Opportunity Knocks is a British television and radio talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green, with a late-1980s revival hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and later by previous winner Les Dawson. From its origin on BBC Radio in 1949 the show provided a platform to fame for acts such as Spike Milligan and Frankie Vaughan. One of the most popular shows on British television, in the 1960s and 1970s it had a weekly audience of 20 million viewers.

The original radio version started on the BBC Light Programme, where it ran from 18 February to 29 September 1949, but moved to Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s. It was shown on ITV from 20 June 1956 to 29 August 1956, produced by Associated Rediffusion. A second run commenced on 11 July 1964 and lasted until 20 March 1978, produced first by ABC and then by Thames. During this period Bob Sharples was musical director. Green presented a single episode of Opportunity Knocks for RTÉ in 1979. It was revived by the BBC (largely in response to ITV's similar revival of New Faces the preceding year) from 21 March 1987 to 2 June 1990, hosted initially by Monkhouse from 1987 to 1989 (under the title Bob Says Opportunity Knocks!) and subsequently by Dawson in 1990. Kiki Dee's hit single "Star" became the theme song for the revived BBC series. In both versions the studio audience reaction to each act was measured by a clap-o-meter, but this did not count towards the final result.

The programme was recorded the Friday before transmission, so votes had to be in by Thursday. They also, according to host Hughie Green, largely to ensure fairness, had to be in "your own handwriting".

Although Opportunity Knocks did produce a number of talented acts, the method of putting the contest to a public vote did sometimes result in victories for novelty acts, in particular those involving children or animals. On one occasion, the young Su Pollard was beaten into second place by a singing dog. The method of deciding a winner by telephone is used on that show and many other similar programmes around the world. This version appears on Anthology 2.

Transmissions

BBC Light Programme

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! Series !! Start date !! Final date !! Episodes

|-

| 1 || 18 February 1949 || 29 September 1949 || 33

|}

ITV

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! Series !! Start date !! Final date !! Episodes

|-

| 1 || 20 June 1956 || 29 August 1956 || 11

|-

| 2 || 11 July 1964 || 3 October 1964 || 13

|-

| 3 || 3 July 1965 || 25 December 1965 || 26

|-

| 4 || 2 July 1966 || 24 December 1966 || 26

|-

| 5 || 29 April 1967 || 23 December 1967 || 35

|-

| 6 || 16 March 1968 || 27 July 1968 || 20

|-

| 7 || 21 August 1968 || 6 November 1968 || 12

|-

| 8 || 25 December 1968 || 23 June 1969 || 27

|-

| 9 || 8 September 1969 || 2 March 1970 || 26

|-

| 10 || 15 June 1970 || 7 December 1970 || 26

|-

| 11 || 15 March 1971 || 6 September 1971 || 26

|-

| 12 || 8 November 1971 || 1 May 1972 || 26

|-

| 13 || 7 August 1972 || 30 April 1973 || 39

|-

| 14 || 6 August 1973 || 29 April 1974 || 39

|-

| 15 || 5 August 1974 || 28 April 1975 || 39

|-

| 16 || 29 September 1975 || 22 March 1976 || 26

|-

| 17 || 27 September 1976 || 4 April 1977 || 28

|-

| 18 || 19 September 1977 || 20 March 1978 || 27

|}

BBC1

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! Series !! Start date !! Final date !! Episodes

|-

| 1 || 21 March 1987 || 20 June 1987 || 13

|-

| 2 || 5 March 1988 || 4 June 1988 || 13

|-

| 3 || 4 March 1989 || 3 June 1989 || 13

|-

| 4 || 31 March 1990 || 2 June 1990 || 9

|}

References

  • Opportunity Knocks (1964–1968) at BFI
  • Opportunity Knocks (1968–1978) at BFI
  • Opportunity Knocks (1990) at BFI