All episodes, one off specials and the documentary "God's Own Comedian" is here
If you believe all the retrospective documentaries about television comedy from the 1970s then it would be easy to think that comedians and their writers were able to get away with murder. Be it Michael Bates blacking up in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Frank Spencer emerging from a vat of tar to greet an Indian family in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, or the rantings of Alf Garnett, you could easily be led into thinking that the BBC escaped largely unscathed. However, there was one show that seemed to manage to garner as much criticism as it did praise and yet today it is looked upon fondly as one of the finest proponents of sketch and stand-up comedy the corporation ever produced. From hysterical monologues to sketches that had its star banned from his own country, along with accompanying death threats, it’s safe to say that Dave Allen at Large induced opinions from everybody who ever saw it. Dave Allen himself had already achieved success when he began his …at Large series for the BBC in 1971. Born in Dublin in 1936, Allen had moved away from his father’s career choice of journalism, opting to tread the boards at Butlins holiday camps. After toiling in working men’s clubs for a number of years, he achieved some success on New Faces and he toured extensively with musicians of the day, striking up a friendship with the Beatles in 1963. It was this year that saw him get his own tv show in Australia, and despite already courting controversy with his material, his rise to stardom continued with a number of shows in the UK on commercial television.
Having taken him away from ATV, the BBC initially placed him on BBC 2 with The Dave Allen Show, but a shift to BBC 1 on Sunday evenings, and a change in title to Dave Allen at Large saw his meteoric rise ascend greater heights. Watching Allen in full flight was the comedy equivalent of watching Sinatra in a nightclub. There was something edgy about his performances and material, but people couldn’t get enough of it. With glass in one hand and cigarette in the other (except for the earliest series where he also armed himself with a clipboard of his material), Allen would combine monologues with segways into a vast array of sketches as comical and irreverent as anything Spike Milligan or the Monty Python team would produce.
Allen’s comedy was entirely observational and for the majority of the time harpooning religion or political figures of authority. He had been brought up in Ireland by Catholic nuns, an education that he found appalling. Physically beaten in all manner of ways by the nuns, he despised the idea that children as young as seven should be bullied into confessional and that the physical fear from those purporting to praise a loving God should be so extreme. Aside from the material, the style of the show carried a new level of quality. The number of sketches filmed for each series was estimated to be towards the 250 mark and the vast majority were location sketches, marking them out from the more traditional studio equivalents. Given the number of religious settings, it certainly made for a more realistic edge to the appearance. Multiple writers submitted ideas for the programme, but Allen himself would regularly jot ideas on anything to hand as he observed the comedy in day to day situations – receipts, laundry tickets – these often contained the key ideas of upcoming sketches.
Inevitably, with Allen pushing the boundaries ever further as the show’s popularity increased, the complaints came in. Religion it seemed was one topic that prompted a backlash. Allen knew that the BBC gave him a lot of leeway in his material, just as they knew that their star man couldn’t be controlled or there would be no show. Complaints hit their peak and took a more sinister turn however after one particular sketch. Allen playing the Pope standing at the top of a flight of steps, removing his robes in front of his cardinals to the famous David Rose penned The Stripper. It was a step too far for some, not least back home in Ireland. Allen himself was banned from returning there and both he and the BBC began to receive death threats from the IRA. Allen himself said that he respected religion but disliked what he saw as brainwashing and being told what he should think. The controversy around his successful shows would never go away, receiving further rebukes long after Dave Allen at Large when using the ‘f’ word on a subsequent BBC show. Dave Allen at Large conjures many memories for those old enough to remember it. It was the kind of comedy that children watched if they could, feeling adult in getting some of the comedy while the more edgy material went over their heads. Many parents of course saw the edgy material and simply found it hysterical. Despite the subjects of the lampooning, there is still a warmth about this Irishman sat on a stool just telling funny stories about people and it is somewhat of a mirror of Allen’s youth, where his education was based around fear and physical reprimands while his home life was surrounded by affection and the tales regaled by his father to entertain his family. Sadly, repeats of Dave Allen on nostalgia channels are almost non-existent. Allen himself disliked the idea of repeats, opting to allow only one complete second showing of his material. Whether that has any influence over the memories people have or not is open to conjecture, but there’s no question that at its peak, it was impossible not to find something to talk about in one of the BBC’s most irreverent shows of the 1970s
“May He’s God Go With Him” David Tynan O'Mahony alas Dave Allen 6th July 1936-10th March 2005
There will be more from Dave Allen later this year in his final series which was recorded at the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1993 and broadcast on ITV along with the Christmas special in 1994 which marked the last ever work for Dave.
Next week - The spooky and eerie kids series from the late 1960s early 1970s,“The Owl Service” from Granada Television will be here at Retro Tv Classics
Retro Tv Classics "Winding The Clock Back To When Tv Was Gold"
Many thanks for sharing! Please, I have a question. There was a Dave Allen Show episode where there was a parody of The Power Game series, but I'm not sure which episode this was. Please, do you know about this? Thank you so much!
I haven't seen a Dave Allen parody, although there may be one. There is a BBC3 parody with John Bird if you haven't seen it. Search BBC3 Parody 1966 John Bird and it'll show up on YT.
Thank you! I saw that parody, it's brilliant. But I read somewhere that Matt Munro played Patrick Wymark on The Dave Allen Show in 1960 (they looked very much alike) and couldn't find it.
Hi Simona, your welcome, as for The Dave Allen Show parody i'm not aware of this unless it's in one of the episodes. i will check on this and let you know if i can find the Power Game sketch/parody. Best wishes Dean.
This is the info you want, but it's a case of finding it, if it exists.Sunday 23rd June 1968
BBC2 Show Of The Week: The Dave Allen Show 8.15 - 9.15 pm
Matt Monro - two songs and in sketch spoofing TV show The Power Game
Sorry if this is posted twice. I sent it but not showing up, anyway... The episode if this one. I'm not sure if it exists. 'Sunday 23rd June 1968, BBC2 Show Of The Week: The Dave Allen Show, Guest: Matt Monro - two songs and in sketch spoofing TV show The Power Game'
Thank you so much! Great to know. I'll try to find it but someone said that Dave Allen Show is very hard to find. I'm very grateful for these wonderful uploads of the show. I would love to see the Patrick Wymark impersonation. The one by John Bird is brilliant.
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BBC2 Show Of The Week: The Dave Allen Show 8.15 - 9.15 pm
Matt Monro - two songs and in sketch spoofing TV show The Power Game