Sir Michael Parkinson

[Bert45]

I have been listening to the many tributes to Sir Michael Parkinson. I find it interesting that almost every news item mentions that his career spanned "seven decades". Does this mean 70 years? No, of course not. It could mean as little as 61 years. But why has everybody mentioned "seven decades"? The Economic Times says: "Parkinson's career in TV spanned over seven decades.", whereas Channel 4 has: "In a career spanning almost seven decades, ..." His chat show ran from 1971 to 2007 [1971 till 1982 until renewed again from 1998 to 2007], which is only 36 years. According to the BFI, "His work in television began when he was invited to join the production team of Granada TV's regional current affairs programme Scene at 6.30 (1963 to 66)" and "On 26 June 2007, Parkinson announced his retirement" [Wikipedia]. That's only 44 years, which spans five decades. His last-ever interview with 5 News’ Dan Walker was on 25 November 2022. I wouldn't say that that should be included in his "TV career", but if it is, that makes 59 years since 1963, which spans six decades. So where do they get "seven decades" from?

[Bert45]

"spanned", not "panned"! Where's the edit button?

[Bert45]

I didn't see "Parkinson at 50", but I suppose he was paid to introduce it, so it must count as part of his TV career and therefore the reference to seven decades can be justified, even though "Parkinson at 50" was just a rehash of his old shows, introduced by him and his son. The title of that programme was a dead liberty, though. True, it was broadcast 50 years after the first Parkinson programme, but that show ended in 2007 (with a gap of 16 years from 1982 to 1998), yet there was an implication that the show had been going for 50 years.

[jno]

the comments I've seen just say his career spanned seven decades, not filled them, so it was 60s, 70s, 80s etc. I agree his appearances in the 20s were on the thin side - he was on BBC Breakfast last year - but still more than my own.

[Bert45]

I got 31 results (ignoring similar results) when I googled "His TV career spanned seven decades". I got 37 results (ignoring similar results) when I googled "His career spanned seven decades", but they included Bernard Cribbins and Ken Dodd (even though I added "parkinson" to the search). And one of those results was my post here.

[KUSTARD]

Thanks for that Shedman. I've only seen the clips (a million times LOL) with Emu. Would have liked to have seen the rest of the show with Billy Connolly.

[lankeela]

I bet you are great fun at parties.

[rowanwitch]

Perhaps they are including his sun life insurance ads....

[choux]

Bert, did you perchance listen to yesterday's special edition of The Last Word on R4? The on-screen details from the BBC show 6 decades:)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0g8bz19