Jeanne's daughter Katie performs

Jeanne Little's young daughter Katie features in this clip telling a joke and singing the Jamaican traditional song 'Mama Says No Play'.

Little was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with Katie when she first appeared on The Mike Walsh Show on 11 September 1974 and Jeanne often talked about her, so the audience knew her well.

Katie's heartwarming rendition – complete with dance moves – is obviously the product of some rehearsal. The performance is made all the sweeter by Jeanne's obvious love for her daughter – she is bursting with pride. Playing for comedy as ever, Mike Walsh is the grinch who sends the show to a commercial break before Katie is finished.

Having young children on live television is always going to be risky but Mike and Jeanne manage not to make the experience intimidating for Katie. The studio crew no doubt conspired to be as unobtrusive as possible and effectively create a level of intimacy between the trio.

As an adult Katie has written a book about growing up with her mother called Catch a Falling Star (2018). After Jeanne's Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in 2009 Katie created the Jeanne Little Alzheimer's Research Fund.

Excerpt taken from The Mike Walsh Show: Episode 9143 which was first broadcast on 24 August 1979.

Notes by Beth Taylor