THE DEADLY ERNEST HORROR SHOW

JACK HARDY - "DEADLY ERNEST"
? - "SCARLETT AORTA"
JILLY JOHNSON - "SCARLETT AORTA"

"The Deadly Ernest Horror Show" screened on Sky Channel from around 1985 to 1991. It was hosted by Jack Hardy as "Deadly Ernest", who was assisted by "Scarlett Aorta". The original actress who played "Scarlett Aorta" is not known; but in 1989, Jilly Johnson joined the show as the new "Scarlett Aorta"; giving the role a touch of elegance. It has been suggested that Jim Bywater had also played "Deadly Ernest", but there is no evidence to support this. A complete list of episodes are very difficult to find. Arfon Jones has been able to locate the below episodes. The show aired on Friday nights, mostly around 11:30pm. EPISODES 1989 (movies aired) 15 September 11:30pm Vampire (1979) 22 September 11:30pm Killer Bees (1974) 29 September 11:30pm Island of Sister Theresa (1979) 06 October 11:30pm Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) 17 November 1989 11:30pm Shadow of the Cat (1961) 24 November 1989 11:30pm The Coming (1981) 08 December 1989 11:30pm Mad Dog (1976) EPISODES 1990 (movies aired) 12 January 11:30pm Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984) 19 January 11:30pm Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) 02 February 11:30pm Breaker Breaker (1977) 09 February 11:30pm Lies (1985) 16 February 11:30pm Crazy Mama (1975) 02 March 11:30pm Dark Star (1974) 09 March 11:30pm Dick Barton- Special Agent (1948) 06 April 11:45pm Death in Space (1974) 18 May 11:30pm The Wide World of Mystery 'Murder Impossible' (1974) 25 May 11:30pm The Outer Space Connection (1975) 01 June 11:30pm Lured (1947) 15 June 11:30pm Island of Sister Theresa (1979) 29v June 11:30pm Sophisticated Gent (1981) 06 July 11:30pm Vogues of 1938 (1937) 20 July 11:30pm Bobbikins (1959) 27 July 11:30pm You Only Live Once (1937) 03 August 11:30pm The Rollicking Adventures of Eliza Fraser (1976) 10 August 11:30pm Sleeping Dogs (1977) 17 August 11:30pm The Bunker (1981) 24 August 11:30pm Manbeast! Myth or Monster? (1978) 31 August 11:30pm Atragon (1963) 07 September 11:00pm Attack of the Puppet People (1958) 21 September 11:00pm Deranged (1974) 15 October 11:00 Dr Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine (1965) 26 October 11:00pm The Evictors (1979) 09 November 11:00pm Squirm (1976) EPISODES 1991 (movies aired) 01 March 11:00pm Zontar The Thing From Venus (1966) 08 March 11:00pm Vampire (1979) 15 March 11:00pm Master of the World (1961) 22 March 11:00pm Dark Star (1974) 29 March 11:00pm Fer-de-Lance (1974) 04 April 11:00pm Killer Bees (1974) 12 April 11:00pm Trilogy of Terror (1975) 19 April 11:00pm Night Drive (1977) An email from contributor David Peyton has supplied more details on episodes. Go to the below link for David's episode list: "David Peyton's Episode List" Portrait of "Deadly Ernest & Scarlett Aorta" by Arfon Jones. "Deadly Ernest & Scarlett Aorta" - biography (taken from Arfon Jones web page)" Deadly Ernest was a vampire that introduced the Friday night horror movie and Jack Hardy is credited for playing Earnest however. Jack Hardy was in fact one, with Jim Bywater - the other; actor of stage, screen and television roles perhaps most notably playing Wilf Starkey in Coronation Street. There is despairingly little about him or the show online, and not even Sky 1, the very channel that aired the series could help me in my research, a great shame because Ernest was one of Sky's regular faces back in the day. What information I have been able to "dig up" on Ernest/ Jack Hardy/ Jim Bywater has been meagre, but in an interview for the 20th - 26th October 1990 edition of TV Guide apart from learning that he liked Thunder and lightning, that he rode a motorbike, stroked a lion and he had once ridden on a dolphin. He was also a horror movie fan, "I really like a good horror, my favourite is the one where the chap's head explodes ("Scanners") and I like the Omen films." But confessed to not watching all the movies that featured on his show, "Some of those Japanese films like Godzilla are a bit silly, and then there are things like "Plan Nine from Outer Space" where you've got men wandering round in bits of carpet. When asked about fear he surmised, "I think fear is all in the imagination and that's what film makers rely on the audience imagining the worst." When Rupert Murdoch expanded Sky's service and formed the Sky Television Network in February 1989 Ernest's show was 're-vamped' in September of that year with a new wardrobe and sidekick, Scarlett Aorta, played by model and former Page 3 girl Jilly Johnson. Also a self confessed horror fan, listing "American Werewolf in London" as her favourite, "The music is fantastic, the special effects are great and the leading man is very hunky, even if he needs to shave from time to time, when there's a full moon!" she threw herself into the role. I was fortunate to be able to come in contact with Jilly who informed me that she loved playing Scarlett and that the scripts on the show were brilliant and that the set writer and director were always happy for them to improvise. As for the movies that featured in the early days YouTube gives us some idea, "The Late Nancy Irving" and "Sweet Scent of Death" are mentioned suggesting that they aired the feature length episodes of "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense" from 1984. Vintage issues of TV Guide once again came to my aid due to the main British listing magazines not publishing cable and satellite listings until 1991. Here is an ongoing list of episodes that I hope to keep open and update accordingly. His show featured the Hammer library of films as well as other American color horror classics.

Clips from "The Deadly Ernest Horror Show":

The Deadly Ernest Horror Show - hosted by Deadly Ernest and Scarlett Aorta from The Professor on Vimeo.