British celebrities who aren't so well known west of the Irish Sea

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120770446#Comment_120770446

Sid James was Jewish

We watch a lot of UK television but when it comes to British radio and print media we consume a lot less of it and much more domestic content.

A lot of big names on UK radio have almost zero profile here. If you take some big name DJ in Radio 1 or presenter on Radio 2 they’ll likely only be at the level of people having heard their name mentioned on TV other than that they don’t know who they are.

Beechwoodspark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120771182#Comment_120771182

He had quite a strong saffer accent in real life.

He had one of the all time great dirty laughs !!

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766167#Comment_120766167

Nick is a regular talking head on radio here.

Sgt Hartman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121074878#Comment_121074878

He received a lot of negative publicity after he dropped his pants and mooned the crowd after being heckled at a gig in Jersey. This spelled the beginning of the end for him. He slipped into total obscurity, beset by drink, drug and gambling problems and spent his final days opening for a stripper act in Benidorm. He died penniless in 2018, his body laying unclaimed for two weeks. A group of his friends done a whiparound in order to pay for his funeral. It's really sad how life turned out for him after one dumb impulsive error of judgement.

Hangdogroad

The Krankies, Scottish husband and wife "comedy" duo whose gimmic was her dressed as a schoolboy and sitting on his lap in a kind of ventriloquist act. Were big in UK in the 70s and 80s, dont think they made any impact here.

odyssey06

Re: The Krankies, I remember them popping up on ITV shows and annoying me back in the day.

Sgt Hartman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121084169#Comment_121084169

They always used to appear on Bullseye as regular "Special Guests". I'm not so sure the whole "wife dressing up as a schoolboy" act would wash today, it has creepy written all over it.

MrMusician18

The kind of British celebrities that aren't well known in Ireland are the ones we aren't exposed to.

I suspect UK radio and theatre have a lot of famous names that would only be known to UK audiences - particularly those that have not strayed to TV or film. Melvyn Bragg is a good example imo.

DownByTheGarden

Nathan Carter

Duke of Schomberg

There's been a big change in British [sic] TV and radio over the last twenty)?) years, with a massive diminution in regional output by both BBC and ITV (that says it all, they would previously have been independent ITV companies): in the days when the regions were big, regional "names" were big . . . David Batey (Border TV); Stuart Hall (BBC NW); Harry Gration/Brian Baines/Khalid Aziz - "when do people in Yorkshire 'av their tay? when Khalid 'as 'is" (he presented "Look North", the "tea time" regional news magazine) (all BBC North); Austin Mitchell/Richard Whiteley (Yorkshire TV); Fred Dinenage (Southern TV); David Hamilton (Tyne-Tees TV, then Radio 2). (Bizarrely, Gay Byrne was a huge presenter on Granada TV in the 1960s, and was the first person to introduce The Beatles on UK TV). Which leads me on to radio: Manchester's Piccadilly Radio presenters were HUGE stars in the Manchester of the 70s-90s (but being from Yorkshire I couldn't name any); Capital Radio and LBC presenters have always been huge in London - and some, like Nick Ferrari, are becoming national figures now that digital broadcasting has made their stations national broadcasters. The Birmingham comedian Jasper Carrott used to have part of a set based around BRMB (the Birmingham/West Midlands local radio station) presenters that was soon dropped as he became a national figure on TV . . . (actually, is/was Jasper Carrott a "thing" in the RoI?).

I think the last place for real regionalism on our shared islands is Northern Ireland. Stephen Nolan does present a Radio 5 Live programme, but I've yet to year anybody on the mainland who'se heard it. The last on-air continuity person for UTV - he was paid-off last year, when ITV tightened their grip on UTV - was big in the North, but unknown on the mainland. The chap who plays Mike McGoldrick . . . is he big in NI?.

Oh! sorry! I've now turned the question on its head . . .

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121086201#Comment_121086201

They were also swingers, which on its own is fine but is massively creepy when you dressing up as a schoolkid.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/the-krankies-we-were-secret-swingers-at-height-282225

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121086274#Comment_121086274

Nathan is better known here than in the UK.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087280#Comment_121087280

You need to meet more people on the mainland. There are thousands of them listening to Nolan on 5 Live. You might also meet some who listen to Connor (with 2 N's) Phillips who also appears on 5 Live. His main gig is after Nolan on Radio Ulster.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120191659#Comment_120191659

I'm in a tribute band called Fleetwood mac lads and we cover fleetwood mac in the style of the macc lads

Ash.J.Williams

Basil brush

L1011

Roy Chubby Brown as mentioned in the quote in the last post - he always had his videos being sold by mail-order in the tabloids here, he was more known here than he deserved to be. Ads must have been dirt cheap cause how many people ever did phone purchases of comedy videos (see also the constant ads for 1990s Def Comedy Jam VHS on late night TV in the early 00s)

Additionally - anyone who tries to claim they're known by a nickname but continues using their full name, e.g. Roy Chubby Brown or Stephen Tin Tin Duffy, is clearly not actually known by that nickname but really really really really wants to be. Roy Chubby Brown has fucked himself over because eventually people did adopt the name, but didn't call him Chubby Brown, they still called him Roy Chubby Brown.

Fr Tod Umptious

I see on the front page of the BBC news app a 1970s comedian called Mike Yarwood died.

I never heard of him.

Ash.J.Williams

Bobby davro

L1011

Dave Spikey, unless you're a massive Peter Kay fan.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087984#Comment_121087984

Used to get 18 million viewers for his BBC show.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087984#Comment_121087984

I dont recall seeing his series but references to him popped up in UK comedy or topical shows I have watched.

franglan

Radio presenters who would have huge followings in the UK thinking Nick Grimshaw, Greg James, Scott Mills Et al.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120770446#Comment_120770446

Bit late, what about his other 2 divorces?

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087280#Comment_121087280

Re: Jasper Carrott, now that you mention it I dont think he was ever big in Ireland. You knew British comedians had an audience in Ireland in the 80s and 90s by how often they appeared on the Late Late Show, I cant ever remember JC being on it, in contrast to Billy Connolly and Lenny Henry .

waywill1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088388#Comment_121088388

I grew up in an area where we received all the main UK channels and I remember him very well. His show and the likes of Dick Emery were Saturday night staples in our house followed by Match of the Day.

DJIMI TRARORE

Anybody along the border who could pick up BBC/itv,pre dishes/boxes would have known all those 70/80s comedians,they were huge stars at the time,there's not a hope of any programme attracting 10m viewers, nevermind 20/22m, thanks to satellite tv

waywill1966

We hardly watched any RTÈ then as it’s output paled in comparison to what BBC and ITV produced!

An Claidheamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766163#Comment_120766163

Such a vile coke-headed slob - Google image her and you will realise why she writes those words

Remember,

her anti-Irish articles were published in the Guardian newspaper, which is where the Irish smoked salmon types pseudo intellectuals go to be enlightened and complain about American, Israeli, AN Other racism while happy to support incomplete, ignorant and frankly, deranged views of Ireland by British people

Duke of Schomberg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088388#Comment_121088388

Mike Yarwood was HUGE in Britain [sic] in the 1970s-early 1980s, the issue was that as his stock-impressions - Brian Clough, Ted Heath, Harold Wilson, etc - themselves passed from the limelight so did he. Alcohol dependency followed, leading to marriage breakdown and an unwillingness for quiz shows and the like to engage with him . . . and so on. Eventually he just disappeared - he was a big part of my childhood, and even I'd forgotten about him until today's newspapers . . . I'll bet there's few under 50 who remember him. Was he ever big in NI? - I can't imagine William Craig/James Molyneaux/Gerry Fitt/etc being in his act.

Duke of Schomberg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087442#Comment_121087442

Well, I think I'd have to meet an awful lot of people over here just to have an anywhere reasonable chance of meeting one of the "thousands" that listens to Stephen Nolan on R5 . . . (oh! can you provide listener statistiscs for Nolan's R5 show? then I work out the actual odds).

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088496#Comment_121088496

I remember Jasper Carrot’s show, I’ll always remember one of his zingers about David Icke: he says he’s going to save the world, he saved bugger all for Coventry.

Didn’t his daughter play Dawn in The Office?

Badly Drunk Boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088592#Comment_121088592

Same here. I grew up in Kildare in the 70s/80s, not the border area or Dublin, but we had the 3 (and then 4) UK channels, as well as RTÉ. I didn't realise that so many others didn't, since all my immediate friends had the same. (The odd family had their own aerial so they'd have HTV (Welsh ITV) instead of UTV.)

Anyway, because of this, I grew up know the Krankies, Basil Brush, Mike Yarwood, and Jasper Carrott. I never liked the Krankies, and even back then as children, we thought it was a bit odd that the wee woman was pretending to be a schoolboy.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091152#Comment_121091152

Had no idea she was his daughter, learn something new every day.

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088496#Comment_121088496

I loved jc as a kid he was my intro to stand up

Ash.J.Williams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091168#Comment_121091168

Roland rat 😄

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088496#Comment_121088496

Jasper Carrott's shows were well known here (in areas with British TV, that is), particularly Canned Carrott, Commercial Breakdown and The Detectives. His sort-of vanishing from being on TV anywhere is because he got in to TV production and radio station ownership; doing such minor TV shows as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091075#Comment_121091075

If you make a point of asking everyone you meet what radio programmes they listen to, you will come across them. Although it is something I would never dream of doing myself. Have you met anyone who listens to the other NI natives who broadcast on 5 Live. Connor Phillips, Colin Murray and Patrick Kielty? Or any who listened to Laura Whitmore from Ireland, during her four year stint?

ohnonotgmail

Reading some of the replies here it is clear that a lot of posters live in 2 channel land until quite late.

its_steve116

Does anyone remember when Eoghan McDermott was on Xfm (now Radio X) in the early 2010s? He did the drivetime show for over a year.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091277#Comment_121091277

Well I did anyway, growing up in the South West. Our family got a satellite dish in 1991 and my first major exposure to a lot of the comedians & shows mentioned was through UK Gold, and that was shows that for the most part were a decade or more old at that point. My Dad used to get the News Of The World and occasionally you'd see some of these UK comics in "love rat" stories or else presenting competition winners with their prizes. Those way you'd become vaguely familar with the likes of Little And Large, who despite still not having seen them on tv you could tell were about as funny as cancer just by their publicity photos.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091277#Comment_121091277

Yes we may need to extend the boundary to 2 channel land. It is not quite The Pale. It is clear there is a big divide in exposure.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091880#Comment_121091880

Anywhere with cable TV would know all the TV people mentioned. So dublin with cablelink and I believe Cork and some other places had cable as well. Places near the border would have access to Utv and BBC as well.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092142#Comment_121092142

Yep. And some places on the east coast could pickup welsh broadcasts of the UK channels I think also. Bit of a Chris Waddle effect at times :)

Hangdogroad

I remember on a visit to cousins in Offaly circa 1990 they were able to receive uk channels, presume they had cable.

whisky_galore

Any of the uk kids shows RTE didn't/couldn't afford to buy in; Roland Rat, Magic Roundabout, The Wombles, Clangers, Blue Peter, Sooty, never big here.

They did buy in things like Super Ted dubbed into Irish, didn't watch those as it was too much like being stuck in Irish class.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092142#Comment_121092142

There was a very extensive and functional deflector system in the the west and midlands from the early 1980s until analog was turned off about a decade ago.

Masts "deflected" the signal from places like Fermanagh and Tyrone as far south as Mayo, maybe even further.

NTC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092886#Comment_121092886

We used to be able to pick it up in Cork, but I think it was deflected from Wales.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092665#Comment_121092665

All well known to someone my age anyway (magic roundabout was popular even before my time).

We had Westward Cables in Limerick and I never remember a time everyone I knew didn't have BBC.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092665#Comment_121092665

RTE showed the Magic Roundabout. Vague memories of it being on circa late 70s/early 80s. I'm not sure if they showed the Wombles but I remember being aware of them, you'd see things like Wombles t shirts etc.

Wouldn't have been familiar with Sooty or Blue Peter. (As a child I mean)