17:35 – Sheepy’s opening caption and music.
17:40 – Thames TV morning start-up music.
17:45 – Only When I Laugh – S04E03 – All in the Mind – This week, having got a book on psychology from the library, Figgis takes it upon himself to analyze his fellow patients, alleging that Glover has a persecution complex and Norman is sexually repressed. First broadcast on Thu 18th Nov 1982 by ITV. Previously shown on CABTV on Sheepy’s Show #53 – Mon 2023/05/22.
18:10 – You Must Be Joking! S02E04 – Yet more dodgy mid-70s japery from the kids. First broadcast on Fri 14th May 1976 by ITV.
18:35– The Doombolt Chase E03/06 – Death Beacon – a naval-themed British science fiction/action television series aimed at a teenage audience, written by Don Houghton, whose writing credits include DW: Inferno, DW: The Mind of Evil, Dracula A.D. 1972, and half of Sapphire & Steel Assignment Five (“Doctor McDee Must Die”). It stars Peter Vaughan, Frederick Jaeger, Donald Burton and Ewen Solon, with appearances by John Woodnutt and Simon MacCorkindale. This week, the trio continue to evade their pursuers. They examine the map and decide to investigate Scudmoor – does the dark Gothic mansion hold the key to the Doombolt mystery? First broadcast on Sun 26th Mar 1978 by ITV.
18:59 – Clangers (New) S01E44 – Busy Buzzers – Small Clanger and Major Clanger discover a bowl of glow-honey in a crater. First broadcast on Mon 13th June 2016 at 6pm by CBeebies.
19:10 – NEW! – UFO S01E01 – Identified – a 1970 British science fiction television series about the covert efforts of an international defence organisation (under the auspices of the United Nations) to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade’s Century 21 for Grade’s ITC Entertainment company. It stars Ed Bishop as Commander Ed Straker, with George Sewell as his second-in-command Colonel Alec Freeman (later replaced by Wanda Ventham as Colonel Virginia Lake, although she appears in this first episode in an entirely different role). Also appearing in the series are Michael Billington as Colonel Paul Foster, Gabrielle Drake as Lieutenant Gay Ellis, and even Steven Berkoff in four episodes as an Interceptor pilot! The series is presented here in a fresh new HD Blu-Ray rip.
This week, SHADO – an acronym for Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization, located beneath a supposed film studio – officially goes into operation and encounters its first UFO. An alien pilot is captured and discovered to have transplanted human organs within him. First broadcast on Wed 16th Sep 1970 at 8pm by ITV in the ATV region. Other regions varied wildly: for example LWT didn’t show it until Sat 18th Sep 1971 at 5pm, with Ulster TV being the last on Fri 29th Sep 1972 at 7.30pm. Not only that, but every region showed them in a different order, and indeed as of now there’s at LEAST four different “official” running orders, and another five of various authority. Am still not 100% sure which one I’ll be showing as episode 2! Meanwhile, this first episode was previously shown in SD on CABTV by Sploff, on his SP-TV: First Episode of Things on Sat 26th March 2022 at 9.05pm. Next week In four weeks’ time, during the afternoon of my second May Bank Holiday Monday Special stream, I intend to reshow this episode with a commentary by none other than Gerry Anderson himself.
20:01 – Van der Valk S05E03 – Still Waters – In the last of the seven two-hour Inspector Morse style specials, and the last-ever classic Van der Valk, our man is called back from the start of his holiday to help his boss smooth over a political embarrassment that may undermine a national project being pushed through by a senior minister. This national project, a new large-scale sea barrier, creates a lot of opposition by environmental groups, especially a new radical group called the Green Force. Once Van der Valk starts to get more involved he starts to uncover blackmail, corruption, drugs and murder. First broadcast on Wed 19th Feb 1992 by ITV. With James Laurenson (Pink’s Dad in The Wall), Celia Imrie (Acorn Antiques, Dinnerladies, Calendar Girls, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and dozens of others), Stephanie Turner (WPC Howarth in Z Cars / Inspector Darblay in Juliet Bravo), Angela Bruce (Deb Lister in RD: Parallel Universe, Brigadier Bambera in DW: Battlefield), Holly de Jong (Dolly in Lytton’s Diary) and Tony Caunter (dozens of roles, including in Special Branch S1 & S2, DW: Colony in Space, The Sweeney, Blake’s 7, Shoestring, DCI Jim Logan in Juliet Bravo, DW: Enlightenment, Minder and last, but very much not least, 634 episodes as Roy Evans in Eastenders!).
21:45 – Van der Valk – DVD Extra – Interview with John S. Smith – possibly the most baffling DVD extra I’ve ever seen: given a box-set with a whole 11 discs (the last of which is half-empty), what goodies did they choose to treat us with? Just one: an interview with the bloke who was the editor on eight out of the twelve Series 3 (1977) episodes. It’s just two minutes and 19 seconds long. Enjoy! (To be fair, he has a storied career: 26 episodes of The Sweeney, 13 Special Branches from S3 & S4, one Blake’s Seven, three episodes of To Serve Them All My Days, and even three episodes of The Prisoner (The General, Dance of the Dead, It’s Your Funeral), but it still seems bizarre that this is all they could rustle up; I suspect it’s merely a relevant extract from a much longer interview done for something else entirely. There’s been rumours on Facebook of a new post-Network VdV box set coming out which will have decent extras, but nothing confirmed as yet.)
21:47 – Intermission.
21:50 – Tales of the Unexpected S04E01 – Would You Believe It? – Two rogue archaeologists find a unique statue but greed clouds the academic mind. First broadcast on Sun 5th Apr 1981 by ITV. Starring Nigel Havers, Richard Johnson and Christopher Blake.
22:16 – Keep It In The Family S04E05 – Piano Blues – Much to Dudley’s horror, Susan arrives home from the hairdressers to declare that she is now in a punk rock group. First broadcast on Tue 16th Nov 1982 by ITV. Guest-starring David “Kid” Jensen.
22:40 – Eurotrash S10E05 – 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 4 Blondes, Sister Bendy, Walter Schroeder the Sex Pianist, Josmar, Italian Fat Festival, Look at Lolo: Lolo Plays Croquet, Celebrity Flasher: Arnulf Refsnes, French Rappers, Julia Chanel. First broadcast on 23rd Oct 1998 by Channel 4.
23:04 – Thriller S01E06 – Murder in Mind – 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, while suffering from amnesia, Betty Drew stumbles into a police station; unable to identify herself but admitting to having just committed murder. Her elaborate, yet muddled, story is dismissed when no body is found. Her claims are explained as being the result of a concussion and repeating plots from her writer husband’s mystery novels. However, one police detective, Tom Patterson, wants to investigate further. This episode stars Richard Johnson, Zena Walker, Donald Gee, and, after Geoffrey “Bishop” Chater last week, this week we have Ronald “Hunter” Radd! First broadcast on Sat 19th May 1973 by ITV.
00:07 – Thriller S01E06 – 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.
00:14 – Closedown music.
00:19 – Closedown.