Juke Box Jury

The panel - Chris Denning, Penny Valentine, Mel Torme, Janette Scott - tell host David Jacobs if the latest records are a 'hit' or a 'miss' in July 1967.

Juke Box Jury was chaired by David Jacobs. Each week he played a selection of 7" singles on a large juke box to a panel of four celebrities. As the music played the camera moved over the faces of the panellists and the audience so the viewer could gauge their reaction. The panellists then gave their opinion of the discs and voted them a hit or a miss. If there was a tie a jury of teenagers drawn from the audience would have the deciding vote. Each week a mystery performer was revealed after the panel had voted on his or her disc, to the joy or embarrassment of the panel.

Celebrity jury members including the Beatles and all five Rolling Stones helped the programme achieve Saturday night audiences over 12 million. People of all ages watched, the Radio Times described them as "the fans and the frankly fascinated". As it exposed this varied audience to pop music so Juke Box Jury made it an acceptable part of the light entertainment mainstream.

The original series ended in 1967, but the format was revived in 1979 with Noel Edmonds in charge, and again in 1989, with Jools Holland.