Before camera phones, reality TV and club photographers we see today - The Hitman and Her was a window into the world of late night clubbing.
An anomaly on our screens, in the late eighties and early nineties, The Hitman and Her aired on ITV's Night Network and visited various nightclubs across the North and beyond. Every week, viewers at home watched clubbers dancing to popular hits in the charts, playing party games and special guests give live performances.
Hosted by Michaela Strachan, "Her," and "Hitman" Pete Waterman, the dance music show was often recorded Saturday nights, edited and then would air hours late on Sunday morning. On screen, you could see everything from friends chatting to clubbers flirting, dancing and more.
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Each week, clubbers would arrive at the featured club hoping to appear on television and there would be excitement through a town or city if the hit show was on its way to film there. The Hitman and Her also featured regular dancers, including stars such as Take That's Jason Orange, as well as Jimmy Constable and Spike Dawbarn, who would go on to be members of the boy band 911.
The first ever Hitman and Her show came from Mr Smiths in Warrington in 1988 and the final show, which aired in 1992, was filmed from The Discothèque Royale in Manchester. But in its time, the show also visited the likes of Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham, Coventry, Newcastle and, of course, Hull.
Whilst on air, The Hitman and Her visited Lexington Avenue - or LA's, as it was better known - on two occasions in 1992. Once famed for club nights like Busstop and Skooldaze, LA's, in Ferensway, was Hull's number one nightspot.
In April 1992, the Hull Daily Mail reported how "hundreds of TV stars from Hull were made overnight when the cult The Hitman and Her programme visited the city." At the time, general manager Sandra Ray said: "It is absolutely mad here.
"It is the first time the show has come from Hull and we have had a tremendous response." Among the hundreds of customers filmed by the roving cameras was 18-year-old Caroline Hawkins from Brough.
She said: "It was brilliant. I go every week, but it was much busier than usual. I was queuing from 7.45pm and the queue was miles long.
"I was just dancing on the main dance floor when I was dragged on to the stage, then the cameras came on me and Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan came on. I will make sure I'm back home to watch it when the programme is broadcast."
Today, there are some classic moments of different episodes of the show on YouTube that are a window into the past. A rediscovered episode show what happened when The Hitman and Her came to Hull.
We see a packed house fist pumping and with some clubbers on other people's backs and shoulders dancing as the excitement builds. Michaela and Pete come on screen and welcome viewers to LA's, as the show visits Hull for the first time.
Pete said: "We've got live music tonight, we've got three live acts - Enrage, we've got Music Factory and Terrorize. Meanwhile, we're dancing, let's get our music, here's Francesco Zappala, No Way Out, this is Hull."
The camera then moves towards the crowd, capturing clubbers dancing and cheering as the night gets underway. Text across the screen for viewers at home reads: "Welcome back to another fantastic episode in the life of clubbers all around Britain."
It dubiously adds: "Tonight we're in Hull, at Lexington Avenue....aptly named because it's situated on Lexington Avenue .... weird city!!!!" Throughout the night, cameras from above scan the crowds whilst operators are on the dancefloor in the middle of the action to capture close-ups of the clubbers.
Songs featured that night included Praga Khan - Injected With A Poison, Opus III - Fine Day, Code Red - Dreamer Dream, Havoc - The Rising Sun and CeCe Peniston - Finally.
Away from the dancing, Michaela and three ladies watch cameras capture random men in the audience from a small television, hoping to find someone they're attracted to but instead declaring some dancers as "not their type." Later on, we see Michaela and Pete mingling within the crowd and enjoying the music before that week's instalment of Pass The Mic.
Contestants Charlotte, Tracy and Richard are up and tasked with singing CeCe Peniston's We Got A Love Thang with just the backing track and printed out lyrics to support them. Richard goes for it, with Pete describing him as "Hull's answer to Elvis Presley," but it is Charlotte who is crowned winner and awarded what appears to be a record.
The episode concludes with one final song - 2 Unlimited's Get Ready For This, which sees Pete chant into the mic "Come on Hull let's see you going." The crowd is electric with everyone jumping in time with the best before the hosts sign off and the credits roll.
That same year, we said goodbye to The Hitman and Her on our screens after four years, though not before it visited LA's again that November. As for LA's, the club existed for the best part of two decades, before closing for good in 2005. The site boasted a long history, starting as Mecca’s Hull Locarno Ballroom in 1961, then going on to be Tiffany's in 1972, Peppermint Park the following decade and then Lexington Avenue in 1986.
Over the years, celebrities who appeared at the club included Take That, Katie Price, Jodie Marsh, Jason Donovan, Whigfield and soul diva Beverley Knight. Others to take the stage were former Boyzone heartthrob Keith Duffy, East 17, and dance act Black Box.
After LA's closed in 2005, bulldozers moved in a few years later. The site is now home to the Doubletree Hilton hotel, which has a Lexington rooftop bar in tribute to the famous former club.
Some clubs featured on the show are now lost to the past and for some there is limited footage, information or videos. But you can be transported back to The Hitman and Her nights at some of the venues on YouTube.
