''New Faces'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by

Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...

, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the

ITV network ITV is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the ol ...

by ATV, and later by

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

Original series: 1973–1978

The show first aired as a pilot on the ATV network on 31 May 1973 with host

and a judging panel consisting of

Noele Gordon Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Spanish Eyes". A further pilot aired on 7 July 1973 with new host Derek Hobson and a full series followed from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978. It was recorded at the ATV Centre in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. The show's theme tune, "You're a Star!", was performed by singer

Carl Wayne Carl Wayne (born Colin David Tooley; 18 August 1943 – 31 August 2004) was an English singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead singer of The Move in the 1960s. Early days Wayne was born in Winson Green, Birmingham, and grew up in ...

, formerly of

The Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their car ...

and it was eventually released, becoming a minor hit. Winners went on to have careers in television entertainment, such as Lenny Henry the 1975 competition winner. Many top entertainers began their careers with a performance on this programme. The acts were evaluated by a panel of experts, including

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Ch ...

, Clifford Davis, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Ed Stewart, Jack Parnell, Alan A. Freeman, Muriel Young,

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scot ...

, Lionel Blair, Ingrid Pitt, Shaw Taylor,

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

and

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

. Four judges would make up the panel each week. Contestants received marks out of ten from the four judges in three categories such as "presentation", "content" and "star quality" – The "star quality" category was later replaced by "entertainment value". The highest score any act could attain was thus 120 points.

Patti Boulaye Patricia Ngozi Komlosy OBE (née Ebigwei; born 3 May 1954), known professionally as Patti Boulaye, is a British-Nigerian singer, actress and artist who rose to prominence after winning ''New Faces'' in 1978 and was among the leading black Brit ...

was the only act who ever attained the maximum mark, doing so in the programme's final season. Les Dennis received 119 points, with only Tony Hatch giving him less than a perfect '10' for Presentation. Arthur Askey was on the same panel and started singing "Tony is a spoilsport" when Hatch awarded Dennis 9 as his final score.

Series 1–6 Winners

Series One Final (1973)

Series Two Final (1974)

Series Three Final (1975)

Series Five Final (1977)

Series Six Final (1978)

Revived version

The series was revived by

for three series between 1986 and 1988, presented by past winner, Marti Caine. Her catchphrase was bellowed at the voting studio audience: "Press your buttons... NOW!". The show also featured a panel of experts including the journalist

Nina Myskow Nina Myskow (born Janina Marcela Myskow) is a British journalist and television personality who was a columnist for '' The Sun'' and the '' News of the World'', under the byline "The Bitch on the Box", in the 1980s. She appeared on '' New Faces'' ...

, who often made critical comments. In this incarnation, the home audience decided who won by sending in postcards ( phone voting was soon introduced by BBC rival '' Bob Says Opportunity Knocks''), though, the audience did vote for its favourite act using a gigantic lightboard known as

Spaghetti Junction Spaghetti junction is a nickname sometimes given to a complex or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that is said to resemble a plate of spaghetti. Such interchanges may incorporate a variety of interchange design elements in ord ...

lighting up to a varying degree as they pushed their buttons.

1986 final

Note: The James Stone who appeared in this final is the same one who appeared in the ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

'' semi-finals of 2008.

1987 final

1988 final

The 1988 final took place at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday 3 December 1988 and was hosted by the 1975 winner Marti Caine. Note: Vocalist Tim Murray is the son of 1950s singer

Ruby Murray Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...

Famous winners and contestants

* Jeffrey Hooper – Appeared in the Grand Final of series two in July 1974. * Marti Caine - Series three winner in July 1975. * Lenny Henry – Multiple wins in 1975. *

Michael Barrymore Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English actor, comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s ...

* Joe Pasquale – 2nd in 1987. Pasquale won his heat but he came second in the final. * Roy Walker * The Chuckle Brothers – Appeared under the names Paul and Barry Harman in 1974. * Malandra Burrows – Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974 and was the youngest heat winner at nine years old. * Carline and Walling *

Nick Van Eede Nick Van Eede (born Nicholas Eede, 14 June 1958) is an English musician, producer and songwriter. He is best known for singing and writing the 1986 No. 1 power ballad, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" for his band Cutting Crew, which saw internati ...

- Appeared in band Twice Bitten. Would later have huge success with Cutting Crew with his song (I Just) Died In Your Arms in 1986 & 1987 *

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

- Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974. * Terry St. Clair – Appeared on series two in June 1974. *

Roger De Courcey Roger De Courcey (born 10 December 1944 in London, England) is a British ventriloquist, best known for performing with Nookie Bear. He was the winner of the 1976 '' New Faces'' televised talent competition grand final. Biography De Courcey ha ...

and Nookie Bear – Winners of the 1976 Grand Final. * Nicol and Marsh's Easy Street – Runners-up in 1976. * Mick Miller * Les Dennis - Appeared in series one, two and twice in series three making the All Winners Final in November 1974. * Showaddywaddy - Runners-up in the Grand Final of series one in December 1973. * Jim Davidson * Gary Wilmot and Judy McPhee *

Billy Pearce Billy Pearce (born 1 February 1951) is an English performer, comedian, actor and entertainer. A regular on UK television in the 1980s and 1990s, Pearce has been described as a "supreme entertainer". He particularly loves performing at the Alhambr ...

* Aiden J. Harvey - Winner of series two. *

– Appeared in the last 1970s edition of the show and was the only contestant ever to receive the maximum 120 points. *

Stevie Riks Stevie Riks (born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England) is a comedian, impressionist, comedy writer and performer, artist who paints acrylic on canvas artwork of the artists he impersonates, voice-over artist and musician. Career Stevie Riks b ...

– Highest scoring contestant ever on the show. * Max Bacon * Sweet Sensation – From Manchester and fronted by 15-year-old Marcel King went on to become the first black British born soul band to hit the number spot in UK charts in September 1974 with hit record 'Sad Sweet Dreamer'. * Andy Cameron * Sheer Elegance – Pop trio who went on to have two hit singles in 1976. * Lance Ellington- 1977 winner sang with the late Bet Hannah as singing duo Koffee'n'Kreme. *

Roy 'Chubby' Brown Roy Chubby Brown (born 3 February 1945) is an English stand-up comedian whose act consists of offensive humour, high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness. Early life Roy Chubby Brown (born ...

– 10 December 1977. * Paul Zenon - 21 November 1986. * Bonnie Tyler - Appeared with her grou
Imagination
in Series Two *

Our Kid Our Kid were a British vocal group discovered by the ITV show, ''New Faces'', winning an edition of the programme on 1 May 1976, although they did not go on to reach the series grand final. They then had a number two hit single on the UK Singles ...

- Won an edition in May 1976 and scored a number two hit single on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

with "You Just Might See Me Cry".

Other winners and contestants

* Penny Black – Extremely popular female fronted five piece band from Walsall. Appeared 4 December 1976 opening the show performing Kiki Dee's "I Got the Music in Me". Penny Black's TV lineup included Tiki Jones (vocals), Barry Underhill (Bass guitar & vocals), Rob Wood (Lead guitar & vocals), Roger Hayward (Hammond organ & vocals), and John Perkins (Drums). An EP was recorded to coincide with the New Faces TV appearance however it was never released. Penny Black performed with various personnel changes with Underhill an ever present from 1974 until 1989 when they changed their name to PARIS and introduced a revamped modern 'romantics' image initiated by their latest female vocalist, Paula Tuckley. Penny Black/PARIS performed around the UK heavily throughout the 70's & 80's establishing a strong fan base. They recorded 'Inside These 4 Walls' written by Underhill/Wood in 1981, with 'Teenager in Love' on the B-side, before disbanding in late 1991, however, Underhill & Wood continued as a duo until 1999. PARIS reformed in July 2012 with the original band members to perform a 'One Night Only' Charity gig in November that year, however the gig was so successful they decided to carry on performing, until Underhill left the band in early 2014 and PARIS finally disbanded shortly afterwards.
The Glentones
– 18 piece high school big band playing music from the

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the US Army Air Forc ...

era.
Charlie James
– Female singer – Heat winner, December 1973. * Mike McCabe – Comedian.
Bokkle Green
– Pop music duo from Wolverhampton performing a song written by member Kevin Clark on the 24.11.73 episode. Kevin went on to become a successful musician, songwriter & record producer ("Crush" by Jennifer Paige). * Martin Berger * Al Brown – Comedian and father of television personality Claire Sweeney. * Pete Hartley – Won audience vote in 1987.
Pete Price
* Dave Curtis – Vocalist.
Son of a Gun
– Won in 1975 with 111 points beating Paul Shane. They did a number of TV shows and were signed to

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. They lost to Al Dean in the All Winners Final, which also featured Lenny Henry.
Sparrow

M3
– Three sisters, Marilyn, Mary and Maureen Stevens. * Walker and Cadman * Professor Steve Green – Pianist and docto

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Flying+doctor+saves+baby+girl+using+flat+lemonade.-a0138212838] * Dragon's Playground – Band. * David Gold – Vocalist. * Jimmy Tamley – Beat Joe Pasquale. * Crick's Canine Wonders
Darren Stuart

Frank Leyton

Frank Yonco and Kit Connor
* The Mad Hatters * Rabbit – Cabaret band. * Sandra Christie – Voice of Edith Piaf.
The Libra Brothers
Three-piece band from Barnsley – members were Frank Cawthrow, Charlie Foster and Gordon Scholey. * Rod and Mark Lyons – Father and son ventriloquist duo who had a minor hit single in Germany with the Neil Sedaka song "Oh, Carol!".
Ground Pepper
– Band. Song – Draculamania 1 March 1975 series 3 episode 24
Pyramid
- comedy showgroup from Gateshead – Steve Laidlaw, Allen Meche and Brian Pick.
Colin "fingers" Henry
* Inter-City Union six-piece Soul/Funk group from London. * The comedy character John Shuttleworth is managed by "Ken Worthington", a fictional Clarinet player and fictional New Faces runner-up. Worthington's voice is provided by actor Graham Fellows.

Transmissions

ATV

Series 3 was not fully broadcast on Scottish Television, with episodes not being broadcast during the weekends, which resulted in their votes not being counted. Episodes were instead broadcast on a Thursday evening between December 1974 and July 1975.