Topping The TV Ratings
At its height, Yarwood's BBC TV shows, which were based on a variety mix of comic sketches, guest musicians, and a closing song sung by Yarwood (introduced by the line, "and this is me", which became the title of his first autobiography), regularly attracted 28 million viewers.
Among the prominent British personalities he portrayed were Eddie Waring, the famously impossible to understand rugby league commentator; Brian Clough, the controversial football manager; Robin Day, the then top political interviewer on the BBC; Magnus Pyke, the eccentric TV science presenter; Alf Garnett, the star from Till Death Us Do Part; the fictional American detective Columbo; Frank Spencer, the comic creation of sitcom actor Michael Crawford; and Wilson's Conservative Party rival Ted Heath.
Using the then-new technology of chroma key, Yarwood frequently staged set-pieces in which he appeared as several characters at the same time using pre-recorded segments. An example of this might be a panel game or discussion featuring his versions of Robin Day, Harold Wilson, Brian Clough.
It was Yarwood's performance as Harold Wilson that ultimately became his instantly recognisable trademark. He briefly caused some controversy by including the Prince of Wales as one of his regular impressions.
It is a long-held popular myth that the 1977 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show, which attracted 28 million viewers (around half of the total UK population at the time) was a record for a single light entertainment broadcast in Britain. The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show, which immediately preceded Morecambe and Wise on Christmas Day 1977, actually received a slightly larger audience. This means that Yarwood, not Morecambe and Wise, holds the unbroken record for a single light entertainment broadcast in the UK.
Yarwood was the subject of a This is Your Life special, presented by Eamonn Andrews on 31 May 1978.
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