A late night TV show set in a Liverpool nightclub caused a stink in the city soon after it aired.
Fly-on-the-wall documentary, Nightclub: Tales From The Grafton, went out on BBC Two in May 1999. The six-part documentary was billed as a 'warts-and-all' exposé of life at the legendary Grafton Rooms nightclub on West Derby Road.
Opened in 1924, The Grafton was once a thriving dance hall next to what is now known as the Liverpool Olympia. It later became infamous for its 'grab a granny' Thursday nights which were launched in the 1970s.
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The nightclub closed its doors for the final time in 2008. However, it was in the clubs twilight years in the late '90s that it showed it had the ability to rewrite its own legend.
Made by former Liverpool-based company Planet Wild and narrated by Cathy Tyson, the six-part fly-on-the-wall series came under a volley of criticism, especially from the Liverpool Echo. With the boom of satellite channels in the nineties and noughties, it brought with a flock of documentaries exposing the less-than-savoury aspects of British life, focussing on the themes like Britain's toughest pubs and towns.
Perhaps looking to gain some of that audience, the TV listings for Nightclub gave a taste of what the show was about. For example, one listing in the Sunday Tribune said: "A new documentary series looking at the lives of the patrons of the Grafton Rooms, a Liverpool nightclub (let's just say it's not exactly Cream).
"Tonight's episode follows the adventures of the self-styled 'stallions', three lads who have just left home and moved into a communal flat. They've already designed their 'copping off' chart and are planning their seductive moves. But it'll all end in tears..."
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Listings for other episodes in the series included: "Club manager Allan plans to generate extra revenue by booking an all male exotic dance troupe." And: "Grafton regular Lorna is convinced a 'boob job' will help her snare a man, but will it work?" I think you get the drift.
Soon after the first episode aired in the graveyard slot on BBC Two, then Liverpool City Council leader Mike Storey expressed his displeasure. Quoted in the ECHO on May 17, 1999, the council leader said: "We are like a pot of honey for the television documentary makers.
"They come here in their droves and try to portray a life in Merseyside which is not as we know it. They dip to the extremes and dress it up but people who live here know it is just not true. The constant drip, drip, drip of negatives images is starting to have an effect and that makes me angry."
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The ECHO's own Paddy Shennan didn't pull his punches either. Reviewing the show for the ECHO on May 22, 1999, the journalist said: "The first episode was stupendously bad, stupendously embarrassing. Stupendously pointless."
He continued: "Depressing and dispiriting, it set the scene for future episodes. It was like watching dull and dreary home movies.
"Dull and dreary because we don't know the people who were in them. The Grafton was the thing they had in common - the loyalty they all have to the grab-a-great-granny venue was something to behold - and the best scenes were those set in the club featuring, among others, cheery manager Allan Cannon and 'Disco Vicar' Rock Steady Eddie: The Minister of Sound."
Before adding: "But, too often, it appeared we were being invited to laugh-along at the working - or unemployed - class and their often sad and, but for the Grafton, empty lives."
Another ECHO TV reviewer, Mark Davies, said: "Just what is the point of Nightclub? Apart, that is, from the camera becoming a tawdry peeping Tom on the lives of ordinary people?" Adding: "Nightclub is just sheer voyeurism dressed up as an insight into The Grafton."
The review ended with Davies writing: "The Grafton could be anywhere in Britain, but because it is in Liverpool Nightclub will inevitably reinforce misguided impressions of the area by people who live elsewhere. Fortunately, thanks to the language and some of the behaviour, the programme is tucked away close to midnight in the schedules. Just where it should be."
Not a great first impression then. However, the series director, Sol Papadopoulos, was in no mood to back down. He told the ECHO "He was prepared for the usual outcry form 'blinkered' members of the public who view any film here as an intrusion."
However, in 2019, the ECHO spoke to one of the show's regulars, Paul Buckley. He was one of the trio of flatmates Ernie Paradisio and Tommy (it’s been many years since he saw either of them, and he can’t remember Tommy’s surname) who designed the 'copping off' chart.
He told the ECHO: "I got a good and bad response – there was one particular part of that first episode when I was shown sniffing poppers in the back of a taxi. I remember it being discussed on Pete Price’s radio phone-in."
Paul added: "People would stop me in the street and give me stick. I tried to explain that first episode was about young lads going out and enjoying themselves, and not harming anyone. My mum watched it for the first time in ages the other night and said 'This is mild compared to what’s on TV today'."
The show's director, Sol Papadopoulos, defending the series, said: "It felt like it was breaking new ground. For three months, we spent every Friday and Saturday at the Grafton – being mentally and psychologically assaulted!
“We went looking for our characters and found people like Paul. They were all larger than life – we did a lot of research and found people from different age groups with different stories to tell.
Does The Grafton awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
"Of course, there was an outcry, with some people asking 'Why are they showing us up?' But these were genuine characters."
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