It'll Be Alright on the Night

Last updated

It'll Be Alright on the Night
Alright on the Night ITV.jpeg
Presented by Denis Norden
Griff Rhys Jones
Narrated by David Walliams
Opening themeExport International by Graham de Wilde (1981)
It'll Be Alright on the Night by Rod Argent and Peter Hooke (1990–)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes57
Production
Production locations The London Studios
(1977–2016)
Running time45–60 minutes
(including adverts)
Production companies LWT (1977–2004)
Granada (2004–2006)
ITV Productions (2008)
ITV Studios (2011–2021)
Lifted Entertainment (2021–present)
Original release
Network ITV
Release18 September 1977 (1977-09-18) –
present
Related
Auntie's Bloomers
Outtake TV
TV's Bloopers &
Practical Jokes
TV's Naughtiest Blunders

It'll be Alright on the Night is a British television bloopers programme broadcast on ITV and produced by ITV Studios. It was one of the first series created with the specific purpose of showing behind the scenes bloopers from film and TV. [1]

Contents

The programme was originally presented by Denis Norden from 1977 until 2006. Griff Rhys Jones took over as presenter from 2008 until 2016. Since 2018, the series has been narrated by David Walliams. [2]

Format

The programme is usually one hour in length and aired in ITV's Saturday evening entertainment slot. However, some of the first few episodes up to and including It'll be Alright on the Night 6 which aired in 1990, originally went out on a Sunday evening. Two episodes also debuted on a Friday: It'll be Alright on the Night 3 and It'll be Alright on Christmas Night on Christmas Day 1981 and 1987 respectively. The programme's success led to the competing BBC One series Auntie's Bloomers presented by Terry Wogan, which focused on bloopers from some of the BBC archives.

The programme followed a simple format. Norden, traditionally holding a clipboard in his hand, appeared on an otherwise empty stage and delivered a humorous piece to camera, followed by a selection of outtakes taken from various sources. Popular sources for clips include numerous British and American sitcoms, news reports and foreign broadcasts.

The programme returned in September 2008 with Griff Rhys Jones who presented 11 episodes of It'll be Alright on the Night. The last episode featuring Rhys Jones was broadcast on 4 June 2016. After a two-year break, the programme returned in summer 2018 with brand new episodes featuring David Walliams as narrator, instead of a presenter in the studio. New editions of the programme, narrated again by Walliams, began airing from September 2020. These editions introduced a new feature entitled the 'Big Cock-Up Question' where before each advert break, a small portion of a clip would be played before it stops and Walliams asks viewers to guess what happens next, the answer being revealed following the break.

Episodes

The audience figures (where given) are those for the initial transmission of an episode. In the early years of the series, episodes sometimes achieved higher ratings on repeat showings. For instance, It'll be Alright on the Night 2 (first shown on 28 October 1979) was watched by 16 million viewers for a repeat showing in February 1983, while It'll be Alright on the Night 4 (first shown on 11 March 1984) was watched by 18.5 million viewers on its initial repeat in January 1985. A further repeat of The Second Worst of Alright on the Night (first shown on 24 November 1985) achieved the programme's highest ratings of 19.92 million in February 1992. [3] [4]

EpisodeEpisode nameOriginal airdatePresenter/NarratorViewers
(millions)		Ref.
1It'll be Alright on the Night 118 September 1977 Denis Norden 16.45 [5]
2It'll be Alright on the Night 228 October 1979—
3The Worst of Alright on the Night21 September 1980—
4It'll be Alright on the Night 325 December 1981—
5It'll be Alright on the Night 411 March 198416.90 [6]
6It'll be Alright Late at Night11 July 1985—
7The Second Worst of Alright on the Night24 November 198514.55
8It'll be Alright on Christmas Night [lower-alpha 1] 25 December 198717.95 [7]
910 Years of It'll be Alright on the Night25 December 1988—
10It'll be Alright on the Night 61 December 199017.92 [8]
11It'll be Alright on the Night 72 January 199315.03 [9]
12The Utterly Worst of Alright on the Night10 April 1994—
13The Kids from Alright on the Night26 November 1994—
14It'll be Alright on the Night 810 December 1994—
15Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip12 October 199613.00 [10]
16It'll be Alright on the Night 1015 November 1997—
1721 Years of Alright on the Night24 January 1998—
18It'll be Alright on the Night 112 October 199910.12 [11]
19It'll be Alright on the Night 1227 January 20019.17
20It'll be Alright on Election Night7 June 20016.77
21It'll be Alright on the Night 1317 August 20016.61
22It'll be Alright on the Night 15: Silver Jubilee Special [lower-alpha 2] 14 September 20028.11
23More Kids from Alright on the Night28 September 20025.61
24Alright on the Night's All-Star Special31 August 20039.63
25It'll be Alright on the Night 166 September 20035.53
26It'll be Alright on the Night 182 October 20046.89
27It'll be Alright on the Night 1924 December 20045.84
28Alright on the Night's 50 Years of ITV17 September 20056.28
29It'll be Alright on the Night 2018 March 20065.32
30It'll be Alright on the Night 2008: Part 120 September 2008 Griff Rhys Jones 4.30
31It'll be Alright on the Night 2008: Part 225 December 20083.99
32It'll be Alright on the Night 2011: Part 128 December 20114.95
33It'll be Alright on the Night 2011: Part 231 December 20113.73
34All New It'll be Alright on the Night 201228 December 20123.91
35All New It'll be Alright on the Night 2014: Episode 15 January 20143.86
36It'll be Alright on the Night's Best of the Worst
(also known as All New It'll be Alright on the Night 2014: Episode 2)		12 January 20143.64
37All New It'll be Alright on the Night 2014: Episode 319 May 20143.11
38All New It'll be Alright on the Night 2014: Episode 428 December 20143.43
39It'll be Alright on the Night 201530 December 20153.80
40All New It'll be Alright on the Night 20164 June 20162.76
41David Walliams Presents – Return of Alright on the Night22 August 2018 [lower-alpha 3] David Walliams 2.81
42David Walliams Presents – Revenge of Alright on the Night29 August 2018 [lower-alpha 4] 2.61
43It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 111 September 20202.62
44It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 25 December 20202.80
45It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 312 December 20202.94
46It'll be Alright on the Night at Christmas
(also known as It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 4)		19 December 20203.02 [12]
47It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 530 April 2021 [lower-alpha 5] <1.79 [13]
48It'll be Alright on the Night S34: Episode 65 June 20212.65 [14]
49It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 117 December 2021—
50It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 222 April 20221.84 [15]
51It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 329 April 20221.70 [16]
52It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 46 May 20221.71 [17]
53It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 527 May 2022—
54It'll be Alright on the Night S35: Episode 62 September 2022—
55It'll be Alright on the Night S36: Episode 12 December 20222.05 [18]
56It'll be Alright on the Night S36: Episode 224 December 2022—
57It'll be Alright on the Night S36: Episode 33 February 20242.17 [19]
58It'll Be Alright on the Night S36: Episode 410 May 20241.50 [19]
59It'll Be Alright on the Night S36: Episode 517 May 20241.24

Broadcasting

Although a staple of ITV's light entertainment programming for over 40 years, few editions of It'll be Alright on the Night have been produced, with rarely more than one new episode a year being screened. Episodes presented by Denis Norden have normally included a number in their title screens to aid identification with the audience, while from 2008 to 2016, episodes presented by Griff Rhys Jones and from 2018 onwards, episodes narrated by David Walliams no longer did so. Towards the end of the Denis Norden era, episodes up to and including It'll be Alright on the Night 20 were prefixed with "All New" to avoid viewer confusion with repeat screenings of earlier episodes.

During its run, several special episodes were also made, including anniversary specials, a late night edition for Channel 4 with more mature adult content and a one-off political special to mark the 2001 general election.

The majority of the episodes were filmed at The London Studios, but in the programme's later years, the Granada studios in Manchester were also used, as well as the now-closed (and demolished) Meridian studios at Northam, Southampton. A few editions were also filmed on-location; these included Alright on the Night's Cockup Trip which was presented from the Great Cockup fell in the Lake District, 21 Years of Alright on the Night was presented on a yacht supposedly in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle (which, in reality, was in the south of France) and It'll be Alright on the Night 11, which was presented from an empty Haymarket Theatre, London.

During its run, the series has had three main producers: Paul Smith (1977–1984), Paul Lewis (1984–2002) and Simon Withington (2003–2006). Sean Miller, James Sunderland and Stephanie Dennis also produced some episodes. Grant Philpott was the series producer (2011, 2012 and 2018) and Simon Withington, who previously served as a producer from 2003 to 2006 has been the executive producer from 2014 to 2016. In 2020, Chris Thornton became the series producer.

The show has never been released on DVD or in any streaming format, in part due to rights issues. [20]

Denis Norden's Laughter File

The series also inspired the spin-off programme Denis Norden's Laughter File, which began airing on 22 September 1991 and ran until 13 May 2006. Although it largely followed the same format as its sister programme, while It'll be Alright on the Night focused solely on bloopers/outtakes, Laughter File also screened clips that included pranks and practical jokes. As with It'll be Alright on the Night, later episodes included the words "All New" in their titles to avoid viewer confusion with repeat screenings of earlier episodes.

The theme music used for Denis Norden's Laughter File throughout the whole of its run was a library piece, called "Dress to Kill" by Errol Reid. The programme's producers were Paul Lewis (1991–2002) and Simon Withington (2002–2006).

Episodes

EpisodeEpisode nameOriginal airdateViewers
(millions)		Ref.
1Denis Norden's 1st Laughter File22 September 199117.39 [21]
2Denis Norden's 2nd Laughter File4 October 1997—
3Denis Norden's 3rd Laughter File5 December 199810.00 [11]
4Denis Norden's 4th Laughter File16 October 19998.46
5Denis Norden's 5th Laughter File30 September 20008.02
6Denis Norden's 6th Laughter File15 October 20017.21
7Denis Norden's 7th Laughter File30 March 20025.67
8Denis Norden's 8th Laughter File9 November 20026.62
9Denis Norden's 9th Laughter File4 October 20035.53
10Denis Norden's Christmas Laughter File Special27 December 20038.10
11Denis Norden's All New 11th Laughter File26 December 20045.73
12Denis Norden's All New 12th Laughter File12 February 20055.54
13Denis Norden's All New 13th Laughter File13 May 20063.88

Notes

  1. ↑ Retitled and re-edited as It'll be Alright on the Night 5 for subsequent repeats.
  2. ↑ Retitled and re-edited as 25 Years of Alright on the Night for subsequent repeats.
  3. ↑ Scheduled to be aired on 2 July 2018, but was moved five days later due to the England v Colombia World Cup game going into extra time. The 7 July 2018 date was moved again to 22 August 2018 due to the Russia v Croatia World Cup game going into extra time.
  4. ↑ Scheduled to be aired on 3 July 2018, but was moved seven days later due to the England v Colombia World Cup game going into extra time. The 10 July 2018 date was moved again to 29 August 2018 due to the Russia v Croatia World Cup game going into extra time.
  5. ↑ This episode was scheduled at short notice, after the last episode of drama Viewpoint - originally planned to air that time - was dropped hours before due to sexual misconduct allegations against actor Noel Clarke.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Norden</span> English writer and TV presenter (1922–2018)

Denis Mostyn Norden was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir. Muir and Norden remained associated for more than 50 years, appearing regularly together on the radio panel programmes My Word! and My Music after they stopped collaborating on scripts. He also wrote scripts for Hollywood films. He presented television programmes on ITV for many years, including the nostalgia quiz Looks Familiar and blooper shows It'll be Alright on the Night and Laughter File.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griff Rhys Jones</span> Welsh actor and comedian (born 1953)

Griffith Rhys Jones is a Welsh actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. He and Smith came to national attention in the 1980s for their work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blooper</span> Short film or video clip containing a mistake

A blooper is short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words or technical errors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Comedy Awards</span> British awards ceremony

The National Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.

It's Now or Never is a British game show, hosted by Phillip Schofield that aired on ITV, for a period of two episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Walliams</span> English comedian, writer and actor (born 1971)

David Edward Williams, known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent on ITV. He is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 37 million copies worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas tape</span>

In relation to the television industry, Christmas tapes are unendorsed videotapes compiled by technical staff for their personal amusement and peers' enjoyment. The name originates from the 1950s, when the material was filmed at the staff's Christmas parties where impromptu sketches were carried out. As time progressed, other types of material were included on the videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Cockup</span> Mountain in the English Lake District

Great Cockup is a fell in the northern region of the English Lake District, one of the four Uldale Fells.

This is a list of British television related events from 1977.

The One... is a comedy sketch television series starring Ronnie Corbett, of The Two Ronnies, Lenny Henry of The Lenny Henry Show, Jasper Carrott, comedian and former presenter of ITV game show Golden Balls and Welsh comedian and actor Griff Rhys Jones, also presenter of ITV clip series It'll Be Alright on the Night. It was devised by Matt Lucas, David Walliams and Geoff Posner for Little Britain Productions. Walliams departed the project by the time of the full series.

<i>Marcella</i> (TV series) British television series

Marcella is a British Nordic noir detective series, written, directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media for ITV and distributed worldwide by Buccaneer's parent company Cineflix. It was first shown on ITV on 4 April 2016, with seven further episodes released weekly.

Married at First Sight is a British television programme where strangers start a marriagelike relationship with each other, meeting only minutes beforehand. Upon returning, they live together for a period of time, during which they meet at commitment ceremonies and choose whether or not they will continue their relationship. On 14 March 2021, Owen and Michelle from Series 5 became the first couple to celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary together.

<i>The Nightly Show</i> (British TV series)

The Nightly Show is a British late-night entertainment and chat show hosted by various presenters each week, which premiered on 27 February 2017 and ended on 23 April 2017. The show aired on ITV at 10:00 pm on Monday to Friday evenings. Each episode was taped at the Cochrane Theatre in London at 6:00 pm, every weekday, four hours before that night's episode was scheduled to air on ITV.

Viewpoint is a British police procedural drama thriller television miniseries created by Harry Bradbeer and Ed Whitmore and starring Noel Clarke and Alexandra Roach. Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, it aired on ITV nightly from 26 April 2021, with the final episode premiering exclusively on ITV Hub and STV Player.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its nineteenth series with a launch show on 18 September 2021 on BBC One, and the live shows beginning on 25 September. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Rylan Clark-Neal returned to host Strictly: It Takes Two alongside new presenter Janette Manrara, who replaced Zoe Ball. In June 2021, the BBC announced that Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood would return to the judging panel. Anton Du Beke, who served as a guest judge in the previous series, joined the panel in place of Bruno Tonioli, who did not return for the second year in a row due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>CelebAbility</i> British game show

CelebAbility is a British panel show that aired on ITV2 from 15 June 2017 to 27 July 2023 and is presented by Iain Stirling.

References

  1. ↑ "What time is Return of Alright on the Night with David Walliams on TV?". RadioTimes. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  2. ↑ Darvill, Josh (1 September 2020). "It'll be Alright on the Night start date as David Walliams hosts new series". TellyMix.
  3. ↑ "1983 – Top 10 programmes". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "1985 – Top 10 programmes". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Jictar Ratings" . The Stage. 29 September 1977. p. 20. Retrieved 22 December 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Ratings" . The Stage. 22 March 1984. p. 18. Retrieved 22 December 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ Young, Graham (8 January 1988). "Hilda beats Dirty Den" . Sandwell Evening Mail. p. 10. Retrieved 22 December 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "1990 – Top 10 programmes". BARB. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Mr Bean jumps over his rivals" . Aberdeen Evening Express. 13 January 1993. p. 10. Retrieved 22 December 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "Ratings Watch" . The Stage. 31 October 1996. p. 24. Retrieved 22 December 2020– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. 1 2 "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018)". BARB. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "Top programmes report - Dec 14-20". thinkbox.tv. 28 December 2020. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 17, April 26 - May 02 - ITV". thinkbox.tv. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 22, May 31 - June 06 - ITV". thinkbox.tv. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 16, April 18–24 - ITV". thinkbox.tv. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 17, April 25 - May 01". thinkbox.tv. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 18, May 02–08". thinkbox.tv. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "Top programmes report - week 48, November 28 - December 04 - ITV1". Thinkbox. 12 December 2022. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  19. 1 2 "Assorted consolidated Thinkbox ratings". Imgur. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  20. ↑ "It'll be Alright on the Night DVD?". 14 June 2012.
  21. ↑ "1991 – Top 10 programmes". BARB. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.