A Girl to Watch Music By - Ray Columbus and Max Cryer

Television (Excerpts) – 1969

Although made to showcase female singers, late 60s series A Girl to Watch Music By is possibly best remembered for the moment Ray Columbus became a puppet. In this episode host Columbus played ventriloquist's dummy, sitting on Max Cryer's knee. Wrote Cryer later in his book Town Cryer: "it looked very funny and we knew it and set to work on the choreography immediately." The song is called 'Where Would You Be Without Me'. The ventriloquist idea was the brainchild of broadcaster and former dancer Cherry Raymond.

Ray is an excellent dancer and I'm terrible, so once again we called on our friend Cherry Raymond to help out. It was Cherry who suggested that Ray try sitting on my knee like a ventriloquist's dummy.
– Max Cryer, in his 1978 book Town Cryer