New Faces
New Faces | |
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Genre | Talent show |
Presented by | Derek Hobson (ATV) Marti Caine (Central) |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 6 (ATV) 3 (Central) |
No. of episodes | 167 (ATV) 39 (Central) |
Production | |
Production location | Birmingham Hippodrome (Central) |
Running time | 60 minutes (Central) |
Production companies | ATV (1973–78) Central (1986–88) |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 29 September 1973 3 December 1988 | –
Related | |
Opportunity Knocks |
New Faces was a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It was presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV for the ITV network.
Original series: 1973–1978
The show first aired as a pilot on 7 July 1973 and then as a full series from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978, it was recorded at the ATV Centre in Birmingham. The show was noted for its theme tune, "You're a Star!", performed by singer Carl Wayne, formerly of The Move, and it was eventually released, becoming a minor hit.[1]
Winners occasionally went on to greater success in television entertainment, like Lenny Henry the 1975 competition winner. Many top entertainers began their careers with a performance on this programme. The acts were evaluated by a panel of experts, including Tony Hatch, Mickie Most, Clifford Davis, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Ed Stewart, Jack Parnell, Alan A. Freeman, Muriel Young, Lonnie Donegan, Lionel Blair, Ingrid Pitt, Shaw Taylor, Terry Wogan and Noel Edmonds.
Four judges would make up the panel each week. Contestants received marks out of ten from the four judges in three categories such as "presentation", "content" and "star quality" – The "star quality" category was later replaced by "entertainment value". The highest score any act could attain was thus 120 points. Patti Boulaye was the only act who ever attained the maximum mark, doing so in the programme's final season. Les Dennis received 119 points, with only Tony Hatch giving him less than three perfect '10's'. Arthur Askey was on the same panel and started singing "Tony is a spoilsport" when Hatch awarded Dennis 9 as his final score.
Revived version
The series was revived by Central for three series between 1986 and 1988, presented by past winner, Marti Caine. Her catchphrase was bellowed at the voting studio audience: "Press your buttons... NOW!". The show also featured a panel of experts including the journalist Nina Myskow, who often made critical comments. In this incarnation, the home audience decided who won by sending in postcards (phone voting was soon introduced by BBC rival Bob Says Opportunity Knocks), though, the audience did vote for its favourite act using a gigantic lightboard known as Spaghetti Junction lighting up to a varying degree as they pushed their buttons.
1986 final
Key | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
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Order | Finished | Artist(s) | Act |
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1 | 1st overall in panellists' vote | Duggie Small | Comedian |
2 | 7 points | Walker & Cadman | Comedians |
3 | 5 points | Billy Pearce | Comedian |
4 | 0 points | Wayne Denton | Club singer |
5 | 22 points | Julie A. Scott | Soprano |
6 | 56 points (public phone-in winner) | Gary Lovini | 17-year-old violinist |
7 | 43 points | James Stone | Soul singer |
8 | Pauline Hannah | Impressionist | |
9 | Freddy Philips | Singer/comedian | |
10 | Scott Randele | ||
11 | Maggie Dee | ||
12 | High Jinks |
Note: The James Stone who appeared in this final is the same one who appeared in the Britain's Got Talent semi-finals of 2008.
1987 final
Key | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
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Order | Finished | Artist (s) | Act (s) |
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1 | 94 points | Jimmy Tamley | Ventriloquist |
2 | 92 points | Joe Pasquale | Comedian |
3 | 70 points | Brothers Demented | |
4 | 32 points | Mike Sterling | Musical theatre-style singer |
5 | 26 points | Richard Courtice | Tenor vocalist |
6 | 10 points | Billy Jones | Rock 'n' roll singer/guitarist |
7 | Lea Cassell | Impressionist | |
8 | Derek Barron | Pianist/organist | |
9 | Paul Duffy | Saxophonist | |
10 | Denny Waters | Comedian | |
11 | Barbara Allan | ||
12 | Stiles and Drewe | Singing duo |
Famous winners and contestants
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Other winners and contestants
- Penny Black – popular female fronted 5 piece band from Walsall appeared December 4, 1976 opening the show performing Kiki Dee's "I got the music in me". Its lineup included Tiki Jones (vocals), Barry Underhill (Bass guitar & vocals), Rob Wood (Lead guitar & vocals), Roger Hayward (Hammond organ), and John Perkins (Drums). Penny Black stayed together in various lineups from 1973 until 1989 when they changed their name to PARIS with a new lineup and a revamped modern 'romantics' image. Led by Barry Underhill, Penny Black/Paris performed around the UK heavily throughout the 70's & 80's establishing a strong following, recording 'Inside These 4 Walls' written by Underhill/Wood in 1981, with 'Teenager in Love' on the B-side. Paris reformed in 2012 for a charity gig & performed a few more gigs before disbanding in 2014.
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Transmissions
ATV
Series | Start date | Final date | Episodes |
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Pilot | 7 July 1973 | 1 | |
1 | 29 September 1973 | 29 December 1973 | 14 |
2 | 6 April 1974 | 6 July 1974 | 14 |
3 | 21 September 1974 | 27 July 1975 | 45 |
4 | 20 December 1975 | 31 July 1976 | 33 |
5 | 11 September 1976 | 2 April 1977 | 30 |
6 | 10 September 1977 | 2 April 1978 | 30 |
Many of the episodes from the ATV era of New Faces were wiped from the archives with 38 surviving, including episode 14 of series 1, episodes 1, 11 & 14 of series 2, episodes 1, 36, 40 & 45 of series 3, episodes 7, 11, 15, 19, 22–24 & 28–29 of series 4, episodes 1, 5, 8, 11, 14–16, 21, 24 & 30 of series 5 and episodes 20–30 of series 6.[5]
Series 3 was not fully broadcast on Scottish Television, with episodes not being broadcast during the weekends, which resulted in their votes not being counted. Episodes were instead broadcast on a Thursday evening between December 1974 and July 1975.
Central
Series | Start date | Final date | Episodes |
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1 | 19 September 1986 | 13 December 1986 | 13 |
2 | 4 September 1987 | 28 November 1987 | 13 |
3 | 10 September 1988 | 3 December 1988 | 13 |
References
- ^ "The precarious path of talent show fame". BBC. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "Our Century 1950–1975".
- ^ Hogan, Michael (11 December 2011). "Wonderland special: New Faces – I once had the X Factor". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ "News".
- ^ Simon Coward, Invisible Technology Ltd. "Lost UK TV Shows Search Engine".
External links
- New Faces at IMDb.
- New Faces at BFI.
- New Faces of '86 at BFI.
- New Faces of '87 at BFI.
- New Faces of '88 at BFI.
- New Faces at UKGameshows.com.
- Use dmy dates from September 2010
- 1970s British television series
- 1980s British television series
- 1973 British television programme debuts
- 1988 British television programme endings
- Talent shows
- Television series by ITV Studios
- English-language television programs
- ITV reality television programmes
- Television programmes produced by Associated Television (ATV)
- Television programmes produced by Central Independent Television