The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Parky’s in town
Whitehall Theatre, Dundee, June 1
Legendary talk show host Michael Parkinson’s career went stellar after he landed his own BBC TV series in 1971.
Born near Barnsley in Yorkshire’s West Riding in 1935, the broadcaster started his journalistic career in the 1950s, later joining the Manchester Guardian’s features team, then the Daily Express in London.
A miner’s son, he did National Service and became Britain’s youngest Army captain, serving during the Suez Operation in 1956.
Affectionately referred to as “Parky”, Sir Michael moved into television current affairs programmes in the ’60s, working for both the BBC and Manchester-based Granada, where he went on to present late-night film magazine Cinema, gaining his first major star interview with acting great Laurence Olivier.
That series paved the way for a BBC return, to front his eponymous chat show Parkinson — cementing his reputation as an insightful and charismatic conduit for countless important cultural figures.
His Saturday night programme initially ran for 11 years and attracted massive ratings, with memorable appearances from the likes of directing colossus Orson Welles, Beatles icon John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono, screen immortals Peter Sellers and Robert Mitchum, comedy favourite Billy Connolly and, perhaps most famously, sporting icon Muhammad Ali.
Sir Michael, 84, traded metaphorical blows with Ali on four separate occasions, describing the late boxing champion as “the most amazing man I have ever met — he was just different from us”.
The chat show king’s nemesis was entertainer Rod Hull, whose glove puppet Emu attacked him during a 1976 interview. Footage of Parkinson almost being toppled from his chair remains the most repeated clip from his glorious early reign.
Sir Michael took up a role at the new TV-am in 1983, but it was on radio he was to find his most permanent home, presenting Desert Island Discs, Parkinson On Sport and Parkinson’s Sunday Supplement.
His TV series returned for a nineyear run in 1998, with highlights including unforgettable exchanges with Peter Kay, George Michael, Victoria Beckham, Meg Ryan and Tony Blair, who became the first Prime Minister in office to appear on Parkinson.
The ex-cricketer will reflect on his star-studded life at the Whitehall, in conversation with his son Mike. He’ll also present highlights from his incredible archive in an intimate and informative look at his remarkable journey from pit village to A-list interviewer. It is Parky’s only Scottish show on his UK tour.