Top of the Bill

# In the good old music hall days, and the good old music hall ways. Oh! how we loved them all, the artists great and small. From galley to stalls we keep applauding, the overture, the lights, the dancers in their tights, and all the sounds and sights of music halls. London Palladium, Argyle Street W1.

Partly obscured by ongoing work to the right. PW

# In those good old music hall days, we would sit and happily gaze, at every turn until whoever topped the bill would bring the magic through to final curtain, to keep those happy days warm in our hearts always. God bless those good old days of music halls . . . . The Victoria Palace Theatre on Victoria Street in SW1, another view of which can be seen in 'A Little of What You Fancy'.

The theatre and the next door pub are the only survivors in this block. SJ

With the London skyline crossing the background, Davy Kaye introduces himself as a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats. The view across Soho W1 with Centre Point in the distance and buildings near the corner of Dean Street and Carlisle Street to the left.

Davy begins a tour to the sites of London's old music halls and variety theatres starting with the Holborn Empire. Once standing at numbers 242 to 245 High Holborn WC1, the theatre was closed after bombing during the Second World War before demolition took place in 1960.

The trees tried to block a meaningful comparison but, stepping forward, one can see the brickwork of next door, the Chancery Court Hotel. The theatre site is now occupied by Waitrose. SJ

This is Daska House under construction on the site of the Chelsea Palace theatre at the corner of Sydney Street and Kings Road in SW3.

Metro Bank now occupies the ground floor replacing Heals. SJ

Across the road, Ben Warriss explains that the Chelsea Palace was once a stepping stone in a variety artist's career. Kings Road in Chelsea with the Gaumont Cinema to the top right.

Taken outside the Kensington and Chelsea Register Office. SJ

Following a performance by the Valjohns, Davy Kaye takes the viewer to the Hackney Empire, now a bingo hall. This is Mare Street E8 with the Britannia public house to the left.

Ben makes his way to the Granville TV Studio, a little way along the road from Chelsea football ground, which started life as the Granville Theatre on Jerdan Place SW6.

This view looking east and up from Fulham Broadway provides a radical change. SJ

The old music hall was once used to try out second-rate reviews from the north but had become a base for training television technicians. The Granville Theatre between Vanston Place and Fulham Broadway in Walham Green.

A tilt down brings into view the Samuel Lewis Trust Buildings established in 1922 on the left. SJ

Empire House facing Turnham Green, filling the site once occupied by the Chiswick Empire on Chiswick High Road in W4.

The new housing look for the former office block. SJ

Ben recalls that Chiswick was a number one date with the showbiz greats once performing there. The Chiswick Empire was demolished in 1959 and the replacement office block lasted until 2020 before being repurposed as flats.

Tilting down brings into view the same footprint. The Old Pack House on the corner of Acton Lane out of shot on the left still survives. SJ

Moving on, the comedian stands across the road from the BBC TV Theatre, previously the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Shepherd's Bush Green in W12. The venue remains open as the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Driven across north London in a Rover P5, Davy arrives on St. Thomas's Road in Finsbury Park N4.

A thoughtfully designed blockhouse appears to have replaced parking spaces. PW

Five miles from the heart of the West End, Davy stands outside the aptly named Vaudeville Court, a block of flats standing on the site of the Finsbury Park Empire at the junctions of Rock Street with St. Thomas's Road and Prah Road. The theatre can be seen in 'The Young Ones'.

Gateway improvements are apparent. PW

Paddington Green police station on Edgware Road in W2.

Tris captured the view of the replacement building from outside the Green Man public house.

The site of the Metropolitan Theatre of Varieties on Edgware Road. The theatre appears in 'The Blue Lamp' and 'The Impersonator'.

The scene now by Tris.

Cut to Marylebone Flyover, taking the Westway over Edgware Road in Paddington.

Tris found that the buses and the background buildings are now taller!

The camera pans across the corner of Harrow Road and Edgware Road, back towards the site of the Metropolitan.

More high buildings fill the background of Tris's shot.

Traffic rumbles nearby as Davy returns to a theatre that he played years before. The Golders Green Hippodrome on North End Road in NW11.

Denis Hoare stopped off to capture this up to date shot for us, that as much as anything, only serves to remind us of the long gone 'glory days of entertainment' now cast into history. (RL)

The Rover arrives in the West End. Argyle Street in W1 with Liberty's on Great Marlborough Street in the right background.

A little closer to avoid most of the scaffolding to the left. PW

Ben steps from the car outside the London Palladium.

A change of use to the left. PW

After members of the public are asked if they've ever been to the Palladium, archive footage featuring Max Miller along with a montage of performances including Ken Goodwin, the Patton Brothers, Ernest Arnley, Cyril Dowler and Ben Warriss end the film. Facing the London Palladium on Argyle Street W1.

Taken in the shadow of the morning sun. PW