17:35 – Sheepy’s opening caption and music.
17:40 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
17:45 – Only When I Laugh – S02E01 – Whatever Happened to Gloria Robins? – A sitcom made by Yorkshire Television for ITV, written by Eric Chappell (Rising Damp, Home to Roost). It stars Christopher Strauli as Norman, a rather naive middle-class man who is admitted to a hospital ward and finds that he is sharing it with a working-class layabout called Figgis (James Bolam) and an upper-class hypochondriac called Archie (Peter Bowles). All three of them cause headaches for the hospital staff, led by Richard Wilson with Derrick Branche. This week, in the first of the second series, Glover is thrilled when Gloria Robins, the beautiful film star, is admitted to a woman’s ward and is soon romancing her with flowers. Characteristically Figgis is cynical but even he falls under Gloria’s spell – as do Norman and Dr Thorpe… First broadcast on Tue 29th Apr 1980 by ITV. Repeated from Sheepy’s Show #35 – Sat 2023/01/21.
18:10 – Michael Bentine’s Potty Time S03E10 – The Gardeners / Hannibal the Great – a British children’s TV show, written by and starring Michael Bentine, and directed and produced by Leon Thau for Thames Television. This week, Gardening and Violence are not usually connected – except, of course, within the Potty world, where vegetable growers and flower enthusiasts are instinctive enemies. Another great battle is re-enacted when Hannibal, with his armored elephants, attacks Rome. The outcome of the battle is decided by the clever use of a Roman Secret Weapon… First broadcast on Tue 8th Mar 1977 by ITV.
18:33 – Come Back Lucy S01E06 – a six-part children’s drama series made by ATV in 1978, based on a 1973 novel by Pamela Sykes. The story centres on a little girl named Lucy who lived with her Aunt Olive in an old Victorian house. Upon the death of her aunt and the subsequent loss of her home, Lucy is welcomed into her cousins’ house though she does not know them very well and has difficulty feeling at home. As time moves on, Lucy is visited by the ghost of a Victorian little girl who wishes for Lucy to become her friend. This week, in the last-ever episode, Lucy is still haunted by Alice, and must now make her final choice between her and the new family she’s living with. But what ends will Alice go to in order to finally drag Lucy back into the past – and where will this leave Lucy? First broadcast on Sun 28th May 1978 by ITV.
18:59 – Clangers (New CBeebies Version) S01E23 – Bubble Trouble – the 2010s reboot of the famous early-1970s 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, Major Clanger has invented a machine for cleaning up the planet. Small and Tiny can’t resist trying it for themselves First broadcast on Wed 15th Jul 2015 at 5.30pm by CBeebies.
19:10 – Star Trek (The Original Series) S03E09 – The Tholian Web – This week, Captain Kirk is caught between dimensions, while the crew of the Enterprise works to retrieve him. All the while, the Tholians are weaving a destructive energy web around the Enterprise. First broadcast in the USA on Fri 15th Nov 1968 by NBC.
20:00 – Tales of the Unexpected S02E07 – Taste – a British television series that aired between 1979 and 1988. Each episode told a story, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, with an unexpected twist ending. Every episode of series one, eight episodes of series two, and one episode of series three were based on short stories by Roald Dahl, who provided introductions for the first two series. This week, a dinner party takes a surprising turn when one pretentious guest is challenged to a wine-tasting contest. First broadcast on Sat 12th April 1980 by ITV. With Ron Moody.
20:27 – INTERMISSION: courtesy of Monty Python.
20:30 – Special Branch S03E13 – Blueprint for Murder – After a two-and-a-half-year break (Nov 1970 – Apr 1973) on original transmission, this show returned in a completely revamped form, now made by Euston Films in their first-ever production for Thames TV. It now stars George Sewell as DCI Alan Craven, with support from an on-off combination of Roger Rowland as DS Bill North and Patrick Mower as DCI Tom Haggerty. This week, in the last of the third series, a South African diplomat visits London, and the men of Special Branch are assigned to protect him from an anticipated assassination attempt. But DCI Craven worries about Sgt. North’s effectiveness and doesn’t find the diplomat’s attitude helpful. First broadcast on Wed 4th July 1973 by ITV.
21:20 – Eurotrash S07E06 – The legendary late-night magazine show starring Antoine de Caunes, exploring unusual and bizarre topics from Europe and around the world. This week, we have Alpine Elvis, Dana International, Lolopops, Pino the Erotic Artist, Fabio, Na Na, Sit On Me, Patricia Velasquez, Erotic Chef. First broadcast on Fri 18th Oct 1996 by Channel 4.
21:45 – The Persuaders! E10(P04)/24 – Angie… Angie – A British action comedy television series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment. It was filmed in Britain, France, and Italy between May 1970 and June 1971. The series’ synth-laden theme music was composed by John Barry. The Persuaders are two equally-matched men from different backgrounds who reluctantly team together to solve cases that the police and the courts cannot. This week: Danny’s in for a trip down memory lane when he bumps into a long-lost childhood buddy from the Bronx slums, but shortly, as bullets start flying all over the sun-kissed French Riviera, the masks will fall off… First broadcast on Fri 19th Nov 1971 by ITV. Featuring Larry Storch. The DVDs have the episodes in (P)roduction Order, however after some thought and research I’ve decided to show them in their original LWT broadcast order (which matches IMDb & Wikipedia). Some ITV regions varied the date and order (Granada and Anglia, for example, transmitted a day earlier).
22:35 – Keep It In The Family S01E03 – All Through the Night – a British sitcom, made by Thames Television for ITV, that aired for five series between 1980 and 1983. It was about a likeable and mischievous cartoonist, Dudley Rush (played by CABTV favourite Robert Gillespie), his wife Muriel (Pauline “Mrs Reggie Perrin” Yates), and their two daughters, Jacqui and Susan. Eccentric and childlike, Dudley insists on wearing his large lion ventriloquist glove-puppet on his hand whenever he draws the “Barney, the Bionic Bulldog” comic strip. Unhappy about having to spend what he considers valuable time working, he always procrastinates, so he’s always late meeting the strip’s deadlines, which frustrates his long-suffering agent, Duncan Thomas. This week, Dudley is behind with his work, and his boss arrives to demand that he completes the pictures by the next day. So Dudley has to work all through the night to complete them, before starting jury service the next morning. First broadcast on Mon 21st Jan 1980 by ITV.
22:59 – Whoops Apocalypse E03/06 – How to Get Rid of It – a six-part 1982 television sitcom by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series features a chaotic and increasingly unstable global political situation in which nuclear alerts are accidentally triggered by malfunctioning Space Invaders machines. The naive and highly unpopular Republican U.S. President Johnny Cyclops (an obvious Ronald Reagan parody, played by Barry “Victor” Morse) is advised by an insane right-wing fundamentalist security advisor, called The Deacon (John “CJ” Barron), who claims to have a direct hotline to God. In the Eastern Hemisphere, things are similarly unstable; Soviet Premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths) is in fact a series of clones, which keep dying and being replaced. Meanwhile, the deposed Shah of Iran, Shah Massiq Rassim (Bruce “Leonard from Butterflies” Montague), led by his advisor Abdab (David Kelly) who is always blindfolded to avoid looking upon the Shah’s magnificence, is shunted around the world in search of a refuge. The Soviets have a new ally in British Prime Minister Kevin Pork (Peter Jones), a parody of left-wing Labour politicians Michael Foot and Peter Shore. Pork, who has gone insane and believes himself to be Superman, heads an especially left-wing government (a parody of Foot’s Labour Party). The British Foreign Secretary is blackmailed by the Soviets to join the Warsaw Pact. This situation so unnerves the foreign secretary (Geoffrey Palmer, in a role based on David Owen) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Richard Davies) that they also lose their sanity, don Green Lantern and Hawkman costumes, and are locked up in a padded cell at 10 Downing St. This week: the aged members of the Russian Politburo meet in the Kremlin and decide that as all American defence arrangements for Britain have been curtailed, Britain can conveniently be annexed into the Soviet Bloc. First broadcast on Sun 28th Mar 1982 by ITV. Also appearing across the series are Ed Bishop, Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Matt “Alan Tracy” Zimmerman, Ed “Skippy” Devereaux, Michael Melia, Stuart Milligan & Carmen Silvera.
23:25 – Annika E03/03 – The End – a three-part mini-series from 1984, written and produced by Colin Nutley and Sven-Gösta Holst, made by Central Television for ITV. It tells the story of a romance between Pete, an eighteen year old Isle of Wight deck chair attendant (played by Jesse Birdsall) and a Swedish foreign language student, the titular Annika (played by Christina Rignér). This week: Pete and Annika’s relationship is under strain following tragic events. Without anywhere to live Pete finds he has a difficult decision to make. First broadcast on Fri 24th Aug 1984 by ITV.
00:18 – Closedown music.
00:23 – Closedown.