British Comedy Guide
Bob Monkhouse... The Million Joke Man. Copyright: Rain Media Entertainment
Bob Monkhouse... The Million Joke Man

Bob Monkhouse... The Million Joke Man

  • TV documentary
  • Gold
  • 2015
  • 3 episodes (1 series)

Paul O'Grady presents a three part retrospective celebrating the extraordinary career of joke machine Bob Monkhouse. Features Paul O'Grady, Colin Edmonds and Bob Monkhouse.

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Key details

Genre
Documentary
Broadcast
2015
Channel
Gold
Episodes
3 (1 series)
Features
Paul O'Grady, Colin Edmonds and Bob Monkhouse
Writers
Paul Minett and Brian Leveson
Directors
Mark Wells
Producers
Colin Edmonds, Simon Lupton and Mark Wells
Company

Comedy genius and legend, Bob Monkhouse meticulously catalogued thousands of jokes in sixteen beautifully handwritten and illustrated volumes. Gold has been granted unlimited and exclusive access to these unique jokes books, and they will be revealed to the public for the first time on Bob Monkhouse: Million Joke Man.

This brand new series, presented by Paul O'Grady, takes a retrospective and intimate look at the extraordinary life and career of Bob, the man who wrote, and then told, over a million jokes. Known to the nation as a game show host, he was also an extremely popular stand-up comedian and skilled joke writer.

In each programme Paul unearths previously unseen private archives of scripts, personal and professional correspondence of Bob's, in an attempt to discover the secret behind his successful six-decade career at the very top of British show business. From the books, to his fellow professionals, to a fascinating array of rarely seen footage, the audience will get a real insight into the extraordinary talent and personal life of Bob Monkhouse, the man with a million jokes.

Famous faces, family and friends paying homage to Bob, include comedy writer Colin Edmonds, the man who was bequeathed Bob's books. Abigail Williams, Bob's adopted daughter, David Renwick, James Moir, Jimmy Tarbuck, Brian Tesler, Russ Abbot, Alan Nixon, Dabber Davies, Ken Bruce, Joe Pasquale, Tim Vine, Steve Punt, Jon Culshaw, Gaby Roslin, Anne Aston, Debra Stephenson, Dominic Holland and others.

Featured archive in the series is drawn from a variety of sources and includes Bob Monkhouse's work on series and specials including Calling All Forces, For Love Or Money, The London Palladium Show, The Show Band Show, The Golden Shot, The Bob Monkhouse Comedy Hour, Quick On The Draw, Celebrity Squares, Bonkers, Bob's Your Uncle, Bob Says Opportunity Knocks, Bob's Full House, The Bob Monkhouse Show, Bob Monkhouse On The Spot, The Royal Variety Performance, An Audience With Bob Monkhouse, Family Fortunes, Jonathan Creek and the films Carry On Sergeant, Dentist In The Chair and Dentist On The Job.

Additional details

Production
Studio
Picture
Colour

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Wednesday 3rd June 2015 at 9pm on Gold
Most recent repeats
  • Tuesday 1st February 2022 at 2:00am on Gold - Episode 1
  • Saturday 29th January 2022 at 1:35am on Gold - Episode 3
  • Thursday 27th January 2022 at 12:40am on Gold - Episode 2

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