Wogan is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 to 1992 and presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast from the BBC Television Centre (TVC). Some shows were pre-recorded and then broadcast unedited "as live". Wogan ended its run in July 1992 and was replaced in the schedule by the soap opera Eldorado.

History

Wogan's first foray into TV interviewing, and indeed to British television, was in 1972 on Lunchtime with Wogan on ITV. In 1973, he left ITV and joined the BBC. In 1980, he was given another chat show; What's On, Wogan? running for 9 episodes in the spring of that year, primarily on Saturday evenings. In 1981, he had a chance to host a one-off chat show, Saturday Live. Among his guests on this show were Larry Hagman, promoting SOB, and Frank Hall. The show received a high profile with Hagman at the height of his fame starring as J. R. Ewing on Dallas. A year later, Wogan was given his own chat show, Wogan, initially broadcast on a Tuesday evening, the series was moved the following year to Saturday nights to replace Parkinson. When BBC1 was relaunched on 18 February 1985, the show was moved to weekday evenings at 7:00pm, three nights per week, and inter-scheduled with their new soap EastEnders to help streamline and maintain viewers throughout the course of the evening, as designed by the then-controller of BBC One, Michael Grade. Grade said: "When I took over BBC1, I discovered there were wonderful things, it was just a case of where to put them." Grade also said "The series would bring a much needed element of surprise and unpredictability to BBC Television".

Cancellation

By December 1991, Wogan had lost 4 million viewers, and the show was axed. During this time, BBC Scotland often moved the Friday edition to a late night slot. The final edition was broadcast on 3 July 1992, and replaced with the ill-fated soap Eldorado. Wogan briefly hosted a new weekly late night chat show, Terry Wogan's Friday Night, which started on 2 October 1992. However the new series was not a success and was cancelled after 20 episodes, ultimately leading to Wogan returning to radio in his Radio 2 breakfast slot. The series ended on 5 March 1993. In 1996, Wogan criticised the BBC over its handling of the show since the BBC had refused his wish to give up the series in 1991, instead carrying on for a further year. Wogan said "I felt peeved by the insensitivity – no, incompetence of how it was handled". In March 2015, BBC Two launched a new compilation series, Wogan: the Best Of featuring selected interview segments and music performances from Wogan's past chat series, linked by new introductions.

Wogan Now and Then

Wogan presented Wogan Now and Then in 2006, for UKTV Gold and produced by Spun Gold Television. Wogan spoke again with former guests from original series along with new guests. Thirteen hour-long episodes were made.

Series

Guest hosts

Over the course of the show's run, when Wogan himself was unavailable to host the show, guest presenters were brought in, with Selina Scott being the first stand-in in 1985. Others included David Frost (in 1986), Kenneth Williams (in 1986), Ben Elton (in 1989), Joanna Lumley (in 1989), Selina Scott (again in 1991), Jonathan Ross (in 1990), Gloria Hunniford (in 1991), Felicity Kendal, Esther Rantzen and Bruce Forsyth. The most successful stand in was Sue Lawley (in 1988) who became the most frequent replacement for the host and indeed for some time was Wogan's 'official' stand in. When Lawley gained her own late night chat show Saturday Matters with Sue Lawley on BBC1 in 1989, other celebrities again took it in turns to stand in for Wogan.

Notable interviews

A number of interviews on the show are well-remembered, and have featured on compilation clip shows. Some examples include: