The Story Of Music Hall With Michael Grade
Michael Grade traces the raucous history of the music hall, the roots of what became modern variety and comedy
- Genre
- Documentary
- Broadcast
- 2011
- Channel
- BBC Four
- Episodes
- 1
- Features
- Michael Grade, Matthew Sweet, Michael Kilgarriff, Barry Cryer, Derek Scott, John Earl, Alexei Sayle, Oliver Double and others
- Director
- Spike Geilinger
- Producer
- Spike Geilinger
Michael Grade traces the raucous history of the music hall in a revelatory journey that takes him from venues such as Wilton's Music Hall in London to Glasgow's once-famous Britannia.
Talking to enthusiasts and performers, Lord Grade discovers the origins of this uniquely British form of entertainment and revisits some of the great acts and impresarios, from Charles Morton and George Leybourne to Bessie Bellwood and Marie Lloyd.
Featuring Jo Brand and Alexei Sayle, with performances from Barry Cryer and many more, Grade hears about dudes, swells, mashers and serio-comics and hears how, in many a house, no turn was left unstoned.
- Production company
- Laugh track
- None
Broadcast details
- First broadcast
- Tuesday 25th October 2011 on BBC Four at 9pm
- Episode length
- 90 minutes
- Last repeat
- Monday 2nd December 2013 at 11:00pm