17:57 – Sheepy’s opening music.
18:00 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
18:05 – The Tomorrow People S01E06 – The Medusa Strain (Part 1/4) – The classic 1970s ITV children’s series about a group of teens with paranormal abilities, who use their special gifts to battle evil. This week, after floating in space for nearly five-and-a-half centuries, Jedikiah is recovered from space by Count Rabowski, who is already holding prisoner Peter, a young telepath who is one of the Time Guardians. Jedikiah tricks Peter into transporting them to the 20th century so he can get his revenge on the Tomorrow People. Featuring Dave Prowse as an android. First broadcast by ITV on Mon 11th June 1973.
18:30 – Star Trek (The Original Series) – S01E07 – What Are Little Girls Made Of? – This week, the crew of the Enterprise arrive at the planet EXO-III with some trepidation and great anticipation. They are there to see if they can locate the renowned scientist Dr. Roger Korby. The man hasn’t been heard of for 5 years and the general belief is that he is dead. For Nurse Christine Chapel however, a reunion with Corby will be a reunion with her fiancé. They find Korby alive but when Kirk and Chapel beam down to the planet, they find a man obsessed who is using alien technology to reproduce the humans around him in the form of androids. Featuring Ted “Lurch” Cassidy as an android. First broadcast in the USA by NBC on Thu 20th Oct 1966.
19:20 – …And Mother Makes Three – S02E01 – A Hard Day Out – More gentle middle-class Thames sitcom, starring Wendy Craig as the newly-widowed Sally Harrison, doing her best to bring up her two boisterous sons, Simon and Peter. This week, Sally struggles with exhaustion during the long school summer holidays, Auntie’s not happy about being tied up and put in the broom cupboard, and Mr. Campbell’s suggestion to wear them out leads to fun at the fair. First broadcast on Thu 2nd Dec 1971 by ITV.
19:46 – Brass – S01E05 – More Granada-made northern-drama-satirising comedy, starring Timothy West. This week, as Agnes and other women are waiting for news of the miners trapped down the pit, the miners themselves are settling down to life underground. Bradley hears that his plans are going astray as Charlotte reaches the trapped miners, but… [IMDb is far too spoilery sometimes :-)]. First broadcast on Mon 21st March 1983 by ITV.
20:10 – Van der Valk – S02E02 – A Man of No Importance – More Thames-made Amsterdam-based crime drama, starring Barry Foster. This week, when a dead man turns up on the deck of a canal barge, everyone is ready to dismiss him as a nonentity. The commissaris disagrees. Before Van der Valk can find out what happened to the man, though, he first must discover his identity. Featuring Kevin Stoney, not as an android, and directed by Douglas Camfield, also not an android, as far as we know. First broadcast on Wed 5th Sep 1973 by ITV.
21:00 – Sheepy’s Unwatched FILM Project #8: The Science of Sleep (2006) – (French: La Science des rêves, literally The Science of Dreams) is a Franco–Italian surrealistic science fantasy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou and Alain Chabat, the film stems from a bedtime story written by Sam Mounier, then 10 years old. A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is love-struck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
22:43 – Snub TV S01E06 – This week featuring Dinosaur Jr., The Wedding Present, Jesus Jones, Dub Sex, Anhrefn, 808 State vs M.C. Tunes, and Jon Langford (Mekons / Three Johns). First broadcast on Mon 13th Feb 1989 at 7pm by BBC2.
23:11 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Original Radio Series) – Fit the Eighth – Although nowadays this is grouped in with last week’s Christmas Special as the second episode of the second series, at the time this was treated as the FIRST episode of a five-episode second series that went out stripped across a single week in Jan 1980, over a year after the 1978 Christmas Special. On a personal note, this might well be my favourite episode full-stop. Original Radio Times listing (which interestingly lists it as Fit the First of a new adventure, confirming the above):
“A new, epic adventure in time and space. Zaphod Beeblebrox and his mysterious friend Roosta are being taken in a flying building to the evil Frogstar, whilst Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent are stranded on pre-historic earth. Some of them are getting hungry.
Ford: “I don’t believe it. It’s impossible.”
Arthur: “But it’s happening.”
[Starring] Peter Jones as the Book
with Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Alan Ford as Roosta, David Tate as Eddie/Frogstar Prison Relations Officer and Valentine Dyall as Gargravarr.
(Stereo)
Feature: page 76
[Illustration caption] Gargravarr – custodian of the Total Perspective Vortex… knows where his towel is.”
First broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on Mon 21st Jan 1980 at 10.30pm.
23:41 – COMMENTARY TRACK VERSION of The Tomorrow People S01E02 – The Slaves of Jedekiah (Part 2/5) – More interesting, amusing and sometimes scandalous DVD commentary featuring Nicholas Young (John), Peter Vaughan-Clarke (Stephen) and Philip Gilbert (TIM), moderated by Nicholas Briggs. To recap: this is the classic 1970s ITV children’s series about a group of teens with paranormal abilities, who use their special gifts to battle evil. This week, Stephen has been abducted from the hospital by Ginge and Lefty, who take him to the mysterious Jedikiah. John, Carol and Kenny attempt to locate him and get him safely back to the lab. Original programme first broadcast by ITV on Mon 7th May 1973. DVD Commentary recorded c. 2002.
00:05 – Closedown music.
00:10 – Closedown.