That Was the Week That Was
The programme is considered a significant element of the satire boom in the UK in the early 1960s, as it broke ground in comedy by lampooning political figures.Cast members included cartoonist Timothy Birdsall, political commentator Bernard Levin, and actors Lance Percival, who sang topical calypsos, many improvised to suggestions from the audience, Kenneth Cope, Roy Kinnear, Willie Rushton, Al Mancini, Robert Lang, David Kernan and Millicent Martin.[1] The programme opened with a song ("That was the week that was, It's over, let it go ...") sung by Millicent Martin, backed by the resident Dave Lee house band, including guitarist Cedric West.Satirical targets, such as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Home Secretary Henry Brooke were lampooned in sketches, debates and monologues.Some other targets included the monarchy, the British Empire, nuclear deterrence, advertising, public relations and propaganda, capital punishment,[2] sexual and social hypocrisy, the class system, and the BBC itself.At the beginning of the second season in the autumn of 1963, in an attempt to assert control over the programme, the BBC scheduled repeats of The Third Man television series after the end of TW3.BBC presenter Richard Dimbleby broadcast the president's funeral from Washington, and he said that the programme was a good expression of the sorrow felt in Britain.Lord Aldington, vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, wrote to BBC director-general Hugh Greene that Frost had a hatred of the prime minister which "he finds impossible to control".The programme also attracted complaints from the Boy Scout Association about an item questioning the sexuality of its founder Lord Baden-Powell, and from the government of Cyprus which claimed that a joke about their ruler Archbishop Makarios was a "gross violation of internationally accepted ethics".ABC aired a That Was The Week That Was special on 21 April 1985, hosted by David Frost and Anne Bancroft and featuring future Saturday Night Live cast members Jan Hooks and A. Whitney Brown and puppetry from Spitting Image.The New Zealand show A Week Of It ran from 1977 to 1979, hosted by Ken Ellis, and featuring comedians David McPhail, Peter Rowley and Chris McVeigh and comedian/musicians Jon Gadsby and Annie Whittle.In 2019, a documentary, In the Field; Conceiving Satire: The Making of This Is The Week That Is, about the creation of the long-running show was commissioned by the American Theatre Wing and nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for Arts Program/Special.
Ned SherrinDavid FrostRon GrainerBBC TVNot So Much a Programme, More a Way of LifeBBC Televisionsatire boomTimothy BirdsallBernard LevinLance PercivalKenneth CopeRoy KinnearWillie RushtonAl ManciniRobert LangDavid KernanMillicent Martintheme tuneFrankie HowerdJohn AlberyJohn AntrobusJohn BetjemanJohn BirdGraham ChapmanJohn CleesePeter CookRoald DahlRobin Grove-WhiteRichard IngramsGerald KaufmanFrank MuirDavid NobbsDenis NordenBill OddieDennis PotterEric SykesKenneth TynanKeith WaterhouseRadio TimesDave LeeCedric WestHarold MacmillanHome SecretaryHenry BrookemonarchyBritish Empirenuclear deterrencepublic relationsclass systemWhich?Church of EnglandapartheidHugh GreeneWilliam Lewis MooreAmerican SouthUncle SamniggersminstrelblackfaceCatholicsKu Klux KlanThe Black and White Minstrel ShowJohn KendrewMax PerutzFrancis CrickJames D. WatsonMaurice WilkinsThe Third Manassassination of President John F. KennedySybil ThorndikeIn the Summer of His YearsHerbert KretzmerDecca RecordsDavid L. WolperFour Days in NovemberRichard Dimblebypresident's funeralReginald BevinsLord AldingtonBoy Scout AssociationLord Baden-PowellArchbishop MakariosBBC Four100 Greatest British Television ProgrammesHenry FondaHenry MorganMike NicholsElaine MayGene HackmanBuck HenryTom BosleyAlan AldaNancy AmesGloria SteinemWilliam F. BrownTom LehrerCalvin TrillinNorman ParisJerry DamonJack Paaracetate disckinescopequadruplex videotapePaley CenterLibrary of CongressLeland HaywardThat Was The Year That WasReprise RecordsAnne BancroftSaturday Night LiveJan HooksA. Whitney BrownSpitting ImageThis Hour Has Seven DaysThis Hour Has 22 MinutesNewfoundlandMary WalshThe Mavis Bramston ShowSeven NetworkPhillip Street TheatreNot Only... But AlsoA Week Of ItDavid McPhailPeter RowleyJon GadsbyAnnie Whittle