Web Page No 2536
15th December 2018
1st Picture. Alan Wicker
3rd Picture. Wickers World
Alan Wicker
It seemed for a time that during the 1950s and
60s Alan Wicker was never off our screens in fact Whicker's World ran from 1958 to 1994.
Originally a segment on the BBC's Tonight programme
in 1958, Whicker's World became a fully-fledged television
series in its own right in the 1960s. The series was first shown by
the BBC until 1968, and then by ITV from 1968 to 1983, by Yorkshire Television, in which Alan Whicker himself was a
shareholder. The series returned to the BBC in 1984, and to ITV again in 1992.
He was noted for reporting stories of social
interest from around the world. His interviewees included locals, politicians,
celebrities, and even convicted criminals. He reported on military
dictatorships, British expatriates, the feminist movement of the 1970s, the Tanka people of Hong Kong, the American Gay Rights movement,
the building of Disneyworld in Florida and the plastic surgery industry.
Among his interviewees were Peter Sellers, Joan Collins, Britt Ekland, Liza Minnelli, and Christopher Lee, Haitian dictator François "Papa Doc"
Duvalier, Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner,
novelist Harold Robbins, Lula
Parker Betenson (the 94-year-old sister of the outlaw Butch Cassidy), the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah (reputedly the richest
man in the world at the time of filming), Luciano Pavarotti, several former Maharajas of India and various members of the British aristocracy.
Although episodes were self-contained, he would
often film a series of episodes devoted to one particular location or subject,
including five whole series devoted to the United States and three about
Australia. Multi-episode series dedicated to the South Pacific, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Spain, and a voyage on the QE2 were
also made. These were usually given series titles such as Whicker's New
World (1969), Whicker In Europe (1970), Whicker's
Walkabout: Seven Scenes Down Under (1970), Whicker Within A
Woman's World (1972), Whicker Way Out West (1973), Whicker's
South Seas (1973), Whicker's World Down Under (1976), Whicker's
World: A Fast Boat to China(1984), Whicker's World: Living With
Uncle Sam (1985), Whicker's World: Living with Waltzing Maltilda (1988),
and Whicker's World: A Taste of Spain (1992). Two episodes
were filmed on the Orient Express, the first
on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express in
1982 and the second on the Eastern and Oriental Express in
1993.
In 1998, he made a six-part radio series, Around Whicker's World,
for BBC Radio 2. In 2009, he returned to television with Alan
Whicker's Journey of A Lifetime, a four-part series for the BBC in which he
revisited some of the locations and people shown in Whicker's World decades
earlier to see how their lives had progressed since his original interviews
with them. Included in this was a third visit to American plastic surgeon Dr.
Kurt Wagner and his wife Kathy, whom he had already made two programmes about
in 1973 and 1980 and had considered them among his favourite interviewees.
Whicker's World was a huge ratings success in the UK, and one
of the longest running series in the history of British television. The series
was nominated for a variety of awards throughout its run including
several BAFTA Awards. The 1977 episode "Palm
Beach" garnered three BAFTA nominations for Best Documentary, Best Sound,
and Best Editing, and Alan Whicker himself won the Richard Dimbleby Award at the 1977 BAFTA
ceremony and had also won a BAFTA in 1964 for his presentation in the
Factual category.
In 1971, the series won the Dumont International
Journalism Award at the University of California for
the 1969 episode "Papa Doc - The Black Sheep" (in which he
interviewed Haitian dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier). The episode
"Harold Robbins - I'm The World's Best Writer" won the Best Interview
Programme Award at the Hollywood Festival of World Television in 1972.
in June 1981.[12] Graham de Wilde also composed the theme tune
for the 1980s BBC episodes of Whicker's World.[13]
The Whicker's World Foundation is
an organization that was created by Alan Whicker to encourage the making of
quality documentary programmes. Now overseen by his partner Valerie
Kleeman, each year the foundation awards £80,000 to a new director with the
most promising pitch for an authored film or television documentary which
fulfils the criteria of the foundation and can be completed for screening with
the amount given. Whicker's World Foundation offers over £100,000 of prize
money each year, including funding and recognition awards for audio
documentaries.
He
was born on 2nd August 1921 and died 12th July 2013
You Write:
This from Griff
The Missing Court Lane School Play.
At last it has turned up.
Who had this program stashed away Peter? ( I am afraid someone sent
it to me ages ago Peter!!!)
Aah! how the memories came
flooding back This was for me and many others our 1st year at Court Lane Senior
School in 1957. Bill Greer, English Master was the drama teacher at the time as
I remember.
I couldn't remember the name of this
play in which I played the "Royal Doctor". Interesting though when
you look at the names of everyone listed in both plays. I can only picture most
of them now as they all were at the time........lol. Some of them
of course I have met much later in life at reunions.
Mr Greer went on to produce a couple of more school plays at Court Lane
as I recall and I know I was in one other play at Court Lane but cannot
remember any of the detail now.
It was a good grounding in amateur dramatics at both Court Lane &
Manor Court because I did go on to play in amateur theatre in my 20's at
Cowplain Drama Club Theatre performing 3 or 4 times in drama's such as
"An Inspector Calls" by J.B Priestly. and "The Ghost
Train" by Arnold Ridley.
Regards to All & A Merry Christmas for 2018 ..... Melvyn
( Griff ) Griffiths.
News and Views:
Stay in Touch
Peter
On this day 15th December
1960-65
On 15/12/1960 the number one single was
It's Now Or Never
- Elvis Presley and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The
top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada Granada
On 15/12/1961 the number one single was
Tower of Strength
- Frankie Vaughan and the number one album was Another Black &
White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and
One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town
On 15/12/1962 the number one single was
Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was West
Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to
becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 15/12/1963 the number one single was
I Want to Hold
Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the
Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of
today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool
were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 15/12/1964 the number one single was
I Feel Fine - The
Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night
- Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester
On 15/12/1965 the number one single was
Day Tripper/We Can
Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of
Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound
of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool
were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
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