New Faces

New Faces was a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced by ATV for the ITV network.

New Faces
Also known as	New Faces of... (1986–88)
Genre	Talent show
Presented by	Leslie Crowther (Regional pilot) Derek Hobson (ATV) Marti Caine (Central)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	6 (ATV) 3 (Central)
No. of episodes	167 (ATV) 39 (Central)
Production
Production locations	ATV Centre (ATV)[1] Birmingham Hippodrome (Central)[1]
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companies	ATV (1973–78) Central (1986–88)
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
First shown in	31 May 1973
Original release	29 September 1973 – 3 December 1988
Chronology
Related shows	Opportunity Knocks

Original series: 1973–1978

The show first aired as a pilot on the ATV network on 31 May 1973 with host Leslie Crowther and a judging panel consisting of Noele Gordon, Tony Hatch, Clive James and John Smith assessing performances from ten acts looking for a break in show business. Welsh singer Jennifer Jones won the show that also featured a man who blew up a hot water bottle until it burst followed by a few choruses of "Spanish Eyes".[2][3]

A further pilot aired on 7 July 1973 with new host Derek Hobson and a full series followed from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978. It was recorded at the ATV Centre in Birmingham. The show was noted for its theme tune, "You're a Star!", performed by singer Carl Wayne, formerly of The Move and it was eventually released, becoming a minor hit.[4]

Winners occasionally went on to greater success in television entertainment, like Lenny Henry the 1975 competition winner. Many top entertainers began their careers with a performance on this programme. The acts were evaluated by a panel of experts, including Tony Hatch, Mickie Most, Clifford Davis, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Ed Stewart, Jack Parnell, Alan A. Freeman, Muriel Young, Lonnie Donegan, Lionel Blair, Ingrid Pitt, Shaw Taylor, Terry Wogan and Noel Edmonds.

Four judges would make up the panel each week. Contestants received marks out of ten from the four judges in three categories such as "presentation", "content" and "star quality" – The "star quality" category was later replaced by "entertainment value". The highest score any act could attain was thus 120 points. Patti Boulaye was the only act who ever attained the maximum mark, doing so in the programme's final season. Les Dennis received 111 points, with only Tony Hatch giving him less than a perfect '10' for Presentation. Arthur Askey was on the same panel and started singing "Tony is a spoilsport" when Hatch awarded Dennis 9 as his final score. [5]

Series 1-6 Winners

Series	Date	Artist(s)	Act
Pilot	7 Jul 1973	Trevor Chance	Vocalist (in the style of Jack Jones)
1	29 Dec 1973	Tom Waite	Vocalist
2	6 Jul 1974	Aiden J. Harvey	Impressionist
3	27 Jul 1975	Marti Caine	Comedian
4	31 Jul 1976	Roger de Courcey	Ventriloquist
5	2 Apr 1977	Koffee and Kreme	Vocal duo
6	2 Apr 1978	Patti Boulaye	Vocalist

Series One Final (1973)[6]

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Score	Artist(s)	Act
1	257	Tom Waite	Vocalist
2	250	Showaddywaddy	Eight-piece group
3	233	Jackie Carlton	Comedian
4	217	Jean De Both	Vocalist
5	215	John D. Bryant	Guitar/vocalist
6	213	Charlie James	Female vocalist
7	205	Ricki Disoni	Vocalist
8	203	Yakity Yak	Four-piece group
9	185	Anthony Waters	Actor/vocalist
10	184	George Huxley's Dixieland Jazz Band	six-piece jazz band
11	176	Dri Jinja	Folk trio
12	171	Elaine Simmons	Vocalist
13	143	Trotto	Folk trio

Series Three Final (1975)[7]

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Score	Artist(s)	Act
1	539	Marti Caine	Comedian
2	538	Al Dean	Comedian
3	528	Ofanchi	six-piece group
4	478	Lenny Henry	Impressionist
5	475	Mike Felix	Comedy/vocalist
6	472	Tony Maiden	Impressionist
7	441	20th Century Steel Sound	Nine-piece group
8	431	Toby	Six-piece group

Series Five Final (1977)

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Score	Artist(s)	Act
1	369	Koffee 'n' Kreme	Vocal Duo
2	363	Bryan Taylor	Vocalist
3	341	Simone	Vocalist
4	338	Kite	Three-piece group
5=	337	Mike 'Stand' Douglas	Comedian
5=	337	The Bob Clarke Ensemble	Jazz trio
7	333	Peter Collins with Style	Group
8	319	Mr Carline & Mr Walling	Comedy duo

Series Six Final (1978)

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Score	Artist(s)	Act
1	565	Patti Boulaye	Vocalist
2	554	Stella Starr	Vocalist
3	543	Kirk St. James	Vocalist
4	534	Pat O'Hare	Vocalist
5	530	Civvy Street	Five-piece group
6	524	Mike Johnson	Jazz guitarist
7	522	Alan J. Bartley	Comedian
8	509	Poacher	Six-piece country group
9	498	Bazz Harris	Comedian

Revived version

The series was revived by Central for three series between 1986 and 1988, presented by past winner, Marti Caine. Her catchphrase was bellowed at the voting studio audience: "Press your buttons... NOW!". The show also featured a panel of experts including the journalist Nina Myskow, who often made critical comments. In this incarnation, the home audience decided who won by sending in postcards (phone voting was soon introduced by BBC rival Bob Says Opportunity Knocks), though, the audience did vote for its favourite act using a gigantic lightboard known as Spaghetti Junction lighting up to a varying degree as they pushed their buttons.

1986 final

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Finished	Artist(s)	Act
1	1st overall in panellists' vote	Duggie Small	Comedian
2	7 points	Walker & Cadman	Comedians
3	5 points	Billy Pearce	Comedian
4	0 points	Wayne Denton	Club singer
5	22 points	Julie A. Scott	Soprano
6	56 points (public phone-in winner)	Gary Lovini	17-year-old violinist
7	43 points	James Stone	Soul singer
8		Pauline Hannah	Impressionist
9		Freddy Philips	Singer/comedian
10		Scott Randele
11		Maggie Dee
12		High Jinks

Note: The James Stone who appeared in this final is the same one who appeared in the Britain's Got Talent semi-finals of 2008.

1987 final

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Order	Finished	Artist (s)	Act (s)
1	94 points	Jimmy Tamley	Ventriloquist
2	92 points	Joe Pasquale	Comedian
3	70 points	Brothers Demented
4	32 points	Mike Sterling	Musical theatre-style singer
5	26 points	Richard Courtice	Tenor vocalist
6	10 points	Billy Jones	Rock 'n' roll singer/guitarist
7		Lea Cassell	Impressionist
8		Derek Barron	Pianist/organist
9		Paul Duffy	Saxophonist
10		Denny Waters	Comedian
11		Barbara Allan
12		Stiles and Drewe	Singing duo

1988 final

[8]

The 1988 final took place at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday 3 December 1988 and was hosted by the 1975 winner Marti Caine.

Key	Winner	Runner-up	Third place

Performance Order	Finished	Artist (s)	Act (s)
12	Winner	Stephen Lee Garden	Musical theatre-style singer
11	Runner Up	Steve Womack	Comedian
9	Third	Donimo	Comedy Mime
2	Fourth	Stevie Riks	Impressionist
1		Max Bacon	Vocalist
3		The Mad Hatters	Comedy Group
4		Tim Murray	Vocalist
5		Steve Tandy	Comedian
6		Janice Watson	Soprano Vocalist
7		The Brothers Condo	Comedy Group
8		T.J.King	Vocalist
10		Louisa Shaw	Vocalist

Note: Vocalist Tim Murray is the son of 1950s singer Ruby Murray.[9]

Famous winners and contestants

Jeffrey Hooper – Appeared in the Grand Final of series two in July 1974. Marti Caine - Series three winner in July 1975. Lenny Henry – Multiple wins in 1975.[10] Michael Barrymore Joe Pasquale – 2nd in 1987. Pasquale won his heat but he came second in the final. Roy Walker The Chuckle Brothers – Appeared under the names Paul and Barry Harman in 1974. Malandra Burrows – Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974 and was the youngest heat winner at nine years old. Carline and Walling Victoria Wood - Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974. Terry St. Clair – Appeared on series two in June 1974. Roger De Courcey and Nookie Bear – Winners of the 1976 Grand Final. Nicol and Marsh's Easy Street – Runners-up in 1976. Mick Miller Les Dennis - Appeared in series one, two and twice in series three making the All Winners Final in November 1974. Showaddywaddy - Runners-up in the Grand Final of series one in December 1973.

Jim Davidson Gary Wilmot and Judy McPhee Billy Pearce[11] Fivepenny Piece Aiden J. Harvey - Winner of series two. Patti Boulaye – Appeared in the last 1970s edition of the show and was the only contestant ever to receive the maximum 120 points. Stevie Riks – Highest scoring contestant ever on the show. Max Bacon Sweet Sensation – From Manchester and fronted by 15-year-old Marcel King went on to become the first black British born soul band to hit the number spot in UK charts in September 1974 with hit record 'Sad Sweet Dreamer'. Andy Cameron Sheer Elegance – Pop trio who went on to have two hit singles in 1976. Lance Ellington- 1977 winner sang with the late Bet Hannah as singing duo Koffee'n'Kreme. Roy 'Chubby' Brown – 10 December 1977. Paul Zenon - 21 November 1986.

Other winners and contestants

• Penny Black – Extremely popular female fronted five piece band from Walsall. Appeared 4th December 1976 opening the show performing Kiki Dee's "I Got the Music in Me". Penny Black's TV lineup included Tiki Jones (vocals), Barry Underhill (Bass guitar & vocals), Rob Wood (Lead guitar & vocals), Roger Hayward (Hammond organ & vocals), and John Perkins (Drums). An EP was recorded to coincide with the New Faces TV appearance however it was never released. Penny Black performed with various personnel changes with Underhill an ever present from 1974 until 1989 when they changed their name to PARIS and introduced a revamped modern 'romantics' image initiated by their latest female vocalist, Paula Tuckley. Penny Black/PARIS performed around the UK heavily throughout the 70's & 80's establishing a strong fan base. They recorded 'Inside These 4 Walls' written by Underhill/Wood in 1981, with 'Teenager in Love' on the B-side, before disbanding in late 1991, however, Underhill & Wood continued as a duo until 1999. PARIS reformed in July 2012 with the original band members to perform a 'One Night Only' Charity gig in November that year, however the gig was so successful they decided to carry on performing, until Underhill left the band in early 2014 and PARIS finally disbanded shortly afterwards.

The Glentones – 18 piece high school big band playing music from the Glenn Miller era. Charlie James – Female singer – Heat winner, December 1973.[12] Mike McCabe – Comedian. Bokkle Green – Pop music duo from Wolverhampton performing a song written by member Kevin Clark on the 24.11.73 episode. Kevin went on to become a successful musician, songwriter & record producer ("Crush" by Jennifer Paige).[13] Martin Berger Al Brown – Comedian and father of television personality Claire Sweeney. Pete Hartley – Won audience vote in 1987. Pete Price Dave Curtis – Vocalist. Son of a Gun – Won in 1975 with 111 points beating Paul Shane. They did a number of TV shows and were signed to RCA. They lost to Al Dean in the All Winners Final, which also featured Lenny Henry. Sparrow M3 – Three sisters, Marilyn, Mary and Maureen Stevens. Walker and Cadman Professor Steve Green – Pianist and doctor. Dragon's Playground – Band.

David Gold – Vocalist. Jimmy Tamley – Beat Joe Pasquale. Crick's Canine Wonders Darren Stuart. Frank Leyton. Frank Yonco and Kit Connor. The Mad Hatters Rabbit – Cabaret band. Sandra Christie – Voice of Edith Piaf. The Libra Brothers. Three-piece band from Barnsley – members were Frank Cawthrow, Charlie Foster and Gordon Scholey. Rod and Mark Lyons – Father and son ventriloquist duo who had a minor hit single in Germany with the Neil Sedaka song "Oh, Carol!". Ground Pepper – Band. Song – Draculamania Feb 1975. Pyramid - comedy showgroup from Gateshead – Steve Laidlaw, Allen Meche and Brian Pick. Colin "fingers" Henry Inter-City Union six-piece Soul/Funk group from London.

Transmissions

ATV

Series	Start date	Final date	Episodes
Pilots	31 May 1973	7 July 1973	2
1	29 September 1973	29 December 1973	14
2	6 April 1974	6 July 1974	14
3	21 September 1974	27 July 1975	45
4	20 December 1975	31 July 1976	33
5	11 September 1976	2 April 1977	30
6	10 September 1977	2 April 1978	30

Many of the episodes from the ATV era of New Faces were wiped from the archives with 38 surviving, including episode 14 of series 1, episodes 1, 11 & 14 of series 2, episodes 1, 36, 40 & 45 of series 3, episodes 7, 11, 15, 19, 22–24 & 28–29 of series 4, episodes 1, 5, 8, 11, 14–16, 21, 24 & 30 of series 5 and episodes 20–30 of series 6.[14]

Series 3 was not fully broadcast on Scottish Television, with episodes not being broadcast during the weekends, which resulted in their votes not being counted. Episodes were instead broadcast on a Thursday evening between December 1974 and July 1975.

Central

Series	Start date	Final date	Episodes
1	19 September 1986	13 December 1986	13
2	4 September 1987	28 November 1987	13
3	10 September 1988	3 December 1988	13

References

1. Bentley, David (21 June 2013). "TV programmes made in Birmingham: New Faces". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
2. "Midlands TV Listings". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. 31 May 1973. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
3. Terry, Metcalf (1 June 1973). "Arts Review - Television". Birmingham Daily Post. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
4. "The precarious path of talent show fame". BBC. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
5. Master copy held in the BFI National Archive
6. "You're a Star, Superstar!: Series One Grand Final". Original TV Broadcast. ATV. 29 December 1973. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
7. "You're a Star, Superstar!: Series Three Grand Final". Original TV Broadcast. ATV. 27 July 1975. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
8. The Stage - Thursday 8 December 1988
9. Liverpool Echo - Monday 3 October 1988
10. "Our Century 1950–1975".
11. Hogan, Michael (11 December 2011). "Wonderland special: New Faces – I once had the X Factor". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
12. "You're a Star, Superstar!: Charlie James Profile". Retrieved 4 August 2019.
13. "You're a Star, Superstar!: Series One, Episode 9". Retrieved 4 August 2019.
14. Simon Coward, Invisible Technology Ltd. "Lost UK TV Shows Search Engine".

External links

• New Faces at IMDb.
• New Faces at BFI.
• New Faces of '86 at BFI.
• New Faces of '87 at BFI.
• New Faces of '88 at BFI.
• New Faces at UKGameshows.com.
• You're a Star, Superstar! - The History of New Faces a well researched blog of shows and acts.