Viewers were left in tears as the BBC aired a nostalgic episode of Blankety Blank on Saturday, April 1, hosted by Lily Savage, just days after Paul O'Grady's sudden death.
The episode from 1998 featured celebrity panellists Rebecca Callard, Sophie Lawrence, Davina McCall, Ian McKellen, Gray O'Brien and Dale Winton as Lily Savage showcased her sharp wit and hilarious comedy timing once more.
And fans of the show who tuned in have been praising the BBC and thanking the corporation for running the nostaligic episode in memory of the late comedian and presenter which featured a picture of a beaming Paul O'Grady with the years '1955-2023' underneath it at the end of the programme.
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Many viewers took to Twitter to voice their emotions. One user, @OohAwful, wrote: "What a great half hour of nostalgia #blanketyblank Until this came up at the end and I’m in tears again. What a loss." with a screengrab from the end of the show.
Another, @sweetlacrimosa, added: "Watching #BlanketyBlank with Lily Savage and realising how lucky I was to have grown up looking up to this untouchable, quick-witted drag queen. Thank you for the laughs, Paul!"
"This really is QUALITY Saturday night television - thank you @BBCOne for airing this classic episode of Blankety Blank. #LilySavage," added @thedwwhitehouse while @trevorfudger tweeted: "Well done @BBCOne, no doubt a tough decision to drop #thewheel and to replace it with #blanketyblank but applause all round #RipPaulOgrady and also nice to remember Dale too."
Another viewer, @phylsyl, penned: "Forgot how great lily savage was ....how can you not haved loved paul ..Will be remembered for ever .. #BlanketyBlank" while others called for the BBC to run old episodes of gameshows such as this as a regular segment.
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