Surprise, Surprise
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| Surprise, Surprise | |
|---|---|
 Opening titles |
|
| Format | Lifestyle |
| Starring | Cilla Black, Christopher Biggins (84-5), Bob Carolgees (86+), Gordon Burns, Tessa Sanderson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 137 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | London Weekend Television |
| Running time | 60mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 6 May 1984 – 26 December 2001 |
Surprise, Surprise was a British TV show hosted by Cilla Black, produced by London Weekend Television. It ran from 6 May 1984 to 26 December 2001. 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.
The show was originally a vehicle for Cilla to proun around, play a trick and fool members of the public and also phone people up to speak to. There were also many variety acts that appeared on the show. Often Bob Carolgees was involved the butt of jokes. Many special guests appeared, occasionally appearing live, (examples including 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.
The final episode from a Christmas Special attracted 4.6 million viewers.
[edit] Theme songs
Cilla introduced and closed each show by singing a theme song. The theme song for the first five series, 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.
