Michael Parkinson was mobbed in Fife and beloved in Dundee

Michael Parkinson signs autographs when he opens Kirkcaldy's Co-op in June 1978. Image: DC Thomson.

During the 1970s, chat show king Michael Parkinson interviewed colossus names including Orson Welles, Beatles icon John Lennon, John Wayne, Billy Connolly and Muhammad Ali.

Parkinson — who has died aged 88 — also found time in June 1978 to open the £1m Central and East Fife Co-op store where he was described as “every inch the charmer”.

Parky stopped traffic in Kirkcaldy High Street when he shrugged off the chill to cut the ribbon before spending time signing autographs and giving “kisses to all and sundry”.

The four-storey Co-op opened in 1907 and sold everything from bread and groceries to clothes and household fittings, stationery, haberdashery, electrical goods and jewellery.

Work started on a major refurbishment and extension which was completed in 1960 before the department store was gutted following a lunchtime blaze in April 1975.

It was indeed the end of an era.

Parkinson started the new era

The building was replaced by a two-storey 1970s modernist block in 1977 and Parky was the man they called to perform the official opening ceremony on June 15 1978.

Little wonder.

The broadcaster was one of British television’s most famous faces through his eponymous chat show, Parkinson, which had been running on the BBC since 1971.

Traffic was stopped as Parkinson's Kirkcaldy fans took their places to greet their hero. Image: DC Thomson. — Traffic was stopped as Parkinson’s Kirkcaldy fans took their places to greet their hero. Image: DC Thomson.

The Courier reported: “Television personality Michael Parkinson literally stopped the traffic when he opened the Central and East Fife Co-op’s new store in Kirkcaldy High Street yesterday.

“‘Parky’, tanned and every inch the charmer, added sparkle to a grey day when he plunged among the ladies surrounding the store entrance, freely giving his signature and kisses to all and sundry.

“He arrived at 11am, accompanied by Mr Bob Young, the society’s managing secretary.

“Parky chatted, kissed and scribbled for fully quarter of an hour outside the store before cutting a blue ribbon across the main entrance.

TV presenter Michael Parkinson was mobbed his his fans when he arrived in Kirkcaldy. Image: DC Thomson.

“He admitted to the large crowd that he was ‘frozen’ and was obviously glad to get inside the two-storey building after the briefest of speeches.

“He was later entertained to lunch by the society’s directors and their guests, including MP Harry Gourlay and Kirkcaldy District Council convener Councillor Bob King.

“The new store replaces the building burned down just over two years ago.

“It has taken two years to build and cost around £1 million.”

Michael Parkinson spoke in Dundee in 2019

His Saturday night BBC TV programme initially ran for 11 years and attracted massive ratings before being revived in 1998 and later moving to ITV until its end in 2007.

The chat show king’s nemesis was entertainer Rod Hull, whose glove puppet Emu attacked him during a 1976 interview.

Footage of Parky almost being toppled from his chair remains the most repeated clip from his glorious early reign.

He returned to Courier country in November 2019 when he brought his national tour, An Evening With Sir Michael Parkinson, to the Whitehall Theatre in Dundee.

The evening, organised by Events 105, saw Parky in conversation with son Mike and he was on top form with stories from his broadcasting career and his celebrity encounters.

He recalled the biggest problem when he started in 1971 was getting the big stars to come on the show because movie actors looked down on television at that time.

Michael Parkinson was overwhelmed by his Dundee reception at the Whitehall. Image: Derek Gerrard/Events 105.

Parky said he managed to convince the great Orson Welles to come on the show.

The rest was history.

He also presented highlights from his incredible archive during the enthralling two-hour show including clips of some of those most famous interviews over the years.

There were no airs or graces despite his star status and Parky charmed everyone backstage in Dundee and had the audience in the palm of his hand throughout.

Michael Parkinson’s son sent a message to the Dundee fans after the show. Image: Stephen Stewart.

Stephen Stewart from Events 105 told me: “He was a genuinely lovely man and nothing was too much trouble when we worked with him at the Whitehall Theatre.

“The crowd loved him – and he loved them.

“When he came off the stage at the end of the show he walked towards me genuinely emotional at the reception he had just received.

“I put my hand on his shoulder as I could see he was quite moved.

“He told me he had just played Sydney Opera House but this was even better.”

That Dundee crowd was certainly a fine judge of character.

Farewell, sir.