'' TW3 '' was broadcast on Saturday night and attracted an audience of 12 million . It often under - or overran as cast and crew worked through material as they saw fit . At the beginning of the second season in the autumn of 1963 , in an attempt to assert control over the programme , the BBC scheduled repeats of '' The Third Man '' television series after the end of '' TW3 '' . Frost suggested a means of sabotaging this tactic to Sherrin , and he agreed . For three weeks , Frost read out the plot of '' The Third Man '' , until the repeats were abandoned following the direct intervention of Greene . Frost often ended a satirical attack with the remark " But seriously , he 's doing a grand job " . At the end of each episode , Frost usually signed off with : " That '' was '' the week , that was . " At the end of the final programme he announced : " That '' was '' '' That Was The Week That Was '' ... that was . " For the edition on Saturday , 23 November 1963 , the day after the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy , '' TW3 '' produced a shortened 20-minute programme with no satire , reflecting on the loss , including a contribution from Dame Sybil Thorndike and the tribute song " In the Summer of His Years " sung by Martin with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer . This edition was screened on NBC in the US the following day , and the soundtrack was released by Decca Records . A clip , featuring Roy Kinnear , was shown in the David L. Wolper documentary film '' Four Days in November '' and on the History Channel 2009 documentary '' JFK : 3 Shots that Changed America '' . In addition to the Millicent Martin studio recording of " In the Summer of His Years " issued in the US by ABC-Paramount , other versions were recorded and released by Connie Francis ( MGM ) , Mahalia Jackson ( Columbia ) , Kate Smith ( RCA Victor ) , Sarah Vaughan ( Vernon ) and The Chad Mitchell Trio ( Mercury ) ; the Francis recording became a Top 40 hit on the Cash Box pop singles chart in January 1964 . BBC presenter Richard Dimbleby , who broadcast the president 's funeral from Washington , said the regular programme was scrapped when news of the assassination was received and that the programme was a good expression of the sorrow felt in Britain
assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
That Was the Week That Was