Sir Michael, or Parky as he is more familiarly known, is a much-loved broadcaster, best known for presenting his long-running television talk show, Parkinson. (1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007). During that time he interviewed over 2000 of the most important cultural figures of the 20th and 21st centuries.

After years of seeing the man through a television screen the packed Worthing audience had the chance to see this legend face to face. He was in conversation with son, Michael Jnr, and over the course of a couple of hours added anecdotes to the clips of interviews that he carried out. Parkinson spoke briefly of his childhood, his dislike of school and the desire to become a journalist – a course that his parents actively encouraged. They had no wish to see him follow the rest of his mining family down the pits.

Contacts and good luck enabled him to work at Granada TV in their early days from where his interview career took root. Amongst the many film clips shown were those where he flirted outrageously with glamorous female stars including his passion, Lauren Bacall; crossed swords with John Wayne; was reduced to hysteria by the dangerous edginess of Billy Connolly and Joan Rivers and castigated by Dame Edna for his habit of constant fiddling with his face.

There were moments of sadness when he recalled the four interviews with Muhammed Ali, with the clips showing the deterioration of the great man and also that of George Best. If the evening disappointed at all it was due to the uneven balance between film clips and anecdotes. One longed to hear more stories like the one of sending his parents abroad, for their first time - hilarious. And sadly there was no mention of cricket, his other great passion.