Tarbuck’s Luck

1 9 7 0 (UK)
1 x 50 minute episode
1 9 7 2 (UK)
6 x 45 minute episodes

The BBC1 show Tarbuck’s Luck aired on Friday 29 May 1970 and featured the Liverpudlian comic in fine form, proving he had matured from a brash, likeable young man into a mature entertainer of great ability.

The show had obviously been carefully planned and produced rather than just being thrown together and Dance Director Lionel Blair ensured the show had both style and pace. Guests on the show included Anita Harris, Ronnie Corbett (appearing as ‘Renee Corbe’), Lucille Gaye, Clovissa Newcombe and Carol Raye.

The BBC reprised the show in April 1972, screened at peak time on Saturday evenings, with Tarbie and his guests appearing in short linked comedy sketches with Jim as a new face at the BBC being groomed for stardom.  He had been installed in a flat at the BBC and was being used as a stand-in for everything from partnering with Basil Brush to reading the news to appearing on the Epilogue.

Unfortunately, the scripts were weak and most of the jokes were of the quick, throwaway variety.

Guests in the 1972 shows included Lulu, The Bee Gees, Cilla Black, Harry Secombe, Mrs Mills, Fanny Cradock, June Whitfield, Josephine Tewson, Yootha Joyce, Joan Sims, Patricia Hayes,  Margaret Nolan, Miriam Karlin, Gretchen Franklin, Georgina Moon, Clodagh Rodgers and Vicky Leandros.