Wogan

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Wogan
WoganTC1985.jpg
1985 opening titles
Genre Chat show
Presented by Terry Wogan
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series12
No. of episodes1,131
Production
Production locations BBC Television Theatre (1982–91)
BBC Television Centre (1991–92)
Running time30–52 minutes
Original release
Network BBC One
Release4 May 1982 (1982-05-04) –
3 July 1992 (1992-07-03)
Related
  • Terry Wogan's Friday Night (1992–93)
  • Wogan Now and Then (2006)
  • Wogan: the Best Of (2015)

Wogan is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 to 1992 and presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast from the BBC Television Centre (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 Eldorado .

Contents

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? [1] 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, 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 . 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 to help streamline and maintain viewers throughout the course of the evening, as designed by the then-controller of BBC One, Michael Grade. [2] Grade said: "When I took over BBC1, I discovered there were wonderful things, it was just a case of where to put them." [3] Grade also said "The series would bring a much needed element of surprise and unpredictability to BBC Television". [4]

Cancellation

By December 1991 Wogan had lost 4 million viewers, and the show was axed. [5] [6] During this time BBC Scotland often moved the Friday edition to a late night slot. The final edition was broadcast on 3 July 1992, [7] 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. [8] 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. [9]

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". [10]

In March 2015 BBC Two 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. [11]

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. [12]

Series

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
14 May 1982 [13] 22 June 1982 [14] 8
215 January 1983 [15] 16 April 1983 [16] 13 [15]
314 January 1984 [17] 7 April 1984 [18] 13
422 September 1984 [19] 25 December 1984 [20]
518 February 198527 December 1985137
63 January 198631 December 1986150
72 January 198730 December 1987
81 January 198830 December 1988
94 January 198929 December 1989
103 January 199024 December 1990
112 January 199127 December 1991
126 January 19923 July 199278

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 (in 1986), Kenneth Williams (in 1986), [21] Ben Elton (in 1989), Joanna Lumley (in 1989), Selina Scott (again in 1991), Jonathan Ross (in 1990), Gloria Hunniford (in 1991), Felicity Kendal, Esther Rantzen and Bruce Forsyth. 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 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:

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References

  1. ↑ "What's on Wogan?". The Radio Times (2950): 23. 22 May 1980 – via BBC Genome.
  2. ↑ Fiddick, Peter (4 February 1985). "Battle plan that opens a new panorama". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Michael Grade – Television – Transdiffusion Broadcasting System". Transdiffusion.org. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  4. ↑ BBC's changes put Wogan to the foreBarker, DennisThe Guardian (1959–2003); 31 January 1985;ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer
  5. ↑ Wogan to host new shows. by Melinda Wittstock, Media Correspondent. The Times (London, England), Monday, 2 December 1991; pg. 2;
  6. ↑ Wogan's show to be axed in BBC shake-up Richard Brooks Media Editor The Observer (1901– 2003); 1 December 1991;
  7. ↑ Burrell, Ian (23 January 2006). "Terry Wogan: Welcome to his world". The Independent . London, UK. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
  8. ↑ "Terry Wogan's Friday Night". 2 October 1992. p. 92 – via BBC Genome.
  9. ↑ "Terry Wogan's Friday Night". 5 March 1993. p. 82 – via BBC Genome.
  10. ↑ Wogan attacks 'incompetent' BBC during Eldorado saga Andrew CuIf Media Correspondent. The Guardian (1959–2003) [London (UK)] 14 May 1996:
  11. ↑ "BBC Two – Wogan: The Best Of". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "Wogan, Now & Then - Spun Gold". www.spungoldtv.com. 12 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3051): 51. 29 April 1982 – via BBC Genome.
  14. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3058): 40. 17 June 1982 – via BBC Genome.
  15. 1 2 "Wogan". The Radio Times (3088): 37. 13 January 1983 – via BBC Genome.
  16. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3101): 22. 14 April 1983 – via BBC Genome.
  17. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3140): 25. 13 January 1984 – via BBC Genome.
  18. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3152): 23. 5 April 1984 – via BBC Genome.
  19. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3176): 34. 20 September 1984 – via BBC Genome.
  20. ↑ "Wogan". The Radio Times (3189): 58. 20 December 1984 – via BBC Genome.
  21. ↑ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 323. ISBN   978-1-84854-195-5.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Hogan, Michael (13 January 2018). "Sir Terry Wogan's 10 best TV moments" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  23. 1 2 3 "Sir Terry's long career on radio". BBC News. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  24. ↑ Biggins, Christopher (2009). Just Biggins: My Story. John Blake. ISBN   978-1844546541.
  25. ↑ "'I nearly hit Bowie' confesses Wogan". Irish Independent. 30 August 2000. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  26. ↑ "Veteran BBC broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan dies". abc.net. 31 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "Issue #110 (August 10, 2011)". newvulgate.blogspot.co.uk. 13 August 2011.
  28. ↑ Interview with Jamie Reid and Margi Clarke, Vague 22 – Media Sickness: More Contagious Than AIDS, AK Press 1990
  29. ↑ "Hayward banned from Wogan show". The Herald. Glasgow. 14 September 1989. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  30. ↑ "Wogan: The Best Of – Episode guide – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "Best Wogan chat show interviews: George Best turns up drunk, David Icke 'son of god'". 31 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "Music lifts share of Christmas TV" (PDF). Music Week . 25 January 1992. p. 4. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  33. ↑ Frankel, Susannah (29 October 2013). "A salute to Westwood in her own fashion". The Independent. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
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