From the Victorian music halls, with their traditional mix of song, dance and comic skit, came the artiste who could "do it all". Yet. despite an incredible mix of skills and after ruling the world of light entertainment for years, the all-rounder's chief source of employment was to become hosts of variety and quiz shows. So how have the likes of Bruce Forsyth, Michael Barrymore, Cilla Black and Bob Monkhouse adapted their talents to keep their positions on the slippery showbiz ladder? Michael Grade, Clive James, Greg Dyke and Nigel Lythgoe are among those discussing these jacks of all trades. 

Stephen Fry explores the relationship between music and light entertainment. Before the advent of youth culture, music had always been at the heart of variety, but when pop arrived on the scene television's reactionary response was to feed viewers a diet of Val Doonican and Engelbert Humperdinck. Even Top of The Pops was predicted to be a flash in the pan, but by the 1970s pop stars such as Cilla Black and Cliff Richard were hosting their own Saturday night shows. Punk put paid to all that, and it has taken over two decades for music to find its way back into the heart of light entertainment. Featuring Cliff Richard, Cilla Black, Nana Mouskouri, Engelbert Humperdinck, Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nigel Lythgoe, Marty Wilde and the Vernons Girls.