The Young Generation were a dancing and singing group created specifically for BBC television in the late 1960s and thus were the first act of their kind to regularly appear on British TV. The troupe were choreographed originally by Dougie Squires who chose the founding members of the troupe. The group were mainly dancers, but also sang songs either accompanying other singers or performing stand alone numbers. Their BBC debut came on the 1967 series The Rolf Harris Show. The line up for the Young Generation often changed, but the original teams consisted of: Mike Bevan, Sue Avory, James Capehorn, Harvey Clark, Joanna Cram, Ray Cornell, Ray Davies, Pat Goh, Johnny Greenland, David Hepburn, Judy Monks, Bob Howe, Jenny Morgan, Terry Jones, Margie Rumney, Terry Roberts, Michael Tye-Walker, Pauline Wall, Gerry Wedge, Miranda Willis, Valerie Barrett, Bobby Bannerman, Ann Chapman, Brian Evans, Jackie Dalton, Marlene Domanska, Harry Higham, Dee Eldridge, Roger Howlett, Roger Hannah, Sally Graham, Scott Mackee, Jane Herbert, Rhys Nelsen, Linda Herbert, John Parsons, Lesley Judd, Brian Rogers, Janie Kells, Joseph Saber, Linda Laurence, Frederick Share, Cheryl St. Claire, Barrie Stevens, Maggie Vieler, Ricky Stratful, Rae Wallace, Donald Torr, Wei Wei Wong and Andy Wallace. The group continued working with Rolf Harris on Show Of The Week hosted by Harris on BBC2, 19 May 1968. Later that year, they became the resident dance/singing act on BBC2's International Cabaret, appearing alongside such acts as Massiel, Georgia Brown, Gilbert Becaud and Tessie O'Shea. During this time, they also appeared with Rolf Harris on his own BBC1 TV series. During this TV run, new members joining the troupe included Heather Beckers, Marie Betts, Iain Burton, Catherine Collins. Chris Cooper, Roger Finch, Denise Fone, Danny Grover, Carolyn Heywood, Erik-Jack, Linda Joliff, Kay Korda, Patricia Lovet, Denis Morrissey, Peter Newton, Sandy Penson, Jeremy Robinson, Terry Robinson, Ricky Stratful and Trevor Willis. Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick joined the group in 1969, before becoming two of television's most successful choreographers and producers later in their own right. In 1970, the troupe continued to appear on BBC2's Show Of The Week and other BBC series in which they appeared included Lulu at Berns Restaurant, A Royal Television Gala Performance, The British Screen Awards, The Rod McKuen Show and Fifty Years Of Music. On Christmas Day 1969, they appeared simultaneously on BBC1 and BBC2, starring in Christmas Night With The Stars, hosted by Val Doonican on BBC1 and in their own 'special' Jesus on BBC2. In January 1970, they were given their own self-titled BBC2 TV series, while concurrently running 'specials' on BBC1 included The Young Generation meet Lulu, The Young Generation meet Esther Ofarim and The Young Generation meet Shirley Bassey, Another regular series with Rolf Harris followed in 1970 and 1971 on BBC1 and on BBC2, they starred alongside Kenneth Williams in Meanwhile on BBC2. Later in 1971, they appeared with Vera Lynn in Show Of The Week and Don Lurio temporarily replaced Squires as the troupe's choreographer. Their next BBC series came in 1972 on BBC1 in Engelbert with The Young Generation starring Engelbert Humperdinck. In 1973, they starred alongside Vince Hill in BBC2's series They Sold A Million. The same year saw another series: The Young Generation Big Top, which featured Clodagh Rodgers, The Bachelors, Danny La Rue and Sandie Shaw. A second series of They Sold A Million aired in 1974, followed the same year by Ken Dodd's World Of Laughter on BBC1. Their last BBC series was The Musical Time Machine which aired on BBC2 in 1977. They continued to appear regularly with Vera Lynn on BBC shows, including A Jubilee Of Music in 1976. Later members of the group who had joined by 1973 included Vonnie Barnes, Walter Cartier, David Hampshire, Veronica France, Jerry Manley, Kay Frazer, John Melainey, Jackie Hall, Steven Payne, Martini Howard, Georgina Keane, Karen Knight, Sue Lake, Di Palmer, Liz Robertson, Benita Shawe, Michelle Thorne, Spencer Shires, Donald Torr, Trevor Willis and Geoff Richer who also went on to be a successful choreographer, launching his own troupe Geoff Richer's First Edition who appeared on many TV shows, including Seaside Special. Although under contract and owned by the BBC, outside of television, the troupe also made stage appearances, including the 10-week run of Meet Me In London at the Adelphi Theatre with Tommy Steele beginning in April 1971. Lesley Judd was perhaps the best known of the group, despite walking out of the troupe in breach of contract. Soon after she joined Blue Peter and became a regular TV and radio presenter through to the early 1990s. Wei Wei Wong had other minor TV roles and appeared briefly in the James Bond filmThe Man with the Golden Gun and was a hostess on both ITV's The Golden Shot and 3-2-1. Wong was also a member of the subsequent 'The Second Generation'. Sally Graham left the group early on to become one of the short-lived founder members of The New Seekers. Singer David Van Day was a later member of the group, as was Mary Corpe who later joined Pan's People. BBC TV Series:
Squires developed a second, similar troupe in the early 1970s which was freelance and under his management, the similar, but short-lived concept troupe named The Second Generation, which included amongst many others Debbie McGee.. Although this troupe appeared on BBC television, they were free to appear on rival broadcasters and independently of TV. This included a 1974 edition of Sunday Night At The London Palladium on ITV. Some of the troupe reunited with Squires in 2016.
