00:00Today, I'm going down memory lane to see the master of chutzpah.
00:06You know, chutzpah, the kind of guy who's confident, can be a bit devious perhaps, but sometimes can be quite
00:11good.
00:12Who am I talking about? I'm talking about, obviously, the brilliant Phil Silvers.
00:17I'm here in Coventry at the Phil Silvers Museum, and with me is the curator, Steve Everett.
00:22Hello, Andrew.
00:23Hello, Steve. We're in Coventry, Phil Silvers. Why in Coventry?
00:28Because he tends to be forgotten in his home country, we've been here, we've been championing Phil Silvers for the
00:35last 40-odd years.
00:37We run his appreciation society. That started in 1985 with his blessing, and we launched the museum 11 years ago.
00:45He always said that when he came to Britain, this is back in the 60s, everything was clean, green and
00:53perfectly manicured.
00:55And he says, and the people are, in one word, civilised.
00:59So he was, he always was very, very fond of his British fans.
01:06So, so that's why it's here.
01:08Now, I've got to quick look around the museum, and it's absolutely amazing.
01:12You have original items of Phil Silvers.
01:16Where do these come from?
01:17We are so lucky that we've had this 40-year relationship with his five daughters, and his eldest daughter, Tracy,
01:25and Iren, have donated lots of pieces.
01:28So, yeah, all the clothing items, you know, they're all belong to Phil.
01:33We've got a store credit card.
01:35We've got, yeah, just, just, I mean, it's a small museum, but we've got absolutely rammed full of so much
01:42Silvers memorabilia that, yeah, you don't know where to start sometime.
01:45So what got you personally interested in Phil Silvers?
01:49Me personally, I was, early 80s, three channels on TV.
01:55I was watching, I think it was the old Outer Limits sci-fi series on BBC Two.
02:01That finished, and I flicked over to BBC One, and Bilker was always on as the last programme before Closedown.
02:09And I remember the first episode.
02:11It was one of Phil's favourites.
02:12It's called The Empty Store.
02:13And I, about a third away into it, and I was just transfixed.
02:18I was like, I was just watching this powerhouse performer.
02:21That's absolutely fascinating, though.
02:23Now, of all the items, and there are so many, it's absolutely fantastic.
02:26What is your favourite item?
02:28Do you have one?
02:29I think my favourite one at the moment is our newest acquisition, which would be the spitting image head of
02:35Sergeant Bilko.
02:36Oh, how wonderful.
02:37Do you get many visitors?
02:38Is this a very popular attraction?
02:40We do, we've, because it was the 70th anniversary of the show last year, 70 years old, and it hasn't
02:45dated in a day.
02:46Visitor numbers increased last year, so we've been steady with numbers, but since we've moved to the new location, yeah,
02:52we're getting a lot, a lot of visitors.
02:54So, thank you, Steve.
02:55Pleasure.
02:56So, you'll have to come down and visit the great museum.
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