Michael Lush died on November 13, 1986 while performing a stunt for the BBC show The Late Late Breakfast Show. People have said it was the worst day in British television history.
Around £120,000 was presented to Lush’s family as a gift by the BBC. Although the coroner said security officials should be there for similar stunts in the future, BBC chief executive Bill Cotton said there would be no more shows that would put the public at risk.
Here’s everything you need to know about the young man back then and what happened.
Who was Michael Lush from The Late Late Breakfast Show?
Michael Lush was a young man from South Hampton who was 24 years old. He is said to have been a self-employed hod-porter, meaning someone who works on a building and moves bricks in a box with no side walls.
Everything was going well until one day he was asked to be a stuntman on the Late Late Breakfast Show, which is known for doing stunts that can be dangerous or even kill people. His girlfriend suggested him for the whirl wheel, and on November 8, 1986, he was called live on the show and asked to do a task called “Hang ’em High.”
Lush said everyone thought he was crazy for agreeing to do such a crazy stunt, but he was really excited to try it. He only needed one bottle, and he was ready to do anything that got in his way.
The saddest part was when he made a joke about how his girlfriend Allison had talked about getting married before the day of the stunt. Also, his decision hurt his mother. She couldn’t understand why he was so interested in the show. He told her he wanted to be known. Unfortunately, he was known for his connection to the BBC show and the bad thing that killed him.
The live show was supposed to start on November 15, but the training had to take place two days before the accident.
What was Michael Lush’s destiny? There was an accident and a death on the Late Late Breakfast Show
On November 13th, Lush was really looking forward to practicing the stunt he would be doing live on national television. He joined the team and once he knew how to do it, he did it.
A 120-foot crane was used for the “Hang ’em High” stunt, which involved bungee jumping out of an exploding box. During the jump, the snap hook holding his bungee cord to the crane’s eyebolt broke off.
After Edmonds left the show, saying he “didn’t have the heart to go on,” it was canceled on November 15, 1986, and he died instantly after hitting something and seriously injuring himself. One of our dinosaurs went missing was shown in place of the show that was scheduled to take place that evening.
Although the inquiry found that the BBC had made mistakes, the jury was told of some of those mistakes.
Graham Games, of the Health and Safety Executive, said the clip could have been opened by the weight of a bag of sugar. He also showed that the clip came off 14 times out of 20.
David Kirke, a bungee expert at Dangerous Sports Club, said they used three ropes instead of just one and shackles instead of snap hooks in a similar operation. Andrew Smith, who was in charge of security, was not there and there was no stuntman supervision or show.
In the end, it turned out that Lush had jumped with wet boots, which didn’t cause the accident but was still a safety issue.
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It was the first time Edmonds had performed a variety show on Saturday nights. Earlier this year, he left his children’s show, Multi-Colored Swap Shop. Gary Kemp wrote the title track, which was sung by the Spandau Ballet. Michael Hurll was responsible for manufacture and operation. Initially, the show struggled to attract viewers and didn’t look like it would last through the first season. After the third show, original co-host Leni Harper was fired, and the show went through a series of changes to improve its ratings. Ultimately, some of the biggest names in music as special guests helped spread the show and attract more viewers.
The Swedish band ABBA had two performances in the first season. It was her last appearance on television.
The show has been dubbed “Mag Prog” for people who wake up late on Saturdays. It contained comedy, pop music and a few surprises. “The Hit Squad,” a hidden camera segment, pop music performances, and “The Golden Egg Awards,” which featured various outtakes, were regular features of the show. During the “Give It a Whirl” segment, a member of the public called and spun the “Whirly Wheel” to choose a stunt. The game show “Wheel of Fortune” worked in a similar way. After practicing the stunt for a week, they would do it live at the next show.
Helen Fielding, who later wrote the Bridget Jones books, worked as a researcher on the program for a time.
Paul McCartney
The video for “Say Say Say”, a song by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, has been shown on British television for the second time. The first time was on Channel 4’s The Tube the day before. When the song first appeared on the UK Singles Chart, the $500,000 video wasn’t ready. By the time the song was finished, it had hit the charts. McCartney flew to London to air the video on the BBC’s most popular music show, Top of the Pops. However, the show had a strict rule that no single that had charted could be shown, so they wouldn’t let him. A heated argument ensued, with BBC staffers saying McCartney threatened to take all of his music off the air.
As a compromise, the BBC offered to show the video two days later on the Late Late Breakfast Show, which had weekly live music performances but rarely showed video. The BBC said they would play it on the show, but only if McCartney showed up live and did an interview. He reluctantly agreed, and he and his wife Linda performed live on the show on October 29, 1983. This was his first live appearance on British television since 1973.
The interview was awkward, and Paul and Linda McCartney didn’t bother to answer Edmond’s questions. After a backstage fight, the entire show revolved around the “medicine man” theme of the video. Olivia Newton-John, who was set to guest-star this week, was forced to do a skit against her will to promote the video, and she was upset that her “leading” role on the show had been changed to a lesser guest role was to make room for the video and McCartney.
After the video was shown on the show, the song re-entered the charts the next week. It was played at Top of the Pops on November 4, 1983.
accidents
People worried that the show’s stunts were too dangerous. In fact, the Health and Safety Executive twice threatened to sue the BBC to stop planned stunts like rescuing a member of the public from an exploding smokestack by helicopter. The stunts were described by the BBC as “some of the most daring things to ever be seen on British television”. [9] On September 10, 1983, stunt driver Richard Smith fractured his pelvis and injured his head, neck and back when he fell at 140 mph while attempting to jump more than 230 feet in a car during one of these live stunts . [10] Also in 1983, Barbara Sleeman broke her shoulder when she was hit by a cannonball. She later said: “The BBC doesn’t give a damn. They just want people to watch.”
Michael Lush’s death and the end of the band
Michael Lush, a volunteer, died on November 13, 1986 during his first rehearsal for another live stunt. “Hang ’em High” was the name of the stunt, which involved bungee jumping from an exploding box suspended from a 120-foot crane. During the jump, the snap hook holding his bungee cord to the crane’s eyebolt came loose. He died instantly from his multiple injuries, and the show closed on November 15, 1986, after Edmonds quit, saying he “didn’t have the heart to go on”. Instead of the episode that was scheduled to air that night, the film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing was shown.
Although the verdict was ‘mishap’, the jury was told the BBC had made a number of mistakes. Graham Games of the Health and Safety Executive said a bag of sugar could have opened the clip and he showed the clip had come loose 14 times out of 20. David Kirke, a bungee expert from Dangerous Sports Club, said he did a similar stunt using three ropes instead of the BBC’s single rope and shackles instead of snap hooks. Andrew Smith, the security officer, was not there and a trained stuntman had not been there to see or show anything. Once Lush was in the air, he couldn’t touch the ground and there was no one with him in case he changed his mind. The jury heard he hesitated for nearly two minutes before finally being told to jump. Also, the BBC production team insisted on using a bungee cord, despite being told not to. Also, there was no airbag or safety net to cushion a dangerous fall, and Lush had downed two pints of beer with lunch before the rehearsal. Eventually, Lush was found to have wet boots on before jumping. This did not cause the accident, but was still a safety hazard.
Around £120,000 was given to Lush’s family free of charge by the BBC. Although the coroner said safety officers should be present at future stunts like this one, BBC managing director Bill Cotton said there would be no more shows that put people at risk. [16] Noel Edmonds said after the inquiry: “If I were going to continue working at the BBC, I want to be sure I could trust any production team that’s given me.” Two years later he was back with The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow on Saturday nights BBC.
The Health and Safety Executive then took action against the BBC for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Maurice Pallister, who represented the HSE in court, said no professional would have practiced the stunt without an airbag if he fell. He also said “stunt experts” told him even professional rehearsals should have lasted weeks, not days. He exonerated the visual effects designer from the show, saying she “took a high standard of security and doubled it down to make sure it’s twice as secure.” But he said the show’s producer and safety officer only discussed the stunt on the phone, and he said again that the safety officer wasn’t at the rehearsal. Paul Matthews, the escapologist hired to train Lush, had only done magic tricks and never done the stunt needed for the show. The BBC was fined £2,000, which was the most that could be done plus costs. The judges decided not to refer the case to the Crown Court, which could have had a sentence as high as they wanted.