Pan's People in
Love For Sale

Page 2

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Pan's People

Airdate: 04/25/79

Featuring:
Pauline Crawford, Louise English, Abigail Higgins, Francesca Whitburn, Dee Dee Wilde, Sarah Woollett.

Pauline Crawford

IMDB Entry

Pauline Crawford: as she appeared in the "Love for Sale" number of April 25, 1979. She was a key member of Pan's People from its second incarnation in the late 1970's, including the two aforementioned TBHS episodes on which the troupe appeared. Was one of the dancers in the 1982 movie Nutcracker.

Louise English

Regular Performer/Hill's Angel (1978-1986)

IMDB Entry

Louise English as she appeared in the April 25, 1979 "Pan's People" routine. For many, Louise English is considered the "unofficial" leader of Hill's Angels, alongside Sue Upton. They were both very important to the Benny Hill Show, not only as Angels, but as supporting actors in many short skits with Benny Hill. Of course today, Louise English doesn't seem to make any more TV appearances, but works on the theatrical stage in England. There was a brief period where she even had her own official website, but for some reason, the site was discontinued. Louise, if you're watching, we all miss you very much and would love to see you again in some connection with the Benny Hill Show, especially in a DVD tribute.

Abigail Higgins

IMDB Entry

Two stills of fan favorite Abigail Higgins from the "Pan's People" routine of April 25, 1979. At the time of her two 1979 appearances (on the April 25, 1979 show, she appeared in the "Yield to the Dawn" sketch as Benny's new neighbor), Ms. Higgins was a member of the second coming of Pan's People, along with another future Hill's Angel, Louise English. Abigail became an Angel herself in the 1981 series, figuring in the dance routines of every show therein - and also displaying a knack for comedy, as evidenced in the "Channel Surfing" sketch (Feb. 11, 1981) and the "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" quickie (March 25, 1981), just as a few examples. In that latter vein, she also appeared, uncredited, on and off in sketches and quickies as aired between 1982 and 1985, with the 1984 series being her most prominent (lusting after old man Jackie Wright in "Stupid Cupid," for example, or as a bank teller in the "Fingers McNee" sketch). Her only other known TV credit, outside of TBHS, was a 1983 Bruce Forsyth special, also produced by Thames.

Francesca Whitburn

IMDB Entry

A screencap of Francesca Whitburn as seen in "Pan's People". One of the members of the late 1970's version of Pan's People, she also was in a 1980 episode of The Professionals. Is today a choreographer, among her credits in that vein being a regional (British) stage production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Age 13¾) in 1987 and a 2006-07 stage production of Cinderella.

Dee Dee Wilde

IMDB Entry

A shot of Dee Dee Wilde as she appeared in the "Pan's People" routine of April 25, 1979.

Sarah Woollett

IMDB Entry

A shot of Sarah Woollett from "Pan's People". Ms. Woollett was a member of the latter-day version of Pan's People at the time, together with Pauline Crawford, Francesca Whitburn, founding member/choreographer Dee Dee Wilde, and future Hill's Angels Louise English and Abigail Higgins; neither she, Ms. Crawford nor Ms. Whitburn were technically Angels, as their appearances on TBHS predated the Angels' founding.

Notes by William Brown

Actually, Love Machine was a preexisting troupe. (Ironically, as I noted in the Who's Who guide, Sue had been a Love Machinist prior to either they or she first appearing on TBHS.) The Machine likely disbanded around the time of this show, as one of the Machinists, Jane Newman (as she would be known post-'82), joined the Hot Gossip troupe of Kenny Everett fame around this same time. This made the "Hot Gossamer" bit, I.M.H.O., doubly ironic, if on a "connect-the-dots" basis, especially viz Sue. The "Hot Gossamer" bit actually consisted of the Pan's People troupe that would do "Love for Sale" in the next show. This was actually Pan's People Mk II; the first troupe disbanded around the time of Benny's March 12, 1975 "Pam's People" takeoff (a show which also, ironically enough, had Benny singing "Love for Sale"), and the second came together in around 1976. (One of the members of the new Pan's People at the outset had been future "Phantom of the Opera" star Sarah Brightman, but she left for Hot Gossip in 1978, and it's possible, though I'm not going to say for sure, that Louise had been her replacement in the "new" Pan's People.) It was likely the belief that the reason for the high ratings of the 1979 shows, as opposed to the lackluster performance of the 1978 shows in original airing, was the T&A factor, and this may have been one of the factors which led to the creation of Hill's Angels - that is, the Angels were essentially started from scratch. But from one vantage point, this could be seen as the beginning of the end, given what would happen to Benny at home in the 1980's.

Love For Sale

Written by Cole Porter
Airdate: 04/25/79

Love for sale
appetizing young love for sale
Love that's fresh and still unspoiled
love that's only slightly soiled
Love for sale

Who will buy?
Who would like to sample my supply?
Who's prepared to pay the price
for a trip to paradise
Love for sale

Let the poets pipe of love in their childish way
I know every type of love better far than they
If you want the thrill of love
I've been through the mill of love
Old love, new love
every love but true love

Love for sale
appetizing young love for sale
If you want to buy my wares
follow me and climb the stairs
Love for sale