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 When I was young and life was simpler, I used to dream about It's A
Knockout coming to my town. I visualised in my mind's eye, all the colour
and spectacle being played out on my local park and I dreamed of being Stuart
Hall. The showman, bringing all the excitement through the television screen -
the ringmaster, able to whip the crowd at the event into a state of frenzy.
How I wished to speak down a crackling phone line saying, "Welcome to the
Grand Final of Knockout from Belgrade via the magical medium of
television, races and cultures combine... As I got older and took a dose of
realism for my pains, I understood that Knockout would not visit Neston
- C'est La Vie - and I would never be Stuart Hall, but I reasoned, who could
be? You can't replicate an eccentric, passionate, one-off human being like
him.
Stuart Hall was born on Christmas Day, but the year in question has been
subject to speculation. In 1993, he told The Observer that he would be
64 and that can be verified elsewhere. However for some time Who's Who in
Manchester used to include an entry for James Stuart Hall, born in 1934.
Childhood was spent in the Cheshire town of Hyde and his early life with his
father James Stuart, mother Mary and younger brother Keith, encompassed the
family business of baking. He was educated at Glossop Grammar School, where he
achieved high academic accolades, captained the football team and became head
boy. He attended UMIST - the University of Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology - and following his
National Service, joined the family business as the Director of Catering.
Sporting endeavours were and are an integral part of his make up and as a
young man he played professional football for Crystal Palace FC, playing in
the position of wing half. His love of motor sport has remained constant;
racing cars around circuits such as Silverstone and Oulton Park. So it was in
1957 at the Cheshire motor sport circuit of Oulton Park that the prowess for a
career at the microphone began to blossom. In an interview for Loaded
magazine he said he took to commentaries like fresh-water salmon to a river.
He joined the BBC in 1959 and contributed to Sports Report, Radio
Newsreel and Grandstand where in his role as a roving (or should
that be raving?) reporter took him to a first assignment at a motorcycle
scramble. A Question of Sport, QuizBall and Pot The Question
were other national networked shows in which he took the chairman's seat.
The
saga moves on to 1965 and the start of the BBC's production of regional news
magazines across Britain. Look North was to be the vehicle from
Manchester for all points from Windermere in the North to Crewe in the South.
In a quarter of a century under various guises - Look North, Look
North West and North West Tonight, Stuart became the face and voice
of the region's output. He was to viewers in Blackpool and Rochdale what Alan
Towers was in the Midlands, Ian Masters in East Anglia, Mike Neville in the
North East and Bruce Parker in the South. He thrived in an environment where
the hard, serious news of the day would be read and then anything could happen
and usually did. It was the opportunity for Stuart to display his versatility.
If you ever meet Stuart, ask him about the 1972 Christmas Pudding disaster and
I'm sure you'll get the details at full throttle. As a viewer, what was really
special on nights when Jeux Sans Frontières was due to be aired was
that he would hand back to Nationwide in London by saying, "and don't
forget to join me when Oldham represent Great Britain in Evry at 8.15pm
tonight". Fantastic!!!
The
BBC changed its local news output in the late 1980s. This was the era of John
Birt's regime at the Corporation and Birt had a preference for hard news and
little individualism. Other factors came into play too, but the love affair
between the BBC and Stuart Hall had ended. It is regrettable that Stuart never
got the opportunity to wish BBC viewers a final fond farewell in 1990.
Stuart characteristically bounced back and was soon found appearing rather
than presenting on the local ITV news programme Granada Tonight,
sparring with former rival Bob Greaves. He has participated in a plethora of
programmes for Granada. Travellers Check, Stuart Hall's Christmas in
Bosnia, Stuart's Hall of Fame, Quiz Night, God's Gift
and The Way We Were are amongst an extensive list.
 On
radio, Sports Report has remained a constant motif for Stuart. His
reports from Anfield (The Coliseum), Goodison Park (The School of Science),
Maine Road (The Theatre of Base Comedy), Wembley Stadium (The Slope) etc, etc
have now reached legendary status. He tells the listeners the story of the
game, but it is wrapped in a language that some cannot comprehend, but others
lap up to their heart's content. His descriptions of particular players are
mind-blowing but often perceptive: Mick Jones of Leeds United was described as
a sweating, plunging Lincolnshire dray, Wolves' Steve Kindon was likened to a
runaway wardrobe, while Liverpool's Tommy Smith was compared to a dyspeptic
water buffalo. His idiosyncratic reportage is an acquired taste. But when the
BBC produced a cassette to celebrate Sports Report's 40th anniversary
in 1988, there amongst all the famous events chronicled by some of the
greatest exponents of the broadcasting art was Stuart's report on the 1987
Manchester derby match which remains priceless.
In
1998, when the BBC produced a book to commemorate the 50th anniversary of
Sports Report, a chapter was devoted to Stuart's escapade at the 1977
European Cup Final in Rome. Having used up most of the local BBC funds to get
a local view on events in the Eternal City, he was refused permission to enter
the Olympic Stadium. The players and management of Liverpool FC thought
differently and on the eve of the club's greatest achievement, film and sound
equipment was smuggled into the dressing room via kit bags and Stuart was also
kitted out with a tracksuit and a shirt with a number 15 on the back. He
watched the Final from the substitutes bench alongside legendary striker John
Toshack, collected souvenirs such as the shirt of Berti Vogts who had played
for the losers of Borussia Monchengladbach, plus the dressing door key and
most of all got the film of one of British football's greatest moments.
Also on the wireless, he hosted a regular Friday night programme on BBC Radio
2 from Manchester and for number of years in the 1980's, Stuart Hall's
Sunday Sport on Radio 2's medium wave frequency. To give a flavour of the
latter here are his opening remarks from a show in September 1987: "Welcome to
Stuart Hall's Sunday entombed in the bowels of Broadcasting House in
sun-kissed Londinium. The sun blazes down - or does it - and kisses are
certainly not prevalent at our three main venues. It's deadly serious and
climax time for Europe in the Ryder Cup Singles at Muirfield Village, Ohio -
Ian Woosnam leads the charge at 2.30. In Spain, Nigel Mansell with paranoia,
ruffled feathers and a $3000 dollar fine must win the Spanish Grand Prix to
stay alive and in Brazil - My Boy - Wayne Gardner needs to win to take his
first World Championship on two wheels".
 So
eventually to It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières. As you
will know from viewing the website, Stuart's connection with the series began
long before his arrival as main presenter in 1972. But in the decade from
then, Knockout and Stuart Hall fitted in place together like a hand in
glove. He has admitted that when he joined Knockout he thought the show
was very downmarket and the balance between games of physical strength and
slapstick needed to be addressed. It happened gradually and with each passing
year the dream team of Stuart, Eddie and Arthur pulled in greater viewing
audiences and the programme became a staple part of the BBC's summer and
autumn schedules. I have yet to hear anyone else on television introduce a
programme like Stuart did with Knockout. I have yet to hear any other
broadcaster combine the duel tasks of projecting the atmosphere to viewers
while maintaining the excitement at the venue so well. He was able to mix high
levity and north country wit that gave the show an edge.
There is no doubt
that through Knockout, Stuart had become ingrained on the conscience of
the British viewing public. It has to be said that it was the famed laugh that
brought notoriety and acclaim in equal measure to Stuart. He has described
laughter as the safety valve in our often hard and serious lives. Some have
suggested that his laugh could be turned on and off like a water tap, but
laughter is a natural emotion for everyone and being a man of emotion and
passion, for Stuart his hilarity was part of his make up and it became his
trademark. The comic writer Barry Cryer once said the famous maxim, "he who
laughs last, laughs longest" should be amended to "he who laughs last...is
Stuart Hall". Knockout fans I'm certain would testify that the famous
Penguins of Aix-Les-Bains in 1974 or the Budgies on show at Sherborne in 1981
would not have been as amusing if it wasn't for Stuart's raucous laughter
while at the microphone. There are hundreds of similar examples that could be
chosen, but a fitting tribute to the laugh would be from Willi Steinberg the
Jeux Sans Frontières games designer for German television who once said
to Stuart, "if you laugh, we know the game is good and funny".
There may have been a gentleman's agreement or the
harsh words of a producer but I always admired the way Eddie Waring understood
that there was no one better to introduce the show, but Stuart always allowed
Eddie to deliver the good night to the audience. Loaded magazine
described Hall and Waring as Knockout's brilliant double act - a
fitting accolade. To sum up how good the golden era of Knockout was, I
would choose the words of Gennaro Olivieri before his refereeing of the 1979
British Championship at Charnock Richard: "It's wonderful to be back in your
country for three reasons, you have wonderful audiences, great television
people and I say this in Italian - Bravissimi Televisionne Presentattore
(Great Presenters)".
I
have recalled his introduction to the 1982 Jeux Sans Frontières Grand
Final which is an apt choice of what a brilliant wordsmith and communicator
Stuart Hall is: "Welcome to Urbino, Italy. A beautiful town of character and
charm set atop a hill amidst the green rolling Apennine countryside of the
Marsh Region. We are forty miles from the Adriatic coast teeming with
tourists. But here in Urbino the only tourists are university students as
Urbino is the Cambridge of Italy. It is... so beautiful that in the dawn of an
Italian day, it could be a film set from Hollywood. It dates back to the
Renaissance and is the birthplace of the great artist, Raphael. And now live -
there is Duke Frederick's Palace regarded as the most aesthetic palace in
Italy. It dates back to 1466, straddles two hills and Lord Clark, in his epic
series Civilisation, described it as one of the most beautiful palaces
in the world".
Of
course, Knockout was not all sweetness and light. He bruised a delicate
part of his anatomy while attempting the Dutch sport of dyke jumping in 1975.
Diplomatic skills were needed with an unruly team from Salisbury and while he
expresses a deep affection for the programme, I do wonder if at times he is
resentful that he became so associated with one programme, to the detriment of
his career as a whole. When Knockout ended, Stuart bought all the sets
and costumes and began touring the show across Europe. Sadly, he was unjustly
under-used when Knockout made its short return on Channel Five in the
late 1990s.
Snags and setbacks have embroiled Stuart Hall's life. There were unproven
accusations of punching a fellow judge at a beauty contest and a neighbouring
farmer alleging that during an argument over ploughing, he heard a loud bang
from Hall's direction which he took to be a shot gun. He made the headlines
after falling asleep under a sun lamp, leading to severe burns on his buttocks
and he was obliged to change the name of his company Stuart Hall International
Travel because the acronym caused offence. That's without even going into
novelty bottles of wine autographed by Hall being linked to an explosion in
Skelmersdale and the Case of the Poisoned Policeman that the Prosecuting
Counsel described as bizarre and akin to a Sherlock Holmes story.
In
1990, shortly after being the victim of burglary and being told of the end of
his daily BBC career he was charged with shoplifting from his local
supermarket. He was acquitted, but not awarded costs. Having recovered from
the ordeal, he was able to respond with spirit and humour to taunts made in
his direction. He has made it through all the tribulations due to his
indomitable spirit and the love of his family.
 Stuart married Hazel in 1968 at St Andrew's Church, Hadfield and they have a
son, Danny, and a daughter, Francesca. Those who may have seen Stuart appear
on This Is Your Life will know that he has become a doting grandfather
too. Outside of broadcasting, Stuart is an avid collector of antique clocks,
furniture and other collectables. He lives in leafy well-to-do Cheshire or as
he puts it on the sleeve of his autobiography Heaven and Hall - A Prodigal
Life, he lives in penury in a shed.
In
1999, an early day motion was presented to the House of Commons in celebration
of Stuart's forty years in broadcasting. The motion was endorsed by no less
than eighty-two members of the club with the famous green benches. It
congratulated Stuart Hall on his unique style that has endeared him to
millions, his use of the English language in his football reporting that has
made him an icon to the youth of today and a mellifluous voice redolent of
Sinden and Gielgud intertwining Shakespeare, Keats and Wordsworth. I can only
agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of our elected representatives.
Stuart Hall - a Christmas child, a baker's boy and a television treasure,
whose gift was to enrich life for the millions he connected and engaged with,
in an illustrious life and career. Though I could never be him, it's never
diluted my admiration of him.
Knockout fans everywhere salute him.
by Mike Peters
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