1 9 5 9 – 1 9 6 9 (UK)
30 x 45 minute episodes
5 x 60 minute episodes
8 x specials
One of the brightest new stars to emerge at the beginning of the sixties was buck-toothed Liverpudlian comic, Ken Dodd – the man who put the suburb of Knotty Ash on the world map – who starred in these 45-minute variety shows broadcast live from Blackpool.
Dodd made his debut at the age of eight as a ventriloquist at an orphanage, and The Ken Dodd Show established him as one of Britain’s top comedians and as a singer of slushy sentimental songs.
His distinctive teeth, the result of a schoolboy cycling accident, were insured for over £10,000 and the insurance company laid down several conditions;
He must not eat seaside rock, he must not ride a motorbike, he must not play rugby and he must brush his teeth at least three times a day. It is not clear how they used to check this final point.
He has played Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and is one of the biggest box-office stars in the history of the theatre.
A comic genius whose humour has made him Britain’s best-loved comedian.
His fertile imagination has given birth to his famous Diddymen; Dicky Mint, Mick the Marmalizer, Evan, Hamish McDiddy and Nigel Ponsonby Smallpiece – who all worked in the Jam Butty Mines, Broken Biscuit Repair Works and Moggie Ranch, all in Knotty Ash.
Ken Dodd went on to star in several other TV shows, including Doddy’s Music Box, Ken Dodd & The Diddymen, Funny You Should Say That, Stand By Your Beds, Ken Dodd’s World Of Laughter, The Ken Dodd Laughter Show, Dodd On His Todd and Ken Dodd’s Showbiz.
