White Heather Club

"The White Heather Club" was a BBC TV Scottish variety show that ran on and off from May 7 1958 to 1968.

It was an early evening BBC television programme. Until 1957 there was a silent period in BBC TV broadcasting, between 6pm and 7pm, called the "Toddlers' Truce". When this ended, the BBC was unsure of what type of programme to broadcast. A topical news magazine programme "Tonight" was broadcast on some days, and "The White Heather Club" on others. In the 1958 the so-called "VERA" was invented. This was the BBC's first videotape recording device. "The White Heather Club" was recorded and is therefore one of the earliest TV programmes that can still be viewed today. cite web
year = 1958
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/wirelesstoweb/decades/clip_display.shtml?decade=50s&clip_name=heather_club_v&size=v&media_type=video
title = BBC Scotland ]

It started at 6.20, and Jimmy Shand composed a melody "The Six Twenty Twostep" as the theme tune. This was usually followed by Andy Stewart singing "Come in, come in, it's nice to see you...." The show always ended with Andy Stewart and the cast singing, "Haste ye Back"

"Haste ye back, we loue you dearly, call again you're welcome here.May your days be free from sorrow, and your friends be ever near.May the paths o'er which you wander, be to you a joy each day.Haste ye back we loue you dearly, haste ye back on friendship's way."

The show was so successful that in the early 60's there was a company touring Scottish theatres, containing many of the performers. The show was filmed in Glasgow, at that time the only large TV studio in Scotland.

During the same period (1957 - 68) a New Year's Eve television programme, also called "The White Heather Club", was used to herald in the Hogmanay celebrations. The show contained many of the same performers plus special guests such as Jimmy Logan and Stanley Baxter in comedy sketches. From 1957 to 1963 there was another programme called "The Kilt is My Delight", along similar lines. The White Heather Club was produced by Iain MacFadyen. Only six episodes survive in the BBC archive.

The performers were Jimmy Shand and band, Ian Powrie and his band, Scottish country dancers: Dixie Ingram and the Dixie Ingram Dancers, the stars of the show: Heather Hall, Heather Wright, Heather Roberts, Heather Hobbs, Joe Gordon's Folk Four, Robert Wilson, duo Anne and Laura Brand, duo Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, Moira Anderson, Roddy McMillan, Duncan Macrae and later, The Corries. Andy Stewart was the master of ceremonies. He also sang songs and told jokes. All the dancers, and Andy Stewart, wore kilts, and the women dancers wore long white dresses with tartan sashes. In 1965 Fontana issued an album called "The White Heather club", featuring Hall and McGregor. The duo issued dozens of folk albums, and even had a hit single "Football Crazy" (1960) during the period that show was broadcast. Andy Stewart had several hit singles, and the Corries albums continue to sell well today.

The Penguin TV companion in 2006 voted "The White Heather Club" one of the 20 worst TV shows ever.

Jeremy Paxman cited "The White Heather Club" as evidence that there was no "Golden Age" of British television at the 2007 Edinburgh International Television Festival's James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture.

References

External links

*http://www.24dash.com/showbiz_slapdash/12074.htm
*http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/more/pdfs/1950s.pdf
*http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adults/other/british.htm