Advent Calendar 2023 Day 6: The Cannon & Ball Show, 1985

If it can be said to have one, the Cannon & Ball Show's imperial phase had maybe passed by now, with Paul Jackson moving on as producer/director and handing over to Marcus Plantin, certainly an experienced hand at big shiny floor entertainment with a tang - Larry Grayson's Generation Game, Blankety Blank, the Two Ronnies - but without Jackson's hand at skewing the LWT shiny floor formula or the young writers he brought in, Geoff Atkinson and Grant & Naylor. It's also entirely likely that this was the period when they've admitted to falling out and barely speaking to each other off-stage. On the other hand, they're still Cannon and Ball, Sid Field was just as experienced a hand and that fiery chemistry is still there. Also, someone has moved the audience much closer to the stage to increase the chance of someone getting on Bobby's piggin' nerves. Guests are Ruth Madoc exhibiting her miming skills and Paul Nicholas explaining why Vince from Just Good Friends isn't getting married, plus a baffling bit with an unstated but clearly multi-faith choir - The Children Of The Pestalozzi Village, in fact - singing Silent Night and Bobby seemingly unscriptedly slipping over on some cutlery to fully thirty seconds of reaction. No, they don't do Together We'll Be OK.