BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL – EARLY START!
Due to technical difficulties, TISWAS and Python’s Behind the Scenes have had to be skipped. They will both be shown on Thursday’s Fill-In Stream instead.
14:20 – Sheepy’s opening music.
14:24 – TISWAS Volume 2 – More of the Best Bits – Excerpts from the famously anarchic children’s television show that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982, and was produced for the ITV network by ATV. Originally a sell-through VHS released in 1992, then rereleased on DVD in 2005… with clearly no further attempt to clean it up for DVD, as even the opening quality disclaimer seems to have been ripped from the original VHS!
15:20 15:43 – Monty Python (Mostly) – One Down Five to Go – the final ever Monty Python show, filmed at the O2 Arena in London on 20th July 2014.
17:37 – Monty Python (Mostly) – One Down Five to Go – Behind the Scenes – a short series of behind the scenes snippets of the above.
18:00 – Intermission – Thames TV morning start-up music.
18:05 – Michael Bentine’s Potty Time S01E03 – North West Frontier – a British children’s TV show, written by and starring Michael Bentine, and directed and produced by Leon Thau for Thames Television. This week, Mr. Bentine and the Potties look at the story of the frontier between the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan, as also seen in Carry On Up the Khyber. 🙂 First broadcast on Mon 26th Nov 1973 by ITV.
18:15 – Shadows S02E01 – The Dark Streets of Kimball’s Green – a British supernatural television anthology series produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1975 and 1978. This week, a foster child escapes her abusive foster mother by befriending an old man and a stray cat. She tries to save them from a vicious street gang by calling up help from an ancient Celtic King. First broadcast on Wed 28th July 1976 by ITV. With the legendary Ruth Boswell (Timeslip, Escape Into Night, The Tomorrow People) now promoted from script editor to producer for series two, we have a truly pants-shitting new title sequence, probably the very definition of “hauntological”. Sadly the story itself this week doesn’t seem to be highly rated (although I haven’t seen it myself), but there’s some good ones coming up.
18:40 – Clangers S01E03 – Chicken – the famous Oliver Postgate / Peter Firmin stop-motion children’s television series about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet. This week, the Clangers build some fireworks, one of which collides with a passing Iron Chicken. First broadcast on Sun 30th Nov 1969 at 5.50pm by BBC1.
18:50 – Star Trek (The Original Series) – S01E17 – The Squire of Gothos – This week, the childish but powerful ruler of the planet Gothos captures the crew of the Enterprise for his own amusement. First broadcast in the USA on Thu 12th Jan 1967 by NBC. Previously shown by Flouncer one evening, at my suggestion.
19:40 – …And Mother Makes Three – S03E05 – A Family Affair – More gentle middle-class Thames sitcom, starring Wendy Craig as the newly-widowed Sally Harrison, doing her best to bring up her two boisterous sons, Simon and Peter. This week, questions are asked when Sally’s parents decide to visit out of the blue, news that David’s mother has a title comes as something of a shock, and Auntie insists that a meeting of the two families needn’t be humiliating. First broadcast on Thu 12th Oct 1972 by ITV.
20:05 – Special Branch – S01E05 – The Kazmirov Affair – Groundbreaking British police drama series following the exploits of the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police: an elite group of officers tasked with protecting London from spies, terrorists, and subversives. This week, informed that the manuscript of a Russian author’s novel which has been smuggled into Britain is a forgery and could discredit the Goverment, Inspector Jordan goes against orders and investigates the claim. First broadcast on Wed 15th Oct 1969 by ITV.
20:56 – A Very Peculiar Practice S01E04 – Black Bob’s Hamburger Suit – a surreal black-comedy drama set in the health centre of a British university, produced by the BBC. It was written by Andrew Davies and was inspired by his experiences as a lecturer at the University of Warwick, and it has been interpreted as a commentary on contemporary trends in education. This week, Bob Buzzard tries to persuade his colleagues to start prescribing an experimental drug. First broadcast on Wed 11th Jun 1986 at 9.25pm by BBC2.
21:50 – The Beiderbecke Affair E04/06 – Um… I Know What You’re Thinking – A six-part drama by Alan Plater. Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) teaches woodwork and likes to listen to jazz. Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) teaches English and wants to help save the planet. A tale of “Black Economies”, council corruption and many strange characters all set to a background of Bix Beiderbecke. This week, Norm sits with Jason while Trevor intimidates the super grass. Jill & Helen have a boozy evening and toss a coin. Helen wins. First broadcast on Sun 27th Jan 1985 by ITV.
22:41 – Snub TV S03E02 – This week featuring:
• The Darkside: “Good for Me” (SnubTV video)
• Dinosaur Jr.: J. Mascis & Murph interview, “Freak Scene” (SnubTV video extract), “The Wagon” (video)
• The Scientist: “The Bee” (video)
• Manic Street Preachers: interview, “Motown Junk” (Live)
• Pixies “Velouria” (video)
• Spirea X: Jim Beattie interview, “Chlorine Dream” (live)
• Frontline Assembly: “Virus” (video)
From 1st generation off-air VHS > Panasonic HD recorder > DVD-R > MPEG Streamclip > MPEG4
Video compression: H.264, 352 x 288, deinterlaced
Audio compression: AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz, 192 kbps
First broadcast on Mon 21st Jan 1991 at 6.55pm by BBC2.
23:10 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Original Radio Series) – The Tertiary Phase 6/6, Fit the Eighteenth – Can Arthur Dent save his friends from the friendly but murderous citizens of Krikkit and stop them returning the Ashes to the cosmos? First broadcast on Tue 26th Oct 2004 at 6.30pm by BBC Radio 4.
23:38 – COMMENTARY TRACK VERSION of The Tomorrow People S01E12 – The Vanishing Earth (Part 3/4) – More interesting, amusing, sometimes scandalous, and as of late downright offensive DVD commentary featuring Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen) and Philip Gilbert (TIM), moderated by Nicholas Briggs. To recap: this is the classic 1970s ITV children’s series about a group of teens with paranormal abilities, who use their special gifts to battle evil. This week, John and Carol return to the lab where they find Stephen has been returned safely but no-one has any memory of what has happened. Meanwhile, Steen returns to the pier to continue his investigation into Spidron. First broadcast on Mon 23rd July 1973 by ITV. DVD Commentary recorded c. 2002, and by now they’re clearly pissed as farts, judging by the opening title sequence…
00:02 – Closedown music.
00:07 – Closedown.