 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Variety/Cabaret |
| Presented by | Bernard Manning Colin Crompton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 48 (6 Series) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Johnnie Hamp |
| Production company | Granada Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 13 April 1974 (1974-04-13) – 19 June 1977 (1977-06-19) |
The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club was a British television variety show created and produced byJohnnie Hamp forGranada Television. It ran for seven series from 1974 to 1977, with the final series retitledAt The Wheeltappers. It was set in a fictionalworking men's club in theNorth of England and was hosted by comedianColin Crompton as the club's chairman. The show's compere was usuallyBernard Manning, who as well as telling jokes and introducing acts often started and finished the show with a song. Crompton was frequently the butt of his jokes, acting as Manning'sstooge.
The set was arranged like a club, so that, rather than being arranged interraced seating thestudio audience would be seated around tables and be served beer and snacks, join in asingalong and otherwise engage inaudience participation.
Crompton, as chairman of the club, would sit at a small table in the corner watching proceedings with apparent lack of interest. He had a large manual fire bell which he would wind and sound purportedly to attract the audience's attention after an act, announcing various notices from "the Committee" (that is, the officials of the social club of which he was chairman), usually misdemeanours by the club's members or the committee itself. For example: "On behalf of the Committee, I should like to tell you we made a mistake in offering the raffle prize of adiving suit. It is in fact adivan suite."
Special episodes were broadcast on New Year's Eve 1974 and 1975.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The show featured acts regularly seen on the Northern club circuit, and well-established performers who did well in theatres and clubs, but did not succeed so well on British television, such as 1950s croonerJohnnie Ray. It also gave newer acts their first television exposure, such asCannon & Ball,The Grumbleweeds,The Dooleys andPaul Daniels. Some artists to appear on the show included:
The show was produced byJohnnie Hamp atGranada Studios in Manchester, although one episode (Series 2, ep. 2) was filmed at the Layton Institute,Blackpool.
ActressLiz Dawn appeared as a waitress before she became more famous for her role asVera Duckworth inCoronation Street (also recorded by Granada in Manchester).
A clip from the show can be seen in the film24 Hour Party People (2002), whereShaun Ryder, in his formative years, is seen watchingKarl Denver perform "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (a.k.a. "Wimoweh").
The music video toNoel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' single "Black Star Dancing" depicts the band performing on the show.[1]
The series was, for at least part of its run, confined to a midnight slot byLondon Weekend Television andSouthern Television, who felt it did not suit their, perceived, more upmarket demographics.[citation needed]
In December 2024 the UK channelTalking Pictures TV began broadcasting the series.
Wheeltappers andshunters are railway workers. They were commonly employed bysteam railways in Britain and elsewhere, but are still found both on British railways and in Eastern Europe.
Although often called "working men's clubs", most such clubs admitted the wives and other women family of the working man, at least some days of the week. This is echoed in the programme's audience being as much female as male.
Special:
Special:
Special:
Series 6 is a spin-off show calledAt The Wheeltappers, with a format similar to the original but having only one act for the whole show.[27]
According to Talking Pictures Episode 47 was the end of the series (and the show). So Episode 48 might not exist.[30]
Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Attempt to do for club acts whatStars and Garters had done for pub entertainers, i.e. present them in a fictitious and larger-than-life club setting. Thanks to a droll running performance by Colin Crompton as the entertainments committee chairman and insults from ex-Comedians comic Bernard Manning it became popular viewing. There were also one or two special (e.g. New Year) editions and a seaside outing".[31]
The complete first series ofThe Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club was released on DVD in September 2009 and the second series (including the New Year's Eve Special) was released in July 2010 with the complete third and fourth series being released in February and June 2011. The complete fifth series was released on 23 April 2012, followed by the complete sixth (and final) series. The format for the sixth series has changed, each episode being 30 minutes with just one major performer in each.