BBC1 - Bob Says Opportunity Knocks - 1988

16th April 1988 - Bob Monkhouse presents the show that helps make the stars of tomorrow (it says here)

[@strongcoffee7]

I loved the opening as a kid and that arrangement sticks in my head more than the original Kiki Dee version!

[@97channel]

Must admit, I only came here for the theme tune. I think I only watched the programme as a kid because the opening song hooked me in.

[@MrDavey2010]

And the graphics are so twee!

[@davidfos84]

@@MrDavey2010 Gotta love '80s CGI.

[@walterbatch5296]

This is the first show OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS since the 70/80s I AM 85 NOW.What memories it brings back of such brilliant talents. Why on earth do we not get this type of entertainment now. Instead of this Oh so much the same acts. No diversity all singer same the same, no change in different styles and presentation. I am now looking for another show.

[@JonnoD00]

Bob held this show together so well. Dire acts.

[@markwrightrf]

I still can't work out how the end credits were made, despite being 'in the biz' back then.. elements moving in front of and behind what we used to call a caption roller, updated with that week's participants, that should have taken days to render. Bob always pushed for this sort of innovation. God rest his soul. RIP Stewart Morris too. I doubt Bob would have taken any of his nonsense...

[@iamroleypoleyman]

'The BBC like to give a personal touch...unless you're quick on your toes', how true Bob

[@todaysbestmix]

Saw Ian and Wendy from Clearwater act in Llandudno this week. Still awesome :)

[@fraserkatie]

Wanted so much to be on this as a child, was really good at acting and wanted to be on this acting!

[@joeritchie7286]

Since hearin Kiki Dee's Star , I'd forgotten where I heard it but now I finally now , thanks Neil.

[@bluewater4430]

iv got some of Bob Says Opportunity Knocks

[@nikreece6295]

RIP Bob Monkhouse...

[@Robertsshed]

Impressive computer animation for the era.

[@dvidclapperton]

0898. That was a very expensive phone call to the BBC to cast your vote. The original Opportunity Knocks show on ITV in the 1970's, it was all studio based voting.

[@richardholland7759]

Only 5p at the time. 0898 numbers, IIRC, could have the price set by the terminating party, so sex lines were expensive, but the BBC set the voting to be the minimum of 5p.

[@johnking5174]

No, the original ITV version produced by Thames in the seventies and ABC Weekend Television in the sixties had postal votes

[@stevebbuk9557]

You wrote on a postcard your winner and mailed it to Teddington Lock, Middlesex.

[@leenwctv1]

Yes it was all about Bob

[@husky-7017]

Their was a guy on their once called steve harvey.. have you the footage of him singing.. i see him on a regular basis..i think he preformed on this series..

[@alysiasheppard5119]

Used to watch this with my Dad & used to say kick kee Dee until I got her name right ♥️♥️

[@adamstamps3568]

ive got 2 eps of this series from 1987

[@sarahelenelucia4264]

Do you by any chance have the one with Melinda Morralis? (Season 19, episode 7), She's my mum and I've been desperately searching online for the episode and cant find it anywhere, not even a clip :(

[@mrpendleton5414]

Dont get openings like this anymore. Great feel good and bobby was just pure class. Fuck everything today. Somehow technology went forwards but the human race went backwards

[@jeffrey44]

What happened at 3:28? Why was Jane Harrison's performance removed?

[@edmundpower1250]

It was terrible😖😖

[@jeffrey44]

You are terrible, Edmund.

[@edmundpower1250]

@@jeffrey44 well you did ask

[@jeffrey44]

@@edmundpower1250 You are a terrible man.

[@edmundpower1250]

@@jeffrey44 I'd say you're a little weird yourself Jeff😄

[@HucklezOrHB]

Does anyone know where s20 ep8 1988

[@Gallowaywind]

wasn't this the last series before the format was put to bed until Pop Stars 11 years later.

[@NeilMiles]

There was a further series of this the following year and there were similar shows in the 90s - The Big Big Talent Show springs to mind

[@applemask]

Bob did one more series, and then Les Dawson did one in 1990.

[@dvidclapperton]

The old style talent shows like Opportunity Knocks and New Faces were fat better than the likes of X Factor, Pop Stars, Britain's Got Talent, The Voice etc.

[@davyboy232]

And they all ended up as club turns

[@eatmywords]

yeah, i'd like to club a few of them.

[@antoniod]

Soooo BBC was able to co-opt a title from the other side by changing it a little.

[@zarabada6125]

It started on BBC, moved to ITV for the majority of its run then moved back to BBC for a final few series.

[@gordonbeattie4864]

@@zarabada6125 When the BBC started this series Hughie Green sued the BBC for breach of copyright. A lengthy court battled started and was never fully resolved so the BBC settled out of court and put Hughie's name on the credits as Programme Consultant.

[@zarabada6125]

@@gordonbeattie4864 Are you getting confused with Hughie Green's attempt to sue the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation for copying the Opportunity Knocks format? That was a lengthy court battle (a decade or more) where Green lost every case and appeal. As the BBC revived version of Opportunity Knocks lasted for only a few years I doubt that there would have been any "lengthy" legal battle with the BBC (a short battle would have been possible but Green would have stood no chance given the NZ precedent where he shot himself in the foot with the quality of evidence that he had a copyright in the first place). The relevance of the NZ case to UK law is that Green made his ultimate appeal to the UK Privy Council but they backed the NZ Courts' decisions and settled the matter against Green in 1989 (the year before the final BBC series). I can find no evidence online for a case involving the BBC. Can you provide a source, please? It would be an interesting read.

[@jeffrey44]

@@gordonbeattie4864Why don't you answer Zarabada's question? ANSWER IT.

[@dvidclapperton]

@@zarabada6125 I never realised that Opportunity Knocks started on the BBC, not Thames. Did Thames when Hughie Green hosted not use the same format the BBC originally used? So it obviously Thames did not hold the copyright for the format when NZBC launched it in New Zealand that Hughie Green tried to sue NZBC.

[@richardsharpe2966]

If Hughie Green had hosted it again like he did when it was on ITV then Opportunity Knocks would have continued for years

[@gordonbeattie4864]

Hughie Green's ego killed off Opportunity Knocks in 1978 when Thames Television axed the show after he used the show to air his own rants once too often.

[@dvidclapperton]

They never use the original host when a game show gets relaunched several years after it was originally axed. Apart from Celebrity Squares with Bob Monkhouse.

[@eatmywords]

well, at least until his scandalous affairs hit the headlines.

[@eatmywords]

jeez, that scottish 'comedian' was terrible.

[@richardsharpe2966]

Opportunity Knocks did not suit Bob Mounkhouse

[@Keithbarber]

I thought he did very well with this series

[@dvidclapperton]

Yes he did well on Opportunity Knocks, but shows like Family Fortunes, Bob's Full House, Celebrity Squares, Wipeout etc where contestants answer questions are what Bob Monkhouse was most famous for.

[@itsjemmabond]

Disagree!