Jim Bowen: Standup comedian and presenter of 1980s TV show Bullseye

Delivered in his Lancashire accent, “Super, smashing, great” was the catchphrase that defined primetime TV in the 1980s – on an early Sunday evening at any rate.

Along with “You can’t beat a bit of Bully” and “Look at what you could have won”, it was one of old-school standup comedian’s Jim Bowen’s ways of encouraging the contestants on ITV’s Bullseye, the game show that made him a household name.

His eyes slightly enlarged by his glasses, Bowen’s comically dippy presenting style broke from the tradition of the slick game show host who never puts a foot wrong, endearing him to millions of fans.

Born Peter Williams in Heswall, Cheshire, Bowen was adopted by Joe and Annie Whittaker of Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire, who named him James. Having attended Accrington Grammar School, where he attained just one O level, Bowen became a dustman. However, while doing his national service, he enrolled in a physical training course that led to him gaining a place at Chester Diocesan Training College, where he studied to teach PE.

A keen member of local am-dram groups, Bowen honed his talent for comedy in various working men’s clubs until, inspired by Ken Dodd, he decided to try to make a living from standup. He said: “I’d always been a fan of comedy but it was watching Ken Dodd have two houses of 3,500 people eating out of his hand on a single night in Blackpool that made my mind up. I wanted some of that.”

By now Bowen was deputy headmaster of Caton Primary School near Lancaster but he had grown thoroughly disillusioned with teaching. “I was a good teacher, very dedicated, but I left instead of nailing the little ones to the desks,” he said.

It was a gamble that paid off. Soon afterwards, Bowen made his first television appearance on The Comedians. His TV debut was followed by small roles in shows such as Last of The Summer Wine and he became a regular on Thames Television’s children’s comedy sketch show You Must Be Joking.

But it was in 1981 that Bowen truly became a household name as the host of Bullseye, a darts-based quiz show in which three pairs of contestants – comprising a “knower”, who answered general knowledge questions, and a “thrower”, who threw darts – competed for prizes ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. From ballpoint pens to speedboats.

Speaking of the early episodes of the show, Bowen said: “I was so poor at the game show game. I’d say, ‘What do you do for a living?’ They’d reply: ‘I’ve been unemployed for two years.’ And I’d say: ‘Smashing!’ It was just a word to give me a chance to think.”

But while “Super, smashing, great” is the catchphrase everyone remembers, Bowen insisted he never actually said the three words together. Bullseye did however spawn a whole host of catchphrases to which Bowen did lay claim. He always asked losing contestants to “look at what you could have won” before offering them their “BFH” (bus fare home).

At the height of its popularity, Bullseye drew 19 million viewers but the show was not without its mishaps. There is a YouTube clip recalling an incident in which a wheelchair-user contestant was on course for winning. The show’s producer panicked because the grand prize was a three-piece suite. The second prize was a holiday – but sadly it was a skiing holiday. “It was unbelievable,” said Bowen.

On a more serious note, a 1989 episode turned up as evidence in a 2011 cold case murder trial. The accused had been a contestant on the show shortly before the crime took place, and the episode was used as evidence that his appearance at the time matched the description of the culprit given to police. John Cooper was found guilty of two double murders as a result.

Bowen presented Bullseye for the whole of its initial run, which ended in 1995. Afterwards he went on to present a show on BBC Radio Lancashire but his tenure was cut short in 2002 when he referred to one of his guests as a “nig-nog”.

“I almost immediately apologised for it as it was, to say the least, not clever,” Bowen said. “No racial connotation was ever intended and, having said all that, I should have been sharp enough to correct the error.”

He added: “Sadly, when a 65-year-old is employed he brings with him a certain amount of baggage from his era and sometimes this doesn’t sit well in 2002.”

Bowen resigned. In 2003 he released a DVD of a standup show You Can’t Tell These Anymore which rehashed a number of his old racist jokes, one of which was at the expense of fellow comedian Charlie Williams, who was mixed race and died in 2006. “The only Yorkshireman never to go down a pit – never would have found him would we?” Bowen told the Thwaites Empire in Blackburn. He did not return to radio for seven years.

Bowen is survived by his wife Phyllis whom he married in 1959 and their children Susan and Peter. In later life, Bowen expressed regret at not having told his children he was proud of them as they were growing up. An aversion to overt emotion was a trait he’d picked up from adoptive father Joe Whittaker.

“My dad had been in the First World War and had seen all the carnage in Belgium. He kept himself to himself and did not like to talk about his experiences. He never showed much emotion – but my mum was the opposite. They were excellent parents.”

Bowen never traced his birth family. In 2011, Bowen suffered two mild strokes. He made a good recovery and in 2012 he was well enough to return to the stage with his show, You Can’t Beat a Bit of Bully, but he suffered a third stroke in 2014, which forced him to retire for good. However, even in retirement he was voted Britain’s Favourite TV Quiz Show Host, topping a 2016 poll with more than a quarter of the total vote.

Around the same time, Bowen said of the show that made his name, “I always said the game was the star. It was downmarket, but accessible. Joe Public could identify with my fallibilities. Game shows today are too high tech with a £1m prize. The nice thing about us was they were excited if they won a toaster. But that was 31 years ago when not every household had a toaster. People lose sight of that.”

Jim Bown, standup comedian and ‘Bullseye’ host, born 20 August 1937, died 14 March 2018