The Last Resort (Channel 4, 1987-1988)
There were a lot of shows on Channel 4 in the 80s, that it could be said were rather of minority appeal. This was an attempt at doing something that was a little more mainstream (well by their standards at least). Viewers have often gone on about wanting to have a British equivalent of a David Letterman-style chat show (or Johnny Carson as it would’ve more likely been back in those days). Maybe this was an attempt.
The Last Resort was a chat and variety show that was shown live late on Friday nights going into Saturday mornings, this was often the final show scheduled before closedown for the night, and anything could happen. The host was London-born Jonathan Ross, who at the launch was just about unknown. He had made a few minor TV appearances, and worked behind the scenes on a few shows, but this was his first role as host.
TV Times introduced him to viewers by describing his style as “risqué, yes, but never crude” (oh really??). But if he was an unknown at the start, by the end of the run, he would be a hot name, thanks to his quick-talking style and sharp wit, and he held his own in the company of some star names (I’m sure that Bobby Davro did an impression of him on his ITV sketch show, where this was renamed The Last Wesort somewhat inevitably).
Also featuring was John Benson, who had been the voiceover on Sale Of The Century, and an announcer on Anglia, and he added a little showbiz to the proceedings. There was also a regular band in the studio. As well as the celebrity guests and music, there would also be variety (often magicians at the more extreme end of the scale), and comedy. Often appearing was Rowland Rivron as Dr Scrote who did some bizarre stunts.
The word soon spread, and this ended up becoming something of a success. Ross was soon hosting other shows for Channel 4, including some on filmmaking, one area of his knowledge. He later hosted One Hour With Jonathan Ross, which had a similar idea, but extended to an hour, and in a more high-profile timeslot. This then led to Tonight With Jonathan Ross, which consisted of three half-hour evening editions a week.
This was the same as what Terry Wogan was doing on BBC1 at the time, and indeed Ross sat in for him on one occasion, showing how popular he was now in this area. In the late-90s, Channel 4 showed some highlights from The Last Resort, proving how innovative this show was. Ross has hosted further chat and variety shows on BBC1 and ITV1 (and he still does to this day), but this was where it all began for him.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 