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''Wogan'' is a British television
talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
which was broadcast on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
from 1982 to 1992 and presented by
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 Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...
. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in
Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...
, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast from the
BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting H ...
(TVC). Some shows were pre-recorded and then broadcast unedited "as live". ''Wogan'' ended its run in July 1992 and was replaced in the schedule by the
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
'' Eldorado''.


History

Wogan's first foray into TV interviewing, and indeed to British television, was in 1972 on '' Lunchtime with Wogan'' on ITV. In 1973, he left ITV and joined the BBC. In 1980, he was given another chat show; ''What's On, Wogan?'' running for 9 episodes in the spring of that year, primarily on Saturday evenings. In 1981, he had a chance to host a one-off chat show, ''Saturday Live''. Among his guests on this show were
Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American actor, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera ''Dallas'', and the handsome astronaut Major Anthon ...
, promoting '' SOB'', and Frank Hall. The show received a high profile with Hagman at the height of his fame starring as J. R. Ewing on ''
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
''. A year later, Wogan was given his own chat show, ''Wogan'', initially broadcast on a Tuesday evening, the series was moved the following year to Saturday nights to replace '' Parkinson''. When BBC1 was relaunched on 18 February 1985, the show was moved to weekday evenings at 7:00pm, three nights per week, and inter-scheduled with their new soap ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' to help streamline and maintain viewers throughout the course of the evening, as designed by the then-controller of BBC One,
Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...
. Grade said: "When I took over BBC1, I discovered there were wonderful things, it was just a case of where to put them." Grade also said "The series would bring a much needed element of surprise and unpredictability to BBC Television".


Cancellation

By December 1991, ''Wogan'' had lost 4 million viewers, and the show was axed. During this time,
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
often moved the Friday edition to a late night slot. The final edition was broadcast on 3 July 1992, and replaced with the ill-fated soap '' Eldorado''. Wogan briefly hosted a new weekly late night chat show, ''Terry Wogan's Friday Night'', which started on 2 October 1992. However the new series was not a success and was cancelled after 20 episodes, ultimately leading to Wogan returning to radio in his Radio 2 breakfast slot. The series ended on 5 March 1993. In 1996, Wogan criticised the BBC over its handling of the show since the BBC had refused his wish to give up the series in 1991, instead carrying on for a further year. Wogan said "I felt peeved by the insensitivity – no, incompetence of how it was handled". In March 2015,
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
launched a new compilation series, ''Wogan: the Best Of'' featuring selected interview segments and music performances from Wogan's past chat series, linked by new introductions.


''Wogan Now and Then''

Wogan presented ''Wogan Now and Then'' in 2006, for UKTV Gold and produced by Spun Gold Television. Wogan spoke again with former guests from original series along with new guests. Thirteen hour-long episodes were made.


Series


Guest hosts

Over the course of the show's run, when Wogan himself was unavailable to host the show, guest presenters were brought in, with Selina Scott being the first stand-in in 1985. Others included
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
(in 1986), Ronnie Corbett (in 1986),
Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...
(in 1986),
Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...
(in 1989),
Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...
(in 1989), Selina Scott (again in 1991), Jonathan Ross (in 1990),
Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer from Northern Ireland. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regula ...
(in 1991),
Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, including as Barbara Good in the television ...
, Esther Rantzen and
Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
. The most successful stand in was Sue Lawley (in 1988) who became the most frequent replacement for the host and indeed for some time was Wogan's 'official' stand in. When Lawley gained her own late night chat show '' Saturday Matters with Sue Lawley'' on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
in 1989, other celebrities again took it in turns to stand in for Wogan.


Notable interviews

A number of interviews on the show are well-remembered, and have featured on compilation clip shows. Some examples include: *
Anne Bancroft Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, tw ...
was only told that the show was being broadcast live right before her interview, which made her extremely uncomfortable. As she was announced, she stopped and counted to ten before proceeding to walk down the steps onto the stage and then restricted many of her answers to monosyllabic replies. *
Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...
announced his retirement from show business in 1988. *
George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
appeared on the show while drunk and used swear words. *
Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...
appeared as a guest in 1983. By this point, Black's career had been largely reduced to performing cabaret in clubs. According to Christopher Biggins in his autobiography, she "stormed back into the public consciousness with a barnstorming performance as a guest on ''Wogan'' in 1983, proving that we can all have second chances". After her appearance, people were "desperately trying to find her the right comeback vehicle". *
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
refused to co-operate during an impromptu interview following a performance by his band
Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American Rock music, rock band formed in 1988. The band consisted of English singer-songwriter David Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass and vocals ...
. As Wogan put it: "David Bowie, well, he probably wasn't at his best when I interviewed him. But I thought a solid slap would have helped the situation. I didn't hit him, of course, but it came close. For some reason best known to him, he came on the show unwilling to talk." *
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...
appeared on the show in 1990, doing somersaults and karate kicks as he came onto the stage, and then took his T-shirt off during the interview and gave it to Wogan as a gift. *
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...
remaining silent through his interview. *
Margi Clarke Margi Clarke (born 25 May 1954) is an English actress and radio and television presenter. She had a leading role in the film '' Letter to Brezhnev'' (1985), a low-budget film which had an international release. Later, Clarke played Jackie Dob ...
appeared on the show in the late 1980s wearing a scarf with the slogan "Media Sickness – More Contagious Than Aids" (coined by her then-partner Jamie Reid). During the interview, Clarke asked Wogan what he thought of "media sickness". This was a ploy on Clarke's part to get Wogan to say the phrase. As Clarke intended, Wogan responded "Media Sickness?" An off-air recording of Wogan speaking the words "media sickness" was duly sampled by Clarke and Reid and used as a dance record. *
Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times B ...
and Barbara Cartland appeared as joint guests in 1987, in which 86-year-old Cartland proceeded to slam Collins' novels for their racy content. Actor Ed Asner was also a guest and sat silently watching from the end of the couch as Collins and Cartland verbally sparred. *
Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...
was often announced as a potential guest, but always seemed to cancel at short notice, giving rise to media speculation that she was avoiding appearing on the show. When a special Christmas Day edition of the show featuring the cast of ''
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
'' was broadcast in 1985, Collins again refused to appear, though she did appear on the rival '' Des O'Connor Tonight'' show, which was broadcast by ITV at the same time that evening. Eventually, in 1988, she did appear on ''Wogan'', in a special programme dedicated to her. However, a subsequent appearance to promote one of her novels led to an extremely irritated exchange with the host. *
Fanny Cradock Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey (26 February 1909 – 27 December 1994), better known as Fanny Cradock, was an English restaurant critic, television cook and writer. She frequently appeared on television, at cookery demonstrations and in print with ...
made her last BBC TV appearance on the show in 1986 and jovially told Wogan his questioning was "very rude" and "very English". *
Patti Davis Patricia Ann Davis (' Reagan; born October 21, 1952) is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his second wife, Nancy Reagan. Early life and education Patricia Ann Reagan was born to Ronald and ...
, daughter of
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
, got into a heated argument with Wogan when he continually interrupted her and refused to allow her to make a point. She told him later in the interview that she was extremely angry at his behaviour. * Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, in her late nineties, reciting
Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...
's death scene from ''
Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'', a role she had first performed over eighty years before. * Simon Hayward. The BBC stopped an interview in 1989 with Simon Hayward, a former
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
with the Life Guards, just hours before he was due to appear on the ''Wogan'' show. Hayward insisted that he was innocent of drug smuggling offences. The decision was taken by the then Controller of BBC1, Jonathan Powell, after protests from several MPs. However, the BBC was accused of censorship and a Conservative MP, John Gorst, described the decision to ban Hayward from ''Wogan'' as "outrageous". *
Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular film stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades, and was a prominent figure in the G ...
appeared on the show in 1984 in one of his last public interviews, as he died of
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
-related complications the following year. *
David Icke David Vaughan Icke ( ; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist, author and a former Association football, footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more tha ...
appeared on the show in a turquoise tracksuit claiming to be "a son of the Godhead". When the studio audience began to laugh hysterically, Wogan responded: "They're not laughing with you; they're laughing ''at'' you." However, in the 2000s when Wogan interviewed Icke again on television, he said that he regretted his stance on the interview and offered Icke an apology. *
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
appeared in a special show, ''Wogan Meets Madonna'', in 1991, in which Wogan interviewed her in
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
. She had requested that the interview was filmed in black and white but was refused. The interview was watched by 6.81 million people. *
Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
''. The two became friends and Principal made further appearances on the show via satellite. * Vivienne Westwood appearing on the show in 1988 when it was being guest-hosted by Sue Lawley, and displaying her latest medically inspired collection. When the audience began to laugh at the outlandish designs, an offended Westwood told Lawley that if they didn't stop laughing, she would tell the models to stop coming out. This interview would later be parodied in the fictional '' Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge''.
Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat show host. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremon ...
was one of the other guests present in one of his final TV appearances. *
Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...
appeared on the Saturday night series to promote her exercise video, but was angered when she was told that the producers would not show a clip from the video as part of the interview and was quite hostile to Wogan's questioning as a result. At one point, she feigned to forget his name and asked him who he was, which clearly irritated the host.


References


External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0083504, title=Wogan 1982 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1980s British television talk shows 1990s British television talk shows BBC television talk shows British English-language television shows