The Good Old Days (British TV series)

For other uses, see The Good Old Days (disambiguation).

The Good Old Days
Opening title (8 February 1974)
GenreOld Time Variety, music hall
Presented byDon Gemmell (First 2 shows)
Leonard Sachs
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series30
No. of episodes245
Production
ProducerBarney Colehan
Production locationLeeds City Varieties
Running time45-60 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC Television Service (1953-64)
BBC1 (1964-83)
Release20 July 1953 (20 July 1953) –
31 December 1983 (31 December 1983)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Good Old Days is a BBC television light entertainment programme produced by Barney Colehan which ran for 30 years from 20 July 1953 to 31 December 1983.[1]

It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed in the style of the original artistes.[2]

The audience dressed in period costume and joined in the singing, especially "Down at the Old Bull and Bush" which closed the show each week.[2] The show was compered throughout its whole run (except for the first two shows) by Leonard Sachs, who introduced the acts from a desk situated at the side of the stage.[3] In the course of its run it featured about 2,000 performers. Each show was up to an hour long.[4]

The orchestra pit was deliberately visible in front of the main stage. The orchestra leader for many years was Bernard Herrmann (not the American film composer, but a flautist and later conductor with the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra).

  1. ^ "Good old days just keep going for the music hall show that refuses to die". yorkshirepost.co.uk.
  2. ^ a b "BFI Screenonline: Good Old Days, The (1953-83)". screenonline.org.uk.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nostalgia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ 1001 TV Series You Must See Before You Die, Paul Conron, ISBN 978-1-84403-887-9