New Faces
New Faces was a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced by ATV for the ITV network.
Original series: 1973–1978
The show first aired as a pilot on the ATV network on 31 May 1973 with host Leslie Crowther and a judging panel consisting of Noele Gordon, Tony Hatch, Clive James and John Smith assessing performances from ten acts looking for a break in show business. Welsh singer Jennifer Jones won the show that also featured a man who blew up a hot water bottle until it burst followed by a few choruses of "Spanish Eyes."A further pilot aired on 7 July 1973, with new host Derek Hobson and a full series followed from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978. It was recorded at the ATV Centre in Birmingham. The show was noted for its theme tune, "You're a Star!", performed by singer Carl Wayne, formerly of The Move, and it was eventually released, becoming a minor hit.
Winners occasionally went on to greater success in television entertainment, like Lenny Henry the 1975 competition winner. Many top entertainers began their careers with a performance on this programme. The acts were evaluated by a panel of experts, including Tony Hatch, Mickie Most, Clifford Davis, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray, Ed Stewart, Jack Parnell, Alan A. Freeman, Muriel Young, Lonnie Donegan, Lionel Blair, Ingrid Pitt, Shaw Taylor, Terry Wogan and Noel Edmonds.
Four judges would make up the panel each week. Contestants received marks out of ten from the four judges in three categories such as "presentation", "content" and "star quality" – The "star quality" category was later replaced by "entertainment value". The highest score any act could attain was thus 120 points. Patti Boulaye was the only act who ever attained the maximum mark, doing so in the programme's final season. Les Dennis received 119 points, with only Tony Hatch giving him less than three perfect '10's'. Arthur Askey was on the same panel and started singing "Tony is a spoilsport" when Hatch awarded Dennis 9 as his final score.
Series 1-6 Winners
Series One Final (1973)
| Order | Score | Artist | Act |
| 257 | Tom Waite | Vocalist | |
| ! | 250 | Showaddywaddy | Eight-piece group |
| ! | 233 | Jackie Carlton | Comedian |
| 4 | 217 | Jean De Both | Vocalist |
| 5 | 215 | John D. Bryant | Guitar/vocalist |
| 6 | 213 | Charlie James | Female vocalist |
| 7 | 205 | Ricki Disoni | Vocalist |
| 8 | 203 | Yakity Yak | Four-piece group |
| 9 | 185 | Anthony Waters | Actor/vocalist |
| 10 | 184 | George Huxley's Dixieland Jazz Band | six-piece jazz band |
| 11 | 176 | Dri Jinja | Folk trio |
| 12 | 171 | Elaine Simmons | Vocalist |
| 13 | 143 | Trotto | Folk trio |
Series Three Final (1975)
| Order | Score | Artist | Act |
| 539 | Marti Caine | Comedian | |
| ! | 538 | Al Dean | Comedian |
| ! | 528 | Ofanchi | six-piece group |
| 4 | 478 | Lenny Henry | Impressionist |
| 5 | 475 | Mike Felix | Comedy/vocalist |
| 6 | 472 | Tony Maiden | Impressionist |
| 7 | 441 | 20th Century Steel Sound | Nine-piece group |
| 8 | 431 | Toby | Six-piece group |
Revived version
The series was revived by Central for three series between 1986 and 1988, presented by past winner, Marti Caine. Her catchphrase was bellowed at the voting studio audience: "Press your buttons... NOW!". The show also featured a panel of experts including the journalist Nina Myskow, who often made critical comments. In this incarnation, the home audience decided who won by sending in postcards, though, the audience did vote for its favourite act using a gigantic lightboard known as Spaghetti Junction lighting up to a varying degree as they pushed their buttons.1986 final
| Order | Finished | Artist | Act |
| 1st overall in panellists' vote | Duggie Small | Comedian | |
| 2 | 7 points | Walker & Cadman | Comedians |
| 3 | 5 points | Billy Pearce | Comedian |
| 4 | 0 points | Wayne Denton | Club singer |
| 5 | 22 points | Julie A. Scott | Soprano |
| 6 | 56 points | Gary Lovini | 17-year-old violinist |
| 7 | 43 points | James Stone | Soul singer |
| 8 | Pauline Hannah | Impressionist | |
| 9 | Freddy Philips | Singer/comedian | |
| 10 | Scott Randele | ||
| 11 | Maggie Dee | ||
| 12 | High Jinks |
Note: The James Stone who appeared in this final is the same one who appeared in the Britain's Got Talent semi-finals of 2008.
1987 final
| Order | Finished | Artist | Act |
| 94 points | Jimmy Tamley | Ventriloquist | |
| 92 points | Joe Pasquale | Comedian | |
| 70 points | Brothers Demented | ||
| 4 | 32 points | Mike Sterling | Musical theatre-style singer |
| 5 | 26 points | Richard Courtice | Tenor vocalist |
| 6 | 10 points | Billy Jones | Rock 'n' roll singer/guitarist |
| 7 | Lea Cassell | Impressionist | |
| 8 | Derek Barron | Pianist/organist | |
| 9 | Paul Duffy | Saxophonist | |
| 10 | Denny Waters | Comedian | |
| 11 | Barbara Allan | ||
| 12 | Stiles and Drewe | Singing duo |
1988 final
The 1988 final took place at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday 3 December 1988 and was hosted by the 1975 winner Marti Caine.| Key | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
| Performance Order | Finished | Artist | Act |
| Winner | Stephen Lee Garden | Musical theatre-style singer | |
| Runner Up | Steve Womack | Comedian | |
| Third | Donimo | Comedy Mime | |
| 2 | Fourth | Stevie Riks | Impressionist |
| 1 | Max Bacon | Vocalist | |
| 3 | The Mad Hatters | Comedy Group | |
| 4 | Tim Murray | Vocalist | |
| 5 | Steve Tandy | Comedian | |
| 6 | Janice Watson | Soprano Vocalist | |
| 7 | The Brothers Condo | Comedy Group | |
| 8 | T.J.King | Vocalist | |
| 10 | Louisa Shaw | Vocalist |
Note: Vocalist Tim Murray is the son of 1950s singer Ruby Murray
Famous winners and contestants
- Jeffrey Hooper – Appeared in the Grand Final of series two in July 1974.
- Marti Caine - Series three winner in July 1975
- Lenny Henry – Multiple wins in 1975.
- Michael Barrymore
- Joe Pasquale – 2nd in 1987. Pasquale won his heat but he came second in the final.
- Roy Walker
- The Chuckle Brothers – Appeared under the names Paul and Barry Harman in 1974.
- Malandra Burrows – Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974 and was the youngest heat winner at 9 years old.
- Carline and Walling
- Victoria Wood - Appeared in the first All Winners Final in November 1974
- Terry St. Clair – Appeared on series two in June 1974.
- Roger De Courcey and Nookie Bear – Winners of the 1976 Grand Final.
- Nicol and Marsh's Easy Street – Runners-up in 1976.
- Mick Miller
- Les Dennis - Appeared in series one, two and twice in series three making the All Winners Final in November 1974
- Showaddywaddy - Runners-up in the Grand Final of series one in December 1973
- Jim Davidson
- Gary Wilmot and Judy McPhee
- Billy Pearce
- Fivepenny Piece
- Aiden J. Harvey - Winner of series two
- Patti Boulaye – Appeared in the last 1970s edition of the show and was the only contestant ever to receive the maximum 120 points.
- Stevie Riks – Highest scoring contestant ever on the show.
- Max Bacon
- Sweet Sensation – From Manchester and fronted by 15-year-old Marcel King went on to become the first black British born soul band to hit the number spot in UK charts in September 1974 with hit record 'Sad Sweet Dreamer'.
- Andy Cameron
- Sheer Elegance – Pop trio who went on to have two hit singles in 1976.
- Lance Ellington- 1977 winner sang with the late Bet Hannah as singing duo Koffee'n'Kreme.
- Roy 'Chubby' Brown – 10 December 1977
- Paul Zenon - 21 November 1986
Other winners and contestants
- Penny Black – Extremely popular female fronted five piece band from Walsall. Appeared 4 December 1976 opening the show performing Kiki Dee's "I got the music in me". Penny Black's TV lineup included Tiki Jones, Barry Underhill, Rob Wood, Roger Hayward, and John Perkins. An EP was recorded to coincide with the New Faces TV appearance however it was never released. Penny Black performed with various personnel changes with Underhill an ever present from 1974 until 1989 when they changed their name to PARIS and introduced a revamped modern 'romantics' image initiated by their latest female vocalist, Paula Tuckley. Penny Black/PARIS performed around the UK heavily throughout the 70's & 80's establishing a strong fan base. They recorded 'Inside These 4 Walls' written by Underhill/Wood in 1981, with 'Teenager in Love' on the B-side, before disbanding in late 1991, however Underhill & Wood continued as a duo until 1999. PARIS reformed in July 2012 with the original band members to perform a 'One Night Only' Charity gig in November that year, however the gig was so successful they decided to carry on performing, until Underhill left the band in early 2014 and PARIS finally disbanded shortly afterwards.
- The Glentones – 20 piece high school big band playing music from the Glenn Miller era.
- Charlie James – Female singer – Heat winner, December 1973.
- Mike McCabe – Comedian.
- Bokkle Green – Pop music duo from Wolverhampton performing a song written by member Kevin Clark on the 24.11.73 episode. Kevin went on to become a successful musician, songwriter & record producer.
- Martin Berger
- Al Brown – Comedian and father of television personality Claire Sweeney.
- Pete Hartley – Won audience vote in 1987.
- Pete Price
- Dave Curtis – Vocalist.
- Son of a Gun – Won in 1975 with 111 points beating Paul Shane. They did a number of TV shows and were signed to RCA. They lost to Lenny Henry in the final.
- Sparrow
- M3 – 3 sisters, Maureen Stevens, Mary Stevens, Marilyn Stevens.
- Walker and Cadman
- Professor Steve Green – Pianist and doctor.
- Dragon's Playground – Band.
- David Gold – Vocalist.
- Jimmy Tamley – Beat Joe Pasquale.
- Crick's Canine Wonders
- Darren Stuart
- Frank Leyton
- Frank Yonco and Kit Connor
- The Mad Hatters
- Rabbit – Cabaret Band.
- Sandra Christie – Voice of Edith Piaf.
- The Libra Brothers. Three-piece band from Barnsley – members were Frank Cawthrow, Charlie Foster and Gordon Scholey.
- Rod and Mark Lyons – Father and son ventriloquist duo who had a minor hit single in Germany with the Neil Sedaka song "Oh, Carol!".
- Ground Pepper – Band. Song – Draculamania Feb 1975
- Pyramid-comedy showgroup from Gateshead – Steve Laidlaw, Allen Meche and Brian Pick.
- Colin "fingers" Henry
- Inter-City Union 6 piece Soul/Funk group from London
Transmissions
ATV
Many of the episodes from the ATV era of New Faces were wiped from the archives with 38 surviving, including episode 14 of series 1, episodes 1, 11 & 14 of series 2, episodes 1, 36, 40 & 45 of series 3, episodes 7, 11, 15, 19, 22–24 & 28–29 of series 4, episodes 1, 5, 8, 11, 14–16, 21, 24 & 30 of series 5 and episodes 20–30 of series 6.Series 3 was not fully broadcast on Scottish Television, with episodes not being broadcast during the weekends, which resulted in their votes not being counted. Episodes were instead broadcast on a Thursday evening between December 1974 and July 1975.