Some five years before The Bay City Rollers fronted their own weekly TV show (Shang-A-Lang) it was the Mike McGear-led comedy vocal group The Scaffold who were one of the first musical artists chosen to present their own British television programme.
Entitled Score With The Scaffold, and transmitted from Manchester on Friday nights on BBC1 during the traditional Crackerjack timeslot (between 4:55 and 5:30 PM) the group – Paul McCartney‘s brother, Mike, Roger McGough and John Gorman – presented a 35 minute show crammed full of comedy, puzzles, games and special guests.
Among those joining the wacky threesome in the show transmitted on 10 July 1970 were stargazer Patrick Moore, former Doctor Who assistant Wendy Padbury, and Merseybeatsters The Fourmost. The programme which broadcast on 28 August featured the cookery experts Fanny and Johnnie Cradock.
BBC disc jockey Jimmy Savile made an appearance in the final show of the first series on 11 September 1970.
Not surprisingly, music was a regular feature in the series, and two of The Scaffold’s big UK hits – Thank U Very Much and Lily The Pink were performed on a regular basis in front of the most appreciative young studio audience.
Eleven months after the first series ended, Score With The Scaffold reappeared on British television screens, but with a new format now turned into that of a general knowledge quiz, with teams of youngsters from various BBC regions battling it out to reach the grand final on the final show of 10 September 1971 – which ended up featuring youngsters from BBC Radio Nottingham (the winners) versus Manchester.
But, after just 17 programmes, the BBC did not re-commission a third series, and the show was consigned to the British television graveyard.
As you’ll expect, precious little of the show remains – no doubt the colour tapes were wiped to preserve games from the then-popular BBC2 snooker show, Pot Black.
