Well, here IS another one! To me, one of the achievements of this show was the way one suspended disbelief and forgot that Ollie and Fred WERE only glove puppets. This was in no small part due to the way Muriel Young interacted with them as if they were as human as she was. Some performers who would have been entirely at place in a music show for adults (Manfred Mann, Sandie Shaw, the Searchers and Herman's Hermits to name only four) also entered entirely into the spirit of the programme and made for a thoroughly entertaining half-hour or so. I watched an episode of this on Tuesday, April 13, 1965, immediately before the first episode of 'Orlando' (q.v.) and remember the contrast between Ollie's and Fred's treatment of guest host Jon Pertwee with that they had accorded his predecessor Stubby Kaye. The latter, with his bluff American wit and bonhomie, was beloved not only by the eponymous hosts but by everybody else involved in the show. For some reason, Ollie and Fred took against the unfortunate Pertwee as soon as he took over from Kaye and mocked and derided Jon almost throughout his tenure! On one occasion Pertwee attempted a song that sent owl and dog into fits! "Hey Fred, we could get a programme going with Pertwee - something like 'Music Down the Drain'!" chortled Ollie. "Yeah, or 'Bottom of the Pops'!" responded Fred, who compared Jon's voice to the sound made by a steam engine going through a tunnel backwards. Oh, to be nine years old again!
Review of Five O'Clock Club
