 1 June 2013 Posthumous; titled An Audience with That Never Was. Dawson was due to host in 1993, but died 2 weeks before the planned recording date.[17]
55 Adele Singer ITV 21 November 2021 Recorded at the London Palladium.
56 Kylie Minogue Singer ITV 10 December 2023 Second show, but titled An Another Audience with.... Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall.[16]

Home media

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In 2007, selected An Audience with... shows were individually released on DVD. Prior to this, the October 1985 show featuring Billy Connolly had been issued on its own, both in VHS format and on DVD. Virgin Video released the extended uncut studio version, with a runtime of approximately 78 minutes, instead of the 50-minute television version. On 14 November 2005, Network released An Audience with Dame Edna Everage, which featured all three appearances, across two discs and became a bestseller.

As of 2021, eleven An Audience with... shows have been made available on the video on demand service, BritBox. The episodes available were hosted by Harry Hill, Billy Connolly, Bob Monkhouse, Sir Cliff Richard, Jimmy Tarbuck, Ken Dodd, Kenneth Williams, Peter Ustinov, Ronnie Corbett, Shirley Bassey and Victoria Wood.

An Audience with Adele was the first to be made available on ITVX.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Jasper Carrott O.B.E. - A Brief Biography". Jasper Carrott Official Website. n.d. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2010. His first television series was aired in 1978, 'An Audience with Jasper Carrott' for LWT, a series of six shows. The show title was then purloined for the hour-long celebrity shows with which we are now all familiar.
  2. ^ a b c d e "30 Years of An Audience With, Episode 1". ITV. 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "30 Years of An Audience With, Episode 2". ITV. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d "30 Years of An Audience With, Episode 3". ITV. 19 July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  5. ^ a b "30 Years of An Audience With, Episode 4". ITV. 28 July 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "30 Years of An Audience With, Episode 5". ITV. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  7. ^ a b "An Audience Without Jeremy Beadle". ITV. 31 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Les Dawson: An Audience With That Never Was | presscentre". Itv.com. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Can a hologram Les Dawson tell 'em like he used to? | Brian Logan | Comment is free". The Guardian. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Les Dawson's 'hologram' comeback". BBC. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  11. ^ Brazier, Tori (7 November 2021). "Kate Garraway and Dua Lipa mix with Hollywood and TV royalty at Adele's taping". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  12. ^ Knight, Lewis (14 November 2021). "Kate Garraway and Dua Lipa mix with Hollywood and TV royalty at Adele's taping". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  13. ^ Haring, Bruce (11 March 2022). "Adele To Headline NBC Concert Special Filmed At The London Palladium". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Stuff to Watch: Your guide to the week's best on free-to-air and Sky TV". 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ Pop, Retro (29 August 2023). "ITV announces An Audience With Kylie Minogue TV special".
  16. ^ a b "ITV announces An Audience with Kylie Minogue". Radio Times.
  17. ^ "Les Dawson: An Audience with That Never Was". ITV. May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  18. ^ Dunne, John (2 November 2021). "Adele to star in ITV concert to celebrate release of new album 30". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
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