In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where The Benny Hill Show remained until its cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.
Ben Elton criticised him for alleged sexism, as did other comedy performers who came to fame in the 1980s[1]. Curiously, a common criticism was that Hill played a "dirty old man" who chased women in public places, when in point of fact it was an established part of the comedic style of the Benny Hill Show that the women always chased Hill. Hill and his producer Dennis Kirkland were reportedly always upset about the widespread misrepresentation of his show in this way, and believed that it demonstrated that Hill's critics could not have actually watched his programmes.[2]
Similar charges were also aimed at the Carry On films which became unfashionable amongst the media elite at the time. To quote his biographer Mark Lewisohn, "In Britain, Benny Hill is taboo... I have seen people recoil at the mention of his name." His show is rarely repeated on terrestrial, satellite or cable TV, although it has recently been aired on the BBC America cable channel. An Australian TV channel, Seven Network has shown some episodes lately called "Great Comedy Classics". |
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