Little and Large live performance (1987)

It's gobsmacking just how little footage there is of Little and Large out there. For a long time they were one of the BBC's hottest properties when it came to early-evening light entertainment, and their sketch show regularly pulled in over 10 million viewers throughout the 1980s. Despite all that, though, not even the most hard-up cable channel would dare repeat any of the their programmes these days, and I'm not sure they've ever had a home video release of any sort. I acknowledge the general old-fashioned naffness of their act, but surely they weren't so bad that they deserve to be erased from history entirely. I mean, a "Best of" DVD wouldn't be that much of a struggle to pull together from over a decade's worth of sketches, would it? And those millions who tuned in every week can't all be dead just yet... but, no. For one reason or another, Little and Large's sketch shows seem to have been filed in the same black hole as the likes of Russ Abbot's...

Anyway, I think this live performance by the duo comes from the ITV variety show Summertime Special, circa 1988 - but I'm not certain. If you know, or at least can deduce an approximate date from the then-topical references (e.g. Dallas), please put us all out of our misery in the comments section. The last one-liner (about Bergerac) could mean that this has something to do with the Channel Islands (or maybe I don't get the joke). And we get a snatch of a voiceover at then end - does that help? Any idea who it is? I reckon it could be Mike Smith, but don't quote me on that. And what's that a shot of, anyway?

(EDIT: Now that BBC Genome has launched, I think it's this:

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e5a723e739...

That is to say, Seaside Special from 22nd August 1987. And if so, it is Mike Smith narrating - I've impressed myself there.)

As for the act itself, well, what did you expect? Tame by today's standards, and probably tame by the standards back then, too. But like I say, history hasn't been too kind to Little and Large, so I hesitate to be too harsh - as a kid in the 80s, I thought their Saturday evening programme was always good, fun entertainment. Mind you, even though I know that Syd was just the straight man, in this video he just about plays the role of guitar stand and nothing more. It's all Eddie. Surely the poor guy could have had a couple more lines...

Incidentally, you may also be interested in this:

   • Double Dare: Little and Large vs Brea...  

If anyone out there has any recordings of Little and Large's sketch shows, please feel free to share!

(Please remember that this is an off-air VHS recording, so don't go expecting 1080p HD quality. I'm fairly certain that this video isn't commercially available, and I've uploaded it for its historic interest only. That said, if you are a copyright holder and object, please don't hesitate to contact me.)