Original subtitles

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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