The Why Don't YouTube? Weekly Newsletter - January 15th 2024

From the house of @whydontyoutube

January 15th

40 YEARS AGO

Jack Charlton diversified his portfolio in 1983 with angling competition Hooked! and not long later was competing with its own second series for the televisual field sports interest on Channel 4 with countryside pursuit compendium Jack's Game, which appears to be more about shooting game than his actual game. Funny how Big Jack killing deer doesn't get fondly recalled as much as that Blitz Club clip.

30 YEARS AGO

So the prime glorious nonsense days of What's Up Doc? are gone but they could still pull out a tremendous guest list with the credit accrued from that first series and a half. They've also restored the whole set, which just looks a bit empty now as if it needed loads of characters hanging around to pull off rather than just the wolves and Stephen Frost in a private security outfit. As if to stalk out potential future territory, and we mean their appearances on Gimme 5 as much as bigger things to come, PJ and Duncan are in and don't get to do anything other than hold up competition entries for quite a while. Also in are John Hegley, who judging by his screen time may well have been booked as he was on a promise to Frost, Eternal, about twenty seconds of The Yes/No People on the way to transitioning into Stomp, the UK mixing champion, a pinball machine company manufacturer and Steve Johnson promoting his new series and forgetting the script.

20 YEARS AGO

Bruce Forsyth was on the move again, his ITV shows grounding to a halt just as the Have I Got News For You guest hosting made people realise he had much more to offer than those tired formats. The BBC by contrast had two new ideas for utilising his skillset. One was on the way later in the year; the other was Didn't They Do Well?, a knowingly titled gameshow of gameshows which had two pilots before Brucie came into view, one being the last thing Bob Monkhouse filmed, one without a host at all. That was possible because all the questions came from the BBC archive, most memorably the opening and final rounds comprising questions from old quiz shows. Sadly it only lasted one series, presumably due to the other new gig, but where else are you going to see footage from Quiz Time, Gentlemen, Please?

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1973: The Big Match is led by Brighton vs Chelsea in the FA Cup, which due to Brian Moore falling ill with apparent 24 hour flu led to Jimmy Hill's one and only go at lead commentary. His reaction to a brief bout of handbags at 24:20 is purest Jimmy.

1988: Carrott Confidential is the subject of Pointless Views.

January 16th

40 YEARS AGO

"Hello satellite television, and all our new viewers in Swindon!" Sky Channel officially launches and Kate Bush, of all people, does the honours. Here's some terrestrial news reports from the day.

30 YEARS AGO

Schools programming producer Tim Taylor had been responsible for Time Signs, an archaeology series tracing the history backwards of Wolf Valley in Devon, with experts Mick Aston and Phil Harding. Despite non-renewal Taylor realised there was something in this concept and amended it to Time Team, presenting digs in layman's terms with the approachable Tony Robinson, who uses his storytelling acumen to its fullest in the scene setting intro and you'd have to say through Baldrick and Maid Marian had become something of a historical figure. The first dig attempts to find evidence of Alfred the Great's Athelney Abbey and fort in Somerset at the behest of a monotone man with a tremendous ginger beard.

The second of the Comic Asides pilots, and the first of the three that were never heard of again, was Woodcock, written by Irish stand-up Ian Macpherson about a young cabin boy - Phelim McDermott, known at the time as part of Radio 4's historical improv show The Masterson Inheritance and since then a successful theatre director - press-ganged into service aboard a Portsmouth-based boat in 1793, captained by Prunella Scales with an equally eccentric crew including Imelda Staunton, Michael Angelis, Jonathan Hyde and a parrot with the voice of Frank Skinner. Half of it being set in darkness is certainly a choice.

ALSO...

1982: the third ever No. 73 - tuneless original theme, no Neil yet, Dawn introducing us to her rollerskates, Ethel's weird (and weirdly Jools Holland-esque) accent, Patrick Doyle showing off his future Oscar-nominated composition skill, Mick Karn making sushi, Su Pollard and Pookiesnackenburger.

1985: Star Trek literally falls off the reel.

1985: Thames poached the rights to Dallas for nearly double what the BBC were paying. This did not work out in their favour, the IBA and other regional franchises having not been told and publicly expressing upset at the cost - Granada and Yorkshire were foremost in announcing they wouldn’t be showing it - whilst the Beeb saw it as a publicity coup as they had already been accusing ITV of profiting from their licence fee negotiations and Thames had broken a gentleman’s agreement over buying procedures. Eventually the IBA forced them to sell it back at a loss. The attempt in the meantime led to a frosty exchange on Channel 4 News between Thames MD Muir Sutherland (although the actual power behind the deal was former BBC1 controller Bryan Cowgill) and BBC DG Michael Grade.

1987: the footage of Jools Holland's infamous recommendation of The Tube to "ungroovy fuckers” itself appears to be lost, given it was a short live link into ITV (despite what Jools says) fifteen minutes before the live programme started, but he apologised later.

2001: "They've torn the heart out of the place!" Blood On The Carpet's most celebrated instalment, Walking With Disc Jockeys, on the Radio 1 revolution.

January 17th

40 YEARS AGO

Breakfast Time celebrated its first anniversary and reporter without portfolio Guy Michelmore headed to the gallery to explain how the programme came together.

ITV Schools' Good Health explains, after a fashion, how germs spread in schools, and if that seems far too on the nose for nowadays wait until you see the remarkable song at 5:30.

Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested and fined two days earlier in Barbados for possession of just under half an ounce of marijuana, and on returning to the UK Linda was taken into custody once again for importing less than five grams of same, fined £75 a week later. Paul, whose Pipes Of Peace was at number one, gave a decriminalisation speech to BBC news and many, many waiting others.

20 YEARS AGO

The imperial phase of Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow really is accelerating. Creamy Muck Muck is at the very end of the show and getting messier, the Prize Idiot moved in with the new year, Nanny Nunley has just happened and now the very fabric of the programme faces its greatest challenge yet in Raja, an infamous Bungalowhead who took the anarchic spirit rather too much to heart and increasingly visibly pisses off the presenters, which is a shame as it overshadows a Creamy Muck Muck attack on the Death Star, Bogies at the London Boat Show and post-Christmas replacement The Three Wise David Seamans. By Sunday, even within a group that seems to have had an overnight E-number overload he comes so much into his own he not only has all his points and many more taken away but ends up being literally taken off the show and Dom heading offscreen to beat him up. What becomes of someone like that? Thanks to former Bungalowhead Roman Kemp and the promotional trail for their 2022 tour, we found out.

ALSO...

1977: Slade's Gypsy Roadhog, a song about a cocaine dealer inspired by their American tour, is with a handful of subtle changes performed on Blue Peter, before the BBC realise and ban it. Which is a shame, as the setting of the performance is definitely something.

1981: Muhammad Ali makes his fourth and last appearance on Parkinson. Parky's other guest was Freddie Starr, whose routine Ali apparently so enjoyed he invited Starr into his entourage for the rest of his trip.

1983: and so the breakfast television era begins. It's odd to think of BBC1 being all pastel shades and sofas while two weeks later ITV dealt in hard news gathering, but the tale is that TV-am had expected to fight fire with fire only to find they'd been undercut. Breakfast Time, then, with kindly Frank, glammy Selina and third wheel Nick Ross, who denies that the form is "decadent". Ten minutes in there's a series of good luck messages from the sets of overseas versions followed by Jane Pauley of NBC's Today to explain to us and them exactly what morning telly is. The famous Green Goddess ("bear in mind Diana is 43 years old") routine at Waterloo is very early on at 6.50am (or 24 minutes); by 8am early actual reaction has made it to the news headlines, after Norman St John Stevas reviewing the papers has read out a story about the reaction to the live programme he's on and how all its viewers are stupid. In the studio Michael Foot promises to do his best to watch, Harry Secombe talks about his weight loss and compares protruding stomachs with Russell Grant, Leo Sayer marvels at the early start, the editor of the Sunday People explains why Diana should just grow up and get used to it, "resident gossip columnist" Christopher Wilson marvels at the craze among the young for, er, barn dancing, Glyn Christian is in a bakery, Bruce Hammal previews the BBC's day, while out on location Andrew Hardy braves the snow drifts of Perth to meet a pearl fisherman. By the time the cake and champagne arrives they've earned their stripes. Just in time, the celebratory champers goes everywhere.

1985: Assaulted Nuts, which began on Channel 4 tellingly late at night after a US run on Cinemax the previous year, was a hands across the water co-production with British writers and a part-British cast, namely Tim Brooke-Taylor, Cleo Rocos and Daniel Peacock. Rocos' involvement/regular paucity of clothing gives away that it betrayed an Everett influence (and that of Benny Hill, because it was a British comedy made by American producers), hardened by the writing team including Barry Cryer (who makes onscreen appearances) and Ray Cameron alongside Andrew Marshall, David Renwick and a whole host of recognisable comedy writing names supplying additional material. These are the first six episodes, before Brooke-Taylor was replaced by Emma Thompson. Note one sketch features William Sadler as the Grim Reaper years before doing the same with Bill & Ted.

January 18th

40 YEARS AGO

Channel 4 rightly supported Desmond Olivier Dingle, surely one of Britain's greatest artistic minds, from near enough the outset and brought to the small screen The National Theatre Of Brent's Messiah, telling the greatest story ever told and how they done that with his company Wallace (Jim Broadbent) and backing group Mrs T (Lee Trevorrow), once she arrived from the delayed change at Reading.

Sportsnight looks back on its history on the occasion of its 500th programme, including chats with Sebastian Coe, Mary Rand and Bob Willis.

30 YEARS AGO

Here's something you don't often see, television acknowledging onscreen what's happening in its own business as Anglia News reports on its takeover by Meridian.

ALSO...

1973: Comedy Playhouse exhibits Elementary My Dear Watson (part two, three), the great absurdist playwright N F Simpson's vaguely logical at best take on a Sherlock Holmes story with John Cleese and Willie Rushton, with Bill Maynard as Moriarty in drag, Josephine Tewson, Chic Murray, John Wells as Edward Heath and a lengthy diversion into an episode of Call My Bluff.

1978: George Melly in 'The Journey' or The Memoirs of a Self-Confessed Surrealist'. Yes, it's Arena. Alan Yentob directs and the Stranglers are in it, apparently at Melly's request.

1982: Iain Johnstone, who took over Barry Norman's chair for a year, talks to Jack Nicholson in a Film 82 Special just before the release of Reds. The interview ends with Nicholson taking a private phone call.

1983: Paul Watson, who was responsible for The Family, broadened his scope in Vox Pop by eavesdropping on the thoughts and feelings of a selection of the residents of Darwen, Lancashire. It is, as hinted, uneasy viewing in places, and not just the postcard punk or the local jeweller exercising in his Y-fronts.

1992: yet more gallery talkback, this time Motormouth where all concerned have the added challenge of having to work around Frank Sidebottom and his special effects. "The bus is going to go over!" If you want to see it clean it's at the start of the programme, followed by old gramophones, wildlife filming, Daniel Newman from Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, sadly muted Kylie and Cicero, and Steve Johnson threatening to chop up worms.

January 19th

50 YEARS AGO

The Pallisers, of which these are the first three episodes, was the big old epic series' big old epic series, a 26 part take on Anthony Trollope's series of novels on Victorian politicians and aristocracy that became known as 'Son Of Forsyte' given they both covered a long time period of the same family and starred Susan Hampshire and Martin Jarvis. The scale was even more blown up as broadcast lasted ten months beginning to end due to a combination of balance during the two general election campaigns, the three day week and industrial action that ended up delaying the final two episodes for five months. Still, while no Forsyte it made such an impact that Harold Wilson referred to a defecting peer as using "a script partly written from The Pallisers".

40 YEARS AGO

The Awakening would be the final Doctor Who story in the classic two-part 25 minute format. In it Tegan's grandfather goes missing during a Civil War re-enactment, nearly all unknowing of the evil entity in the church that the Doctor finds in the company of Beryl from the Liver Birds.

Andrew Marshall and David Renwick's latest unlikely prime-time sketch show for ITV's London area was loose horror spoof The Steam Video Company (part two), playing wild abandon with film tropes in the company of William Franklyn, Barry Cryer, Anna Dawson, Bob 'it's Bob Todd in a gas mask' Todd, Madeline Smith and Jimmy Mulville.

The second great David Attenborough series in the Life cycle, The Living Planet begins in the world's deepest valley before heading to an Icelandic volcano eruption that all concerned had to wait two years for to explain what happens when tectonic plates shift.

30 YEARS AGO

Hello sir! The Day Today delivered its ultranews all over BBC2 for the first time, as trailed in advance and plugged by Steve Coogan on The Big Breakfast that morning with Zig & Zag, when they and Danny Baker finally notice he's there. And if we're getting this mighty series out of the way in one entry, here's another playlist for all the preview Mini-News of leftovers. Those are the playlist links. God, we wish they weren't.

You'd have thought five years into his wry travels Clive James would have filed a Postcard From New York already. The people showing him round are much as you'd expect - a bodyguard, a beautician and assorted socialites including Ivana Trump, another of which takes him clubbing.

ALSO...

1982: one of the most famous of all the Arenas, in which Alexei Sayle, Magnus Magnusson, John Betjeman, Tom Robinson and assorted owners and staffers reveal The Private Life Of The Ford Cortina, which had six months left on the production line.

1985: Noel Edmonds returns to his former domain under new ownership, Saturday Superstore, where he doesn't get on so well with Sarah Greene while conversely Mike Read offers him a holiday deputisation.

1988: Open Air (part two; part three) pays tribute to Kenny Everett with the help of John Birt, his BBC producer Paul Ciani and the invariable Barry Cryer.

January 20th

40 YEARS AGO

Jeremy Irvine was hardly a notable Grange Hill character, having appeared three times in the 1983 series and three in this one before now having been suspended for forging bus passes, but the wind-up merchant's drowning after throwing Fay's bangle into the water and trying to retrieve it himself was while not the school's first death still a memorable and shocking moment to come out of nowhere for such a show. Vincent Matthews spent three days filming the scenes and without a stunt co-ordinator had to be kept submerged by holding a weight covered in a white towel.

30 YEARS AGO

A grateful and smartly dressed John Leslie leaves Blue Peter, leaving a ballerina hanging around like a spare part as he does so. Keep watching afterwards, Anstis-ites.

20 YEARS AGO

Just A Minute's nature lends itself to radio, so naturally there have been several attempt to televise it - all, notably, helmed by Nicholas Parsons - through two BBC pilots that faded away like the Minute Waltz, a four week run on BBC1 in 1999, a couple of weeks on BBC2 in 2012, and most maverick of all a late night Carlton series produced and directed by Mike Mansfield that ran for two series. Tony Slattery, Graham Norton, Arthur Smith and Ann Bryson, would you begin?

ALSO...

1972: classed up Pan's People don't so much dance as strut and then sit in a white convertible Rolls Royce to John Barry's theme from The Persuaders.

1979: the reticent charm of Kate Bush on Swap Shop, equating The Man With The Child In His Eyes to the camera crew.

1979: two weeks after the second series of Citizen Smith ended Robert Lindsay made his second and last appearance (only this one survives, and even that was wiped) as part of the Play Away gang, and a high achieving team this was too with Anita Dobson and Julie Stevens joining Brian Cant plus Tony Robinson still lost and clueless somewhere on location. We miss how he's introduced but fortunately not his blues song about eggs, which may well be the immediate influence of the Streetband's Toast, which was a hit two months earlier. The National Sugar Lips Championships sketch afterwards is a joy all round, though we do think if you watch carefully Lindsay cheats.

1981: Omnibus celebrates 25 and a bit years of British TV advertising, with contributions from Nicholas Parsons, Alan Parker, Bob Godfrey, Fay Weldon and of course Boogie Barnes. Patrick Allen does the voiceover as only seems right.

1986: the launch of probably the most successful of the many adverts for the licence fee. (Yeah, we know)

January 21st

40 YEARS AGO

One of the most loved The Comic Strip Presents... stories, Rik Mayall co-writes and stars in A Fistful Of Travellers' Cheques on beautifully realised location in Almeria - and comedy directing veteran Bob Spiers clearly knows his Sergio Leone motifs - as a Spaghetti Western fantasist taking fellow roleplayer/writer Peter Richardson out for a gunfight, with Australian travellers French and Saunders, abusive hotel owner Keith Allen and self-proclaimed mass murderer Edmondson just getting in the way.

30 YEARS AGO

As trailed last week, Fantasy Football League had just moved over from an almost completely different format, excepting the central game, on Radio 5 where David Baddiel and Frank Skinner had been managers in its first series to the 11.15pm Friday night slot and these early days look a bit off, with Statto hardly doing anything and the League taking precedence. Jeff Astle is the subject of Phoenix From The Flames but hasn't yet taken his vocal place at the end so it drifts off into nothing too. Bob Mortimer and Karren Brady are the guests on this second programme.

20 YEARS AGO

Elmina's Kitchen by then Casualty actor Kwame Kwei-Armah, currently artistic director of the Young Vic, had been a sensation at the National Theatre on its way to the West End and was turned into a filmed version with location shooting and the original cast including Paterson Joseph.

ALSO...

1983: The Tube features the TV debut of promising new metal band Bad News, to a noticeably small audience as if someone didn't feel comfortable about the full crowd getting the joke. Unfortunately Jools' interview afterwards doesn't go quite as well.

1987: Points Of View begins with a correspondent issuing 133 "please"s which turns out to be complaining Points Of View itself is too short. Well, they extended it in the Jeremy Vine years, so be careful what you wish for. Noting that the writer of that was from Ballymena, the next two letters are from people criticising the number of Irish accents on TV and how nobody can understand them, which Anne Robinson gives not only the least possible to but, if possible, actual negative shrift. Filthy Rich & Catflap has brought in a postbag that as Anne suggests seems split along Young Ones grounds, as has Neighbours on the grounds that lots of its viewers are now missing it due to being at school. The 9 O'Clock News with its grandest theme follows, featuring the Michael Lush inquest.

1989: The Hitman & Her heads out of its comfort zone of ageing provincial discos and rundown seaside towns by pitching up at The Hacienda at the peak of acid house and getting resident DJ and future M People founder Mike Pickering to do the music for them. Michaela's interviews with punters run aground much as expected, while Pete clearly not having a clue what he's introducing, resolutely not on one, but being wise enough to run with it as something different anyway is a joy.

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