User Reviews

In his prime, Mike Yarwood was the plastic face of impersonation. For a decade or so he became the televinstitution of political and theatrical satire. He was topical, funny, believable, and authentic.

For the most part he was also harmless.

But times changed. Perhaps he became too universal, too successful. At any rate his style and popularity declined. The more biting and insightful of the Rory Bremner generation gained ascendancy. We began to know our politicians better. Mimicking their behaviour was no longer adequate; we needed to see their characters lampooned as well. And with their increasingly aberrant peccadilloes being revealed in the press, Bremner's scathing style assumed ascendancy.

How quickly a nation forgets its star entertainers. Yarwood made a whole generation laugh out loud. Tens of millions tuned into his Christmas shows. Now he goes almost unmentioned. Such is the fickleness of fame.

Picture the scene: Alf Garnett is on stage before an audience. He can barely contain his mirth. "I heard a joke the other day ( pause ). Harold Wilson went into hospital ( another pause ) to have his pipe removed.". When this did not raise so much as a titter, Alf lost his temper: "What's the matter with you?", he raged, "Laugh! Laugh! Its funny!".

In case you are wondering, that was not from 'Till Death Us Do Part'. It came from 'Look, Mike Yarwood', an early Saturday evening light entertainment show that began in 1971. Mike was considered so good he was given the same slot as 'The Two Ronnies' and 'The Dick Emery Show'. The show basically was a vehicle for his numerous impressions - among them Prime Minister Ted Heath, Leader Of The Opposition Harold Wilson, President Richard Nixon, David Frost, Benny Hill ( as 'Fred Scuttle' ), Frankie Howerd, Harry Worth, Eric Morecambe, 'Blakey' from 'On The Buses', Robin Day, Malcolm Muggeridge, Dave Allen, union leader Vic Feather, Hughie Green, Max Bygraves, Tommy Cooper, 'Steptoe & Son', Jimmy Hill, Brian Clough, and not forgetting Michael Crawford's 'Frank Spencer' ( everybody comic in the country was imitating 'Frank Spencer' at that time it seemed ). Among his later ones was a very good Prince Charles.

Many sketches were send-up's of popular shows of the day, such as 'The Comedians' ( which is where the aforementioned 'Alf Garnett' item came from ), 'The Onedin Line' ( Yarwood's version had Ted Heath in the Peter Gilmore role ), 'Supersonic' ( with future Labour leader Michael Foot in Mike Mansfield's chair ), and 'Batman' ( in which Denis Healey played 'Vatman' ). He even took off 'Basil Brush'! There was no stopping the man. These were good, if not quite in the Stanley Baxter or 'Two Ronnies' class.

Yarwood is often credited in giving politicians such as Heath and Wilson a more human face to show to the public. When kids wrote to 'Jim'll Fix It' asking to meet Denis Healey, they probably wanted to meet the Yarwood version ( "What a silly billy!" ) rather than the real one. This was not biting political satire, let's be honest, being content to poke gentle fun at our leaders rather than go for the jugular. That job would go to 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' and 'Spitting Image'.

Gorgeous Cheryl Kennedy provided good support, playing all the female parts in the sketches. When he took off 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em', she was 'Betty' to his 'Frank'. She also sang one song per show. Another early regular was Peter Noon of 'Herman's Hermits' fame.

When Cheryl dropped out, the title was adjusted to 'Mike Yarwood In Persons'. The rise of Margaret Thatcher as Tory Party leader presented him with a major problem ( as it would do for all of us! ). He tried imitating her but found it impossible. Janet Brown was eventually hired, and proved such a hit she later got her own series.

One of the best send-up's was of 'Fawlty Towers', with Mike as 'Basil'. The premise was that the cabaret booked to appear at the hotel had not turned up, and Basil was forced to entertain his guests as best he could: "Pity Manuel's got the night off. I could have done a knife throwing act!". What made the sketch work was that the set was a perfect replica of the original, and Ballard Berkeley reprised his familiar role of lovable alcoholic 'Major Gowen'.

Yarwood, like Morecambe & Wise before him, jumped ship in the early '80's to go to Thames and, while the shows he made there were not particularly bad, the B.B.C. ones were far funnier. I.T.V. dropped him in 1987.

It has been said that the arrival of Rory Bremner was the final nail in the coffin for Mike's career. It is true that Bremner was technically more impressive, but his abrasive humour ensured that his shows never enjoyed the massive popularity of Yarwood's. When 'Look, Mike Yarwood' was on the box, everyone looked.

As was the case with Arthur Haynes, Mike Yarwood was a comedian I did not find easy to be able to take to, though I really did want to. I personally found many of his sketches to be overlong and his impersonations to be below par, rather like Stanley Baxter's LWT shows.

Among Yarwood's repertoire were Frank Spencer from 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em', Blakey from 'On The Buses', Alf Garnett from 'Till Death Us Do Part', Peter Falk's 'Columbo', Eddie Waring, Ted Heath and Brian Clough. Adrienne Posta appeared at first as his foil but was later replaced by Cheryl Kennedy.

'Look! It's Mike Yarwood' made the ratings and had a large and loyal following and I fully acknowledge his popularity but sadly it just did not cut the mustard with me. The long forgotten ( and sadly deceased ) Paul Squire drew inspiration from Yarwood when he did his ill fated BBC show 'Paul Squire Esq'. Paul in my opinion was a better impersonator, such a pity his moment in the sun didn't last long!