The Interviews
- TV documentary
- Gold
- 2015 - 2016
- 12 episodes (2 series)
A series profiling comedians via their chat show appearances. Features Dawn French and Tamsin Greig.
- Series 2, Episode 1 repeated Monday at 2:25am on Gold
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 3 - Les Dawson
Further details
This episode tells the life story of the rubber-faced comedian, famous for his downtrodden humour and 'wife and mother in law' jokes.
His life was a classic tale of triumph over adversity, battling hardship and tragedy to become one of the country's most successful and best loved entertainers. In revealing radio and TV interviews from throughout his career, Les talks about his impoverished upbringing in the slums of Manchester and his numerous dead-end jobs before he finally made it in show business.
He reveals how the defining moment of his career came about when he went on stage in Hull the worse for drink and in the process stumbled upon his lugubrious comedic style, poking fun at his nearest and dearest. Les also discusses his private life, how he coped with the loss of his wife Meg to cancer, and - in a remarkably frank radio interview recorded a week before his death - what he thought awaited him in the afterlife.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 8th July 2015
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- Gold
- Length
- 60 minutes
Repeats
Show past repeats
Date | Time | Channel |
---|---|---|
Saturday 11th July 2015 | 5:30pm | Gold |
Sunday 12th July 2015 | 12:30pm | Gold |
Tuesday 14th July 2015 | 8:00pm | Gold |
Sunday 18th October 2015 | 7:00pm | Gold |
Monday 19th October 2015 | 11:00pm | Gold |
Friday 23rd October 2015 | 10:00pm | Gold |
Saturday 24th October 2015 | 1:00pm | Gold |
Monday 26th October 2015 | 11:00pm | Gold |
Sunday 28th February 2016 | 8:00pm | Gold |
Wednesday 2nd March 2016 | 10:40pm | Gold |
Saturday 5th March 2016 | 7:00pm | Gold |
Wednesday 7th December 2016 | 2:00am | Gold |
Sunday 28th May 2017 | 2:00pm | Gold |
Monday 29th May 2017 | 8:35am | Gold |
Monday 26th June 2017 | 9:20am | Gold |
Sunday 2nd July 2017 | 7:50am | Gold |
Friday 6th October 2017 | 10:00pm | Yesterday |
Sunday 19th November 2017 | 8:00am | Gold |
Saturday 25th November 2017 | 8:00am | Gold |
Saturday 28th April 2018 | 9:55am | Gold |
Sunday 15th July 2018 | 8:15am | Gold |
Tuesday 17th July 2018 | 1:20am | Gold |
Saturday 13th April 2019 | 9:40am | Gold |
Sunday 14th April 2019 | 8:35am | Gold |
Saturday 27th July 2019 | 7:45am | Gold |
Saturday 16th May 2020 | 8:00am | Gold |
Cast & crew
Dawn French | Narrator |
Les Dawson | Self (Archive Material) |
Michael Parkinson | Self (Archive Material) |
Terry Wogan | Self (Archive Material) |
Jonathan Ross | Self (Archive Material) |
Gloria Hunniford | Self (Archive Material) |
Selina Scott | Self (Archive Material) |
Roy Plomley | Self (Archive Material) |
Judy Finnigan | Self (Archive Material) |
Richard Madeley | Self (Archive Material) |
Neil Kinnock | Self (Archive Material) |
Mike Williams | Series Producer |
John Quinn | Executive Producer |
Iain Coyle | Executive Producer |
Sean Doherty | Executive Producer |
Tom Heaney | Editor |