Opportunity Knocks (British TV series)
A talent show decided by public vote.
Opportunity Knocks is a British television and radio talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green. The programme attracted a weekly audience of 20 million viewers during its peak in the 1960s and 1970s.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Talent show
- Creator
- Hughie Green
- Presenter
- Hughie Green (1949–78)
- Bob Monkhouse (1987–89)
- Les Dawson (1990)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- 1 (BBC Light Programme)
- 18 (ITV)
- 4 (BBC1)
- Episodes
- 33 (BBC Light Programme)
- 472 (ITV)
- 48 (BBC1)
- Runtime
- 50 minutes (BBC1)
Facts from the source article.
Voting system
Unlike its rival New Faces, winners on Opportunity Knocks were chosen by the viewing public rather than a panel of experts. During the ITV version, votes were cast by post and the winner announced the following week. The BBC revival introduced the telephone vote, the first TV show to do so. A clap-o-meter measured studio audience reaction but did not affect the result. Votes had to be received by Thursday and, according to Hughie Green, in the voter's own handwriting. The public vote sometimes favoured novelty acts, such as a singing dog that beat Su Pollard.
Famous alumni
Entertainers who appeared included Freddie Starr and the Delmonts, Su Pollard, Paul Daniels, Mary Hopkin, Bonnie Langford, Les Dawson, Little and Large, Lena Zavaroni, Frank Carson, Max Boyce, Pam Ayres, and Paper Lace. Several winners later attempted to represent the UK at Eurovision via A Song for Europe. Kaz Hawkins appeared as a child in the 1980s revival.
Influence
Many elements of Opportunity Knocks are visible on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, created by Simon Cowell, including the telephone vote method used to decide winners. A reference to the show appears on the Beatles' first live performance of "Yesterday" at Blackpool Night Out, when George Harrison introduces the song by saying "For Paul McCartney of Liverpool, opportunity knocks!"
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