HOME > TV

The Sound of Petula - Series Pilot - Christmas Special (1972)

This Boxing Day special served as the pilot edition for what would become The Sound of Petula in 1973. It brings together Petula, Anthony Newley, appearing at the time in The Good Old Bad Old Days at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, a full orchestra under Peter Knight, the Wandsworth School Boys Choir, the City of London Brass Band, and the Irving Davies dancers in a lavishly staged musical hour. The programme blends contemporary material, standards, choral pieces, and a substantial Newley sequence, all presented with the polished production style that would define the later series in 1973 and 1974.

BROADCAST DETAILS:

• Broadcast Date: Tuesday 26 December 1972

• Broadcast Time: 18:05 pm

• Channel: BBC1

PRODUCTION:

• Telerecorded: Sunday 17 December 1972

• Venue: BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, London

• Duration: 46'41"

• Producer: Yvonne Littlewood

• Programme Associate: Eric Merriman

• Musical Director: Peter Knight

• Costume Designer: Peter Shepherd

• Choreography: Irving Davis

• Design: Don Taylor

• Lighting: Ken MacGregor

• Sound: Len Shorey

TAKING PART:

• Petula Clark

• Anthony Newley

• The Wandsworth School Boys Choir (52)
  Conductor: Russell Burgess

• The City of London Brass Band (33)
  Conductor: Geoffrey Brand

• Orchestra (34)
  Conductor: Peter Knight

• The Mike Sammes Singers

• The Irving Davies Dancers
  Caroline Haig
  Isabell Furil
  Pauline Chapman
  Jane Darling
  Bonita Brigg
  Berry Cornish
  Jess Whitfield
  Dickie Garner
  Michael Scoble
  Gordon Coster
  Jerry Manley
  Barrie Young

FILM SEQUENCES:

• BBC specially shot footage: 161' silent 16mm

• Additional footage: 3' silent 16mm from World Background

MUSIC PERFORMED (as broadcast):

• Petula Clark with The City of London Brass Band
  When I'm Sixty-Four – 00'50"
  Lennon, McCartney

• Something – 01'25"
  Harrison

• With a Little Help From My Friends – 01'16"
  Lennon, McCartney - arr. G. Langford

• Wandsworth School Boys Choir
  The Handsome Butcher – 01'06"
  Lloyd, Seiber

• The Old Woman – 01'37"
  Lloyd, Seiber

• Petula Clark with the Wandsworth School Boys Choir
  Scarborough Fair - 02'32"
  Traditional, Adapted by Simon & Garfunkel - Arr. Peter Knight#

• Petula Clark with Orchestra
  It's A Musical World - 02'45"
  Bricusse, Newley

• Make It With You - 02'38"
  David Gates - arr. F. Owens

• The World Is a Circle - 02'55"
  Bacharach, David - arr. Peter Knight

• Another Hundred People – 02'09"
  Stephen Sondheim - arr. Peter Knight

• Without You – 02'21"
  Ham, Evans

• I'm a Brass Band – 02'56"
  Fields, Coleman - arr. Peter Knight 

• Simple Song – 04'10"
  Leonard Bernstein - arr. Michel Colombier

• Anthony Newley with the Orchestra
  The Good Things in Life – 04'11"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• Petula Clark and Anthony Newley Duets
  Look at That Face – 01'27"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• Where Would You Be Without Me – 01'38"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight 

• Once in a Lifetime – 01'12"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight 

• Typically English – 01'36"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• Who Can I Turn To? – 01'12"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• The People Tree – 01'19"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• The Good Old Bad Old Days – 01'45"
  Bricusse, Newley - arr. Peter Knight

• Petula Clark and the Orchestra
  Mother of Us All – 03'00"
  Ed Whiting - arr. Don Costa

Critical Reception:

Contemporary press response was warm, with the Dundee Express noting that Petula's distinctive voice brought an added richness to both new and familiar material, and praising her performance as one of her strongest television outings. The review also highlighted Anthony Newley's contribution with a wry aside that his songs sounded their most beautiful when performed by someone else, a remark delivered affectionately rather than critically, and typical of the paper's light-touch humour.

Archive Holdings:

A complete recording of this episode does not survive. Only two sequences (It's A Musical World and The World Is A Circle) are known to exist, and it is understood that the BBC Archives does not hold these surviving extracts. The material survives solely through private collectors, including The Fan Archive Collection, which preserves a documented reference copy (shelf mark [2]096).

In addition, ambient off-air audio recordings made privately at the time of the original broadcast also survive among collectors. In the absence of the full programme, these recordings provide an important record of the transmitted audio.

All recordings remain under copyright, and we are unable to provide access or supply copies.

Survival Status:

This episode does not survive in full. Only two sequences (It's A Musical World and The World Is A Circle) are known to exist, and these survive solely through private collectors. The BBC Archives is not believed to hold any material from this pilot. The Fan Archive Collection maintains a documented reference copy of the surviving extracts, along with an ambient off-air audio recording made privately at the time of transmission, which preserve the broadcast soundtrack in the absence of the complete programme.

---

Questions? Drop us an email: info@petula-archives.co.uk