A three hour documentary about iconic comedian Ken Dodd will premiere in June, and here are the details.
There are few comics, before him or since, who were as hardworking as Ken Dodd. Known for the epic length of his performances, he performed shows that began at 7.30, wouldn’t have an interval until 10.30, with gigs regularly finishing in the small hours.
Dodd passed away in 2018 at the age of 90, and left a legacy of laughter in a career that began in the 1940s.
Ken Dodd is now set to be the subject of new documentary The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved. As a tribute to Dodd’s shows, the film is a whopping three hours long.
The film, narrated by the irrepressible Miriam Margoyles, also features tributes from the comedy community, including Lee Mack, Harry Hill, Johnny Vegas, Tim Vine, Les Dennis, Ricky Tomlinson, Stephen K Amos, Shaparak Khorsandi and the late, much missed Paul O’Grady.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Stephanie Cole, Nichola McAuliffe and Ian McKellen will also contribute.
The film “traces Dodd’s career, from his roots in the music hall tradition to still appearing on stage in his ninth decade; his commitment and intellectual passion for comedy; his beneficence in helping to keep some much-loved UK theatres from going bust and his personal and professional relationship with his widow Anne, who effectively served as his tour manager, driver, personal assistant and publicist and is now dedicatedly keeping his memory alive”.
One of Dodd’s ambitions was to open a museum of comedy, and plans are currently underway to build The Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre at the Royal Court, a £15 million museum dedicated to comedy.
The film is directed by Eric Harwood, who grew up in Dodd’s home town of Knotty Ash. It will also provide a rare insight into Dodd’s creative process, showing extracts from his many joke books.
Producer Lorna Dickinson said that “Ken used to talk about being like a conductor but I don’t think there are many comedians who could control a room like he could.”
“It took genius to do that. But he also spent a huge amount of time in the Picton Reading Room at Liverpool Library, he loved it there, reading everything he could about comedy and philosophy”.
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved will premiere at the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds on the 9th June before a wider cinema release and television broadcast.
