Producer Paul Watson might not get away these days with an item such as To: pouring several pints of Matthew Brown mild down Jack Eccles and his pals.
Night after night. For about four months.
advertisement
Yes, it was Vox Pop time. Exactly 25 years ago when the regular Tuesday evening half-hour programme entertained, puzzled and annoyed the whole country.
It certainly divided Darwen.
Half thought it sent up the town just a bit too much; others thought it a right laugh.
Jack wasn't complaining. "Wi did o' reyt aht of it," grinned the former Belgrave shop steward.
And the programme-makers certainly did very well out of him and his pals, roofer Harvey Kay and boilerman Ted Pickup.
Mention Vox Pop to anyone who was around in the early months of 1983 and you get a response along the lines of: "Oh, yeah - Jack Eccles in the Highfield; Rendall Allen in the Underpants!"
Pressed, they quickly recall Stocky and his punk pals, company boss Alex Smith posing over dinner at his home well away from the stink from his lard refinery, the Young Conservatives guffawing round the bar at the Whitehall, the Cemetery gang, and businessman Jim Hirst muttering something about the sun being over the yard-arm . . .
It was wonderful, knockabout, class-divide comedy masquerading as an insight into what ordinary folk thought about life in general and that week's happenings in particular.
It went out at 7.40pm on a Tuesday, after Dr Who and before Terry and June.
Jack happily downed BBC pints and gave vociferous opinion on everything, from the role of the woman in modern society (In t' kitchen i' front o' t' stove) to the role of the police in fighting crime (Guns! Nay, wi aren't gonna give 'em guns are wi?)
"We got away wi' murder," Jack, 67, recalled.
"Things we couldn't mention today; we'd be locked up.
"There were none of this politically correct crap then.
"They used to fire pint after pint dehn us and then throw us leadin' questions.
"They didn't want shrinkin' violets. I gave 'em both barrels."
Not everyone was enthralled by Jack's joking; especially the bit about a woman's place being in the kitchen.
"He got hate mail from all over," recalled his wife Sybil.
"And he got plenty of stick at work."
Producer Watson has always been controversial. He knew just what he wanted from Vox Pop and got it.
Former mayor Rendall, a nice bloke, gave us one of television's most cringing dive-behind-the-settee moments as he exercised in his underpants on his lounge carpet.
The Vox Pop crew always piled into the Eccles' home to watch the programmes and they fell about laughing. Poor Ren.
They have radio interviews and activities lined up at their Blackburn offices over the next fortnight and Vox Pop clips will be shown on TV and on the BBC website.
One of the lads involved in the show and is on the Front page of the Darrener stole the directors car from the whitehall C.C at the end of filming party.
they got people **** and made them preform no wonder the town was also **** but not with beer, just **** off.
One of the lads involved in the show and is on the Front page of the Darrener stole the directors car from the whitehall C.C at the end of filming party.
they got people **** and made them preform no wonder the town was also **** but not with beer, just **** off.
Posted by: Margaret GRIMSHAW, France on 12:50pm Mon 17 Mar 08
My maiden name was Allen, my father was the late Rendall Allen (1922-1992)I was not happy with the way you poked fun at my late father. He was a marathon runner, a supremely fit man who exercised every single day and was a jogger before the word was invented. He ran the London Marathon. He raised thousands of pounds for the Hospice in Blackburn. The reason you were able to guffaw was because the cutting room deliberately left that in, without my late father's knowledge. He was really upset when he realised what they had done. They cut his remarks too and superimposed some of them with shots of film taken at other moments. He had to sign a document which meant that he had no access to the rushes. In other words they sent him up (and others too) just to make people laugh at Northerners. In fact the producer was a committed Socialist and it was a deliberate, underhand way to attack the then staunchly Conservative Darwen.
My maiden name was Allen, my father was the late Rendall Allen (1922-1992)I was not happy with the way you poked fun at my late father. He was a marathon runner, a supremely fit man who exercised every single day and was a jogger before the word was invented. He ran the London Marathon. He raised thousands of pounds for the Hospice in Blackburn. The reason you were able to guffaw was because the cutting room deliberately left that in, without my late father's knowledge. He was really upset when he realised what they had done. They cut his remarks too and superimposed some of them with shots of film taken at other moments. He had to sign a document which meant that he had no access to the rushes. In other words they sent him up (and others too) just to make people laugh at Northerners. In fact the producer was a committed Socialist and it was a deliberate, underhand way to attack the then staunchly Conservative Darwen.
I thought Nuttall was critical of the Vox Pop mob for setting up Rendall Allen whom your columnist made a point of calling "a nice bloke." And so he was. I knew him, too. But perhaps, as a businessman he should not have been so naive.
I thought Nuttall was critical of the Vox Pop mob for setting up Rendall Allen whom your columnist made a point of calling "a nice bloke." And so he was. I knew him, too. But perhaps, as a businessman he should not have been so naive.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
