Dougie Squires

Douglas William Squires OBE MVO (born 1932, Nottingham, England) is an English choreographer, known best for his work in television from the mid-1950s.

The Dougie Squires Dancers (1968)

Choreography

The groups he has choreographed for television include:

  • The Young Generation
  • The Dougie Squires Dancers
  • Dougie Squires' Second Generation
  • The Dougie Squires Dozen

As well as TV work he has been involved with theatrical productions and fund-raising events. In 2009 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to the Performing Arts and was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to choreography and stage direction of royal pageants.[1]

The Young Generation

The Young Generation were a dancing and singing group created specifically for BBC television in the late 1960s and thus were the first act of their kind to regularly appear on British TV. The troupe were choreographed originally by Dougie Squires who chose the founding members of the troupe. The group were mainly dancers, but also sang songs either accompanying other singers or performing stand alone numbers.[2] Their BBC debut came on the 1967 series The Rolf Harris Show.[3]

The line up for the Young Generation often changed, but the original teams consisted of: Mike Bevan, Sue Avory, James Capehorn, Harvey Clark, Joanna Cram, Ray Cornell, Ray Davies, Pat Goh, Johnny Greenland, David Hepburn, Judy Monks, Bob Howe, Jenny Morgan, Terry Jones, Margie Rumney, Terry Roberts, Michael Tye-Walker, Pauline Wall, Gerry Wedge, Miranda Willis, Valerie Barrett, Bobby Bannerman, Ann Chapman, Brian Evans, Jackie Dalton, Marlene Domanska, Harry Higham, Dee Eldridge, Roger Howlett, Roger Hannah, Sally Graham, Scott Mackee, Jane Herbert, Rhys Nelsen, Linda Herbert, John Parsons, Lesley Judd, Brian Rogers, Janie Kells, Joseph Saber, Linda Laurence, Frederick Share, Cheryl St. Claire, Barrie Stevens, Maggie Vieler, Ricky Stratful, Rae Wallace, Donald Torr, Wei Wei Wong and Andy Wallace. The group continued working with Rolf Harris on Show Of The Week hosted by Harris on BBC2, 19 May 1968.[4] Later that year, they became the resident dance/singing act on BBC2's International Cabaret, appearing alongside such acts as Massiel, Georgia Brown, Gilbert Becaud and Tessie O'Shea. During this time, they also appeared with Rolf Harris on his own BBC1 TV series.[5] During this TV run, new members joining the troupe included Heather Beckers, Marie Betts, Iain Burton, Catherine Collins. Chris Cooper, Roger Finch, Denise Fone, Danny Grover, Carolyn Heywood, Erik-Jack, Linda Joliff, Kay Korda, Patricia Lovet, Denis Morrissey, Peter Newton, Sandy Penson, Jeremy Robinson, Terry Robinson, Ricky Stratful and Trevor Willis.[6] Nigel Lythgoe[7] and Ken Warwick[8] joined the group in 1969, before becoming two of television's most successful choreographers and producers later in their own right.

In 1970, the troupe continued to appear on BBC2's Show Of The Week and other BBC series in which they appeared included Lulu at Berns Restaurant,[9] A Royal Television Gala Performance,[10] The British Screen Awards,[11] The Rod McKuen Show[12] and Fifty Years Of Music.[13] On Christmas Day 1969, they appeared simultaneously on BBC1 and BBC2, starring in Christmas Night With The Stars,[14] hosted by Val Doonican on BBC1 and in their own 'special' Jesus[15] on BBC2. In January 1970, they were given their own self-titled BBC2 TV series,[16] while concurrently running 'specials' on BBC1 included The Young Generation meet Lulu,[17] The Young Generation meet Esther Ofarim[18] and The Young Generation meet Shirley Bassey,[19] Another regular series with Rolf Harris followed in 1970 and 1971 on BBC1 and on BBC2, they starred alongside Kenneth Williams in Meanwhile on BBC2.[20] Later in 1971, they appeared with Vera Lynn in Show Of The Week and Don Lurio temporarily replaced Squires as the troupe's choreographer.[21] Their next BBC series came in 1972 on BBC1 in Engelbert with The Young Generation starring Engelbert Humperdinck.[22] In 1973, they starred alongside Vince Hill in BBC2's series They Sold A Million.[23] The same year saw another series: The Young Generation Big Top, which featured Clodagh Rodgers, The Bachelors, Danny La Rue and Sandie Shaw.[24] A second series of They Sold A Million aired in 1974, followed the same year by Ken Dodd's World Of Laughter on BBC1.[25] Their last BBC series was The Musical Time Machine which aired on BBC2 in 1977.[26] They continued to appear regularly with Vera Lynn on BBC shows, including A Jubilee Of Music in 1976.[27]

Later members of the group who had joined by 1973 included Vonnie Barnes, Walter Cartier, David Hampshire, Veronica France, Jerry Manley, Kay Frazer, John Melainey, Jackie Hall, Steven Payne, Martini Howard, Georgina Keane, Karen Knight, Sue Lake, Di Palmer, Liz Robertson, Benita Shawe, Michelle Thorne, Spencer Shires, Donald Torr, Trevor Willis and Geoff Richer[28] who also went on to be a successful choreographer, launching his own troupe Geoff Richer's First Edition who appeared on many TV shows, including Seaside Special.[29]

Although under contract and owned by the BBC, outside of television, the troupe also made stage appearances, including the 10-week run of Meet Me In London at the Adelphi Theatre with Tommy Steele beginning in April 1971.[30]

Lesley Judd was perhaps the best known of the group, despite walking out of the troupe in breach of contract.[31] Soon after she joined Blue Peter and became a regular TV and radio presenter through to the early 1990s. Wei Wei Wong had other minor TV roles (including Warship [32] and Spy![33]) and appeared briefly in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun[34] and was a hostess on both ITV's The Golden Shot and 3-2-1.[35] Wong was also a member of the subsequent 'The Second Generation'. Sally Graham left the group early on to become one of the short-lived founder members of The New Seekers. Singer David Van Day was a later member of the group, as was Mary Corpe who later joined Pan's People.[36]

BBC TV Series:

  • 1967 The Rolf Harris Show (BBC1) 12 Episodes
  • 1968 International Cabaret from Sweden (BBC2) 3 Episodes
  • 1968 International Cabaret from The Talk of the Town (BBC2) 3 Episodes
  • 1969 The Rolf Harris Show (BBC1) 13 Episodes
  • 1969 Show of the Week: The Young Generation Meet... (BBC2) 4 Episodes
  • 1970 The Young Generation (BBC1) 16 Episodes
  • 1970 The Young Generation Meet... (BBC1) 3 Episodes
  • 1970–71 The Rolf Harris Show (BBC1) 14 Episodes
  • 1971 Meanwhile on BBC2 (BBC2) 10 Episodes
  • 1971 Show of the Week: Vera Lynn (BBC2) 6 Episodes
  • 1972 Engelbert with The Young Generation (BBC1) 13 Episodes
  • 1973 They Sold A Million (BBC2) 15 Episodes
  • 1973 The Young Generation Big Top (BBC2) 6 Episodes
  • 1973–74 The Vera Lynn Show (BBC2) 7 Episodes
  • 1974 They Sold A Million (BBC2) 13 Episodes
  • 1974 Ken Dodd's World Of Laughter (BBC1) 6 Episodes
  • 1975 The Vera Lynn Show (BBC2) 11 Episodes
  • 1975 The Musical Time Machine (BBC2) 12 Episodes
  • 1977 The Musical Time Machine (BBC2) 7 Episodes

The Second Generation

Squires developed a second, similar troupe in the early 1970s which was freelance and under his management, the similar, but short-lived concept troupe named The Second Generation, which included amongst many others Debbie McGee.[37] Although this troupe appeared on BBC television, they were free to appear on rival broadcasters and independently of TV. This included a 1974 edition of Sunday Night At The London Palladium on ITV. Some of the troupe reunited with Squires in 2016.[38]

References
  1. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N5.
  2. "The Young Generation Dancers". PansPeople.com. 2011-12-26. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  3. "THE ROLF HARRIS SHOW - BBC One London - 21 January 1967 - BBC Genome".
  4. "SHOW OF THE WEEK - BBC Two England - 19 May 1968 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  5. "Meeting Point". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  6. "THE ROLF HARRIS SHOW - BBC One London - 15 February 1969 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  7. McLeod, Pauline. "The Young Generation dancer Nigel Lythgoe on Lesley Judd, Dusty Springfield and Gene Kelly | Life | Life & Style | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  8. "The Man With All the Right Moves | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  9. "Lulu - BBC One London - 8 September 1969 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  10. "A Royal Television Gala Performance - BBC One London - 24 May 1970 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  11. "The British Screen Awards - BBC One London - 4 March 1971 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  12. "Rod McKuen - BBC Two England - 6 February 1971 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  13. "Fifty Years of Music - BBC Two England - 6 November 1972 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  14. "Christmas Night with the Stars - BBC One London - 25 December 1969 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  15. "Jesus - BBC Two England - 25 December 1969 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  16. "The Young Generation - BBC Two England - 24 January 1970 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  17. "The Young Generation meet Lulu - BBC One London - 18 February 1970 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  18. "The Young Generation meet Esther Ofarim - BBC One London - 25 February 1970 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  19. "The Young Generation meet Shirley Bassey - BBC One London - 18 March 1970 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  20. "The Rolf Harris Show". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  21. "Show of the Week: Vera Lynn - BBC Two England - 9 December 1971 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  22. "Engelbert with The Young Generation - BBC One London - 9 January 1972 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  23. "They Sold A Million". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  24. "They Sold a Million". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  25. "Show of the Week : The Vera Lynn Show". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  26. "Ken Dodd's World of Laughter". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  27. "A Jubilee of Music - BBC One London - 31 December 1976 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  28. "Show of the Week: The Young Generation Big Top - BBC Two England - 6 August 1973 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  29. "Snowtime Special - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  30. "Poster | V&A Search the Collections". Collections.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  31. Blue Peter" 50th Anniversary Book: The Story of Television's Longest-running Children's Programme. Hamlyn ISBN 978-0-600-61793-8
  32. "Warship - BBC One London - 1 February 1977 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  33. "Spy! - BBC One London - 3 February 1980 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  34. "Wei Wei Wong". Lockerdome.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  35. "3-2-1 - 'Arabian Nights' (1983)". YouTube. 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
  36. "The Young Generation Dancers". PansPeople.com. 2011-12-26. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  37. "Debbie McGee". Everything2. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  38. Vanessa Thorpe (July 31, 2016). "TV dancers alive and high-kicking 40 years later | Television & radio". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-08-02.
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