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Parkinson

  • TV Series
  • 1971–20071971–2007
  • 50m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
760
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
27,086
3,247
Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)
ComedyMusicTalk-Show
Journalist Michael Parkinson interviews a broad range of the most famous people in the world.Journalist Michael Parkinson interviews a broad range of the most famous people in the world.Journalist Michael Parkinson interviews a broad range of the most famous people in the world.
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
760
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
27,086
3,247
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Stars
      • Michael Parkinson
      • Marian Montgomery
      • Billy Connolly
    Top credits
    • Stars
      • Michael Parkinson
      • Marian Montgomery
      • Billy Connolly
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 13User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 4 wins & 8 nominations total

    Episodes541

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Photos16

    Oliver Reed in Parkinson (1971)
    Parkinson (1971)
    Meg Ryan in Parkinson (1971)
    Parkinson (1971)
    Michael Parkinson and Kenneth Williams in Parkinson (1971)
    Kenneth Williams in Parkinson (1971)
    George Michael and Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)
    Tommy Cooper and Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)
    Parkinson (1971)
    James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, and Michael Parkinson in Parkinson (1971)
    Maggie Smith, John Betjeman, Michael Parkinson, and Kenneth Williams in Parkinson (1971)
    Michael Parkinson and Shane Warne in Parkinson (1971)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michael Parkinson
    Michael Parkinson
    • Self - Host…
    538 episodes538 eps • 1971–2007
    Marian Montgomery
    • Self…
    15 episodes15 eps • 1971–1973
    Billy Connolly
    Billy Connolly
    • Self - Guest…
    11 episodes11 eps • 1975–2007
    Barry Humphries
    Barry Humphries
    • Dame Edna Everage…
    5 episodes5 eps • 1978–2007
    Kenneth Williams
    Kenneth Williams
    • Self
    9 episodes9 eps • 1972–1982
    Diana Rigg
    Diana Rigg
    • Self - Guest
    7 episodes7 eps • 1972–2007
    Michael Caine
    Michael Caine
    • Self - Guest
    6 episodes6 eps • 1971–2007
    Stephen Fry
    Stephen Fry
    • Self
    6 episodes6 eps • 2001–2007
    Spike Milligan
    Spike Milligan
    • Self
    8 episodes8 eps • 1971–1982
    Jimmy Tarbuck
    Jimmy Tarbuck
    • Self
    7 episodes7 eps • 1976–2002
    Michael Palin
    Michael Palin
    • Self - Guest
    6 episodes6 eps • 1982–2007
    Rory Bremner
    • Self
    6 episodes6 eps • 2000–2007
    Rod Stewart
    Rod Stewart
    • Self…
    6 episodes6 eps • 2002–2007
    Peter Kay
    Peter Kay
    • Self
    5 episodes5 eps • 2002–2007
    Judi Dench
    Judi Dench
    • Self - Guest
    5 episodes5 eps • 2002–2007
    Jamie Cullum
    Jamie Cullum
    • Self…
    5 episodes5 eps • 2003–2007
    George Melly
    • Self
    5 episodes5 eps • 1971–1981
    Joanna Lumley
    Joanna Lumley
    • Self
    5 episodes5 eps • 1979–2007
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The series finished in 1982 and was replaced as the BBC's prime time talk show by Wogan (1982) for over a decade. However, it returned to the BBC in 1998.
    • Connections
      Edited into Heroes of Comedy: Terry-Thomas (1995)

    User reviews13

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    The golden chat show of the golden age
    The 1970s was the golden age of British television for so many reasons, not least because it was a time when television executives still assumed their viewers were intelligent enough to watch somebody sitting in a chair and speaking at length, without the need for regular interruptions and jokes from the interviewer. Michael Parkinson, unlike today's chat show hosts, was not a comedian, he was a journalist, and his talent was simply for researching his subjects and showing an interest in what they had to say. The remarkable thing about Parkinson was the variety of the guests. His abilities as an interviewer meant that he was able to successfully deal with guests as different as raconteurs (Kenneth Williams, Peter Ustinov), poets (John Betjeman), authors (Leslie Thomas), musicians (Duke Ellington) and scientists (Jacob Bronowski). Parkinson never dominated the show, he was quite happy to let the guests do that. As a result, he gave British television its greatest chat show, a standard that most subsequent chat shows didn't even bother to attempt.

    In the 1970s the big stars rarely gave interviews, there were three television channels and no videos, DVDs or Internet. Parkinson had provided a rare opportunity to see these people. Clearly, things could not be the same when, in 1998, the BBC decided to resurrect the series, 16 years since it had ended. A great deal had changed in television over that period. As the 1990s progressed, the talk show increasingly became the domain of comedians as hosts: Jonathan Ross, Clive Anderson, Frank Skinner and Graham Norton. As such, chat shows became more lightweight and more about the host than the guest. Also, with the explosion of the media in the 1980s and 1990s, another effect was the decline in the meaning of celebrity. The revival of Parkinson lasted for nearly ten years but, unfortunately, the show was dying a slow death, with the man all too often having to interview celebrities so minor that you couldn't have made them up in the 1970s: Trinny & Susannah, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Gordon Ramsay for examples. As hard as he tried, Parkinson could never convince me that he was as interested in these people as the great stars of the original series. I certainly wasn't.

    In fairness, when he had a good guest he was still better than anyone else. One of his greatest abilities was to interview celebrities who are instinctively private and dislike the spotlight on themselves as subjects. He was better than anyone else at making these stars feel comfortable and able to talk, with Rowan Atkinson and Bobby Charlton being prime examples. I actually think that from what I have seen, only his contemporaries David Frost and Melvyn Bragg rival Parkinson in this regard.

    Parkinson has now wrapped up his chat show. He has said himself that his show was the last survivor of the talk shows based on conversation. Now, all we have are the comedy shows based on the American format. In some ways it's a shame, in other ways it isn't. Most of the really fascinating stars are now dead or very, very old. Very few modern stars captivate the attention for very long, as Parkinson found in the last few years. Because even Parkinson couldn't make people interesting if they simply weren't.
    helpful•3
    1
    • matthew-58
    • Mar 23, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 4, 2000 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Паркинсон
    • Filming locations
      • The London Studios, Upper Ground, South Bank, Lambeth, London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
      • Granada Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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