This Sunday evening variety show from ATV aired sporadically between April and July 1968, occasionally alternating with episodes of an almost identical show named Spotlight.
The show featured different hosts each week, starting with Terry-Thomas for the premier episode on 7 April. The majority of the hosts were American stars, as the series had been pre-sold to the US as a summer replacement for The Red Skelton Show.
Jack Parnell and his Orchestra provided musical backing for all the acts, accompanied by the ubiquitous Mike Sammes Singers.
The series – taped at ATV Studios in Elstree – was retitled Showtime when it was broadcast on CBS in America. The American version aired in colour, while the UK version was broadcast in black-and-white.
Hosts
Terry-Thomas
Dave Allen
Shirley Bassey
Shelley Berman
Phyllis Diller
Michael Bentine
Eddy Arnold
Liberace
Steve Allen
George Gobel
Frank Fontaine
Juliet Prowse
Godfrey Cambridge
Don Knotts
Guests throughout the run of the show included Rudolf Nureyev, Frank Ifield, Dusty Springfield, Max Wall, Acker Bilk, Matt Monro, Hope and Keen, Anita Harris, Dickie Henderson, The Shadows, Frankie Vaughan, Dave King, Nina and Frederik, Stanley Unwin, Roy Castle, Jimmy Edwards, Freddie and the Dreamers, Susan Maughan, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Lulu, Cliff Richard, Soupy Sales, Kenneth McKellar, Ray Alan, The Four Freshmen, Kathy Kirby, Joe Baker, The Dave Clark Five, Bruce Forsyth, Buddy Greco, Millicent Martin, Allan Sherman, Esther and Abi Ofarim, Lonnie Donegan, Erroll Garner, Julie London, and Robert Morley.
