Paul Stewart Laing, who has died aged 83, was a producer and director of popular TV light entertainment shows in the 1970s featuring stars such as Bob Monkhouse, Dickie Henderson and Tom O’Connor.
His biggest success, hosted by Monkhouse, was Celebrity Squares (1975-79), ITV’s version of the American game show Hollywood Squares. Two members of the public battled to win big money by playing noughts and crosses on a giant “board”, with boxes populated by showbiz personalities answering general-knowledge questions. The contestants’ task was to judge the truth of the answers from celebs including Willie Rushton, Frank Carson and Pat Coombs.
