NOTE: EARLY START TIME DUE TO EXTRA BANK HOLIDAY GOODNESS!
14:20 – Sheepy’s opening caption then music.
14:25 – Melody (1971) – a British children’s romantic comedy-drama film about puppy love. Written by Alan “Bugsy Malone” Parker (his first screenplay), directed by Waris “An Unearthly Child” Hussein (his third feature film), and produced by David Puttnam (his first producer credit), the film stars the “Oliver!” duo of Jack Wild & Mark Lester, and Tracy Hyde. It features music from the Bee Gees and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Although the film was a box office disappointment in both the United States and Britain (the latter blamed on a very late name-change to S.W.A.L.K.), it turned out to be a hit in Japan as well as in some Latin American countries such as Mexico, Argentina and Chile, and a modest hit in South Africa. This romantic story is told through the viewpoint of the children in the story, the adults playing only supporting roles. Daniel Latimer befriends the troublesome Ornshaw. However, when Daniel falls in love with Melody Perkins, the boys’ friendship becomes jeopardized, as Ornshaw grows jealous of the amount of time that Daniel gives her. Initially embarrassed by the attention, Melody comes to return Daniel’s feelings, and the couple announce to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future, but now… Released in the cinema in the UK on Wed 21st April 1971, and shown for the first time on British television on Sun 23rd Oct 1977 at 8.40pm on BBC1, which is when I first saw it, age 12 going on 13.
16:12 – Intermission, courtesy of Monty Python.
16:15 – The Shout (1978) – a British horror film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting), after Nicholas Roeg proved to be unavailable. It was based on a short story by Robert Graves and adapted for the screen by Skolimowski and Michael Austin. The film was the first to be produced by Jeremy Thomas under his Recorded Picture Company banner. It stars Alan Bates, Susannah York and John Hurt, with support from Tim Curry and Jim Broadbent (in a brief but memorable role, his first screen credit). The soundtrack is by Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of the rock band Genesis, after David Bowie also proved to be unavailable. The central theme “From the Undertow” features on Banks’s album A Curious Feeling. Synopsis: Crossley (Bates), a mysterious travelling man, invades the lives of a young couple, Rachel and Anthony Fielding (York and Hurt). Anthony is a composer, who experiments with sound effects and various electronic sources in his secluded Devon studio. The couple provides hospitality to Crossley but his intentions are gradually revealed as more sinister. He claims he has learned from an Aboriginal shaman how to produce a “terror shout” that can kill anyone who hears it unprotected… Was shown by the BBC just the once, on Tue 6th Sep 1983 at 9pm on BBC2, opening “a season of major films new to television”. I first saw it on Talking Pictures TV a few years ago. I have a niggling feeling this has been shown on CABTV before, but I can find no trace of it on the blog.
17:41 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
17:46 – Only When I Laugh – S03E05 – Accident – 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, when Norman witnesses an accident involving Dr. Thorpe he is not sure whether he should testify to what he saw. First broadcast on Wed 30th Sept 1981 by ITV. This is a repeat of last week’s episode, as it was rather good and literally nobody saw it but me!
18:10 – Michael Bentine’s Potty Time S02E04 – Holidays; Gunfight – Potty City – 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 visit Eastern Europe and the Wild West. First broadcast on Wed 29th Jan 1975 by ITV.
18:33 – Ace of Wands S03E16/20 – Sisters Deadly: Part 3/3 – a British fantasy children’s television show broadcast on ITV between 1970 and 1972. It was created by Trevor Preston and Pamela Lonsdale and produced by Thames Television. It ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes each, and a third season of twenty, which is the only series that still exists. Telepathic stage magician, Tarot, and his two assistants solve mysteries and crimes of a bizarre or magical nature, and battle against villains with various powers. This story, when Chas returns from a photograph assignment with no memory of the event or what happened after it – or the fact that he robbed the village post office shortly afterwards – Tarot uncovers the bizarre events behind a plot to kidnap a NATO Commander-in-Chief. First broadcast on Wed 1st Nov 1972 by ITV.
18:58 – Clangers (New CBeebies Version) S01E04 – The Knitting Machine – 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 invents a knitting machine, thinking this will save Granny ever having to make the effort to knit again. But Granny likes knitting, and when she sees the hideous garments the machine produces, she challenges it to a great knit-off to determine who is the best knitter. First broadcast on Thu 18th Jun 2015 at 5.30pm by CBeebies. This episode, in common with many others, was written by Daniel Postgate – Oliver’s son – who also does the voices for the Iron Chicken, the Soup Dragon, and her son, Baby Soup Dragon.
19:09 – Star Trek (The Original Series) – S02E16 – The Gamesters of Triskelion – This week, Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet, abducted into slavery and trained to fight as gladiators for the gambling entertainment of three bored, disembodied beings. (And they won’t be the only ones bored, eh, viewers? Not one of the better episodes.) First broadcast in the USA on Fri 5th Jan 1968 (the date the Prague Spring began!) by NBC. The duel was parodied in the Simpsons episode “Deep Space Homer”, with onlooking NASA scientists wagering quatloos as Homer Simpson fights in an arena. Kirk’s speech to Shahna about love was referenced in the South Park episode “Hooked on Monkey Fonics”; the scene was taken from this episode of Star Trek complete with similar incidental music. The popular Star Trek catchphrase “Beam me up, Scotty” is a common misquotation, with The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations stating that the nearest equivalent is the phrase uttered in this episode: “Scotty, beam us up.”.
20:00 – Spaced S02E04 – Help – the famous British sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley, two twenty-something Londoners who, despite only having just met, decide to move in together after she gives up on squatting and he is kicked out by his ex-girlfriend. Supporting roles include Nick Frost as Tim’s best friend Mike, Katy Carmichael as Daisy’s best friend Twist, Mark Heap as lodger Brian who lives downstairs and Julia Deakin as landlady Marsha. This week, Damian Knox, the President of Darkstar Comics, is searching for a new idea, and asks for Tim’s portfolio. Anxiously, Tim organizes his portfolio, being careful to remove anything that might prevent him from getting the job. Such as a demeaning drawing he drew of Knox after their last encounter, when Knox laughed Tim out of his office. After Tyres stops by to pick up the package to be delivered, Tim notices that the demeaning drawing of Knox is not where he left it. Trying to help Tim out, Daisy slipped it back into the portfolio, thinking Tim forgot to include it. It turns into a race against time to get to the portfolio before Knox looks at it. Meanwhile, Marsha asks Daisy to go jogging and Daisy’s competitive spirit gets the best of her. First broadcast on Fri 23rd Mar 2001 by Channel 4.
20:25 – Van der Valk – S03E06 – Everybody Does It – After a four-year break (1973-1977) on original transmission, the Amsterdam-based crime drama returned for this 12-episode run, now made by Euston Films for Thames TV. It still stars Barry Foster in the title role, but his wife has mysteriously changed actress, from Susan Travers to Joanna Dunham, who played Patrick Allen’s lover in S02E01 “A Death by the Sea”. This week, when Arlette finds it difficult to resist the temptation to buy a cheap – dubious – bargain, her poor judgement lands her husband up to his neck in trouble with a crime syndicate. First broadcast on Mon 10th Oct 1977 (the day Angelo “the butler in The Prisoner” Muscat died, age 47) by ITV.
21:15 – Eurotrash S04E06 – The legendary late-night magazine show starring Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier, exploring unusual and bizarre topics from Europe and around the world. This week, in a rather better than usual edition, we have Dolly Buster, Mondo Films, Victoria Abril, The Kellys, Giorgio Moroder, Pony Carting, Michel Gondry, Björk. First broadcast on Fri 16th June 1995 by Channel 4.
21:39 – Lytton’s Diary S01E03 – The Lady in the Mask – A drama series made by Thames Television for the ITV network, about the life of a newspaper gossip columnist, played by Peter Bowles, who also co-created the show with Philip Broadley. Scripts were by Ray Connolly, the journalist, interviewer, author, Beatles enthusiast, and screenplay writer of That’ll Be The Day and Stardust. Whether consorting with banking tycoons and ex-dictators or investigating a gang of skinheads, Lytton strives to expose the high and mighty, the corrupt and the crooked – and to make sure “God” (his editor at the Daily News) is happy with his work. All the while, Lytton struggles to keep his love life in order, write the one novel he feels he has in him, and fend off constant machinations and maneuvers of an old rival at the Daily Post. This week, stung by criticism that his column is getting “tepid,” Lytton looks to spice things up a bit. Then an unmarked envelope arrives with a photo of a nude woman wearing a mask. When Lytton gets an accompanying anonymous phone call, he decides to investigate. First broadcast on Wed 23rd Jan 1985 by ITV. WARNING: the opening title sequence contains flashing images.
22:31 – Alfresco S02E04 – a sketch comedy series starring Robbie Coltrane, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Siobhan Redmond and Emma Thompson, produced by Granada Television and broadcast by ITV from May 1983 to June 1984. Running for two series, it totalled 13 episodes and was named Alfresco (from the Italian al fresco, meaning “in the fresh air”) because, unusually for a comedy sketch show of the time, it was shot on location rather than in a studio. Like its pilot/predecessor, There’s Nothing to Worry About (from which several sketches were taken and repeated in this), the show was designed by ITV as an answer to the popular BBC series Not the Nine O’Clock News. This week, the Alfresco cast takes on The Cold War. First broadcast on Sat 19th May 1984 by ITV.
22:55 – Agony S01E04 – Wedlock – Deadlock – An ITV sitcom that aired from 1979 to 1981. Made by London Weekend Television, it stars Maureen Lipman as Jane Lucas who has a successful career as an agony aunt but whose own personal life is a shambles. It was created by Len Richmond and real-life agony aunt Anna Raeburn, both of whom wrote all of the first series. The second and third series were written by Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds. This week, Laurence wants a more open marriage that allows him to see other women but isn’t happy when he finds out Jane wants to see other men. First broadcast on Sun 8th Apr 1979 by ITV.
23:20 – Spaced S01E04 – Battles [COMMENTARY TRACK VERSION] – the famous British sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley, two twenty-something Londoners who, despite only having just met, decide to move in together after she gives up on squatting and he is kicked out by his ex-girlfriend. Supporting roles include Nick Frost as Tim’s best friend Mike, Katy Carmichael as Daisy’s best friend Twist, Mark Heap as lodger Brian who lives downstairs and Julia Deakin as landlady Marsha. This week, Daisy’s boyfriend breaks up with her, and feeling the need for a loving relationship, she asks Marsha if she can have a dog. Marsha agrees and Tim is hesitant because of his past experiences with dogs which have given him a big fear of them. While Daisy and Twist go out to buy a dog, Mike and Tim go paint-balling. They run into Duane Benzie, who used to be Tim’s best friend until he stole Tim’s girlfriend. First broadcast on Fri 15th Oct 1999 by Channel 4. This week we get to see if Nick Frost can be talked over as effectively as Julia Deakin and Mark Heap were. Somehow I suspect not…
23:45 – Closedown music.
23:49 – Closedown.