I for one was fascinated by the recent BBC Four Television airing of "The Secret Life Of Bob Monkhouse"... not only a highly interesting documentary record of Bob's life; but also a very inspiring peak into the outstanding archive of material Bob collected of his own performances, as well as 100's and 1000's of performances by other entertainment stars.Bob's own comedy style is very much in the American vein, of which he was clearly inspired by... rolling gags, punchy one liners, affectionate put downs and of course the self depreciating humour.
The documentary which spans a hearty 90 minutes, has a very wide appeal - for admirers of the great, Bob Monkhouse, keen archivists and fans of all 'round light entertainment. The program showcases rare treats from "Sunday Night At The London Palladium", "Hancock's Half Hour" and audio capturings of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; to name only a few.
There are many loving and moving tributes to Bob from family, friends and fellow entertainers. Joe Pasquale recalls a touching final visit to see Bob in 2003 and a very delighted Lenny Henry recalls his excitement when a copy of his "New Faces" talent show audition was found in Bob's basement.
We also get an insight into Bob's early adult career in which he formed a writing partnership with Denis Goodwin; and together during these early years, they wrote for many stars of the day such as Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Jimmy Edwards and Max Miller.
Bob's meticulous attention to detail both in his performance and archival work is also clearly evident throughout the program. His personal archive was maintained very much privately throughout the years until much more recently; and consists of over 50,000 VHS tapes and 400 film prints, all now in the hands of the classic television organisation "Kaleidoscope".
Within his archival work, Bob was well known to correct and ammend printed tv listings if a show featured a different guest line-up to that originally advertised. He was also known to do the same for a change of airing time. I found these precise detailings particularly fascinating. Even if such schedule changes are relatively unimportant, they still have an interesting relevance within an archive collection.
Friend's of Bob's described this love of collecting to be a "near obsession", but I would suggest it to be a strive for perfection. In our modern world, where there is a huge re-sale value to previously broadcast material, Bob's archive serves a very important role, which was often taken far too lightly in years gone by. It's fascinating that many never recognized what they were doing to be anything particularly special. What they were actually doing was something very special indeed - they were creating history.
Like all things, "perfection" is in the eye of the beholder. Some see "perfection" as being "blemish free" or without mistakes. I personally see it as an aim to maintain a high standard of consistency and quality - not necessarily related to (but not excluding) quantity. For example, "Live" TV could be considered "imperfect" without any mistakes; which are of course, natural - we are human after all! The key is in how the mistake is handled in a live environment.
Perry Como, for example maintained complete control and warmth throughout all manner of different "live" problems that arose... scenery falling, clothing problems, mislaid cue cards, etc. It was all in the beauty and art of "live" tv. The shows themselves were produced to a very high standard and were among the first to be broadcast in both full colour and stereo, dating back to as early as 1956; far ahead of the capabilities of even a very good quality TV set of the day.And so, with "The Secret Life Of Bob Monkhouse", the BBC have produced yet another excellent documentary... and here's to many, many more of the same!
