Good heavens! Mick McManus is still alive!

This will mean nothing to anyone under about 45. But I was watching "I love television" or some such ITV confection last night and who should walk on but Mick McManus!

My wife and I said in unison: "I thought he was dead!"

But there he was, as alive as a live thing, as Baldrick would say.

I've just looked him up. He is 79 years old! He has outlived both Jackie Pallo and Giant Haystacks.

Note to anyone under 45: ITV used to run live wrestling (usually from Doncaster?) at 4pm on a Saturday. It was hugely popular. We had to watch it with my maternal grandparents in case one of them had a seizure during it, because they got excited about it. Mick McManus was the "Bête noire" of these largely staged pugilistic performances.