Eastern Cabaret

Country

England

How it feels

Eastern Cabaret was a live variety show on BBC Television in the late 1930s. It featured performers like comperes and snake charmers. Only four episodes were made before World War II ended the series.

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What happens

Eastern Cabaret is a live variety programme series broadcast 1938–1939 on BBC Television. It was one of several spin-offs from the BBC series Cabaret. Four episodes were broadcast; they were produced by Harry Pringle, the first was compered by Nelun Devi, the next two were compered by Cyril Fletcher, and the last by Hari Sin Bey. The BBC television service was suspended on 1 September 1939 with the outbreak of World War II, and no further episodes were made. According to Radio Times (20 May 1938), "Harry Pringle, Reginald Smith's officemate, is having a busy time preparing for his Eastern Cabaret, to be given next week on Monday, 30 May, and Saturday, 4 June. One of his difficulties was getting snakes without temperament and susceptible to the charms of native charmers. He went to five different agencies and gave auditions to thirty-two snakes, and even then failed to find a satisfactory performer". A later entry in Radio Times suggests that this may not have been entirely serious, saying that the background had been "codded" (i.e. parodied) by compere Cyril Fletcher. No episodes have survived. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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