NOTE: EARLY START DUE TO EXTRA BANK HOLIDAY GOODNESS!
13:15 – Sheepy’s opening caption and music.
13:20 – Trailer for Insignificance (1985).
13:21 – FILM: Adventure in the Hopfields (1954) – A Children’s Film Foundation production starring Mandy Miller and directed by John Guillermin. Written by John Cresswell, based on the novel The Hop Dog by Nora Lavrin & Molly Thorp. A little girl accidentally breaks her mother’s favourite ornament and goes hop-picking to replace it. With Hilda Fenemore as her Mother (as in every CFF film ever), and an 18-year-old Melvyn “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum” Hayes, in his fifth-ever role, as a countryside ruffian.
14:17 – It’s a fucking Intermission. Let’s all sing along now.
14:20 – FILM: Insignificance (1985) – a British alternate history drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg. Adapted by Terry Johnson from his 1982 play of the same name, one summer night in New York in 1953, a senator (Tony Curtis), a starlet (Theresa Russell) and her baseball-star husband (Gary Busey) end up in the hotel room of a physics professor (Michael Emil). They discuss sex, power, politics, physics, the atom bomb and their troubled childhoods. The characters are clearly based on Joseph McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein, and these icons are used to explore the history of postwar America, as well as its uncertain future.
16:08 – Music Video: Orbital – The Box – Tilda Swinton stars as an inter-dimensional time-traveller who arrives in modern-day London and doesn’t like what she sees.
16:13 – FILM: April Fool’s Day (1986) – an American black comedy mystery slasher film directed by Fred Walton, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., and starring Thomas F. Wilson, Deborah Foreman, Griffin O’Neal, Amy Steel, Ken Olandt, Deborah Goodrich, and Leah Pinsent. Nine college students staying at a friend’s remote island mansion begin to fall victim to an unseen murderer over the April Fool’s Day weekend, but nothing is as it seems. One of three horror films from 1986 that take place on April Fool’s Day, the others being Killer Party and Slaughter High (which was originally entitled April Fool’s Day but had to change its name due to THIS film).
17:39 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
17:44 – Only When I Laugh – Xmas Special (a.k.a. S03E08) – Away for Christmas – This week, on Christmas Eve the ward gets a new patient, eight year old elective mute Danny, whose parents are abroad and is a known arsonist. Figgis dresses up as Santa Claus to steal presents for him from the children’s ward but is rumbled and has to escape, getting the benefits of kisses from nurses who mistake him for the hospital’s other Santa, Dr Thorpe. Eventually Dr Thorpe brings Danny some Christmas cheer… First broadcast on Thu 24th Dec 1981 by ITV… and it’s a weird one, a rather different atmosphere to the rest. Previously shown on CABTV on Sheepy’s Show #50 – Mon 2023/05/01; another Bank Holiday stream.
18:08 – You Must Be Joking! S02E01 – The kids come back a year later for another series of japes. First broadcast on Fri 23rd April 1976 by ITV.
18:32 – Music Video: Aphex Twin – On – Richard D. James stop-motions on a beach, directed by Jarvis Cocker.
18:36 – The Owl Service S01E08 – The Legend Unravels – HD remaster. Last in the series. First broadcast on Sun 8th Feb 1970 by ITV.
19:00 – Clangers (New) S01E41 – The Little Bag – Small gives Tiny a lovely sparkly bag that he caught while fishing in space. First broadcast on Wed 8th June 2016 at 6pm by CBeebies.
19:11 – Star Trek (The Original Series) S03E22 – The Savage Curtain – Kirk, Spock, Abraham Lincoln and Vulcan legend Surak are pitted in battle against notorious villains from history for the purpose of helping a conscious rock creature’s understanding of a concept he does not understand, “good vs. evil”. First broadcast on Fri 7th Mar 1969 by NBC. Quite possibly the best teaser ever! After that, well…
20:02 – Van der Valk S04E04 – The Little Rascals – In the fourth of seven two-hour Inspector Morse style specials, a group of ex-hippies who were known as The Little Rascals at university are the targets for hostile action. Van der Valk finds his investigation into the incidents hampered at every turn, and worries about a young woman whose parents have been affected by the events. First broadcast on Wed 6th Feb 1991 by ITV. With Geoffrey “Catweazle” Bayldon, Derek “Yes Minister” Fowlds and Kika Markham. From vague memory, another good 90s VdV.
21:46 – Tales of the Unexpected S03E07 – The Stinker – When millionaire Jack runs into Harold, a boy he bullied at school, he gives him a job. But Harold soon suspects his wife of having an affair with his new boss. First broadcast on Sun 7th Dec 1980 by ITV. With Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Patricia Quinn (Magenta in Rocky Horror and, I’ve just discovered, one of the ladies of the night in the second-ever Van der Valk!).
22:11 – Keep It In The Family S04E02 – The Longest Night – It’s a big night out for the whole Rush family. Susan and Jacqui are going to a fancy dress party and Dudley and Muriel are invited to Duncan’s for dinner. Only Duncan has locked himself out of his flat and the girls need a lift home. First broadcast on Tue 26th Oct 1982 by ITV.
22:36 – Eurotrash S10E02 – 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 Avari, Sneaker Sniffing, Celebrity Flasher: Adriana Sklenarikova, Look at Lolo: Lolo Bounces Up and Down, Gunther Brendel, Cow Poo, Philip Mond, Coumba Gawlo. First broadcast on 2nd Oct 1998 by Channel 4.
22:59 – Thriller S01E03 – Someone at the Top of the Stairs – a British television anthology series, made by ATV for the ITV network and originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits. The series was created by Brian Clemens (of The Avengers, The Professionals, and many others fame), who also scripted the majority of the episodes and story-lined every installment. This week, a young woman and her friend rent a room in an old dark mansion. Soon they become aware of the fact that the other “renters” are a very strange lot, and that there are some very odd goings-on in the house that seem to be centered in the attic. This episode stars Donna Mills and Judy Carne, with Peter Cellier. First broadcast on Sat 28th Apr 1973 by ITV.
00:08 – Thriller S01E03 – Alternate USA titles – When “Thriller” was exported to the USA, the Americans completely redid the opening and closing titles in a rather trippy manner, sometimes inserting their own newly-shot teasers (using actors shot from a distance or from the neck down!). Here are the ones for this episode.
00:15 – Closedown music.
00:20 – Closedown.