The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club

I just saw and advert for this show pop up on Talking pictures tv channel.

It brings back memories of trying and failing to get on my girlfriends fathers good side on a saturday night round at the church club (had nothing to do with church) Sat in rows as you were felt familiar being as i was a young sprog in the army at the time.

The smell was unmistakable 70's/80's social club or pub with beer stenched carpets and so much smoke your eyes would be streaming... i personaly hated it but these are the sacrifices you'd make for your first real girlfriend

I remember the show being on tv as a kid and i was shocked to see it wasn't a genuine club as it's captured perfectly in every detail.

Not for me (even back then) but brings back some youthful memories.

The 'Wheeltappers.' was a fictunal north of England working mens club. Each week turns wold come on, but unlike most clubs the turns were a Whos Who or 70's entertainment. From the lamentable Cranky's to the brillant Crickets. Bernard Manning is the compaire, and the mood is light but the best thing to watch for is the crowd. These are genuine people from the clubs of England at that time.

The most fascinating thing about this programme is the battle between the audience and the the turns as to which can commit the most serious crime against fashion, clothes and hair styles. I had the audience ahead until Bobby Ball came on stage in a suit with inset bronze/gold patches which matched the colour of his platform shoes.

The better known turns are past the peak of their careers when they appear, Kathy Kirby, Gene Pitney etc., but they still perform very well.

The unknowns mostly remained unknown and for good reason, their appearance on this show probably turned out to be the high point of their careers.

Well worth watching on TPTV in the UK as of January 2025.

Watching it when it was originally recorded and again now on DVD, it is hard to believe that this was recorded in a studio. The cramped layout and rather seedy appearance coupled with an audience who looked like they might be regular club members gave no hint that it was not genuine.

Central to the shows was the often sharp banter between Colin Crompton - supposed Club Chairman and the overweight Compere, Bernard Manning. There appeared to be genuine needle between the two - that "our Bernard" has just gone in the Guinness Book of Records - the first time a plane has taken off from from a kneeling position. And that Colin Crompton "had less meat on him than Lester Piggott's whip".

And the insults were not confined to each other, often they were directed at the acts - delivered as they came on, when they went off, and sometimes in the middle. Few quite big name stars escaped this treatment. Did they know in advance, did they hate it? Some looked none too pleased.

It was unlike any other TV comedy show. It remains so - a snap-shot of industrial Northern life, circa 1974. Or so it appears to a Southerner - and worth cherishing and enjoying.