Norman Beaton in London's West End. In 1970 he played the role of Ariel in Shakespeare's "The Tempest", which he described in his autobiography as "the most important role of my acting career", and also played a small role in the Frankie Howerd comedy film "Up the Chastity Belt" the following year. In 1975, he helped to establish the Black Theatre of Brixton. In 1975 Beaton played Nanki-Poo in "The Black Mikado", a modern version of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado". In 1976, Beaton broke into television in the series "The Fosters", which also featured a young Lenny Henry, and the following
All Gas and Gaiters BBC in this era. Two of the colour episodes from series 5 are preserved as black and white 16mm film recordings only (three earlier episodes were always black and white). Only six colour episodes are preserved in their original colour videotape format. "Christmas Night with the Stars" was a programme screened annually on Christmas night, when the top stars of the BBC appeared in short versions of their programmes, typically five to ten minutes long. "All Gas and Gaiters" appeared once alongside its sitcom spin-off "Oh, Brother!" in 1968. This telerecording no longer exists in the BBC's film and videotape