Paul Shane

Actor

June 19, 1940 (72 years)

† May 16, 2013

Thrybergh, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England

Biography

Paul Shane (19 June 1940 – 16 May 2013) was an English comedian and actor known for his television work, in particular playing Ted Bovis in Hi-de-Hi!, a 1980s BBC sitcom. Shane was born George Frederick Speight in Thrybergh near Rotherham in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was a miner at Silverwood Colliery until he slipped on soap in the pit-head baths in 1967, resulting in double herniated discs. He was pensioned from the pit at 27. Two years later he became a professional entertainer. He al…

Filmography

6.6

Play for Today

Georgie

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

7.5

A Touch of Frost

Diesel Bob

Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.

5.3

Blankety Blank

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

6.1

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway

Self

A gameshow hosted by Ant and Dec filled with stunts, sketches, and special guest appearances.

7.7

Shooting Stars

Self

Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as 3 full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with 2 series before returning to BBC Two for another 3 series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011. Created and hosted by double-act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it uses the panel show format but with the comedians' often slapstick, surreal and anarchic humour does not rely on rules in order to function, with the pair apparently ignoring existing rules or inventing new ones as and when the mood takes them.

7.0

Centre Play

Garage Clerk

Anthology series of half hour plays produced in BBC's Television Centre's studios.

6.3

ChuckleVision

ChuckleVision is a long-standing British children's series broadcast from 1987 to 2009. The Chuckle Brothers' famous comedy involves slapstick, other visual gags, wordplay, and catchphrases such as "To me, to you!" and "Oh dear, oh dear!"

7.4

You Rang, M'Lord?

Alf Stokes

You Rang, M'Lord? is a British comedy series written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! It was broadcast between 1990 and 1993 on the BBC. The show was a comedy set in the house of an aristocratic family in the 1920s, contrasting the upper-class family and their servants in a house in London, along the same lines as the popular drama Upstairs, Downstairs. The series featured many actors who had also appeared in their earlier series, notably Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard, all of whom had previously been in Perry and Croft's holiday camp sitcom, Hi-de-Hi!. Also featured were Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles from Perry and Croft's It Ain't Half Hot Mum, and Bill Pertwee and occasionally Frank Williams from Dad's Army. The memorable 1920s-style theme tune was sung by Bob Monkhouse.

5.7

Surprise, Surprise

Self

Surprise, Surprise is a British television programme originally hosted by Cilla Black and produced by London Weekend Television for ITV. It ran for 14 series from 6 May 1984 to 5 September 1997, after which four annual specials were produced between 1998 to 2001. In 2012, the show returned after a 11-year hiatus. The revived version is produced by ITV Studios and presented by Holly Willoughby. The show is currently in its second series.

7.1

Hi-de-Hi!

Ted Bovis

Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom set in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, during 1959 and 1960, and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum amongst others. It aired on the BBC from 1980 to 1988. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's management and entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft: after being demobilised from the army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlin's, Pwllheli during the holiday season. The series gained large audiences and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, 'Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.

7.3

Oh, Doctor Beeching!

Jack Skinner

The trials and tribulations of the staff at Hatley railway station, who are all wondering if Dr Beeching will close them down.

7.0

Common As Muck

Mike Roberts

Common As Muck is a gritty BBC comedy drama serial focusing on the lives of a crew of bin men and their management staff. It ran for two series. The first series was screened in 1994 and the second in 1997. Both were nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama.

6.3

Muck and Brass

Dennis Cato

The story of a no-holds-barred, go-getting property dealer played by celebrated comedian Mel Smith, who has the view that everyone has a price though the price may not always be money.

6.0

Heartlands

Zippy

Gentle Colin 'Col' Lawes happily lead a quiet life, running a news agency with his soiled-rotten wife Sandra and playing competition darts in the Atletic Arms team. Colin catches her committing adultery with team captain Geoff, a cop, who pretends Colin abused her. Col is thrown off the team just after it qualified for the league finals in Blackpool. He decides to travel there alone, hoping to win her back.

N/A

Afternoon Off

Alf

Lee, a Chinese man, works as a waiter in a hotel in England, despite speaking very little English. Told that a girl called Iris might be interested in him, on his afternoon off work he buys a box of chocolates and sets off to find her.

7.0

Mr. H Is Late

A team of inept undertakers attempt to get a coffin to a funeral on time. An undertaker is in charge of moving a coffin from a home to the church. The home is on the 26th floor of a skyscraper; the stairs are narrow; the lift is small and prone to stop working. Chaos ensues.

5.5

A Day Out

Baldring

Alan Bennett's debut play for television follows the members of a Halifax cycling club, on an outing from Halifax to the ruins of Fountains Abbey. Set in the summer of 1911 and projects an idyllic vision of Edwardian England .

N/A

Keep an Eye on Albert

Moffa

Pubs, pigeons, weight-lifting – that's Terry's life, and his wife Glenda feels neglected. But now Terry's best mate, Albert, is on leave from the Merchant Navy, and Albert knows how to treat a lady. 'Fireworks assured,' says the wrestling poster.

N/A

Pit Strike

Bullivant

1972: striking miners converge on London's power stations. Among them, the huge, dignified figure of Joshua.

5.3

Between Two Women

Mayor

Set in a Yorkshire milltown in 1957, Ellen Hardy is unhappily married but is close to her ten-year-old son, Victor. The family has recently moved house and Victor has started at a new school where Ellen has become friendly with his teacher, Kathy Thompson, who is keen to encourage him at art. As the friendship between the two women grows, Ellen's millworker husband, Hardy, feels increasingly alienated at home.