Lady Anne Dodd shares her excitement at coming to Blackpool for the screening of 'The Real Ken Dodd'.
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00:00Hi, I'm digital reporter Amy Seddon, and this week I had the pleasure to chat to Lady Anne Dodd as a new documentary about her late husband, called The Real Ken Dodd, is getting screened at the Blackpool Grand Theatre this weekend.
00:14In the following clip, Lady Dodd shares her excitement at coming to Blackpool to present the screening, explains why the town meant so much to Ken, and reveals why she thought it would be the death of him.
00:25So it's been shown at multiple venues, but the most important venue for me is Blackpool this week.
00:31Oh, yeah, it's only been shown at three so far. That's right. Yes, Blackpool this week.
00:36How are you feeling about it getting shown in Blackpool?
00:39Well, it's wonderful. And there's a two o'clock and a seven o'clock, which is amazing because we haven't advertised it very much, really.
00:49We've sort of made it and then, oh, let's just show it, you know, let's get on with it.
00:53But normally when I used to book all Ken's theatres, you book them a year in advance, you know, and he gets in the programme.
01:00Anyway, I'm so looking forward to it because he spent every year of his life, of his working life, he worked somewhere in Blackpool.
01:09And in the sixties, fifties, he started on the North Pier and everything.
01:12In the sixties and seventies, he was in the biggest theatre in Europe, which is the Opera House.
01:17He's still standing and three thousand people twice nightly.
01:20But those were the days when Blackpool was full of people, absolutely packed.
01:25Summer seasons, because there was nowhere, people couldn't go abroad.
01:29It would be very, very expensive in those days to fly. But things changed in the eighties because people could go abroad.
01:35But he really played the big theatres then. And then even into the eighties, these massive shows at the Opera House.
01:42And then in the late eighties and into the nineties, the last 25 years, he played at the Grand.
01:47So he loved the Grand. It's a beautiful match in theatres, really glorious.
01:52But even the circus, if you've ever been to the Tower Circus, that's incredible.
01:57And I'll tell you one little story. He was asked by Norman Barrett, the ringmaster.
02:03He's Liverpool, born and bred. I'm sure you've heard him.
02:07And he asked Ken if he'd do this appearance in the Tower Circus.
02:12It was for BBC television and they filmed him with Jim Chubb as the trainer of tigers.
02:18It was in the eighties, about 1985, when they still have animals.
02:22And he said, I'll take you into the cage and show you how I train them.
02:27And I have pictures of Ken. It's on my phone. I can keep it.
02:32I only found those pictures a few years ago, after he died.
02:36And I was there. And he went in this cage with the trainer.
02:41And there were half a dozen tigers. And one started moving.
02:47And the trainer said, can you keep your hand on my shoulder and you become part of me?
02:52And the tiger won't do anything. But the tiger started getting off the perch.
02:57And he said, stick tight. He said, I'm glued to you.
03:01Anyway, the tiger sort of moved a bit and then they finished the interview and got Ken out.
03:08And I was outside the cage going, oh, my God. Is he all right?
03:13I think the tiger was more curious than anything.