- 12/06/2025
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00:00Benny Hill, once one of the biggest comedy stars of British TV.
00:06But 80s political correctness suddenly sent him packing from our screens,
00:11despite regular audiences of over 21 million viewers.
00:15But these days, comedy has come full circle,
00:19and to a modern young audience, is Benny Hill still funny?
00:25Here's a newsflash.
00:27What do you call Russian napkins?
00:30Past Soviets.
00:32Super eriot.
00:34I'm gonna give you a little banana for your month.
00:40Welcome to Is Benny Hill Still Funny?
00:44Tonight, we're testing the work of Benny Hill
00:46to see if his bits of slap and jiggle still stands up.
00:50Good evening.
00:50The right-on attitudes of the 80s declared the Benny Hill show sexist,
00:54racist and old hat.
00:56But will a modern audience,
00:58raised on the un-PC delights of Borat
01:00and Little Britain find him funny
01:02or just plain offensive?
01:06The Benny Hill show was just the most exciting thing on TV.
01:09He was the first variety star to be made famous by television.
01:17He was a truly great innovator.
01:20His real forte was parodying adverts, parodying commercial television.
01:25And hot point.
01:27He was a very good comedy actor.
01:29He could conjure up a character in just one or two gestures.
01:33Benny Hill still occupies a unique place in worldwide comic history.
01:40Benny Hill has had more international success than any other British comedian.
01:46At one stage, they said that Benny Hill was the most famous Englishman in America.
01:51And here he is, the lad himself, Benny Hill!
01:55Worldwide, Benny Hill is undoubtedly the best-known and best-loved British comedian.
02:01But back in Britain, the Benny Hill show bore the brunt of the politically correct 80s
02:06and was dropped from our TV screens.
02:08And you feel like it's this dirty secret you have that you like Benny Hill.
02:13It's not intellectual comedy, but sometimes you just want to laugh because it was funny.
02:18George, on second thoughts, leave it. I prefer it the way it was.
02:22But 30 years on, can Benny's old-school gags still crack a smile on a hard-faced modern audience?
02:30To find out if Benny Hill is still funny in the 21st century,
02:34we conducted a test by screening 30 minutes of classic Benny Hill
02:38to a young audience of comedy fans who had little or no knowledge of who Benny Hill was.
02:44My parents thought that he was funny. I don't really remember, to be honest.
02:48I can't remember anything off the hands.
02:51Lots of women running around in circles with hardly any clothes on and him chasing them.
02:55He was balding, I think, and had glasses.
02:59Conducted by a specialist TV research company,
03:03our comedy guinea pigs were wired up to rate their responses
03:06to watching a half-hour special of Benny's bawdy humour.
03:11Dad, there's a lady at the door asking for you.
03:14I think she wants to vlog something.
03:16Oh, dear.
03:18But will modern tastes enjoy Benny's roundy bawdies and busty babes,
03:23or will those old lines and dodgy stereotypes fall flat?
03:26Yeah, what?
03:26The results of our comedy test will be revealed throughout tonight's show.
03:32But to understand Benny's brand of comedy,
03:34we must go back to the very beginning, to Benny's childhood days.
03:42Benny was born Alfred Hawthorne Hill in 1924 in Southampton,
03:47the middle child of the family where his father had a business
03:50selling surgical appliances and French letters,
03:53otherwise known as condoms.
03:55They basically lived off the proceeds of selling French letters.
04:00Not illegal, but just a bit unusual.
04:03Entertaining was clearly in the blood of the Hill family,
04:05as his father, before the First World War, ran off to join the circus,
04:09his uncle Leonard was a circus high-wire act,
04:12and his grandfather was a street clown.
04:14At the age of about 12,
04:16his grandfather took him to see a variety show.
04:19There was a comedian, there was an illusionist,
04:23there was a contortionist, there was an acrobat,
04:26and there were all these showgirls in short skirts and frilly knickers
04:31and suspenders and stockings,
04:33and a comedian who made people laugh,
04:36especially the big women in the audience,
04:37and he thought,
04:39that's for me, that's what I want to do.
04:41In 1941, at the age of 17,
04:45a young Alfred decided to leave home
04:46and seek the bright lights of the capital.
04:49He walks over Waterloo Bridge
04:51and buys a copy of the stage
04:52and sees all these theatres on the Strand,
04:57and he realises he's arrived in heaven,
04:59and somehow or other,
05:01he's going to make his way in the big time.
05:04Within a few days,
05:05he got himself a job as an assistant stage manager
05:08on a touring variety show.
05:10One night, someone didn't turn up
05:11and the keen stagehand filled in.
05:14And he came off stage that night,
05:17and all the showgirls in various states of undress
05:20were all billing and cooing around him,
05:22saying, oh, you were wonderful, you were marvellous,
05:24and, of course, this was it.
05:26This was exactly what he wanted to do.
05:28He was still Alf Hill at this point, not Benny,
05:31but this was it,
05:32and this is what he made his life from.
05:35Still to come on Is Benny Hell Still Funny?
05:38We discover how, in the 60s,
05:40Benny became the hippest comedian on TV.
05:43Ah, bro.
05:44It's not good to hit children,
05:45but it's funny to watch.
05:47And will these people find this funny?
05:50What's that in the road?
05:52A hit?
05:53Hold it!
05:55I'm sorry, hold, hold a second.
05:57No, dear, no.
05:58What's that in the road ahead?
06:00Not what's that in the road ahead.
06:02It's only a bicycle.
06:05Oh, look, she'll be up in a minute.
06:07Oh, going again.
06:08Welcome back to Is Benny Hill Still Funny?
06:16Hello, hello.
06:18Our task tonight is to find out if the Benny Hill show can still raise a titter from an audience of bright young things.
06:25Is his comedy old hat?
06:28Stupid area.
06:29Or are funny accents cool again?
06:31To try and answer this question, we commissioned a media research company to test an audience with 30 minutes of classic Benny Hill.
06:38Just like this.
06:39What is an asset?
06:41A little donkey.
06:44But will they find it funny?
06:47An ascot?
06:48A little donkey's bed.
06:50The results of our experiments will be revealed soon.
06:55But first, we must continue on our journey through the history of Benny Hill.
07:03In 1942, the war finally caught up with the 18-year-old jobbing variety actor.
07:08He was drafted and served his country in the Army Corps until 1947.
07:14After being demobbed, he changed his name to Benny Hill and, alongside a bunch of other young entertainers, threw himself into London's post-war variety scene.
07:22All these bright young lads who hadn't quite known what to do before the war found themselves entertaining people.
07:29And we're talking like Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Michael Benteen, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.
07:37An incredible array of talent.
07:39And they were all scratching around after the war looking for work.
07:43It was the new wave.
07:44People talk about the alternative comedy boom of 1979, 1980 with French and Saunders and Ben Elton and the like.
07:51This is the alternative comedy boom before that.
07:54And all these young Turks basically take over show business for the period from the early 50s to the late 70s.
08:04That is their time.
08:05And Benny was part of that crowd.
08:07The funny thing is, having spoken to a few of those guys, there were obviously some great talents there.
08:15The one person that they never thought would make it in the way that he did was Benny.
08:19So when he became hugely famous much later, nobody had seen that coming.
08:24And it was a great surprise to everybody.
08:26During the 50s, Benny carved a fairly successful career in West End comedy reviews, along with a couple of Ealing comedies.
08:34He even had his own column in Picture Goer.
08:37Although he made many appearances on radio, Benny saw that the future lay in the exciting new world of BBC television.
08:44In 1951, he actually achieved his own show, and it was called Hi There.
08:50And it was 45 minutes of fun with Benny Hill.
08:53And although the show doesn't exist anymore, the script does.
08:56And it is essentially the Benny Hill show that would live right through the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s in Genesis form.
09:04It scarcely changed at all from that moment.
09:07The rising star was named TV Personality of the Year in 1955, and not long afterwards, the Benny Hill show was born and enjoyed 11 successful years on the BBC.
09:18Benny had finally found his true calling and embraced all areas of programme making.
09:23Hello, viewers. I had no idea we were long, sir.
09:26Well, here he is, a very controversial figure, BBC's top television director, Mr Fred Scuttle.
09:31Mr Jean-Paul Scuttle, if you don't mind.
09:34A lot of the performers that he was competing with were really doing their live, you know, end-of-peer show in front of a camera and in front of a studio audience.
09:43Whereas Benny Hill wrote for TV, and he had the medium in his head when he created all his sketches.
09:48And therefore, he used all sorts of interesting special effects and techniques.
09:53During the 60s, he was regarded as one of the most inventive and clever comedians on television, having been the first person to use pre-recorded sketches in TV variety shows.
10:05Bizarre as it now seems, in his time, Benny Hill was revolutionary.
10:10The sophistication of television gave him his wings, if you like, and he created an entirely new genre of the TV that parodied other TV.
10:18He was the first to do that.
10:19And if you look back on those sketches, they're still some of his best.
10:24Not even the greatest rock and roll band in the world was safe from Benny's parodies.
10:29Oh, she's got eyes that glow like cigarettes.
10:32The way in which Benny Hill, as Mick Jagger, absolutely nails Jagger's rather idiosyncratic camp form of dancing, the half-hearted clapping, the kind of jerky shoulder movements, the rather weary foot tapping.
10:48He's absolutely nailed it there.
10:50He's got an extremely keen comic eye.
10:52And then he played all the other members of the band.
11:05And then very cleverly, he cuts to the real screaming audience in the Rolling Stones.
11:16But even then, he thinks, I think we can better this.
11:18And it cuts to one of the girls in particular from the authentic, real Rolling Stones footage.
11:23And one of the girls, obviously, played by Benny Hill.
11:25It's bloody funny, but it's also just an example of his, you know, huge comic imagination and his sense of scale about what the sketch can do and where it can go.
11:38I love the band.
11:40The stuff that I like about Benny Hill was that, even though he started on the BBC, his real forte was parodying adverts, parodying commercial television.
11:55Hello, mummy.
11:58Hello, darling.
11:59The fairy liquid advert is fantastic because there's Benny Hill playing a child.
12:02He was just an implicitly funny performer, a brilliant character performer, and just with these, you know, incredibly cheeky eyes, pulling off being a child.
12:14Babble.
12:16Don't keep calling my mistress, dear.
12:20Babble.
12:22Babble, babble, babble.
12:25Your hands are soft.
12:28Your hands are soft.
12:30Your hands are soft.
12:31It's not good to hit children, but it's funny to watch.
12:38Slapstick violence because she's not hitting a child, she's hitting Benny Hill dressed as a child, is utterly acceptable.
12:46And it's funny.
12:51Benny co-wrote all his shows at the BBC, but he was also a frustrated director, and although the television union wouldn't allow him to direct, he ran the show.
13:00The first spoof he really did, uh, that was particularly clever from a technical point of view, was, uh, jukebox jewellery.
13:07And let's see what we have on tonight's panel, shall I?
13:09And he had himself in view simultaneously, side by side, as all four people.
13:15Now, this is something you can do with the press of a button now, with a computer.
13:19But in the, in those days, 1961, it was very difficult, and in fact, the director didn't know how to do it, but Benny knew how to do it.
13:27Well, now, let's see what they think of this one.
13:29It's hard to imagine Benny Hill really achieving such success if it wasn't for TV.
13:37It seems like he and TV arrived at just the right time.
13:42Benny Hill's appeal in later years became more and more narrow and more and more blue-collar.
13:47But in the early 60s, he was liked by working class, middle class, upper class, young, old, male, female.
13:55It really didn't matter. He was simply a star.
13:57Such was his popularity in the 60s, Benny branched out with character parts in Hollywood movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Italian Job.
14:08By 1969, Benny desperately wanted to write, direct and star in his own movies,
14:13and he'd secured the finance for a short, silent film he'd written called The Waiters.
14:19Still unable to direct because of union regulations, Benny settled for the lead role.
14:24The film wasn't a hit, but undeterred, Benny set his sights on box-office success with another silent movie he'd written called Eddie in August.
14:33Eddie in August is an entirely autobiographical piece, and for a man who rarely revealed himself,
14:39this film is quite revealing because it's about unrequited love, and that was the hallmark of Benny's life.
14:46Well, Benny's desire to make Eddie in August was so strong that when it was suggested to him that Thames Television would finance the film,
14:58on the undertaking that he left the BBC and joined them, he was left with a tough call because Benny loved the BBC.
15:08But he needed to make this film, and so, with reluctance, he left the Beeb.
15:18The BBC was so furious that their award-winning star had defected to the other side,
15:23they refused to show his final series and erase the tapes.
15:28Thames was cock-a-hoop about getting Benny Hill.
15:33He was a huge star, and he arrived on ITV the very week that it went colour.
15:38He was on the front cover of TV Times.
15:40ITV goes colour, and here's Benny Hill.
15:45But Eddie in August didn't do very well,
15:47and he realised with reluctance that the only thing he could do from this point forward
15:52was to make the Benny Hill show.
15:58At Thames, Benny was now the sole writer and visionary for the Benny Hill show,
16:02where he gathered a regular gang of comedy cohorts.
16:06Bob Todd,
16:08Bella M. Byrne,
16:10Henry McGee,
16:12Jackie Wright,
16:13and here he is,
16:15the lad himself,
16:17Benny Hill!
16:19Benny stayed with Thames for 20 years,
16:22and it was here that he developed some of his most famous trademarks,
16:25one being a comedy ditty as the show-opener.
16:29He pushed me out of the boat,
16:30said so,
16:31swim back!
16:31Got on the board!
16:32I had a heck of a job getting out of the sack!
16:35Got on the board!
16:35You know, I'm quite old-fashioned.
16:37I mean, I like, you know, sort of dancing girls and things.
16:39I still like that kind of thing.
16:40It's always good, you know,
16:41to suddenly crack,
16:42and, you know,
16:42there's girls dancing,
16:43and there's a bit of a...
16:44You know, whatever.
16:48I mean, I still like to watch that.
16:50Another trademark was the dialogue-free sketch.
16:56And in his first show for Thames,
16:58we see the quintessential Benny Hill routine,
17:01Ye Olde Wishing Well.
17:08Ye Olde Wishing Well, classic Benny Hill,
17:10silent comedy,
17:12tells a story,
17:13and one of the more appealing ones,
17:15because it lets you fill in the gaps.
17:17You can think what the characters are thinking.
17:19A good visual sketch
17:27that I think holds up
17:28because it's constantly surprising.
17:34And a surprising gay element there.
17:36Dave Proud, Darth Vader,
17:37famous homosexual alien.
17:41It's structurally sound,
17:43it's bulletproof.
17:44You may like it,
17:45you may not like it,
17:46but it's perfect.
17:47In other classic sketches,
17:50Benny would let his regular character,
17:52Straight Men, shine.
17:53Bubu de barbesse.
17:57Jambon triste.
17:59Ne touchez pas le pouf.
18:02One of the great strengths of Benny Hill
18:05is Henry McGee.
18:06These are just four of the films
18:08to come from the founder
18:09of the French avant-garde cinema,
18:10director Pierre de Terre.
18:13Bonsoir.
18:14Bonsoir.
18:15I mean, his character is amazing
18:17and drawly,
18:18and you really get it,
18:20and it's all about him
18:21and his chin and everything.
18:23This girl who had this
18:25Buende,
18:26this savoir-faire,
18:27so very nearly perfect,
18:29yet you gave her a lisp.
18:31It's all about, you know,
18:33puncturing the ball of pomposity.
18:37Showing that even the most perfect of us...
18:39No, no, no, no,
18:40I don't give her a lisp.
18:41She have a lisp.
18:43As with all the Benny Hill sketches,
18:45it has that wonderful motif
18:47of understanding what the joke is
18:48and just running it,
18:50running with it,
18:50until, you know,
18:51it goes out of steam.
18:53I think the best part of the film,
18:55it was in the restaurant.
18:57She looked up to him and said,
18:59Je prends les meules marinières.
19:02I want a life in the grand manner.
19:05No, no, no, no,
19:05she says,
19:06Je prends les moules marinières.
19:08I would like muscle soup.
19:11You never know.
19:14If you actually just were to read it
19:16off the page,
19:17you'd actually be hard-pressed
19:19not to stick it elsewhere,
19:21such as in The Two Ronnies
19:22or, indeed, Monty Python.
19:24Thank you, Pierre de Terre.
19:27Why is it funny
19:33when you slap
19:34a bald old man's head?
19:38If we could answer that question,
19:41we would have discovered
19:42the essence of comedy
19:43and we'd be very rich.
19:45It was Benny's famous sidekick,
19:47Jackie Wright,
19:48who gave him the inspiration
19:49for his most remembered
19:51comedy trademark.
19:52And suddenly Ben went...
19:54And he didn't do it gently.
20:01It was so Jackie told me, anyway.
20:06It's that irresistible naughtiness.
20:09You see a bald man.
20:11You think,
20:11I wonder what it would be like
20:12to slap it.
20:15And there it slapped.
20:16And not only is it slapped,
20:17the sound is 15 times better
20:20than you'd ever imagine.
20:24That sort of...
20:25Yeah.
20:25The...
20:25Yeah.
20:27Herding him.
20:28Because there's no other sound
20:29apart from this sort of slapping.
20:31Yeah.
20:31And it's slapping all over the place.
20:33And it becomes utterly slapstick
20:36and utterly ridiculous.
20:39Basically,
20:39they're just beating an old man up.
20:43We've always had an affinity
20:45for Schadenfreude,
20:46our old German friend,
20:48our enjoyment of other people's pain.
20:49And I think Hill was tapping into that.
20:53It is funny
20:54slapping a short old man's head,
20:58take me to jail
20:59and throw away the key.
21:01Benny produced over 60-hour specials
21:04for Thames.
21:05And he was almost as prolific
21:07with his music,
21:08having released numerous novelty songs
21:10and albums since the 60s.
21:12But there was one song
21:14released in 1971
21:15that caught the imagination
21:17of the nation.
21:18Well, that was a number one record
21:19of, ooh, some time back.
21:20And we have some most fantastic
21:22number ones for you to see.
21:23This one's still at number one
21:24for about the third week running.
21:25Benny Hill.
21:26His name was Ernie
21:27and he drove the fastest milk cart
21:29in the West.
21:31I just remember Ernie
21:32as being one of the best
21:33comic novelty singles ever made.
21:34Ernie loved a widow,
21:36a lady known as Sue.
21:38She lived all alone
21:39in Lily Lane
21:40at number 22.
21:41Oh, it was massive.
21:42It was number one
21:43in the hit parade.
21:45I mean, is it David Cameron
21:46recently said
21:46that was one of his favourites?
21:49And he was absolutely massive.
21:51Now, Ernie had a rival,
21:53an evil-looking man
21:54called Two-Ton Ted
21:55from Teddington
21:56and he drove the Baker's van.
21:58I still remember, you know,
21:59when you see the size
22:00of his off-minted pies,
22:01it damn near turned her head.
22:02And when she's seen
22:02the size of his off-minted pies,
22:04it very near turned her head.
22:05It's terrific stuff.
22:07I mean, you know,
22:07Benny was a great comic.
22:09Benny!
22:10And he drove the fastest milk cart
22:12in the West!
22:14So is Benny Hill still funny?
22:17What do you think?
22:18I think, Patrick,
22:19would you look at that?
22:20They want drivers
22:22and we can't drive
22:24and they want toypists
22:25and we can't toy
22:26and then over here,
22:28they want three fellers
22:30and there's only two of us.
22:34And what will our test audience think?
22:36They've had half an hour
22:37of Benny's gags
22:38from the 60s to the 80s,
22:40but will they want more?
22:47So is Benny Hill still funny?
22:49That's the question
22:50we're asking tonight
22:52and the answer
22:52will be coming
22:53from our test audience
22:54who've been watching
22:55classic Benny Hill
22:56and rating their responses
22:58to his gags.
23:00But will Benny's
23:02old-school routines
23:03tickle the modern funny bone
23:05enough to make them laugh?
23:06We'll soon be finding out,
23:08but first it's time
23:09for Benny Hill's babes,
23:11but not those ones.
23:15These ones.
23:16Well, she's all you'd ever want.
23:18She's no kind
23:18I'd like to flaunt
23:19and take to dinner.
23:21He does make
23:22an alarmingly good woman.
23:24We have a wonderful tradition,
23:26look at the popularity
23:27of Panto
23:27and the Panto Dame,
23:29of men dressing up as women.
23:31She's a lady.
23:33Oh, oh, oh,
23:35she's a lady.
23:37So Benny Hill
23:38was only tapping into something
23:40which we've always loved there,
23:42and I think he did it,
23:43he pulled it off with panache.
23:45Yeah, yeah, yeah,
23:46she's a lady.
23:49Oh, oh, oh,
23:50she's a lady.
23:51Well,
23:52it's pink.
23:54I think some of his
23:55women characters
23:57were some of the funniest
23:58because he looks so lovely.
24:00I don't know what it is.
24:02The Benny Hill Show
24:16attracted huge ratings
24:17with over 21 million
24:19regular viewers,
24:20four times more
24:21than the Catherine Tate Show
24:22would get today.
24:23Such was its success
24:24that in 1979,
24:26the hit shows
24:27were sold to American TV,
24:29propelling Benny
24:29into international stardom.
24:32At one stage,
24:34they said that Benny Hill
24:35was the most famous
24:35Englishman in America,
24:37much more famous
24:38than whoever happened
24:38to be the lowly
24:40prime minister at that time.
24:41Benny Hill would be
24:42the first name
24:43if you ever asked
24:44an American to name
24:45an Englishman.
24:47The reason he became huge
24:48is because his humour
24:49in Britain,
24:51which was always up
24:52to the mark,
24:52but never over the mark,
24:54was, in American terms,
24:56well over the mark
24:57because they were
24:58so conservative
24:58over there at that point.
24:59They thought his show
25:03was the dirtiest thing
25:04that they'd ever seen
25:05and they loved it
25:06as a result.
25:06It became a guilty pleasure
25:08for a whole generation
25:09of Americans.
25:14If the Yanks thought
25:16Benny Hill was a bit racy,
25:18back home,
25:23he was about to get
25:24a whole lot raunchier.
25:24More and more
25:27bathing beauties
25:28adorned each episode,
25:30hand-picked
25:30by the man himself.
25:33Benny used to audition
25:34the girls at his flat.
25:36He never used to like
25:36to have open auditions
25:37because he used to feel
25:38that he'd be totally inundated
25:40with loads of girls.
25:41It was very specialist,
25:42sort of closed auditions,
25:44basically,
25:45but it was all
25:46very much above board.
25:47By the 80s,
25:58Benny's girls
25:59were known
25:59as the Hills Angels
26:01and became
26:01one of his most
26:02famous trademarks.
26:04Benny decided
26:04that he was
26:05in competition
26:06with the Kenny Everett show
26:08who, at the time,
26:10were going down
26:10very well
26:11because he had
26:12this spectacular,
26:12sexy dance group
26:14called Hot Gossip.
26:15And now it's time
26:16for Hot Gossip.
26:23Benny never liked
26:25to be outdone
26:25by anybody else,
26:26so he scratched his head
26:28and he thought,
26:29if Kenny Everett
26:31can have a bunch
26:32of beautiful girls
26:33on the show,
26:34why can't I?
26:35Here are some
26:38of those naughty bits.
26:45Having these images
26:47of women
26:48scantily clad
26:49throughout the comedy
26:50just meant that,
26:52you know,
26:52there was this
26:53very simple visual
26:54symbol of where
26:55Benny Hill saw women,
26:56which was as sex objects.
26:59Benny had a great warmth
27:00for women.
27:01He loved women,
27:02full stop.
27:03He would do anything
27:04to make them happy.
27:06He showed women
27:06in the best light possible
27:08by making them
27:09very glamorous,
27:10giving them glamorous
27:11parts on the show.
27:12The Hill's Angels
27:18were almost always
27:19involved in another
27:20of Benny's classic
27:21sketches,
27:22the end credit chase.
27:24The whole end sequence,
27:27I have to say
27:28I rather enjoyed it
27:28because it was very
27:29reassuring that every week
27:30there would be
27:31some elaborate set-up
27:32that would just end up
27:33with him being chased
27:34around a freezing cold
27:35park in December.
27:38And I rather enjoyed that.
27:39That end sequence
27:43now is seen
27:45as the zenith,
27:46if you like,
27:46of old-fashioned
27:48sexist comedy.
27:50And this answers
27:51the sexist business,
27:52by the way.
27:53It was showing
27:54that men were
27:55incompetent,
27:56impotent,
27:57useless.
27:58The women were
27:58the dominant force.
27:59So he wasn't
28:00putting women down,
28:01he was praising women.
28:03Oh, gosh,
28:04people do,
28:04and the political
28:05they do get things
28:06out of proportion.
28:07For me,
28:11I never watched
28:12him ever
28:13thinking these
28:15are negative
28:15images of women.
28:16I always watched
28:17it and laughed
28:18and enjoyed
28:19what he was doing
28:20and just found
28:20it funny.
28:22It does seem
28:22in some ways
28:23that he had
28:24an idealisation
28:25of women.
28:26They were always
28:27young,
28:27they were always
28:28pretty,
28:29and certainly
28:29as he grew older,
28:31for many critics
28:32that became a problem,
28:33that he was an
28:34older man who
28:35was apparently
28:36letching after
28:36these young
28:37nubile women.
28:39By the mid-80s,
28:40the feminist agenda
28:41was strong
28:41and the post-punk
28:42comedy movement
28:43from the London
28:43Clubs and Fringe
28:44Theatre spilled
28:45onto TV
28:46with programmes
28:47like The Young
28:48Ones,
28:48Not the Nine
28:49O'Clock News,
28:50French and Saunders
28:51and Saturday Live.
28:53Mark Thatcher,
28:54he's having a lovely
28:55time,
28:55let's hope he has
28:56a lovely wedding
28:56night,
28:56let's hope he makes
28:57love better than
28:58his mum runs
28:58the country,
28:59eh?
28:59The forthright
29:00and politically
29:01correct comedian
29:01Ben Elton
29:02was a central figure
29:03in the alternative
29:04comedy scene
29:05that eventually pushed
29:06the old generation
29:06of comics to the
29:07sidelines and he
29:09was at the time
29:09an outspoken critic
29:10of Benny Hill.
29:12There's lots of
29:12things on telly
29:13that offend me,
29:14I mean,
29:14you know,
29:14like when a comedian
29:15can end every single
29:16programme tearing off
29:17a woman's clothes
29:18and then chasing her
29:18around a park in her
29:20underwear,
29:20like that for me
29:22in a world where
29:22women can't even
29:23walk safe in the
29:24parks is pretty
29:25worrying.
29:25We were in a culture
29:27at the time
29:28which was almost
29:30entirely sexist
29:31in that there
29:32were,
29:33women were the
29:34butt of a great
29:36deal of comedy
29:36when it wasn't
29:37blacks and Irish,
29:38it was women.
29:39Amazing,
29:40I've just found
29:40my top nurse.
29:41Really?
29:42You know,
29:42I think this
29:42competition's the
29:43best thing we've
29:43organised in ages.
29:45Watch this.
29:49I mean,
29:53normally she'd
29:53knee me in the
29:54what's-its.
29:54In the 80s,
29:56Benny became very
29:57aware of political
29:57correctness,
29:58certainly regarding
29:59the show,
30:00and he couldn't
30:00understand why
30:01people would say
30:02he was sexist,
30:04why he was
30:04degrading to women.
30:06He said,
30:06because all I do
30:07is put women
30:07on a pedestal
30:08and I worship
30:08and adore them.
30:10So why am I
30:10being degrading
30:11to women?
30:12It doesn't,
30:12the two don't
30:13tally up together.
30:16Now,
30:17of course,
30:17Benny Hill,
30:18I don't believe
30:18he was a sexist
30:19man and I
30:20certainly don't
30:20believe he set
30:21out to denigrate
30:22women,
30:22but he was a
30:23figure from a
30:24certain time
30:24and in a
30:25certain place
30:25whose work,
30:26I think,
30:27did go out
30:27of style
30:28and for many
30:28reasons,
30:29I think rightly.
30:30I think rightly
30:30went out of style,
30:31not his talent.
30:32And I guess
30:32I'm unrepentant
30:34about having
30:34satirised that
30:35and commented
30:36on it.
30:37So Benny's
30:38comedy was
30:39criticised in
30:40the 80s for
30:41being outdated
30:41and sexist
30:42by alternative
30:43comedians.
30:44but how did
30:48our modern
30:48audience react
30:49to his
30:49stockings
30:50and suspenders?
30:54I'm sorry,
30:55it's this music,
30:56it really
30:57frightens me,
30:58it's real
30:58scary.
30:59I'm so sorry,
31:00my darling,
31:00I did not
31:01realise you.
31:02I think we
31:14were quite
31:15surprised to
31:15find that
31:16the sexist
31:17sketches or
31:18the saucy
31:19sketches went
31:20down quite well.
31:21None of the
31:22women afterwards
31:22said they were
31:23offended by them.
31:24Of the women
31:24here,
31:25did any of you
31:26feel a bit
31:26uncomfortable,
31:27as you imagined?
31:27The fact that
31:29I was laughing
31:30at something
31:30so corny
31:32and ridiculously
31:33stupid,
31:33but it still
31:34made me laugh
31:35though,
31:35it's only like
31:36that delay
31:36afterwards,
31:37you're going,
31:37God,
31:37I'm laughing at
31:38this.
31:38Yeah,
31:39yeah,
31:39yeah.
31:39One of the
31:40things that
31:40was surprising
31:41was that the
31:41women appear
31:42to have enjoyed
31:43it more during
31:44the dial test
31:45than the men.
31:45It may be
31:46that the men
31:47felt rather
31:47constrained,
31:49a little bit
31:49nervous during
31:50the racier bits,
31:51the saucier bits,
31:53that the women
31:53around them were
31:54not enjoying it,
31:55when in fact
31:55they were.
31:56Maybe there
31:57are times when
31:57I felt
31:57like a little
31:58bit like,
31:58oh,
31:58you know,
31:59I could imagine
31:59there being
31:59quite a few
32:00women who
32:00would not
32:01appreciate this
32:01as much as
32:02I am right
32:02now.
32:03Actually,
32:03none of the
32:04women are naked,
32:04they're all
32:05clothed,
32:06it's just
32:06innuendo.
32:07It's probably
32:08sexist for
32:08its time,
32:09but I don't
32:09think it's
32:09sexist at
32:10all now.
32:12The bevies
32:13of scantily
32:14clad women
32:14aren't Benny's
32:15only area of
32:16controversy.
32:17Are you
32:18just a rouser?
32:19I got a
32:20fright.
32:21How did
32:21you get a
32:22fright?
32:22With a
32:22fright ticket.
32:24One of the
32:24most popular
32:25characters during
32:26the 70s was
32:27the belligerent
32:27Chowmaine.
32:29Stupid
32:30area.
32:31Whose catchphrase
32:33became the
32:33am I bothered
32:34to a generation
32:35of 70s
32:36school kids.
32:37But since
32:38the tide of
32:38political
32:39correctness
32:39turned in
32:40the 80s,
32:41Benny's
32:41Chowmaine has
32:42been frowned
32:43upon by many
32:43critics.
32:44First of all,
32:45you have to ask
32:45yourself,
32:46is it racist
32:47or isn't it?
32:47That's a
32:48judgement call
32:48that the
32:49viewer has to
32:49make.
32:50But also,
32:51most importantly,
32:52is it funny
32:52or isn't it?
32:53Good
32:54evening.
32:54Well,
32:55once again,
32:55we welcome
32:56from China
32:57Mr.
32:58Chowmaine.
32:59Good
32:59evening,
33:00everybody.
33:03I'm not
33:04offended by
33:04that kind
33:05of thing.
33:05I can
33:05understand why
33:06people would
33:07be.
33:08And I would
33:09imagine it's
33:09because of
33:10those kind
33:10of sketches
33:10the reason
33:11he's not
33:11on the
33:13TV now.
33:14And
33:15hello there,
33:16knickers
33:16parcels.
33:18It's very
33:18funny.
33:19It's no
33:19disrespect to
33:20the Chinaman.
33:21It's just
33:22actually,
33:22it's poking
33:23fun at the
33:24idiot Englishman,
33:25which was me,
33:26interviewing him
33:27who couldn't
33:27understand him.
33:28So there was
33:29nothing racist
33:30about it.
33:31It was very
33:32affectionate.
33:32And I know
33:33some Chinese
33:33people who
33:34thought it
33:34was very
33:34funny.
33:35I am
33:36Nicholas.
33:37Mind you
33:38don't catch
33:38a cold.
33:39He wasn't
33:40the only person
33:41laughing at
33:41that joke.
33:42The whole
33:42nation were
33:43laughing at
33:43that joke.
33:44So to sort
33:45of pin the
33:45blame on him
33:46is, you
33:47know, we
33:48should all
33:49take collective
33:49blame.
33:50Exactly, for
33:51being racists.
33:53Yeah.
33:55I hear
33:57more cropping.
33:58That's
33:58nice.
34:00It was one
34:01of his less
34:01astute
34:03creations,
34:06I think.
34:06But you
34:07know what?
34:07I really
34:07believe that
34:08he was
34:08fervently
34:09anti-racist.
34:11And I
34:11don't know.
34:12It's hard to
34:13qualify that
34:14after talking
34:14about Chinmaine.
34:15But I really
34:15think that he's
34:16one of those
34:17human beings
34:17that wouldn't
34:19have a racist
34:19bone in his
34:19body.
34:21But in an
34:22age when some
34:22of the biggest
34:23comedy characters
34:24on TV are
34:25the explicitly
34:26un-PC Borat
34:27and Little
34:27Britain,
34:28would our
34:28test audience
34:29find Benny's
34:30basic Chinaman
34:30routine racist?
34:33The
34:33Chao Main
34:34sketch went
34:34down quite
34:35well.
34:36It certainly
34:36didn't show
34:37immediate dip
34:38as people
34:39showed
34:39disapproval.
34:41In fact,
34:42it was one
34:42of the higher
34:42marks of the
34:43evening.
34:43thinking of
34:44him in
34:45comparison
34:45with Little
34:46Britain and
34:46Catherine Tate,
34:47does it seem
34:48fair that
34:49Benny Hill
34:49has got this
34:50kind of
34:50reputation
34:51based on
34:52what you've
34:52seen tonight?
34:53I didn't
34:53like the
34:54bit where
34:56he pretends
34:57to be a
34:57Chinese man.
34:58I mean,
34:58I'm half
34:59Chinese.
34:59I'm not
35:00really offended
35:01by it,
35:01but I found
35:02that really
35:02juvenile.
35:03Yeah,
35:03okay.
35:04It was fun.
35:05I mean,
35:05it's funny now,
35:06but I think
35:06people just
35:07take comedy
35:07too seriously.
35:08I mean,
35:09it doesn't
35:09bother me.
35:10It's just
35:10genuinely funny,
35:11and I think
35:11people have
35:12just got to
35:12lighten up and
35:13take it in the
35:14context that
35:14it's given.
35:15Just enjoy
35:15the innocence
35:16of it, really.
35:17No, I didn't
35:18find any of
35:18Benny's stuff
35:19racist.
35:19In those
35:20days when
35:20it was filmed,
35:21it could have
35:21been quite
35:22racist, I
35:23can imagine.
35:24As long as
35:24you do it in
35:25a tactful way
35:25which is not
35:26offensive to
35:26anybody,
35:27I don't think
35:27there's nothing
35:28wrong with it.
35:32With
35:33international
35:33success came
35:34serious money,
35:36and by the
35:36mid-80s,
35:37Benny was a
35:38millionaire.
35:41The very
35:41fact that he
35:42had money in
35:43the bank
35:44was of no
35:44concern to
35:45him.
35:46He was
35:46brought up
35:46in this way
35:47that, well,
35:47I can only
35:48wear one
35:48shirt, so
35:49what do I
35:49need a
35:49wardrobe full
35:50of shirts?
35:51One and
35:52another one,
35:53and I can
35:54wash the
35:54first one and
35:55wear the
35:55second one.
35:56People who
35:57work with
35:57him would
35:57say that he
35:58always wore
35:58the same
35:59shoes for
36:00years.
36:01Now, that's
36:03a bit unusual,
36:04especially since
36:05he could have
36:05afforded a
36:06shoe empire.
36:07Next week's
36:08script, what a
36:09lot of rubbish!
36:11Rubbish!
36:11Benny wasn't
36:12an extravagant
36:13person by any
36:14means, because
36:15money didn't
36:15actually mean
36:16much to him.
36:17What meant a
36:18lot to Benny was
36:19bringing a smile
36:20on people's
36:20faces and
36:21producing a
36:22very happy
36:23show.
36:23That meant
36:24more to him
36:25than anything
36:25that money
36:26could possibly
36:26buy.
36:28Despite his
36:29immense wealth,
36:30Benny lived
36:31alone, always in
36:32modest rented
36:33accommodation, first
36:34in Queensgate,
36:35London, and
36:36later in
36:36Teddington, near
36:37the studios.
36:38How does
36:39them are you
36:39to Times and
36:40the Herald
36:41Tribune?
36:42And your
36:42Mayfair and
36:43your men only
36:44have arrived
36:45for you.
36:46Shh!
36:47Ah!
36:49Ooh!
36:50Cut!
36:52It was a
36:52lifelong commitment.
36:53He was nearly a
36:54comedy priest.
36:55It's like he'd
36:55married the
36:56comedy god and
36:57served the
36:59nation for
37:00his whole life.
37:03Benny Hill's
37:04worldwide triumphs
37:05coincided with a
37:06dramatic decline in
37:07his fortunes at
37:08home.
37:09Towards the end
37:09of the 80s, the
37:10ratings had slipped
37:11and it was
37:12curtains for the
37:13Benny Hill show.
37:14Benny was a
37:15great comic, but
37:16the main thing
37:18that happened was
37:18that after a very,
37:19very long career,
37:20during the mid to
37:21late 80s, his
37:22comedy suddenly
37:23looked very old
37:24fashioned.
37:24It wasn't his
37:25fault, it certainly
37:25wasn't my fault,
37:26and it certainly
37:27wasn't Thames
37:27Television's fault.
37:28It just happened.
37:29It happened to us
37:30all.
37:31Another factor
37:32concerning the
37:33television executives
37:34at Thames was
37:35the cost.
37:36With Benny's
37:37producers allowing
37:37his every whim to
37:38be indulged, the
37:39cost of making the
37:40Benny Hill show had
37:41gone through the
37:42roof.
37:44Thames, like every
37:45broadcaster has to
37:46do, looked at the
37:48balance figures,
37:49looked at the
37:49cost, looked at the
37:50audience ratings,
37:52and thought, this
37:54show isn't working
37:55anymore.
37:57In 1989, Benny was
37:59all set to make
38:00another series when
38:01the company bosses
38:02decided to axe the
38:03show.
38:03I remember one
38:05particular dreary
38:06day, Benny phoned
38:07me, and he was in
38:09the depths of
38:09depression, and he
38:10said, Sue, you're
38:11not going to believe
38:12this, I and the
38:13Benny Hill show have
38:14just been axed from
38:15Thames Television.
38:17Well, I nearly
38:17dropped the phone,
38:18because this was the
38:20first news I had
38:21ever heard of there
38:23being any problems
38:25with Benny's show
38:26full stop.
38:26group, and he was
38:27absolutely devastated.
38:30They must have had
38:31their reasons, they
38:32must have assessed
38:33there was something
38:34about Benny's style,
38:35his humour, which was
38:36maybe a little passé,
38:37the new generation
38:38were moving in, we
38:39want something
38:40different.
38:40And they're entitled
38:41in their position to
38:43have that attitude.
38:44Unfortunately, with
38:45someone of Benny's
38:46sensitive nature, maybe
38:47they should have let
38:48him down a little bit
38:49more gently.
38:50That's where people in
38:51power don't always
38:52think twice.
38:53Unknown to Benny,
38:56Thames had been
38:56developing a highly
38:57promising idea with
38:58Rowan Atkinson, which
39:00couldn't be made if
39:01they continued with
39:02the Benny Hill show.
39:03The idea was the
39:04international smash hit
39:06Mr Bean.
39:07Ironic for Benny, that
39:08he was replaced by an
39:09updated, silent,
39:11slapstick comedy.
39:12I think artistically it
39:13was the right decision,
39:14and I believe that
39:15Benny knew that, but
39:17unfortunately, it
39:19broke his heart.
39:23As Benny had
39:24dedicated over 35
39:25years of his life to
39:26writing, casting, and
39:27planning his shows, he
39:29was at a loss when it
39:30was gone.
39:31He spent more time with
39:32his favourite angel, Sue
39:33Upton, and her family,
39:35travelling abroad and
39:36overindulging in food and
39:37drink.
39:38He was a compulsive
39:38eater if he gave way to
39:40it, but once he'd been
39:41upset so much by having
39:43his show dropped, I
39:45think he just lost the
39:48incentives, and so he
39:50gave way to his
39:51weaknesses.
39:53Plagued with heart
39:54problems, Benny's
39:55health was suffering, and
39:56on 11 February 1992, he
39:59had a heart attack.
40:00British TV may not have
40:02been interested in his
40:02shows anymore, but one
40:04famous fan insisted on
40:05paying him a visit.
40:06And he said, I'll have
40:08you know, little
40:09sausage, he said, guess
40:10who's coming to see
40:11me.
40:12And I went, no.
40:14He said, Michael
40:15Jackson.
40:16The Michael Jackson.
40:18Refusing bypass surgery,
40:25Benny survived a couple
40:26of months before dying of a
40:28fatal heart attack.
40:30Unfortunately for Benny, he
40:32didn't live long enough for a
40:33nostalgic, iconic comeback,
40:35but just before he died, he
40:36was recognised internationally
40:38by the son of his number one
40:39idol, Charlie Chaplin.
40:41Is Benny Hill still funny?
40:55Find out after the break when
40:57we finally reveal the results of
40:59our test to see if Benny Hill is
41:01still the daddy when it comes to
41:03getting a laugh.
41:04Ooh, what's this thing called
41:06love?
41:07Hold it, stop.
41:09No, but it's...
41:11What is this thing called love?
41:17I think it's Charlotte Rambling,
41:19didn't it?
41:20Go ahead.
41:27Is Benny Hill still funny?
41:29That's the question we're
41:30asking tonight.
41:31Oh, Roger, of course
41:33you're the first.
41:36Why do you men always ask
41:37the same question?
41:40We have revealed Benny's
41:42past as the hip kid of the
41:4360s, the superstar of the
41:4570s and the international
41:47star of the 80s.
41:49But after falling foul of the
41:50politically correct brigade,
41:52Benny's been off our screens
41:53for the past 15 years.
41:56Yes, it's all in tomorrow's
41:58super sore away son.
41:59Can you pick a beauty queen?
42:00Why are women scared of mice?
42:02For 30 minutes, a young audience
42:04with little or no knowledge of
42:05Benny Hill have been watching
42:07him in action, and their
42:08reactions to his work have been
42:10electronically monitored by a
42:12specialist TV research company.
42:14Capital punishment.
42:15Should we bring back hanging?
42:17Are we doing enough to help the
42:18undeveloped country?
42:19Yes, all this and more in the paper
42:20everyone's asking for us.
42:21So get your super sum tomorrow,
42:23don't forget tomorrow, you must
42:24get the super sore away son,
42:25Mr. Bouncy.
42:27I've told you before, old man,
42:29you must remember to breathe.
42:32Throughout the screening, the
42:34group's ratings were sent to a
42:35central computer, which gave us a
42:37graphical line of the whole group's
42:39responses to the comedy, and has
42:41revealed some interesting results.
42:43Firstly, we can reveal which three
42:47sketches tickled their funny bone
42:49the most.
42:52In third place, it was the drinking
42:54man's lady.
42:55Well, it's pink.
43:01It's too thick to be milk.
43:04Strawberries.
43:05Definitely strawberries.
43:05It's tangy.
43:10I don't know what it is.
43:18I've been looking for that pain.
43:23Coming in second, hands that do
43:25more than dishes also got a big
43:27laugh.
43:28Hello, Mummy.
43:30Hello, darling.
43:33What are these bubbles?
43:34They do the washing up, dear.
43:37And they keep Mummy's hands nice
43:39and soft.
43:41Barble.
43:43Don't keep calling Mummy's
43:44dress, dear.
43:47Barble.
43:49Barble, barble, barble.
43:52Your hands are soft.
43:54Your hands are soft.
43:56Your hands are soft.
43:58Oh, shut up!
44:01But the number one sketch that
44:03was still funny
44:0437 years later
44:06was Benny's wishing well.
44:11And you're helpful.
44:16Oh!
44:19oted
44:22Oh!
44:23That's really risky.
44:25You brothers are here and
44:26go breathe.
44:31Got it.
44:33Got it.
44:34Is that too soft?
44:35What?
44:36Anyway,akerie,
44:37we can get your hands on the
44:37Whoever will make anything
44:39those were the three sketches the focus group liked the most but could Benny keep our audience
44:48laughing for the full 30 minutes or were they just blips on the comedy radar the line was a very
44:55respectable performance for a line test and overall it was a positive response and there's
45:01more the line test results confirm that the audience enjoyed the show plus a steady rise
45:07and ratings throughout the screening indicate that the more they saw the more they found benny hill
45:12funny i think if a broadcaster had that kind of result with that kind of material today
45:16they'd feel very positively about commissioning it it's highly original comedy especially for the
45:21time a lot of it i think would still hold up now it's in your face funny it's just cheesy it's
45:27corny you find yourself cringing because you're laughing definitely go out buy the dvd watch the
45:33program 100 i thought it was hysterical really really really enjoyed it i was surprised to hear
45:38young people who i thought might be quite critical quite blasé saying that they loved it and they
45:43wanted to go out and see more our modern audience gave benny a peak score of 68 and an overall average
45:52of 58 in tv test standards this would predict the benny hill show a hit today so it's official
45:59benny hill is still funny and his comedy canon is still firing on all cylinders
46:09i mean benny hill was without question a wonderfully talented comic artist and i was certainly a very
46:17big fan of enormous uh areas of his work here's the newsflash it is extraordinary when you think
46:24there are so few equivalents of benny hill to have started on television 10 years after the war
46:29and to have had a career that went on for 30 years
46:33and that sort of success is very very hard to replicate and very rare
46:40so whatever you think of benny hill you can't deny that he really struck a chord with people right
46:46around the world and hot point yeah what precious few comedy shows that
46:53we watch today will make you laugh out loud
46:57and his comedy definitely makes me laugh out loud
47:01gay one tree fellers and there's only two of us
47:05i once said to him benny a lot of this material
47:09is i recognize it's it's old musical games isn't it really
47:14he's and he gave me a wink he said yes nicky he said there's nothing new really it's just the way
47:21you wrap it up thank you very much indeed ladies and gentlemen bless you i mean that i'm afraid it's the
47:27end of the show and we hope you've enjoyed it and um it only remains for me to say on behalf of
47:32us all here i'll fit the same au revoir ciao and good night
47:35has mama sheree still got soul in her food
47:42ramsey hits brighton for a kitchen nightmare on more 4 next
47:46but here on channel 4 the story of that amazing duo pete and dud
47:50not only but always
47:52you
48:06you
48:08you
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