ofthe of the death of sir bruce news of the death of sir bruce forsyth. i do hope we can hear nicholas parsons. i'm waiting on the other end of the line for someone to come in and speak to me. nicholas parsons, good to have you with us. your thoughts about sir bruce forsyth and your memories of him. i'm so sad, i have such fond memories. he was an exceptional personality and the most amazing entertainer. he was in many ways quite a professional and unique, he was not only a very good comedian but he was a singer and a dancer, which is the way he started, of course, and a very good actor. i saw him ina course, and a very good actor. i saw him in a play in the west end called little meat and he could do everything but not only that, he was one of the most charming, outgoing, giving professional performers i've ever met. he was just a lovely personality. he gave out to everybody he ever met. and, of

course, as a game show host i can he was unique, i think he was the top of the league. he did not only run the show and keep it moving and so forth, but he engaged with the co ntesta nts forth, but he engaged with the contestants in such a way. he was cheeky, he pulled their legs, and still they were not offended in any way, they went along with it. he was an exceptional and amazing entertainer. would you say, nicholas parsons, that he made actually quite a difficultjob look very, very easy. show business everywhere is not easy. if you are a true professional that covers up... you have the skills to make everything you do look easy and natural, which he could do. but it is very demanding. entertaining, to go out and face an audience and time lines, the art of

acting is timing but comedy acting is more sophisticated timing. bruce could not only do that but had such an engaging personality, he had such warmth, he gave out to the audience, he sort of embraced them, and they came in as his friend and he talked to them on that kind of level. when i'm thinking of him now, ijust think of that lovely, warm, out giving generous personality. nicholas parsons, very good of you tojoin us this nicholas parsons, very good of you to join us this afternoon. thank you for your time on a saturday. thank you. we are reflecting on the life and very long career of sir bruce forsyth. i'm pleased to say we can speak to sir forsyth. i'm pleased to say we can speakto sirjimmy forsyth. i'm pleased to say we can speak to sirjimmy tarbuck. it is very good of you to speak to us this afternoon because you have known him for so many years, been a friend for many years, very difficult day for you, your reflections this afternoon. it is just

afternoon. it isjust a afternoon. it is just a very sad day, as you've said, he without doubt was our greatest all—round entertainer and his longevity speaks for itself, he was just so good, he was great with the public, and the ad—libs that turned into his catchphrases were wonderful. and in 1963, october turned into his catchphrases were wonderful. and in 1963, 0ctober27, ican wonderful. and in 1963, 0ctober27, i can never forget wonderful. and in 1963, 0ctober27, i can neverforget it, he introduced me for the first time on the palladium and that night changed my life. i called him mr forsyth and he a lwa ys life. i called him mr forsyth and he always will be in my house and my mind and my heart, mr forsyth. he was great to me. that's so interesting. was a friendship developed from that, or actually was very quiet competition there? how does that relationship work? there was never any competition except on the golf course. him and nicky henderson introduced me to the golf. and ijust got

henderson introduced me to the golf. and i just got to henderson introduced me to the golf. and ijust got to love it and he loved it, he was a most keen golfer. he was an old mona on the golf course, we used to say before we teed off, no moaning. he used to enjoy getting sean connery annoyed because he'd hop around. those things just make me because he'd hop around. those thingsjust make me laugh now when i'm thinking about him, and that his talents, that speaks for itself. just look at the shows he did. he made huge success and hits of all of them. the palladium, you know, and he was a great host of that. and he was wonderful with the public and the public loved him. we are hearing time and again about a man with a remarkable work ethic. very much so. imean, remarkable work ethic. very much so. i mean, just a total professional. 10196 i mean, just a total professional. 101% pro, and talent wise there was only two in my time, and that was

roy castle and bruce, they could both do anything, and they were great together when they worked, he was great when he worked with sammy davis. he worked with the queen and more than held his own. he wasjust a terrific performer. that first night with the palladium, and the last night i worked with him, was the 100th royal show at the albert hall, her majesty was in attendance and they thought of a great idea. they brought des, little ronnie, bruce and myself on together, its the only time the four of us have worked together, and it went well, thank goodness, but it was the finale that was wonderful because we walked down together, the four. i said as we were coming on, let's enjoyed this boys, because we will never do this again, let's take our time and the walk down for the four of us, we got a standing ovation from the audience and it was wonderful and we were coming off, and he said to me, i enjoyed that,

and he said to me, i enjoyed that, andi and he said to me, i enjoyed that, and i said, so did i. then we went and i said, so did i. then we went and had a drink and we had a laugh. we have heard so much and we have talked so much about his career and his professionalism. i'd love to talk to you a little bit more, if i can,jimmy tarbuck, talk to you a little bit more, if i can, jimmy tarbuck, about the golfing. you mentioned moaning, and i'm trying to get to the heart of what he was like when he wasn't working. tell us a little bit more about that because it seems to me a good chunk of time was spent on the golf course, in the best possible way. yes, he lived on the golf course, he liked nothing more than playing. he was competitive. he loved sport, he was at tottenham hotspurfan loved sport, he was at tottenham hotspur fan and he loved sport, he was at tottenham hotspurfan and he played loved sport, he was at tottenham hotspur fan and he played a loved sport, he was at tottenham hotspurfan and he played a bit of football. i played with him and he could play. it was on the golf course when he was at his happiest, he had a pal called les who used to play with him a lot and he will play with dickie and myself but he would

moan, i'm so unlucky. he had an alsatian, great dane, and it barked like him. the dog barked like him. i said this dog has been hanging around with you too much and he roared laughing at my cheek. but as isaid to roared laughing at my cheek. but as i said to you always, because i was a boy when he introduced me, i was 22, he was always mr forsyth. professional, beautifully dressed man, always lovely clothes, and he looked the business. that is how you will always think of him?|j looked the business. that is how you will always think of him? i will a lwa ys will always think of him? i will always think of him as he was responsible for everything that i've got. he started it off so you can imaginei got. he started it off so you can imagine i will be eternally grateful, and he was a friend for over 50 yea rs grateful, and he was a friend for over 50 years and we had a lot, a lot of fun together. jimmy tarbuck, it is lovely you felt able to talk to us, thank you very

much on a sad day for you, as it is for so many people. thank you very much,jimmy for so many people. thank you very much, jimmy tarbuck. the pleasure is mine, i'm sorry it's on such an occasion, keep well. thank you, jimmy tarbuck, forjoining us, who said it all. sir bruce forsyth had such an instrument of affect his career and they went on to beat such great friends and golfing partners as well out on the golf course, which we know was sir bruce forsyth's great passion in life away from his work. one of the many things about him is that every generation has different memories of him. if you are my age, it's growing up him. if you are my age, it's growing up with the generation game and if you are younger than me it is seeing him on strictly come dancing and younger viewers will think of him perhaps purely for that. to that end, let's tell you what tess daly has said in a statement in the last few minutes. she says there are no words to describe how heartbroken i am to be told the saddest news. from

the moment we met bruce and i did nothing but laugh our way through a decade of working together on strictly come dancing. i will never forget his generosity, his brilliant sense of humour, and his drive to entertain the audience is. he's been there for me as a co—host, a mentor, and most importantly as a friend. i and most importantly as a friend. i an extremely fortunate to have worked alongside the man who defined the saturday night entertainment for so many decades. let's talk about strictly because i'm joined by mark lindsay, who is the director of bbc studios, which makes strictly come dancing, and mark lindsay, you were controller of entertainment commissioning as well, so you are absolutely at the heart of what has become a staple of saturday nights in the united kingdom. explained to us, who had the idea in fact for getting sir bruce forsyth on—board? how did that come about? i think bruce was always going to be a naturalfor the come about? i think bruce was always going to be a natural for the show. bruce is a brilliant dancer. he

a lwa ys bruce is a brilliant dancer. he always was a brilliant dancer, and if anyone is going to do a dance show in prime—time saturday night, it had to be sir bruce forsyth he was just a gift for it. very quickly he made the show his own and very quickly he brought such a large audience to it. what was so interesting talking to michael grade, he said he was also very canny about picking the right shows for him. he knew what he could do well at. whoever presented him with the format idea for strictly, he thought, this works to my talents. the format idea for strictly, he thought, this works to my talentslj thought, this works to my talents.” think one of the reasons bruce was such a big star on saturday night was he always knew what the audience wanted, he cared so much about the audience and that was his big thing. what with the audience enjoyed on a saturday night? he was good at selecting the right vehicle for him, the right show where he could showcase his talents, make people laugh, and he was very, very careful in picking the right programmes that would work for him. but also for the

audience. he had this innate ability to know what would work for the audience, what with make them laugh, what would make them smile, but also what would make them smile, but also what would make them smile, but also what would be successful. i've never watched strictly macro live, never beenin watched strictly macro live, never been in the studio for a show. would he interact with the audience before or after the show? notjust the element that is on camera, but would he love just chatting to the crowd, because that what he did his whole life? bruce was a consummate entertainer, he was mr entertainment, even in rehearsals, certainly in the warm up, bruce would be entertaining us, the crew, the production crew, throughout rehearsals. he would always be refining the script, refining the gag, working on what would make the audience laugh, what would make them entertained, and he would take that through to his warm up. in his warm up through to his warm up. in his warm up he would engage, make the studio audience laugh, get them up and start dancing with him, he was

a lwa ys start dancing with him, he was always entertaining, it was in his blood and it was in him the whole time and he could just not stop entertaining. was he sad to have to walk away from strictly, do you think? very much. obviously he talked to me about the decision and he felt it was time for him to leave strictly. it was a difficult decision for him because he loved the show and he loved the people who worked on the show, but more importantly loved the audience so much. he knew he would not have that connection again. so it was a really difficult decision for him but he felt it was the right time to leave. mark lindsay, director of bbc studios, thank you for being with us tonight and thank you for your memories of sir bruce forsyth, the consummate professional, the ultimate entertainer, who has died at the age of 89. let's close—out programme this hour with the one and only serve —— the one and only sir

bruce forsyth. music: frank sinatra — fly me to the moon. # fly me to the moon.

good evening, we have seen quite a few showers around today, some heavy and some have been thundery. the radar picture tells the story, you can see the showers as they broke out across parts of northern ireland, england, wales, with flashes of lightning, rumbles of thunder and hail for good measure, based on train for north—east scotland. this evening and overnight after a spell of wet weather drifts across wales, the midlands and east anglia things will dry up with clear spells, some showers continuing in spots exposed to the north—westerly wind and temperatures overnight around 11—13d. into tomorrow, crivelli crew will start to the day but the fairly bright start to the day, we will see showers developing at times, particularly for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, drier in the south and temperature is at best around 16 — 21 degrees. the legendary entertainer sir bruce

forsyth has died at the age of 89. the star of strictly macro die this afternoon at his home surrounded by his family. he had been unwell for some time. report. nice! from the generation game to play your cards right, he'd entertained millions of people on screen for more than seven decades. his showbiz career began in 1939 — at the age ofjust14 — when appeared on a bbc talent show. the bbc‘s director general, tony hall, has called him one of the greatest entertainers our country has ever known. we'll be looking back at the life of sir bruce forsyth. also tonight... an investigation is under way into 17—year—old moussa oukabir, who's suspected of carrying out yesterday's attack. his fate is still unclear.