17:35 – Sheepy’s opening music.
17:39 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
17:44 – Only When I Laugh – S03E07 – These You Have Loved – 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, Figgis takes exception to the anodyne hospital radio run by nurse Victoria Plumtree and, when she accidentally leaves her recording equipment in the ward, spices things up by taping and broadcasting one of Dr Thorpe’s tirades. Having persuaded Victoria to allow him to record his own show he gets Glover and Norman to roam the hospital in search of stories – and gets one when they accidentally stumble upon Victoria’s passionate meeting with Dr Thorpe and allow the whole hospital to hear their emotional outpourings. First broadcast on Wed 14th Oct 1981 by ITV.
18:07 – Michael Bentine’s Potty Time S02E06 – Inventions; Hastings 1066 – a British children’s TV show, written by and starring Michael Bentine, and directed and produced by Leon Thau for Thames Television. This week, we learn of Leonardo da Vinci’s painterly beginnings, Edison’s major invention which really was a record, and early attempts at flight by two Australians – Fred and Bert Wrong. The Encyclopedia also sheds new light on the Battle of Hastings, and shows us how the Normans and the Saxons eventually united in the face of a common enemy. First broadcast on Wed 12th Feb 1975 by ITV.
18:30 – Ace of Wands S03E18/20 – The Beautiful People: Part 2/4 – 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. In this final story, written by P. J. “Sapphire & Steel” Hammond, when Mikki is refused entry to a small town fête run by two astonishingly beautiful girls, Dee and Emm, Tarot investigates. He uncovers a complicated plot organized by a group of extra-terrestrials with very special powers. First broadcast on Wed 15th Nov 1972 by ITV.
18:54 – Clangers (New CBeebies Version) S01E06 – I Am the Eggbot – 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, a strange little egg-shaped creature lands on the planet and gets stuck in a cave. First broadcast on Mon 22nd 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.
19:05 – Star Trek (The Original Series) – S02E18 – The Immunity Syndrome – This week, the Enterprise encounters a gigantic, energy-draining, space-dwelling organism that threatens the galaxy. First broadcast in the USA on Fri 19th Jan 1968 by NBC. This episode won an Emmy award for its special effects.
19:55 – Spaced S02E06 – Dissolution – 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, Marsha still thinks that Tim and Daisy are a couple, and when she sees Tim kissing and flirting with Sophie, she gets suspicious. Later that night at Daisy’s birthday dinner, Marsha tell Daisy that Tim is cheating on her, which Daisy replies with the truth about their relationship. Marsha, humiliated after realizing that she’s the only one who didn’t know the truth leaves the restaurant and moves out of the flat. First broadcast on Fri 6th Apr 2001 by Channel 4.
20:21 – Van der Valk – S03E08 – Dead On Arrival – 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 a Dutch clairvoyant, adept at solving crimes for the police, is requested to visit England to help in an eight-year-old murder inquiry, Van der Valk is staggered when the man foresees startling revelations. First broadcast on Mon 24th Oct 1977 by ITV. Featuring Bob Hoskins, Arnold Diamond, and Pamela Salem (who played the posh stripper in Lytton’s Diary a couple of weeks back, as well as Toos in DW: The Robots of Death and Rachel in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks).
21:13 – Eurotrash S05E02 a.k.a. Eurotrash Goes South of the Border (2/2) – 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, we have Albita Rodriguez, Iris Chacon, Latino Drag Queens, Monti Rock III, Mexican Soaps, Aztec Insect Restaurant. First broadcast on Fri 24th Nov 1995 by Channel 4.
21:36 – Lytton’s Diary S01E05 – The Silly Season – 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, with material in short supply during the summer “silly season,” Lytton reluctantly considers a forthcoming kiss-and-tell book by a Swedish actress. After some thugs try to intimidate the starlet from publishing, Lytton finds a story he can believe in. First broadcast on Wed 6th Feb 1985 by ITV. Guest starring Jennie Linden. WARNING: the opening title sequence contains flashing images.
22:26 – Alfresco S02E06 – 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, in the last-ever episode, 13th century wassailers travel around town, wreaking havoc. First broadcast on Sat 2nd June 1984 by ITV. Next week in this slot I shall probably start showing Girls On Top.
22:52 – Agony S01E06 – Too Much Agony, Too Little Ecstasy – 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, in the last of the first series, as Jane’s birthday approaches, she decides to take the plunge and walk out on her broken marriage. First broadcast on Sun 22nd or 29th Apr 1979 by ITV, depending on whom you believe.
23:18 – Spaced S01E06 – Epiphanies [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, Tyres, Tim’s friend, stops by the flat and invites Tim and Daisy to go clubbing with him that night. After offering to pay their way in, Tim and Daisy agree. Mike and Twist decide to join, but Brian needs some convincing. He hasn’t been clubbing since a bad experience in the 80s. After finally getting to the club, Brian finds a new appreciation for the club scene. First broadcast on Fri 29th Oct 1999 by Channel 4. This week, it’s Nick Frost who once again takes on The Crucial Three challenge.
23:42 – Closedown music.
23:47 – Closedown.