TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 -
The Big Night Out name was initially used by ABC to cover a variety of concerts, circuses and specials until 1962 when a permanent variety show format was introduced featuring singers, guests and dancers with hosts Mike and Bernie Winters joining the show in summer 1963.
Despite the show's popularity it had been dropped by the ITV network from mid 1962 until early 1964. ITV saw its only purpose was to act as a summer replacement for Sunday Night At The London Palladium, with the rest of the series shown in the ABC region only. Merseybeat was in full swing when the Winter brothers joined, and with Liverpool on ABC's doorstep shows like Thank Your Lucky Stars and Big Night Out had the pick of all the Epstein acts, including on several occasions The Beatles, who not only played on the show but got involved in comedy sketches.
The show's home had originally been the Didsbury Studio Centre in Manchester, but by early 1964 the show had moved south to ABC's Teddington Lock, Middlesex studio and this is where The Beatles famously appeared in February 1964 after their return from America. ABC had even given them a triumphant boat ride down the Thames to the studio. By early 1965 the show had moved back to the Manchester studios and recorded the Monday before transmission.
In 1964 it was decided to redesign the show as a summer spectacular, just as the ITV network had wanted it to be, so it morphed into Blackpool Night Out, recorded at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool, where The Beatles made another live appearance. To help map out ideas Mike and Bernie were sent to Montreux to look at the sort of variety shows that were being entered into the Montreux Golden Rose Festival. With a plan in place ABC recorded two pilot shows on the 21st and 28th June 1964 in front of an audience of 1800.
A DVD collection of the surviving shows was due for release by Network, but with the label shutting down in 2023 nothing was released.
BIG NIGHT OUT
ABC 25th March 1961 -
BLACKPOOL NIGHT OUT
ABC 20th June 1965 -