Join me, or don’t, for my usual first-Thursday-of-the-month OTH-Replacement stream.
18:00 – Sheepy’s opening music.
18:04 – The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe S01E04 – the legendary but boring as fuck French-German children’s television drama series made by Franco London Films (a.k.a. FLF Television Paris) and based on Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. This episode, Robinson recalls his first sea voyages and finds a cave which becomes his new home, brings ashore all he can salvage from the wreck of the Esmeralda, and makes a fire for the first time. First broadcast in the UK on Tue 2nd November 1965 at 5pm on BBC1 under the simple title “Robinson Crusoe”.
18:31 – Michael Bentine’s Potty Time S01E08 – Foreign Legion – 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 follow the Foreign Legion. First broadcast on Mon 31st Dec 1973 by ITV. Complete with slightly silly VT clock. Carried over from Monday’s show after the latter’s early technical difficulties.
18:43 – Shadows S02E06 – The Eye – a British supernatural television anthology series produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1975 and 1978. This week, a teenage girl falls under the spell of a mysterious Greek urn. Strange things happen when she creates a larger version of a portrait on the urn. First broadcast on Wed 1st Sept 1976 by ITV. Carried over from Monday’s show after the latter’s early technical difficulties.
19:08 – Clangers S01E08 – The Top Hat – 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 find some Froglets in a top hat. First broadcast on Sun 18th Jan 1970 at 5.55pm by BBC1. Carried over from Monday’s show after the latter’s early technical difficulties, although I gather that most, if not all, of it was broadcast… but for the sake of ten minutes, might as well.
19:17 – Chemistry – A Volatile History E03/03 – The Power of the Elements – The explosive story of chemistry is the story of the building blocks that make up our entire world – the elements. From fiery phosphorus to the pure untarnished lustre of gold and the dazzle of violent, violet potassium, everything is made of elements – the earth we walk on, the air we breathe, even us. Yet for centuries this world was largely unknown, and completely misunderstood.
In this three-part series, professor of theoretical physics Jim Al-Khalili traces the extraordinary story of how the elements were discovered and mapped. He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.
In this final part, Professor Al-Khalili uncovers tales of success and heartache in the story of chemists’ battle to control and combine the elements, and build our modern world. He reveals the dramatic breakthroughs which harnessed their might to release almost unimaginable power, and he journeys to the centre of modern day alchemy, where scientists are attempting to command the extreme forces of nature and create brand new elements. First broadcast on Thu 4th Feb 2010 at 9.00pm by BBC4.
20:16 – Sheepy’s Unwatched FILM Project #12: The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) – an American biographical film directed by Mary Harron. The screenplay by Harron and Guinevere Turner (who was initially going to play Bettie before the role was given to Gretchen Mol when producers had difficulty raising money) focuses on the life of Bettie Page, a 1950s pin-up model and one of the first sex icons in America, who became the target of a Senate investigation because of her risqué bondage photos.
21:47 – DVD Extra: Presenting Lovely Betty Page [sic] – Two minutes and 48 seconds of the original lady on camera. Hopefully not too tasteless after the preceding; since I haven’t seen the film, I can’t tell. Just thought it would be interesting to compare the original with Gretchen Mol’s depiction (honest!).
21:50 – The Day The Universe Changed – S01E08 – Fit to Rule – Radio Times listing: “A personal view by James Burke in ten parts. In the 1730s a Swedish botanist trudged through Arctic Lapland in an attempt to show that nature never changed. His journey was the first step in a trail that led through the Paris zoo, past an Oxford professor who ate mice and, among the shellfish under Mount Etna, to a new theory that proved the reverse: nature never stood still. The new theory finally broke the Church’s power over science; it was seized on by the great political thinkers; and it gave us the modern world of constant change, where ‘the newest survives’ rules our lives.” First broadcast on Tue 7th May 1985 at 8.00pm by BBC1.
22:40 – The Sixties S01E09 – The Times They Are A-Changin’ – A documentary miniseries, produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s studio Playtone, this 10-part series chronicled events and popular culture of the United States during the 1960s. This month, the 60’s were a time of great change. Civil Rights, environmental concerns, premarital sex, birth control and the women’s movement are just some of the issues that filled the minds and hearts of Americans during the decade. First broadcast on Thu 7th Aug 2014 by CNN.
23:21 – The Tyrant King E03/06 – Nightmare – A six-part children’s serial drama directed by Mike Hodges, made by ABC Weekend TV and screened by Thames Television in 1968. It was dramatised from the book of the same name by Aylmer Hall, adapted for television by Trevor Preston. It was notable for its use of a progressive music soundtrack, including music from The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues, Cream, Pink Floyd, and in particular, The Nice, whose song “The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack”, from the album of the same name was the title track. A strange phone call and a wallet found in an old dark house lead 3 teenagers and their dog to follow a mysterious character across London. With Candace “Nicholas and Alexandra” Glendenning, Murray “Bilis Manger” Melvin, Philip “Your name vill also go down on ze list” Madoc, Eddie McMurray and Kim Fortune. The series was commissioned by London Transport, which may well explain how any semblance of a plot is largely subsumed by the children visiting one London tourist attraction after another – just enjoy the music and shots of vintage London! Although shot in colour (by the same unit that years later became Euston Films), it was only ever transmitted in monochrome – hence the b/w Thames ident – and was unseen in colour until its DVD release. With thanks to Danger Man for the initial recommendation. Right near the end of this episode is a non-speaking cameo by a man who would become famous for another, very different, non-speaking cameo 31 years later. First broadcast on Thu 17th Oct 1968 by ITV.
23:46 – An unscheduled on-the-fly Musical Train Journey, facilitated by the server’s new twin-track audio/video timeline feature. All praise to the Hypnohedge! – The journey from Brighton to (nearly) Bedford through the Thameslink tunnels of Central London again, this time accompanied by Cocteau Twins, Propaganda, Depeche Mode, Prodigy, KLF, Curve, Archive, and Simon & Garfunkel.
01:16 – Closedown music.
01:21 – Closedown.