Les & Dustin's Laughter Show (BBC1) - 1986

10th July 1986 - The comedy duo give you a glimpse at the EastEnders and a rousing impression of Arthur Scargill and Derek Hatton. In their Quest for the Key, the search takes them to a hamburger stall, a confrontation with the police and an appointment with Dr Zordas.
Guests are Roy Walker and Black Onyx

[@davidfbenko]

Thank you for uploading. Brought back nice memories from childhood.

[@alisonpovey4566]

Thanks for Posting this, when I was young, my sister, myself and My Parents saw the late Dustin Gee (RIP) and Les Dennis at Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, this brings back many happy memories for me, also saw Les Dennis and Dustin Gee in Nottingham one year and I got picked on by Les Dennis.

[@DoubleOProductions]

Thanks for uploading... reminded me of being 8 yrs old in the 80s, loving all of this stuff on TV...not realising it was all utter utter pig swill... this, russ abbott, hidi hi, little and large etc and most of it complete rot on prime time British TV.... thank god the 90s happened and TV had a radical shake up.... still, it was fun to watch when I was 9...

[@nigelkthomas9501]

If this was 1986 it must’ve been screened after Dustin Gee died. Very sad and heartbreaking. To suddenly just have a heart attack with no warnings is quite shocking.

[@DirtyBoySingToGod]

OMG this might be just about THE funniest thing I've ever seen. So sad that I missed out the first time round :( Probably the greatest comedy show that was ever on TV. The Alan Whicker impression OMG I can't breathe, ! Comedy PERFECTION.

[@OfflineSetup]

Glad you liked it, hopefully there will be more for you to ....... hold on! Were you being sarcastic?

[@ysthafellgynghori8423]

@@OfflineSetup Yes, I think he was. He's probably a huge 'Little Britain' fan who can't accept that his favourite programme got removed from Netflix last year due to its racist content.

[@Gannett2011]

One of those programmes that were just 'on' back in the day. I remember watching these as a teen back then, and it was a lot of fun. It was a real shock when Dustin Gee died, totally unexpected. I recently saw a "Who do you to" and Dustin Gee was doing some really great impressions on that. Great to see this show, part of my TV viewing back in the 80s.

[@motorwest]

wonderful stuff!

[@sassynin]

Classic 80's!

[@russellthompson9271]

@killwill83 You have zero sense of humour

[@nutty784]

the first sketch with les dennis getting beathalised was nicked from not the nine oclock news wasnt it?

[@donwright3427]

Yep

[@dannydorko7075]

I think it's fair to say his guest appearance on Extras was his best work...

[@davewilkes2756]

Dustin also liked the weed lol he called them Jazz woodbines lol

[@paullynton-green6570]

How do you know this?

[@andyb4864]

That Tony impression in the EastEnders sketch would be a bit dodgy in today's world.

[@paullynton-green6570]

Yeah.no sense of humour.

[@arthurconan1899]

Comedy... It's funny.. Don't watch it

[@givemethevalium]

Not sure if this was a new episode, but was being shown posthumously then as Dustin had died in Jan 1986

[@johnloony68]

The date at the end is 1985, so presumably this is a recording of when it was repeated in 1986.

[@jjwp-ql5rv]

Givemethevalium Givemethevalium you do understand that most programmes are pre recorded. For example, at the start of 2018, a LOT of programmes will say 2017 at the end. They are recorded months plus in advance

[@givemethevalium]

jjwp 1988 oH rIGhT tHanKs fOR expLAining

[@givemethevalium]

John Cartwright I could check but there was a whole series of the Laughter Show filmed in 1985 which then wasn’t shown for several months after Dustin Gee died.

[@siwynjones]

This is Episode 5 from the third series, broadcast on the 8th of February 1986. Apparently the BBC canned the broadcast of the rest of the series after Dustin’s death on the 3rd of January (Episode 1 had been broadcast over Christmas 1985) but Dustin’s family requested that the remainder were shown, and it resumed with Episode 2 on 18th of January. This tallies with my own vague memories of watching it at the time.

[@davidburton-richardson9516]

Classic retro comedy from the 1980s, a golden era. Not great Comedians or Impressionists by any means, but a nice refreshing blast from the past, made even more poignant due to the early death of Dustin Gee.

[@givemethevalium]

Blacking-up in 1986!!! Amazing. Not sure I’ve seen a later example than this (not inc Come Fly With Me etc)

[@SpeccyHorace]

Why not including Come Fly With Me?

[@fraserkatie]

Ray Moore voicing the Royal Wedding trail

[@paullynton-green6570]

Great dj.

[@hastekulvaati9681]

It’s like watching death.

[@amyclarke41]

yes

[@stephenroche5107]

Hilarious.

[@VCYT]

'' Well i dont really know ''

[@mjp8648]

Looking at the opening titles, must have had Ready Brek.

[@rajnirvan3336]

Les Dennis sitting down doing monologues. Copy a certain Mr Corbett style with the couch and sweater etc

[@Dim4323]

And roy walker the host of catchphrase

[@terryperring104]

Who is the actress playing the barmaid at 10:00mins?

[@NeilMiles]

Jessica Martin

[@OofusTwillip]

@@NeilMiles I saw her and Gary Wilmot (who's the hamburger stand guy in the Knights sketch) in "Me and My Girl", in 1986. I loved that musical, and saw it enough times to memorize it.

[@simoningram8081]

The old William.. ..... boycey

[@LivingDeadMan1972]

Dustin Gee is still a better impressionist than Les Dennis and he's been dead for years.

[@gar651527]

Tv's on Roy walker. Pissed on his Mr Chips

[@londonroulette]

Jesus those YELLOW SUITS! That was fashionable? Lol

[@kengeorgejones6855]

That wasn't a bad Angie impression. The rest...well...

[@londonroulette]

I think I must of turned this off in the 80s as I don’t remember it, it’s bad!

[@hazelwalsh3269]

Oh Dear!! This show won’t be remembered!! The suits are almost as bad as the impressions! Dustin blacking up part of EastEnders is just painful!! The actress playing Angie was the best person in it!

[@zargonthemagnificent330]

This has not dated very well. The EastEnders sketch is just very clunky, never mind Dustin Gee's cringey blacking up.The other impressions they do are strange...Peter Cook's EL Wisty character was already nearly 20 years old when this was broadcast in 1986, and David Essex had not had a hit in many, many years. The Scargill and Hatton sketch isn't too bad though.

[@Kevinasp]

Essex had hits 1982, 1983 so he was relatively contemporary

[@terrorcottaclayman7357]

Those shoulder pads where funnier. 😂😂😂

[@SpeccyHorace]

This might actually be worse than Little and Large.

[@Dim4323]

SURVAY SAYS

[@leewright1176]

Wonder what the audience spent their £3.99 on to laugh at this.

[@cylon6]

Dustin Gee was a very good impressionist, Les Dennis REALLY wasn’t.

[@cylon6]

@killwill83 😲😲😲

[@JoeScaramanga]

holy christ is this painful. I'm sure I remember these two being funnier than this. If you have to introduce your impression before you do it, you're doing something wrong.

[@jjwp-ql5rv]

Not bad, tbh

[@Tacsmoker]

play.... who the hell is les doing... its a hard game lol

[@bigmikebamber]

Pete Beale was a bit of a stretch to be fair.

[@jamiecovfefe6323]

OMG those yellow suits are truly disgusting ..

[@jjwp-ql5rv]

Jamie Covfefe it’s a comedy show from the 80’s. People dressed differently then, plus, it’s comedy as well, they’re costumes

[@harrysmith4780]

This is the worst thing I've ever seen and I was in Vietnam.

[@gar651527]

Slappable les

[@DRAINPIPE57]

Sorry 2 good personalities but spoilt by a really bad script Thanks God we had The Two Ronnies No laughter in this show with Les and Dustin

[@jjwp-ql5rv]

DAVID PYPER if you didn’t laugh at least once, you need seeing by somebody.

[@bwlboy123]

I recently watched 3 of the later seasons of the Two Ronnies on Netflix. I loved them as a kid but watching it again now, it's really not great.

[@annother3350]

Lesbian Dennis and Disgustin G.

[@6611haggis]

This is truly appalling.

[@russellthompson9271]

Bullshit! This is far funnier and more joyful than any of the depressing so called comedy today!!

[@truthseeker1867]

Don't comment if you don't like it. Moron!

[@marktrickett5081]

Joyful my arse. End of pier nonsense that ended up on the BBC by mistake. .

[@win33adam]

I came her with some expectations.... but didn't laugh once

[@russellthompson9271]

That's cos you have no sense if humour

[@MsBananasmel]

I found this funny when I was 8. Now... Bloody terrible.

[@russellthompson9271]

Fuck off and watch something boring then.

[@UKArchiveTV]

What a horrible attack on working-class solidarity in the closing song

[@zargonthemagnificent330]

Pfff. Scargill was a demagogue and as for Derek Hatton, more concerned about his appearance and his own image than actually helping the Liverpool working class constructively.

[@bwlboy123]

It really was terrible. Terrible impressions. Dustin Gee blacked up. Gee whizz! Les Dennis on a couch telling so-called jokes. A poor man's Ronnie Corbett.

[@royfr8136]

bad

[@jamesmcloughlin1410]

Truly awful

[@adrinathegreat3095]

Jesus Christ how utterly predictable and unfunny, Good Angie impression and Roy Walker was ok. The rest was dreadful and embarrassing

[@amfwelsh]

This was such a Crap show back then.