All language subtitles for The Scene That Took the Benny Hill Show off the Air for Good(720P_HD)

Benny hill was the most successful
comedian the world has ever known.

He was the lad from
southampton who did the rounds of

the music holes and working
men's clubs doing the jokes

and ended up being lauded by
television audiences in ninety countries.

Hey have you ever seen a
funny TV show that millions

of people around the
world couldn't stop watching.

Then all of a sudden

it was over.

The Benny hill show went
through the same thing

for many years

it was funny

co quick and easy to remember.

Lucas and

no it's not a debate there's
not a better talk no no.

It will

pick up a point or
two here it comes now.

I

but one shocking sketch
changed everything

it made people angry
instead of laughing

and it brought down a hero

do not leave now

as you are about
to see the scene

that closed

everything.

The making of Benny hill.

Alfred hawthorne hill was born in
southampton in the mid nineteen twenties

though even his exact year
of birth has been debated

some records say
nineteen twenty four

others nineteen twenty five.

His father ran a store that
sold surgical instruments

which was a realistic job

that was not related to
show business however

showbusiness ran in the family.

His grandfather had
been a clown in the circus

and he left behind a
tradition of performance

that had a quiet effect on
Alfred's imagination as a child.

Life wasn't funny before comedy

he drove cars

brought milk

stacked show
shelves at woolworths

and even play drums.

Even though none of
these jobs looked fun

they taught him
an important lesson.

How people act

when they think
no one is looking.

He learned to notice small
things in these daily situations

and that skill would later
form the basis of his humor her.

Then there was the
second world war

which changed everything.

Alfred learned

how to fix engines and
cars as a mechanic in

the royal electrical and
mechanical engineers.

Later

he worked as a driver
and a searchlight operator

where he helped guide
beams cross dark skies

to show enemy planes
what they were doing

but it wasn't until he was moved to the
combined services entertainment section

that his real talent showed.

He got up on homemade stages

and performed for tired
soldiers who needed

to laugh more than
they needed food or rest.

He learned something
very important there

comedy could be
more than just jokes

it could save lives.

He used this skill
after the war was over.

He looked up to the great
British music hall comics

who were able to make people
laugh with a mix of slapstick

parody

and wit

but American radio
host Jack Benny

was the person who
inspired him the most.

Alfred loved how
he timed his words

how he could make quiet
as funny as a punchline.

In honor of him

he changed his name to Benny

which became the character
that would define his career.

When very piety band box
came out in nineteen forty seven

it was Benny hill's first radio
show people were interested in him

because he had great timing

and could play
different characters

but he quickly learned

that radio couldn't
catch what he did best

buy nineteen fifty

he was working on TV

which was a great place
for his physical comedy

like his facial expressions
motions and slapstick

he showed his range
over the next ten years.

In nineteen sixty two

he was the star of the
anthology show Benny hill

in which he changed into a
different person for each episode.

After two years

he shocked every we
won by playing Nick bottom

in a TV version of a
midsummer night's dream

his comedic instincts showed that he
could make serious acting with humor

even when he was
following Shakespeare's rules

he went back to radio
with Benny hill time

a show that imitated James bond

made fun of pop culture
stars like the Beatles and

introduced strange
characters like Fred scuttle

who would show
up again and again

with each part

his reputation
grew in more ways.

By the early nineteen sixties

Benny hill had gone from
being a boy from southampton

to a growing sea star
in British show business.

So far

his life had been
a training ground.

Normal jobs had
taught him things

or time service had
given him a reason to live

and his heroes

had inspired him.

He was all set

to move on.

Benny hill was getting ready

to start the show

that would make him
famous all over the world.

That next step.

Would change television

forever.

The rise of the Benny hill show.

The Benny hill show
first aired on the BBC

on January fifteenth
nineteen fifty five.

At the time

it wasn't like other shows.

Most comedy was based
on wordplay or stand up acts

but hill brought
something new to the table

he took so songs gags
and crazy characters

from old British
music hall shows

and put them together with
the speed of TV sketches.

Every episode was
like a variety show

with quick fire scenes.

Jokes about current events

and weird physical gags.

Pp will quickly realized

that this wasn't just
another comedy.

It was a show
that broke the rules

and made up new
ones as it went along.

It changed even more

when the show moved to thames
television in nineteen sixty nine

hill made one hour shows
instead of shorter episodes

that came out once a week.

Because of that change

he had more room to
make more complex plays

musical numbers

and bigger shows.

The new plan
worked great for him

and with times's help

the show went well
around the world

it was shown in more than one hundred and
forty countries by the nineteen seventies

hills humor

which was often
over the top and visual

didn't need to be translated

no matter where
you were in the world

the UK the u s or Australia

his chases pratfalls
and parodies

made you laugh.

Laughter spread
faster than words

and hills show was one of
the best known comedies

to leave britain the personalities
were what made it stand out

Fred scuttle big
came a fan favorite

because of how badly he spoke

and how awkwardly he seemed.

Another creation

Harry hill

showed the helpless
average person

and then there was Jackie right

the bald actor who was
great with hill for comedy

hill would hit him over
and over in the head yeah

and Jackie's blank looks
made the joke funnier every time.

It felt like old friends were
coming back every week

to join the chaos

because these
figures kept showing up

but the ending scene
of the Benny hill show

was what made it unique

every episode finished with a crazy
chase to the fast pp paste saxophone song

yaqui de saxe.

The scenes were shot with cameras
that weren't turned all the way up

so everyone moved quickly

which made it even funnier
police nurses grannies

and young women

would all chase hill
through parks streets

and halls at the same time.

Though that scene
became so well known

that yak Eddie sachs

is still immediately
recognized as

the Benny hill theme it stuck
around after the show ended

and became a cultural slang
word for something silly or crazy.

Hill added something
new in the nineteen eighties

hill's angels

a group of beauty full dancers

their highly choreographed routines
added sparkle and spectacle to the show

but they also caused
a lot of disagreement.

Fans thought it was cool and fun

but some people said
it used women as props

which led to accusations

that would come
back to haunt hill.

Even though people
didn't like the show

it became very famous.

In the UK

it had over twenty one million viewers
at its peak in nineteen seventy one

making it one of the most watched
shows in the history of British TV.

People in the united
states also really liked it

and the show was
nominated for an Emmy in

nineteen eighty and
nine eighteen eighty one.

In nineteen eighty four

hill won the Rose door

which is one of Europe's
highest television awards.

This solidified his status as
a worldwide comic superstar.

By the middle of
the nineteen eighties

Benny hill was a famous
figure all over the world

not just in britain.

His mix of slapstick

parody

and cheeky hints

got him from small town
stages to fame around the world.

Even though everyone
was laughing a lot.

Trouble was slowly
building up below the surface.

Things were getting
different for people

and one sketch was about to bring
those differences to the forefront.

Because behind all the music

chases and fame

there was a scene
ready to happen.

It was so shocking

that it would be the start of the
end for Benny hill's famous show.

When comedy crossed the line.

The Benny hill show
was still watched by

if people in the late
nineteen eighties

but it was getting more
attention than ever.

People have said for years

that hill's humor
was out of date

and that his constant chase
scenes and sexy comments

treated women like
tools instead of people.

Fans said the show was
just harmless fun even

so those comments
didn't stick around for long

but then there was a sketch
that couldn't be ignored.

The scene was meant to be
a parody of a beauty pageant

which is a setup that is easy
to make up crazy things about.

As the contestants walked across
the stage in short outfits Benny

who was playing a sexy host

emphasized every
look and movement.

The women were not
characters with lines were stories

they were just visual jokes that
were put in front of the camera

to make people laugh.

Many people had seen
this kind of clever setup

before but the
punchline went to too far.

I thought it was so rude that it
took away the fun and left only shock.

Instead of being
lighthearted silliness

it seemed tasteless

and many people who
used to support hills started

to think again about
what they were seeing.

This sketch was different

because it made
all the criticisms

that had been growing clear.

People who work in the media

women

and even other comedians had
said hill's show was sexist for years.

They could now use a
single scene as proof.

What was once thought
of as silly entertainment

suddenly looked like
it was made fun of.

For younger people who
are used to new types of

entertainment the joke
wasn't just not funny.

It was also embarrassing.

A lot of people
spoke out quickly

there were comments in newspapers that said
the show wasn't up to date with the times.

Broadcasters were asked if this kind of
material belonged on prime time TV any more

feminists added to the criticism

saying that the sketch
was more than just rude.

It showed how women
are constantly treated

as objects in pop culture.

It wasn't just casual watchers

who agreed that what
used to look funny

now looked rude.

Things had changed in society

and on TV

there were more and more
comics who weren't doing slapstick

and were instead made
king sharp political satire.

Benny hill looked old overnight
on shows like Saturday live.

The beauty queen sketch wasn't
just a mistake in this new environment

it was a turning
point in culture.

There wasn't much backing for it

so critics had plenty of
material to use against it.

It's important to remember

that this moment wasn't the
only reason the show was stopped.

It was the spark that
set off years of anger.

Ratings were already going
down and costs were going up

but this sketch became the symbol of
everything that was wrong with the show.

People talked about
the Benny hill show show

less about whether
it was still funny

and more about
whether it was even ok

this was a huge change for a man

who used to have over twenty
million fans in britain alone.

Benny hill was once
praised as a slapstick master

but now he is seen as a
symbol of old fat she and morals.

In reruns and syndication

people still laughed

but new shows no longer
had the magic they used to.

When the world turned against

Benny hill.

It was getting different in britain by
the middle of the nineteen eighties the

alternative comedians a
new group oop of artists

were taking the lead.

Their acts were based on
biting satire political criticism

and a rejection of
the old slapstick ways

one of the biggest was
rising star Ben Elton

who co-wrote

the young ones

and often performs on
Saturday night live because

of how al angry he was
about social problems

and how willing he was
to fight the establishment

he became the face of a movement

that wanted to get rid of old
fashioned comedy for good for Elton

it was clear who
he wanted to hit.

Benny hill

he said that the endless chase scenes
and suggestive jokes on the Benny hill show

fostered a society

that saw women as objects

and even encouraged
crimes against them.

What he said

hit like lightning.

Some people felt like a brave
truth was finally being told

for some

it looked like an
unfair attack on a man

whose only tool was fun one.

The reaction
happened right away.

Critics who were sick of hill's
pranks backed Elton's claims

and use them to say
that the show wasn't funny

and was actually bad for society

but hill still had
people guarding him.

The independent said
Elton's criticism was pointless

and that hill was more
of a relic than a threat.

A guy from a different time

than a threat to society

q magazine made fun of Elton's sense of
justice even more by saying that his claims

were like accusing pianists
of poaching elephants.

These supporters
said it was silly

to connect a comic sketch to
www violence in the real world

and that comedy

shouldn't be blamed for crimes
that happen outside of the studio

but the cultural
tide was changing.

What was once funny
and clean looked rude in

the brighter lights of
the nineteen eighties.

People were
questioning gender roles

fairness

and portrayal

and people expected
t v to keep up.

People laughed at jokes that were funny
in the nineteen sixties but they seemed old

or even rude now.

When the sketches
were first made

they broke rules

but now

they seemed stuck by them.

A group called the broadcasting
standards the council

gave the argument

more weight.

Regulators made it
clear that things that used

to be fun for now seen
through a moral view.

It wasn't funny anymore to see

half dressed women being
chased across the screen

it was an image
that needed to end.

Hill was still making people laugh
half around the world through reruns

but back home in britain

the criticism was
louder than the cheers.

The late years of
the Benny hill show

were marked by
this clash of styles.

On the one hand

people all over the world who
still watched for the comedy.

On the other hand

comedy in the united states is quickly
becoming smarter and more politically aware.

Benny hill was in the middle of
a storm he was praised abroad

but criticized

at home.

His style

which was his best quality

had become the reason
people wanted him to leave

and as the complaints
got so stronger

and the costs of making
the show kept going up

thames television

had to make a decision

that led to the end of one of
britain's most popular shows.

The end of an era.

It wasn't as good as
it used to be for the

Benny hill show by the
late nineteen eighties.

People from other countries
still watched and laughed

at the sped up chase
scenes and silly sketches

but in britain

the ratings showed
something different.

Every week

fewer people watched as
young anger people moved on

to newer types of humor.

What used to be britain's
most watched show looked like

something from the past.

Things got worse behind the
scenes when money ran out.

It cost about four hundred
and fifty thousand Euros

to make each episode
of the Benny hill show.

That was a huge amount don't
have money in the nineteen eighties

and it's about one point
four million Euros today.

The show was pricey

because it had lots
of complicated sets

dance scenes

and a big cast

but over the past twenty years
they started to see the show

as more of a burden
than an advantage.

It wasn't just the mud any

the issues also
added to the wait.

People who didn't like the show
said it was out of date and harmful

and the famous beauty queen
sketch became the focal point

of all the complaints.

Thames had no choice

because numbers were going down

costs were going up

and there was backlash
from the pub blick

it was decided by the
company in nineteen eighty nine

that the Benny hill show would no longer
air after twenty one years of episodes

fans were shocked when
the show was cancelled

but hill didn't stop working.

He tried to change himself
with Benny hill's world tour

in nineteen ninety one.

The goal was to bring his
entertainment to international stages

where he still had a lot of fans

even though the plan was big

only one episode

greetings from new York

was ever finished

there were old friends there

like Henry McGee

Bob Todd

and sue upton

but it didn't i feel
like a new beginning.

He was not making as
much progress in his business

and the comedy world
had already moved on.

When he wasn't being filmed

Benny hill lived in a way that
many people found strange

even though he
made a lot of money

he lived a simple life he rented small
apartments in instead of buying homes

fixed his own clothes
and liked buying food at the

grocery store because it was
cheap he never got married

and kept his personal
life out of the public eye

which led to a lot of rumors
about his relationships.

When the cameras were off

the man who seemed
bigger than life on screen

lie

simple almost quiet life.

His health was getting worse
in the early nineteen nineties

in February nineteen ninety two

he had a small heart attack

and was later told
he had kidney failure.

Doctors told hill

he should have
surgery and treatment

but he refused both.

Heart from both Isis
killed him in his arm

chair on April twentieth
nineteen ninety two.

He was sixty eight years old

it's too bad that a new job
offer came the same day

too late for him to see it.

That's the story of
Benny hill's rise and fall

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