Advent Calendar 2021 Day 19: Jimmy Tarbuck's Christmas All Stars

"Good King Wenceslas won't be looking out, he'll be looking in tonight!" It's 1983 and ITV aren't doing their own All Star Comedy Carnivals any more so Jimmy has had to take direct action. Well, not really, it's more of a studio based Her Majesty's/Palladium-type variety spectacular of the type where you don't need a second guess to know which franchise was responsible. So Tarby indulges in crosstalk with Mike Yarwood and Cannon & Ball (Bobby, shortly after being introduced to the 'Dolly Parton breathalyser' because that's all we cared about her then, warns Jimmy "don't start thinking I'm a poofter!" to shrieking laughter), Max Bygraves sings a song for the year which includes the lines "Prince Andrew said I've got to be going, I shouldn't be here", Michael Barrymore is a drunk Australian in the kitchen, the Game For A Laugh team - Matthew Kelly wearing dungarees with a Christmas tree design because that's what he did - appear so Jeremy can run a game involving throwing paint at Lionel Blair and Jack Scott and Matthew can wrongfoot a woman after a telephone game, Shakin' Stevens and Bonnie Tyler sing, and Bruce Forsyth does a music hall drunk pianist routine before forming a piano/flute/harp jazz trio. Well, we say "studio based" but there's a lot of satellite communications going on, which means the Temptations and their cheap drum machine, Andy Williams being shown up by a brief technical fault and Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers and Freeway class up the joint. The company end with a choral medley starting with that festive standard Singing The Blues, and as if it wasn't already odd enough Shaky and Bonnie aren't there but the ever available Kenny Lynch is. Weep, friends. Weep for this era of entertainment long gone.