A Benny Hill Time-Line

## Bio

The **Benny Hill Time-Line** documents prominent and choice events (mostly non-contemprary) in the history of *The Benny Hill Show*:

## History

### Ice Age

* A caveman (Benny Hill) invents the wheel but his neighbors think its something else. (The Hot Shoe Show)
* Two cavemen (Benny Hill and Bob Todd) fight over a sexy cave-woman (Lorraine Doyle), creating weapons along the way in order to defeat each other. (Holding Out For A Hero)

### Ancient History

* c. 430 BC - Roman soldiers invade Britain and start taking its hostages (Benny Hill) back to Rome. (Leprechaun TV)
* c. 45 AD - Claudius, Emperor of Rome (Benny Hill), is the victim of an assassination attempt by his power hungry relatives (Henry McGee and Bella Emberg). (The Bionic Baby)
* c. 1000s - Two Vikings (Benny Hill and Duggie Small) attack the village of a Celt (Jon Jon Keefe) and try carrying off his wives (Alison Deegan and Victoria Rees), his father (Johnny Hutch gets mixed up in the melee. The Celt offers his mother (Bob Todd) as a trade for his wife. (Holding Out For A Hero)

### Medieval Age/Renaissance

* c. 1070 - Lady Godiva (Marilyn Natty) rides naked through Coventy, England to protest the taxes on the people. (Benny Hill: Down Under

* c. 1225 - Robin Hood (Benny Hill) and his Merry Men defend England from the tyrannical rule of King John (Henry McGee). (Murder on the Oregon Express)

* 1428 - Dracula born in Sighisoara in the kingdom of Wallachia. (Now part of modern Romania) (Leprechaun TV)

* 1433 - The Minstrel Boy is groomed into a successful entertainer. (Film Time At The National Film Theater

* c. 1500s - Two regents (Nicholas Parsons and Bob Todd) learn of a plot to kill to kill their king (Benny Hill) and hire a simple farm hand (Benny Hill) to save him. (News At Ten)

* 1630 - The Three Musketeers fight for glory in France. (Name That Tune)

* 1635 - A group of British colonists (Benny Hill, Andree Melly and Bob Todd} found a village in New England. (Fun In The Kitchen}

* C. 1650 - In Sussex, an English Lord (Bob Todd) sends his messenger to get help against the Roundheads from King Charles I (Nicholas Parsons). (Cinema: The Vintage Years)

* c. 1650 - A Royalist (Benny Hill) defends himself against a Roundhead (Henry McGee) loyal to the Parliament with their antique weapons over the hand of a maiden (Sara Throssell). (Holding Out For A Hero)

### Modern History

* c. 1750 - Casanova pursues the women of France. (A Packed Program)

* c. 1750 - A French cavalier (Benny Hill} duels with an unruly baron (Bob Todd) to protect a barmaid (Lorraine Doyle), later offering him some snuff. (Holding Out For A Hero)

* c. 1784 - In Germany, Dr. Frankenstein (Michael Sharvell-Martin) builds a monster (Benny Hill) from the parts of dead bodies. (The Sound Of Frankenstein)

* c. 1790s - An English cavalier (Benny Hill) faces an incompetent knight (Henry McGee) over the habd of a beautiful girl (Sara Throssell), but his gun blows up and the cavalier walks away with the girl. (Holding Out For A Hero)

* c. 1793 - A French baronet known as The Scarlet Pimple rescues aristocrats during the Reign of Terror. (Women's Lib TV)

* c. 1873 - Dan the Deputy is hired to protect the city of El Paso from three local outlaws. (Dalton Abbott Railway Choir)

* c. 1890s - Outlaw Benny Kelly runs amok in Australia (Benny Hill: Down Under)

* 1893 - Benny The Kid (Benny Hill) competes with the Man in the Black (Bob Todd) for the love of Feleena (Claire Ruane) in El Paso. (Dalton Abbott Railway Choir)

* c. 1900s - Maurice Dribble born. (Is This Your Life?)

* 1907, Sept 15 - George Henry Blod (Benny Hill), the footman, gardener and handyman of Lord Denby (Jackie Wright) and Emily Turnball (Diana Darvey), the Denby's maid, get married. (Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music)

* 1908 - Outlaws Butch Cafferty and his partner, The Fundance Kid, run loose in the American Southwest. (Butch Cafferty and the Fundance Kid)

* c. 1910 - The Halitosis Kid lives near El Paso. (The Halitosis Kid)

* 1914 - Gavin Blod's father is drafted to fight in German East Africa, never to return. (Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music)

* World War I - An English soldier (Benny Hill) confronts a German captain (Bob Todd), who is tricked into holding a hand grenade just a little too long. - (Holding Out For A Hero)

* c. 1934 - Bonnie and Clyde hide out in the home of a Midwestern couple. (A World Of Sports)

* World War II - Gavin Blod practices his music in the foxholes of the battlefield. After he is captured by the Germans, he is sent to Colditz, escaping two years later. - (Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music)

* World War II - An English sniper (Benny Hill) is sent to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. However, he is distracted by a beautiful undressed girl (Lorraine Doyle) in a hotel window and has to escape from some Nazi soldiers (Mike Mulloy, Jon Jon Keefe and unidentified) who spot him. He is later ambushed by two German women officers (Helen Carpenter and Lorraine Doyle), who only want his clothes. When he is captured by the German army (Jon Jon Keefe, Bob Todd and unidentified extras), they try executing him within a circle, only to end up shooting each other. (Holding Out For A Hero)

* 1949 - Gavin Blod meets and eventually marries opera singer Mariah Carlisle (Lee Gibson), defeating her suitor Count Macavarni (]]Henry McGee]]) in a duel. They divorced two years later. (Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music)

* 1956 - The technology required to create the modern VCR is invented. (Talking Point)

* !974, May 12 - Gavin Blod passes away after a visit from a sexy nurse (Diana Darvey). - (Gavin Blod - The Man and his Music)

* 1975, October 25 - A geriatric version of Woodstock known as Woodstick is celebrated. (Woodstick)

* 1977 - Steve Austin and Jaime Sommars have a bionic baby. - (The Bionic Baby)

* 1978, December 26 - Disco music is at its zenith in popular culture. (Friday Night Fever)

* 1978, December 27 - Fred Scuttle attempts construction of tunnel linking England and France. (Great British Dancing Finals)

* 1979, April 13 - Dracula first battles Wonder-Gran in a series of skirmishes - (Leprechaun TV)

* 1981, January 7 - Dr. Jackal creates a potion that releases his alter-ego to battle Wonder-Gran. (WonderGran Meets Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde)

* 1981, February 11 - An ordinary woman (Clare Smalley) turns into a She-Hulk in or near London. (A Tribute to the Lower Tidmarsh Volunteer Fire Brigade)

* 1988, March 16 - Thunderclap holds the city of El Paso in a reign of terror. (Holiday)

* 1994 - Machines rise up and take over civilization. (Name That Tune)

## Trivia

* This bio primarily focuses on the events/sketches portrayed in the Hill's Angels routine "Holding Out For A Hero" on April 5, 1989 with other topical events from other sketches.
* In the main sketch, the song, "Holding Out For A Hero," a 1983 American hit for Bonnie Tyler, is performed by Francesca Boulter.
* The grounds used in the Viking scene at the lake also appear in the Great White Hunter. It was likely located at Thorpe Park.
* The shooters in the circle gag was likely taken or influenced by a Rodriguez sketch on Dave Allen At Large.

## Gallery

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