Surprise, Surprise
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| Surprise, Surprise | |
|---|---|
 Opening titles |
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| Genre | Lifestyle |
| Starring | Cilla Black, Christopher Biggins (84-5), Bob Carolgees (86+), Gordon Burns, Tessa Sanderson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | London Weekend Television |
| Running time | 60mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 1984 – 2 April 2000 |
Surprise, Surprise was a British TV show hosted by Cilla Black, produced by London Weekend Television. It ran from 1984 to 1999. The production team overlapped with that of the earlier Game for a Laugh and the subsequent Blind Date. There were also similarities to Jim'll Fix It. Originally, a cause for Cilla to proun around, play a trick and fool members of the public and also phone people up to speak to. There was also many variety acts that appeared on the show, like doing tricks with fire and novelty as well, often Bob got involved, as an opportunity for being made fun of. Many special guests often appeared, especially appearing live like Neil Diamond. The show was shown on ITV on Sunday evenings, until its change to Friday for the final two series.
Surprise, Surprise involved surprising members of the public with long-held wishes and reuniting them with long-lost loved ones. The concept of the first series had been to film 'surprising' and often odd items of the type previously seen in Game for a Laugh - the format was not successful. However, the final item in the final show of the first series featured a successful 'surprise' reunion and executive producer Alan Boyd changed the format slightly, so all items in subsequent series involved 'surprises' rather than just being 'surprising'.
Christopher Biggins was the original co-host, a role later occupied by Bob Carolgees. In some series, Gordon Burns presented the "SearchLine" segment, which advertised information of missing people.
[edit] Theme songs
Cilla introduced and closed each show by singing the theme song. The most notable song, written by Kate Robbins and often imitated by Cilla impersonators, began "The more the world is changing, the more it stays the same..."
A new song for the series was written for the sixth series in 1990"Reaching out! Holding hands, Reliving Memories... Life is Full, Full of Surprises...And the nicest surprise in my life, is you!"
Executive producer Alan Boyd had previously revived singer Cilla Black's career at the BBC and this was, in effect, a second Cilla revival masterminded by Boyd. He was also responsible for casting Cilla in LWT's Blind Date.
