Throughout the nineties, just one woman dominated the British television schedule, bringing with her a unique approach to broadcasting that was rooted in a deep passion for entertainment. Born into the showbiz with her mother: star of stage and screen Nanette Newman and her father: film director Bryan Forbes, writer and broadcaster Emma Forbes initially fought against the idea of following in her parents footsteps. Instead she wanted to do something different. This came with its own set of pressures when interacting with potential TV companies as Emma was adamant that she would obtain roles on her own merit without relying on nepotism within the industry. However, this determination would in time become one of the secrets to her success in becoming one of the best loved broadcasters of her generation.
With a strong, positive attitude towards life, Emma grew up with a passion for television and throughout the 1970’s Swap Shop proved a favourite. In fact by 1987 Multicoloured Swap Shop had morphed into Going Live via Saturday Superstore and Emma began contacting the producer Chris Bellinger about the possibility of joining the show as a contributor. This left her with a dilemma as to what she could offer the show as the three hour programme was split into sections with guests appearing for various events and tasks. She then realised that despite having lots of interactive content, there hadn’t been a regular cooking segment. Bellinger loved the idea and suddenly Emma was part of the Going Live team.
For over thirty years, the BBC1 Saturday morning schedule was given over to the children’s department for three and a quarter hours of live entertainment. When Emma had successfully managed to carve out a niche for herself on Going Live alongside Sarah Greene and Philip Schofield, she had unknowingly joined an elite group of broadcasters to define this particular genre. In today’s multichannel, multi platform landscape where all forms of entertainment are catered for with the touch of a button, it seems archaic to have a three hour show on BBC1 catering for just children and teenagers. Yet from Swap Shop in the seventies to The Saturday Show of the new millennium, two generations of young TV viewers grew up with this vital escapism which was always the perfect start to any weekend.
By 1993, Britain had changed and teenagers of the nineties required a new take on their Saturday mornings. For this, Emma was promoted to one of the main anchors alongside broadcaster Andi Peters for Live And Kicking which successfully captured the youth zeitgeist of the time. Broadcast live every Saturday from Television Centre, Live And Kicking granted children and teenagers free access to their favourite pop stars and celebrities from around the world in amongst competitions and games aimed at the target demographic. The looseness of the format allowed the show to cater for a wide variety of audiences and even feature a splattering of innuendo for the adults. This is something that has sadly become extinct within the TV schedule with all genres being separate from each other as a result of the vastness of on demand content. Emma is immensely grateful that her TV tenure was still in the era of mass audiences and family entertainment which offered something far everyone.
Being at TV Centre offered Live and Kicking the scope and resources to invite household names to get involved in the mayhem. The fact that it was in central London made it possible for absolutely anyone to appear on the show and Emma regularly was in a state of shock regarding who she was about to meet. No public figure seemed particularly off limits and while Andi presided over the more chaotic elements, Emma’s broadcasting experience naturally made her more at home with the interview aspect. It was here that she realised that children have the innate ability to ask hard hitting questions in a way that adults would never be able to and this is what she thrived upon. People who always kept a closed shop to the media would remarkably open up to these questions in a manner that was rarely seen in the public eye. This was one of the many reasons that Live and Kicking was unique and helped to set the benchmark for age appropriate entertainment going forward.
The success of Live and Kicking had made Emma into a household name and TV producers were excited by her next move. The panel show What’s My Line had been a successful format during the primitive era of television presented by legendary broadcaster Eamonn Andrews. Now ITV sought to update the show for nineties Britain and with Emma at the helm, her sense of fun echoed the style of the show’s roots. As a broadcaster, she thrives on funny, family entertainment and with a panel made up of impressionist Kate Robbins alongside a pair of comedy legends; June Whitfield and Roy Hudd, this was exactly what she got. All these elements made What’s My Line another highlight in a career with so many.
While at ITV, Emma reunited with Going Live co-host Philip Schofield for the updated variety show Talking Telephone Numbers. Still in the era of considerable financial backing in the medium, the show featured some of the biggest names of the day who each would end their act by plucking a numbered ball out of a bag which would make up a phone number. At the end of the show, the audience had an allotted time to call in and claim their number and be in with the chance of claiming £25,000 which was a lot of money for the time. In the era before interactive television, Talking Telephone Numbers was revolutionary for the time and set the benchmark for big budget post millennial Light Entertainment. It was family friendly, harmless interactive television which Emma thrived on.
Moving to the US gave Emma the opportunity to be a mother away from the lure of television and begin a new chapter in her life. However, stepping back into a studio reminds her of the passion she still has for live television despite being unknown in America. Yet for people of my generation, Emma Forbes and always shall occupy a very significant space in our cultural awakening. All these elements and more prove that she may just be the perfect Beyond The Title subject!
Beyond The Title