The Same Old.. Same Old.. - What the BBC does in 2014

With comes the autumn and the end of year, for all apart what has happened in criminal cases there has been the invention of a new game of BBC bashing. But it is not what you think at all, there have seemed to be more providence then usual this year of the BBC getting it wrong. As viewer complaints rack up over some things which are right to be complained about, we come to the other end of the scale and in particular two incidents.

The commencement of the broadcast of Jamaica Inn, saw a record number of complaints that the actors were mumbling, thinking although this may have been important to the script did not stop viewers thinking they have got complete power to let the BBC know and the social media community bare arms to show their displeasure with the easy situation of journalists just sitting search social networks to take comments and turn them into a newsworthy event. By this the power held by viewers nowadays has never been greater then it ever has been, shows can be stopped by a sustained campaign or just one small piece of footage not shown in the right place can make an ordinary person into public enemy number one.

Significantly this happened with 'Alaskagate' in the Great British Bake Off, even people who don't even watch the programme knew about what had happened with the subsequent events which surrounded it, the theories about what a person had done or not done were flailing around social media such to the level where Sue Perkins decided to have her say on Twitter to say everything was above board with this event. Though it was the BBC who bore the brunt of this effect, with people thinking something like that can be changed instantly. 

But as the saying goes "With great power comes great responsibility" and on both sides this is the case, the BBC will broadcast thing which are seemingly right and the public will have their say on them. It is when the lines become blurred on simple matters, that is when things can go wrong on either side. Opinion will always be there, but when to give it on matter is a case to learn. The simple things can seem quite plain, but for every small voice comes a wave, responsibility is key to match viewers with broadcasters. Now broadcasters ask viewers what they want, where as they used to give it to them. From entertaining has now turned into a constant need to inform, too much information can confuse somewhat. In a typical Monday to Friday schedule on BBC 1 for instance, generally there are only about three or four programmes per week which actually entertain and the most of the time is informing the viewer. The Reithan model has been written large, but is it right still to be doing this?

ITV for all its commercial needs has seen a shift to more entertaining programmes in the past year, to prove popular and populist. With Peter Fincham at the helm, it is not surprising at all to see this. As not a person who came through an independent production company, he has shown his touch to know how the public want to be entertained and thus they are slowly gaining on BBC 1 and starting to pass them. For all the complaints that ITV has gone downmarket, hasn't it always been the combination of both? In the early 1970's On The Buses sat next to Upstairs Downstairs, but isn't that the case with ITV's current entertainment output and Downton Abbey.

BBC 1 will not be able to do this and compete until something is changed and the move from promoting people from the factual department goes away. With factual people comes an obsession with information, but BBC 1 does not need this as it is a 'General Entertainment' channel just like ITV is, but with the wonder-kin Danny Cohen overseeing all the BBC's television output much like Mark Thompson did, it restricts themselves from doing anything at all and forms a reliance on the same programmes. They maybe pleased with the Great British Bake Off right now, but when it has peaked and it will. Where do they go from there? It says it all that one of BBC 1's most popular shows came from BBC 2 and is produced independently. Where as in-house production has stalled, no wonder Tony Hall just wants the BBC to be another production house.

All Tinsel and Turkey... Christmas night in the Stars of BBC and ITV...

Christmas brings many things, presents, food and television in abundance. As the schedules have been released for this year the usual soaps and also big hitting programmes dominate, but it wasn't always like this. At one time there was a one stop shop to see all your stars in, the BBC coming together if you will. The show which dominated the big day itself for more than fifteen years was Christmas Night with the Stars, a place where the stars shone so bright and you could get the likes of Cliff Richard rubbing shoulders with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. Usually in ten minutes sections of

the most popular sitcoms of the year, the best light entertainment shows and the biggest stars. This was a show of might by the BBC to show the viewers their selection box of personalities.

The first show in 1958 was hosted by magician David Nixon, performing tricks himself as well, the line-up was a stellar one with the cream of British comedy appearing in sketches such as Ted Ray, Charlie Chester, Charlie Drake combing with future stars Tony Hancock and Kenneth Connor, the nature of the show meant that Dixon of Dock Green appeared with Billy Cotton and also the Beverly Sisters performing, though the interest comes in the cast with future Benny Hill writer Dave Freeman performing with Charlie Drake and the writers of the show reads like a who's who of comedy writing. The partnerships of Galton and Simpson are there with Muir and Norden plus Charlie Chester as well. This was the cream of the talent the BBC had, meaning something was there for everyone. To say that the BBC wanted to get a march on the fledgling ITV franchises was an understatement, though this showed ITV on the biggest occasions that the Beeb were willing to fight for their audience. Plus with the Light Entertainment department getting new directing and producing talent into their ranks, this would set the BBC up for the 1960's.

With the BBC's intentions clear to fight for the audience which was out there, the sixties was to be a decade which would change light entertainment for ever. A decade of pushing the boundaries, where Britain would change in itself. At the start of the decade with the opening of the new Television Centre in 1960, one of the newest purpose built television studios in the world. The raising of the standard, made the programmes even better. The first show of the new decade featured Sid James from Citizen James, Harry Worth on film plus regulars David Nixon and Jimmy Edwards. It might seem the programme had hardly changed at all, but by 1962 Eamonn Andrews has taken on the role of presenting The Black and White Minstrels, Dixon of Dock Green and The White Heather Club. But backing these favourites up were two shows which were new and were to show the BBC had started to change in its comedy output. The Rag Trade starring Peter Jones, Reg Varney with support of Miriam Karlin and Esma Cannon, the show had been on the air since 1961 but 1962 was the first time when the honour of appearing on the biggest show of the year was bestowed on it.

By 1964, the programme had moved away from including shows with a dramatic narrative. So Jack Warner became the host as Eamonn Andrews had moved to ABC, but the focus was more about the light entertainment stars. The Black and White Mistrels were present with Billy Cotton, the traditional had there place in there but with pop starting to rule the roost, the show acknowledged this with appearances from Kathy Kirby and The Barron Knights. Two stars who were to become two of comedy's biggest stars performed sketches in the form of Benny Hill and Dick Emery, their comedy seemed the same by the end of the decade Hill had moved to Thames Television and Emery was still present on BBC1. Though with comedians there was a place for the all-round entertainers as well, Roy Castle being one of them. The future Record Breakers host had his own show, singing and dancing showing off his talents on a weekly basis, Castle was very much a British 'Sammy Davis Jnr.' , though his career though bubbling along didn't hit the heights as many people thought he would do at that time. Alongside Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd, Freddie Frinton and Thora Hird performed a shortened version of their sitcom Meet the Wife, but 1964 also saw the launch of BBC2 and one their biggest comedies which had been repeated on BBC1, The Likely Lads was asked to film an insert for the programme with Rodney Bewes as Bob and James Bolam as Terry reflected on the Christmas season in their own inimitable way. It was a sign that a new wave was sweeping through light entertainment.

Come the end of the decade, with the new ITA franchises in place and the BBC looking towards newer talent, it gave the 1968 a new fresh look which would start the new era of light entertainment at the BBC. In this year, the show was a powerhouse, the host being the newly arrived from ATV, Morecambe and Wise hosted the programme. Just having Eric and Ernie on Christmas Day was a bonus, allowing them to perform at their best, though the supporting cast was one which the BBC could be proud of. The personality led variety show had come to define light entertainment by the end of the decade, ITV had led with the Tom Jones show but the Beeb could count on Cliff Richard to do pretty much the same job but in a more boy next door style, the might of pop was important to the very important teenage audience so both Lulu and Petula Clark were included too. Both performers would go on to have their own personality led variety show the same as Cliff Richard with in the next five years following the programme.

Though the biggest star the BBC could offer was Rolf Harris, this antipodean bundle of many talents had his own show on a Saturday night inviting the top singing stars of the day, performing dance routines with Duggie Squires' Young Generation containing a future Blue Peter presenter in Leslie Judd and future Light Entertainment executive who would put his own mark on the genre in the 1990's, Nigel Lythgoe. Add in the combination of jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, comedy from Marty Feldman and with new to that year comedies Not in Front of the Children and more importantly Dad's Army filming sketches for the programme, it is little wonder what the new ITV companies did for 1969, they thought back. They launched the All Star Comedy Carnival, taking the best of what ITV had to offer from all the regional franchises and showcasing them in one place. That first year one of the main attraction was the Granada series 'The Dustbinmen' featuring a pre-Are You Being Served Trevor Bannister.

With the start of the 1970's, it saw the death of Tom Sloan in May 1970. The head of the Light Entertainment group had been influential in bringing so many shows which would define the BBC's output in the 1960's such as Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Dad's Army, the Val Doonican shows and even Dixon of Dock Green. His influence over the BBC's biggest department meant that he could persuade the performers to make appearances on Christmas Night with the Stars, but all backed up with his team behind him like Stewart Morris, Yvonne Littlewood, Roger Ordish, Terry Heneberry, Michael Hurll and most importantly Bill Cotton Jnr. Cotton Jnr. himself had been a producer for in house BBC productions since 1956 including his own father's Band Show, so he was the natural choice to take over the role. The 1970 cavalcade of stars had Cilla Black appearing with Dick Emery, Terry Scott, June Whitfield and Stanley Baxter. But the star power the show had meant, Clodagh Rogers could be seen alongside Nana Mouskori, Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis contributing to give a transatlantic feel but none could top an appearance by Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra that's without noting the 'Galloping Gourmet' Graham Kerr as well. This provided a combination of laughs, music and even cooking as well, all the things for a perfect Christmas party.

So with this wealth of talent on the one programme, what could ITV do for their All Star Comedy Carnival of that year? Well, at 6.30pm, the programme started with the mixture of The Lovers with Paula Wilcox and Richard Beckinsdale, Hark at Barker meant that Lord Rustless would get a place in the Christmas schedules for Ronnie Barker, the Doctors in the House were there from London Weekend with the jokes coming thick and fast from Yorkshire Television's Jokers Wild with Barry Cryer presenting and his future Kenny Everett writing partner Ray Cameron on writing duties. To add in variety, Des O'Connor brought a snippet of his own show with Des singing, even down in Weatherfield there was a seasonal visit to Coronation Street with the regulars of the Rovers Return pondering about the festive season in a especially written mini-episode. This of course pre-cursing the days when the soaps and their story lines would become a integral of the Christmas Day schedules. All linked together by Max Bygraves and with musical accompaniment from Geoff Love and his orchestra as well, even popular BBC sitcom stars Warren Mitchell and Rodney Bewes turned up on the programme. Though it is surprising that the programme that followed the show On the Buses wasn't part of the comedy carnival itself with it being one of ITV's top rated shows at the time, but maybe keeping separate from all the other shows meant the rest of ITV's comedy and entertain could be showcased without them being overshadowed by a mini-episode of such a popular show. On reflection, ITV's effort may have seemed weaker in comparison for that year to the BBC's effort but it did offer an alternative to the BBC though.

1971 saw more change with the BBC's Light Entertainment department bringing new shows to their schedule with the Generation Game, Parkinson and the Two Ronnies, Messrs Barker and Corbett being reunited with each other. Bill Cotton's stamp was firmly on the department now, but come Christmas Day the stars were rolled out once again including mini episodes of Dad's Army, Till Death Do Part sharing the limelight with efforts from Lulu and her show, Mike Yarwood making an impression on the audience both in the studio and at home. It was a show of force once again from the Beeb, but ITV counteracted pretty much with the same shows of the previous years but with the inclusion of The Fenn Street Gang and Please Sir! Which they had left behind, Father Dear Father came from Thames and Lollipop loves Mr Mole from ATV. Plus Les Dawson made a mini-episode of Sez Les which was doing great business for himself and also Yorkshire Television as well. Mike and Bernie Winters hosted this year, they themselves had made a contribution of a music item with Opportunity Knocks' Hughie Green on trumpet/guitar, ITN newsreader Gordon Honeycombe on sax, illusionist David Nixon on double bass, Eamonn Andrews on trombone and the whole of the World of Sport team providing the rhythm section, plus Mike Winters playing the clarinet. This is one of those occasions where you wish the footage has not been lost, just to see this spectacle. Not only for the sight of Dickie Davies on drums or the fact what song they actually played, with the Christmas TV Times of that year handily saying it would be an old favourite.

But with this chance at the BBC came a new policy to do with Christmas television, all the stars who had roughly ten minutes to showcase themselves and their programmes during Christmas Night with the Stars seemed such a tight time to do so. So it was that 1972 was the last Christmas Night with the Stars for another twenty four years, introduced by The Two Ronnies after their success with the own show in the previous year. As in previous years Dad's Army and Mike Yarwood did mini-episodes of their own shows, with this year two additions to the line up of The Liver Birds and The Goodies, themselves fresh from their own success on BBC2. Plus Lulu appeared as well as The Young Generation with this year Nigel Lythgoe being credited as the choreographer of their dance routine, the credits for this show read like a who's who of the BBC Light Entertainment department, the Two Ronnies directed by Terry Hughes, Dad's Army by David Croft, Jim Franklin producing The Goodies as well as Michael Hurll and Sydney Lotterby. In addition to both musical directors Ronnie Hazelhurst and Alyn Ainsworth and a stellar list of writers including Michael Palin and Terry Jones, Barry Cryer and Neil Shand to name a few. This was the way to go out, as from 1973, the Christmas specials would out on their own and longer then before. The BBC worked out that each show could do even more by each production

being able to work on their own efforts, thus focussing the talents of the crew, the writers and the performers. That idea was to have massive success as the Christmas schedules of the BBC would continue to dominate for many years to come.

The swansong for the All Star Comedy Carnival would come for ITV in 1973, up against the BBC's new style Christmas Day schedules. They could offer Jimmy Tarbuck in a mock house with the going on with Man about the House, Les Dawson making another appearance with Sez Les, My Good Woman from ATV and Billy Liar from LWT plus Spring and Autumn from Love Thy Neighbour's Vince Powell. But not even the might of the Wandsworth School Choir and Fyfe Robertson could overthrow BBC1's offering. So it was not surprise that after this year's edition that ITV took the same approach as the BBC of pitching the best of their shows up against each other, for Christmas Night with the Stars, the style of that programme was used for the Funny Side of Christmas in 1982. Again the best of BBC comedy all in the same place and with revivals in 1994 on BBC2 featuring the likes of Steve Coogan performing and again ten years later in 2004 presented by Michael Parkinson, but this version seemed more like an extend version of his chat show. For the All Star Comedy Carnival, the idea has not been revived by ITV and looks likely not to be any time soon.

Some people may say that these programmes, maybe they were of their time. But however without them we would not have got to the Christmas Day schedules today, they were the first to introduce soaps on Christmas Day, they were the first to have the leading comedies of the day back to back, they were the first to have top variety in the same place and they were the first to introduce new comedies to a wider audience. Whatever way you want to look at it, Christmas would not have been brighter places without them.

"Coming up after this break.." The story and art of Continuity Announcing from those who have done it themselves

For all of its changes in presentation, style and even with new channels launching all the time, there is one thing that stays the same and has done since day one of television itself and that is the continuity announcer. But these people are lot more then just informing viewers of what may be coming up on any given channel at one time, the actual art of continuity is something to behold itself.

The earliest days of television saw the announcers themselves become celebrities themselves, but the idea of continuity announcing was seen as continuation of what people would have been used to say at a music hall or a theatre where a compère would announce the next act. Where as television was an extension of this theory, announcers were used to announced what act was coming next, a procession of items rather then programmes meaning there could be a singer with a cookery item in the next bit. Their job would be to sometimes to list the whole evening's programming in one slot, so that viewers knew what would be coming up during the evening, sticking rigidly watching the little box in the corner bringing themselves entertainment.

With the constant appearances in-between the programming, the faces doing the announcements became more and more recognisable, the first voice being Leslie Mitchell announcing on the 2^nd November 1936 debut of the BBC's television and uniquely as well he was the first ever voice heard on Independent Television in September 1955 launching Associated-Rediffusion. Mitchell himself had been a trainee stockbroker and because of his good looks and rich voice started to get him parts in stage productions. As we'll see later, certain things can have a way of making a strange fate for people and how they became continuity announcers.

Carrying on with Leslie Mitchell, he started appearing on BBC Radio in 1932 and joined the staff at the corporation in 1934 starring as a announcer and producer on variety shows. Come 1936 though he was picked as one of the faces for the new BBC television service, though as war broke out, his voice was used by the Movietone News for their newsreels informing people what was happening during this turbulent time even with this fame appearing in a Will Hay film, The Black Sheep of Whitehall as himself. By the end of the war he sensed that commercial television would eventually come to these shores, Mitchell travelled to the United States to see how commercial television worked over there and particularly the style of promotion used for the programmes and the networks themselves.

All of this came in handy when he moved to Associated-Rediffusion in 1955 becoming their senior announcer and appearing on screen chairing discussions and also having input over the 'talks' department with his previous experience of this coming from being the compere of Picture Page for the BBC. By 1958 he had taken the decision to go freelance allowing him to jointly narrate the BBC's 25^th anniversary of television in 1961 and also presenting Tyne Tees' 'Those Wonderful TV Times' between 1976 and 1978.

Along with Mitchell in the first three announcers on the new BBC television service were Elizabeth Cowell and the woman who at the outbreak of the Second World War made the final announcement that the service would be closing down for the duration and also the opening announcement in 1946, which was "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?" where the last programme before the close the cartoon Mickey's Gala Premiere which had been the last programme before the service had been suspended in 1939.

Such was Bligh fame she would be see somewhat as a daredevil, having been filmed racing around in a motorbike's sidecar and even getting a fireman's lift! These things endured herself to the public and the fan mail came flooded in, even with Cowell the press described them at the time as 'Twin Paragons', Bligh's career much like Mitchell's stretched into the 1970's but in the 1950's she was the presenter of Television for Deaf Children seen as a forerunner to Vision On and was also a presenter on Thames Television's Good Afternoon as well, similarly moving across to the London ITV company much like Leslie Mitchell had back in the mid-1950's.

The early days has established continuity as a key factor in television's make up with some many names coming through it to become presenters in their own right such as Michael Aspel and Anne Greig as well, both starting announcing the programmes eventually becoming the ones who presented them. Memorably Sylvia Peters is another name who became a familiar face to the public during post war times, the BBC themselves had their announcers in-vision at the time allowing the public to see a familiar face night in, night out. The sense by the mid 1950's that ITV was using more voices out of shot over their each companies branding meant the BBC had to change and slowly by 1963 when one of the last recorded in-vision announcements at that time leading into that year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Though there was still in-vision announcing on ITV but out of vision continuity on BBC and ITV were becoming prevalent as the battle for viewers was hotting up, for example some ITV companies making a conscious decision to have only out of vision announcements with presentation consisting of slides and identities. BBC 1 and 2 had disappeared behind their identities with announcers being in voice only, however with ITV being made up of a regional system, each company went for a different approach to this. Here it was that the regional faces became celebrities in their own right as former LWT and Channel 4 continuity announcer Trish Bertram explains “I started at a time when working in-vision was about to change. Back then, my senior colleagues had a modicum of fame, were invited to open fetes, etc. and received a lot of fan mail. Such is the power of television.”

Trish had an unusual route in becoming a continuity announcer, she takes up the story herself “I blagged my way in! No radio or acting background and only a small awareness of television. I was a theatre struck teenager. I went to the Central School of Speech and Drama to study stage management and technical theatre and embarked on a career as a stage manager, finishing up at the National Theatre. The job included having to make the backstage and front of house calls ("The curtain will rise in .....3 minutes" ). A lot of actors would remark on my deep tones and suggest that I 'did something' with my voice. I knew I didn't want to be an actress - I saw too many talented ones struggle to earn a living. Then my fellow student and flatmate from my course at Central wrote to me and said she'd got a job as a continuity announcer at Westward Television . 'You were the one with the unusual voice' she said, 'why don't you have a go'? That friend was Fern Britton and she put the idea into my head.”

She continues “After that, I started paying more attention to television and the people who linked the programmes. I made a cassette tape at home and sent it to the BBC and around the ITV network. ( There were no satellite and digital channels in those days - no Channel 4 or 5 ) I still have my rejection letter file to this day!”

But for Tony Currie, the former Scottish Television and current BBC Scotland announcer had a more conventional route into the job himself “I started in radio – running my own attic radio station at the age of eleven, and having produced and presented a weekly show on KPFK in Los Angeles, I was first voice on radio Clyde when it opened in 1973. STV literally poached me from Clyde in 1976.”The route of radio and acting seemed an obvious route to go when thinking about becoming a continuity announcer, though for current STV announcer Derek Smith his ambition had shown from an early age “I grew up with Grampian and STV and wanted to be a Continuity Announcer for either station from about the age of fourteen. Both stations were very different in styles of presentation.

I wrote to Kennedy Thomson in 1982 who was the Senior Announcer at Grampian and he Invited me to the studios to have a look round and I met him and fellow announcer Lesley Macleod she was on duty that evening .I was so excited about my visit to Grampian and I have to admit it was everything and more that I dreamed of. Meeting Kennedy and Lesley and seeing the continuity studio was just the most amazing experience. I was quite shocked at the size of the studio though I didn’t realise it would be so small.

I had also written to STV’s Senior Announcer Tony Currie at the same time and he very kindly Invited me into STV to spend the whole day with him again it was a great experience that would shape my future. Tony bought me lunch took me on a tour of the whole studio complex at STV and he also let me sit in the hot seat it was just a dream come true for me I remember seeing the STV clock and being shocked that the STV logo in the continuity studio was attached to a piece of fishing gut! Another highlight was meeting Paul Coia who was the late shift announcer. I remember Tony escorting me out of the studio and I just didn’t want to go! It was overwhelming to walk back into Studio E at Cowcaddens twenty three years later to start announcing for STV.

Tony advised me to get some experience in Hospital Radio which I did at Stracathro Hospital near Brechin. I only went there twice though as I lived in Perth and it was quite a distance to travel. I had no aspirations to be a DJ or an Actor and the announcers that were at Grampian and STV all came from those backgrounds.” But Derek's route was just like Trish's one unsual, he continues “So I went off in another direction I joined British Airways as Cabin Crew I still had my continuity dream though. To cut a long story short and moving on a decade. I found out Grampian were looking for a Continutiy Announcer in 1995. I applied got all the way through to the second set of auditions and down to the last three but sadly It wasn’t to be.

However I did get some good feedback from Grampian and the experience drove me forward and put me back on track. I was lucky to gain experience Presenting for BA TV I also did some voluntary news reading at QFM in Glasgow to gain live experience. That lead to me getting my first Continuity job at The Travel Channel in 1999. I was then selected to be on the first team of announcers on The Biography Channel when it launched in the UK in 2000.The same year I joined Radio Forth as a freelance Newsreader .(Whilst still travelling the world for BA as Cabin Crew) For me though the goal was always STV that was my dream.”

Being a continuity announcer can be tough at times, it may seem to the untrained as just a person talking into a microphone but they are there at a moment's notice ready to go live when there is a fault in a programme, the pace and tone of an announcement is always important. Introducing any serious news bulletin or newsflash is sacrosanct, the ability of the announcer to come maybe from an entertainment programme into a news bulletin which may contain news which might be harrowing is one which is important. During significant times the announcer is called on at moment's notice when schedules may need to be changed at the last minute to do live announcing. Trish Bertram remembers one such occasion in August 1997 “1997 - the hardest shift of my life. I'd been on duty late the night before. The news had broken that Diana, Princess of Wales had been in a car crash in Paris. I'd stayed up watching news bulletins when I got home as I knew that this was going to seriously affect work the next day. Went to bed about 0200 after news updates saying she'd been taken to hospital.

The next day my morning lie in was interrupted at 0800 by my boss calling to say that I had to get in straight away. Diana had died. That day I was on air from 0925 until midnight or so and was networked for most of the day until the early evening when everyone went local again with their own announcers. There was no schedule and we didn't know from one hour to the next what we were going to do. Decisions were being made on high as we went from hour to hour .As we were the nominated contractor for the network for the weekend it was up to us to lead the rest of the network and transmit nationally. One of our promo producers and I made up menus slides on the transmission caption generator.

When we knew when we were opting in and out of ITN ( decided as we went along in tandem with ITN) - we just made up 'ITV' slides and found appropriate music to fill the gaps, with me talking over them.

For me it was not only about thinking on my feet but also about finding the 'right tone' . But everyone I worked with that day was brilliant and our presentation management back up were amazing - it was a real team effort. That was certainly the day when I really earned my money.”

For Tony Currie it was another significant moment in history that he will remember “I was on duty on 9/11 – in fact expecting a quiet afternoon shift, a group of announcers were with me and I was filming a private video for the farewell party for an colleague who was leaving. The filming was cancelled and I went straight into the pres suite for the rest of the evening.”

It was both of their professionalism and thinking on their feet at times when the mood of the nation was sombre which saw the viewers through those very hard days, showing that continuity announcing was most key part of broadcasting right to the present day, their skills were able to pull this off at a time when others needed reassurance from a friendly voice as to what was going on.

Though over the years there has always been the choice of if a channel should use in-vision continuity or out of vision, when in the later 1980's most stations decided to use out of vision continuity, it was commonly thought apart from a few ITV stations and other channels that the days on the in-vision announcement had gone into the past. With Channel 4 launching in 1982, out of vision announcing was there from day one when Paul Coia launched the station nearly fifty years to the day when the BBC television launched. From the days of Leslie Mitchell, this was something new, this was the future.

At around the same time Trish Bertram applied to one of the most sort after jobs in television which was to find herself at the start of launch of Channel 4 breaking new ground in the process as she explains “Around that time (1982) Esther Rantzen decided to audition for a new That's Life presenting team and hold nationwide auditions. Anyone could apply - no experience required. She was certainly ahead of the X factor with that idea. So I applied. I must have written a good letter as I found myself on a short list of 100 out of thousands of applicants.”

She continues “Then I went through a lengthy audition process at the BBC's Lime Grove studios as the numbers were whittled down. Finally I was down to the last 3 girls for the one female place on the team. In the end I was runner up to Joanna Monroe. It was the right decision as I was beginning to feel I had bitten off more than I could chew. But Esther was brilliant, very encouraging and said I could use her name as a reference in case she could help.

After that I took Esther at her word and wrote back to everyone I had originally contacted, shamelessly using her name. Doors began to open - thank you Esther! One of the companies who replied was LWT. Channel 4 was about to launch in November that year and the ITV network were going to sell their advertising and transmit their commercial breaks in return for their investment into it.

LWT decided that live announcer cover for their C4 breaks would be a wise thing. They were the only company to do this - but they also viewed it as a way to train up announcers for their own output in what would be a relatively low key environment. The job required only 2 or 3 A/Vs ( alternative viewing announcements) per shift, plus the announcer would have to dive in and rabbit on about the TV times to fill the holes if the acr machines playing the comms broke down ( which they did – often!).”

But the announcers are back up by people who know their jobs and help the announcers themselves when things go wrong, they are the Transmission Controllers. These people operate the presentation suite who are responsible for continuity and punctual play out of scheduled programmes. With out of vision announcing, as Tony Currie says “I liked in-vision announcing but although it allowed transmission controllers some flexibility when things went awry, it required slapping on make up, making sure you were impeccably dressed, and knew your script inside out. It’s a lot easier to sit in a pair of old jeans at a desk and talk while you’re in control of the faders!”

As Trish Bertram continues from before about joining the announcing team at LWT “So - I auditioned for LWT and was lucky to be taken on as one of two Channel 4 cover announcers the week Channel 4 launched. I was thrown in at the deep end and learned on the job. Very scary. There were 3 transmission controllers whose brains I picked shamelessly and who gave me a fantastic grounding in television transmission. Malcolm, Jenny and Tony - I owe you a great deal to this day.

Also - as C4's comm breaks were sometimes undersold, the announcer would also be used to read live low budget slide + announcer commercials for local businesses. One I had to read for an Indian restaurant had the tag line : " Ram Parkash Sonderdash - remember the name". And I always have! Another I had to do made a bit of broadcasting history as the first ever 'gay' commercial on tv . It was a 10" slide with live announcer v/o for a London magazine called City Gay.”

This proved that Channel 4 was breaking new ground, in their programming and also their advertisements, the continuity announcer was called on to voice over slides for advertisements, which at the start of Channel 4 was vital to allow the channel to sell some advertising when the Equity union refused their members to appear in advertisements on the channel which similarly happened during the launch of TV-AM during the next year.

But what about moments which the viewers remember the continuity more then the programmes themselves? How does the continuity announcer cope with those moments when it all goes wrong or maybe it goes right and makes unforgettable television? BBC Scotland and former STV announcer Tony Currie recalls one moment of which “Christmas Eve 1984 when a last minute OB link failure meant I had to fill in vision for around half an hour …. Then apologise over hymns as we only had sound …. Then do another six minutes in vision at the end to explain that a gale force wind had blown STV’s microwave dishes off beam. I found the next day that my performance (after I’d read through the TV Times I started singing Christmas Carols and telling jokes) had also been networked. I was told that I’d got three times the ratings they’d expected for the planned Watchnight Service.”

Though for Trish Bertram it was making an unexpected appearance one of the BBC's biggest shows of the year which was most memorable “Well I particularly remember were appearing on Children in Need live from the LWT studio in 1989. In those days television was a bit more relaxed than it is now. I was on late duty that night. We were watching Children in Need on the BBC monitor. ( We always kept an eye on the competition!) The transmission controllers and engineers I was working with had the idea to ring up BBC Elstree and tell them that if they put me in vision, we would have a whip round and send them some money. BBC transmission and the Children in Need production team liked the idea. A bit of furious line repatching and technical jiggery pokery and then I was on - going out on the BBC live from the LWT studio, merrily wishing Children in Need well on behalf of LWT. And yes - we did send them some money! And no, our bosses weren't cross at us arranging this late night stunt!”

Though we should leave the last word to the announcers themselves about what the best thing about being a continuity announcer is, first STV announcer Derek Smith “Xmas day is a big deal for STV with millions of viewers tuning in to see their favourite programmes and it’s great honour to be Invited into peoples homes to introduce some of the biggest shows such as Corrie,The X Factor and Downton Abbey not just on Xmas day though but all year round too and that’s what I love about being a Continuity Announcer.

I also enjoy writing short punchy scripts which reflect each programme I believe creating compelling content is crucial and key in connecting with our viewers. Working in a live situation is also another great aspect of the job as there is nothing else quite like it and there is only the one chance to get it right.”

and finally Trish Bertram “The best experience for me was being part of the transmission and presentation team. It is a collaborative job - you really are part of the jigsaw puzzle - no room for 'egos' or any idea that the announcer is 'the star' of the output. You really aren't! There was always a sense of satisfaction at the end of a shift if things had gone well. Particularly if it had been a tricky one ( eg. an live OB overrun or unexpected events that caused the schedule to change). You really feel as if you have earned your money then and done the job properly. One of my LWT bosses always used to say " I don't pay you for what you say - I pay you for what you do when it goes wrong' ) The other part is that I never stopped feeling lucky that I was, in essence, 'paid to talk' - but, as every announcer knows, there's far more to it than that.”

One thing is certain, they maybe seen to be just talking for money but there is a lot more to the job and lots more people behind the scenes to make sure the programmes get to air safely. Whether its in vision or out of vision, they are the people who link the programmes together and without them the sense of television being just a series of images spliced together gives some humanity to the day's viewing.

"And its Bob's Full House tonight as well.." - Why Bob Monkhouse and Bingo on the Beeb is still beloved after all these years...

Over the past couple of weeks, Challenge has started to repeat one of seminal gameshows to be broadcast on television in the United Kingdom, that of course being Bob's Full House. 

Previously the channel has shown all the available editions of Bob Monkhouse's time on Family Fortunes, so it came as no surprise when they said they had purchased Series One of Bob's Full House. Following on from the success of its purchase of the earlier series of Bullseye as well. This takes the modern viewer back to the day when the gameshow were the kings and queens of the screen. So much so, that at one time BAFTA used to present an award to the best gameshow host.

Going back to the early eighties, all sorts of shows were on the air such as Punchlines where contestants had to match the joke read out by Lennie Bennett to the Punchline given by one of the celebrities opposite them, which in turn could be said that the show also took aspects from one of Monkhouse's former shows Celebrity Squares. Also in the London Weekend Television camp came Bruce Forysth in Play Your Cards Right, the idea imported from the United States' Card Sharks. Though Forsyth wanted to swap with Monkhouse, so that he could do Family Fortunes instead. ATV held their ground and Forsyth along with his Dolly Dealers turned the cards for nearly six years on top of the new millennium revival.

Over at the BBC, the big banker gameshow was Blankety Blank with Terry Wogan but soon to be hosted by Les Dawson in 1984, plus with Paul Daniels coming on the scene with Odd One Out as well. The BBC needed something new and different, when Bob Monkhouse left Central and Family Fortunes in 1983, the next port of call was the Beeb. First of all he presented his chatshow interviewing legendary plus up and coming comedians as well on BBC 2. But the gameshow itch was waiting to be scratched by both the management and also Monkhouse as well.

Though the story of how Bob's Full House came to air is not quite as smooth as the show turned  
out to be. When the idea was first presented by its devisers Terry Mardell and David Moore in 1983, it was a different beast originally called 'Top of the Shop'. From where it actually came from through so many different versions before the final version came to screens on the 1st of September 1984, that thirty-seven revisions were made to get it to the right format with one version even suggesting putting bingo cards in the Radio Times to allow the viewers at home to 
play along with the quiz at home. Which would have made it a sort of national lottery before the idea had been even thought about in this country.

The final format settled on was easy to understand, by cutting down the numbers from 90 to 60 meant that the game could be simplified. The space given was taken up with a monologue at the start of the show and the time to allow Monkhouse to talk to the contestants, very much like he had previously done on Family Fortunes. But when it came down to the actual game itself, the simplicity was in the types of questions, part general knowledge but also part fact based as well allowing Bob to do a joke about the question before moving on to the next contestant. 

With the first round for the four corners of the bingo card, it relaxes the contestants into the game by asking them questions individually. Most of these are fun, sometimes silly facts usually of a true or false nature, pretty much almost really easy to get into the game and win the first spot prize. The game itself as a contest starts with the 'Monkhouse Master Card' with each ten numbers referring to a subject with the contestant can choose from on the gameboard. Thus going for a subject which they may know about such as Cooking, for instance with that subject taking in the numbers 11-20 and choosing the number 14 for example. Getting it meant that number was lit on the players bingo card in front of them. Though get the answer wrong and it would be open to all the rest of the contestants to answer, get it right and they could lit a number of a subject they didn't like on the board. Though get it wrong and they would be frozen out of answering the next question if it was their turn or not, more commonly know in the game as being 'Wallied'. Though ever the pro Monkhouse had a catchphrase for the reveal of the subjects "In bingo-lingo its clickety-click... Its time to take your pick of the six!" and also when the subjects were mixed up "Please mix the six, if you'll please..." The style of the catchphrases used by Bob makes the game even more fun then it already is.

The final part of the game where contestants are aiming to light up all the numbers on their bingo card ramps up the excitement as all the contestants try to answer the questions quick fired by Bob to them all the time. Every so often he reminds the audience and the viewers at home of the situation of play with the refrain "Boggenstrovia neeeds seven for a full house, Rob neeeeds four..." etc. Again making the game flow as natural as it can, seemingly making the last part of the main game almost exciting as the actual game of bingo itself whist waiting for the final number to come out of the bag for a big prize. The moment is as thrilling as anything ever experienced on television before, not knowing who will win at all. 

Once the full house is completed then finally its time to play for the big holiday and the chance to win money to go with it in the Gold Card round. The uniqueness of this round is not only the time limit of two minutes to answer the questions, but also the number of questions to do it in, fifteen to be precise. Seeming easy, but sometimes very difficult. The actual skill is in picking the right numbers to be able to form the letters which make up the place name of the holiday the contestant will be sent on if they find all the letters, but the tension is played to it fullest with the contestant not sure where the letters would be and trying to get all the questions right or have enough to be able to find all the letters at the end. Bob does make play of this with the first letter being reveal such as a 'B' making light of it with the joke "An 'B'... I hope it isn't Bognor!" Though this puts the player at their ease, allowing them to smile and have a laugh at this. Once won, the prize is revealed and the contestant congratulated by Bob to wish them a happy holiday and to say goodnight to the viewers and invite them again to join him again to watch the show next time.

It is Bob's enthusiasm for both the game and the participants themselves which makes the show great, he is one big part of it but its the game aspect which is bigger then anyone. The prizes may seem cheap to us now, the style is different to what a newer generation is used to, but this is why Bob's Full House maybe, just maybe be the best gameshow that has been broadcast on British television. Maybe, you have a different opinion on that. But for me the doors are always opened for you and me on Bob's Full House and I for one am glad that they have been reopened for us by Challenge TV....


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"Thank you for watching.. Ceefax 1974-2012" Its influence and its legacy..

So there we have it then.. Pages from Ceefax has bowed in the UK after 38 years on the air, but without sounding Monty Python-ish but 'What has Ceefax ever done for us?' Since 1974 it was been the BBC's go to service for news, information, sport and weather. Though it was so much more then that, notice anyway and Ceefax would have had its influence in some way or the other.

Starting off with the internet, without Ceefax it wouldn't have been proved that graphical information could be passed through a system to allow the most number of people to receive it as once and be able to look up what they wanted when they wanted to, plus also social media too it gave viewers the chance to write in about opinions and other to reply back to them for them to be published for viewers to see them. Isn't Facebook, Twitter and many other social networks not just a bigger version of this? 

How about television itself? For a start it gave channels another programme for free and rolling news service without the need for presenters, before a time of thousands of channel people would look to see if anything had actually happened since the last news bulletin, plus sports fans as well looking to see the latest football results on a Saturday afternoon, how about the cricket scorecards which would tick over all day during the summer.

Away from the actual information side, Ceefax provided the graphics need by shows for a easy solution with out going to the trouble of producing title sequences. Three of a Kind was a case in point, with this fast style which epitomised the early 80's lust for new technology as the faces of Tracey Ullman, Lenny Henry and David Copperfield were made into teletext art to introduce them plus also 'Gagfax' which pretty much like the jokes on the Fun and Games pages could supply a quickie joke without the need for filming it. Though Ceefax was also used to create the title sequence of the BBC's Formula One coverage, giving it almost an video game type of look adding to the excitement of what was going to follow during the race. 

Every noticed on a BBC game show like Bob's Full House or Every Second Counts when they give away a teletext television set as a prize there's always a Ceefax page of the show's title, they even though of that but of course this lead to secret Ceefax pages not advertised on the title page, they were like a welcome surprise to anyone who found them plus with the engineering page too. It may have been an Aladdin's cave at times, but its like the engineers wanted the pages to be found by the young presentation enthusiast. One marvel I always wondered at was the Advent Calender around Christmas time counting the days to the big day. The sheer detail of what the programmers were able to achieve with such simple technology amazed me, plus also by using the reveal key, a new surprise always waited each day.

If it wasn't for page 177, I wouldn't not have known what was on television that night and as a young child this was amazing to learn what other regions were watching plus also it taught me to read as well. Knowing what BBC North West would have instead of 'Hey Look That's Me!' also how would I know what Spotlight was in the South West and also why in London and the South East they didn't have any regional news before Play School. These small details were important to me, knowing that Ceefax could provide them daily was something of wonder.

The origins of Ceefax came from an idea cooked up in the late sixties, when it was talked about having a static page of information put up on screen during closedown to show Farmers Markets prices or the Financial news such as what the FT share index was doing. So engineer Geoff Larkby and technician Barry Pyatt, were its brainchildren to be able to come up with a text transmission system. Its brief from then director-general Hugh Carlton Greene, was it should be like one page of The Times. An early system called 'Beebfax', with Beeb being a popular nickname for the BBC. It was trialled internally at the BBC  by sending scans of Christmas cards throughout the BBC. But the system was unpopular owing to the sheer amount of noise the equipment made which operating, though Pyatt tried improved the system by using printed circuit boards, it was shelved with Larkby retiring and Pyatt leaving the BBC.

The announcement of the Ceefax system was in October 1972, as that time engineers were developing a subtitling system for deaf viewers. Test transmissions were trialled between 1972 and 1974, building upto its launch on the 23rd of September 1974 when thirty pages of information were broadcast to sets which could receive its signals. This made other broadcasters sit up and notice to develop their own systems such as the Independent Broadcasting Authority to create ORACLE, which started in 1975. But over times as more and more countries adopted teletext, a universal system was settled on in 1976 with them using it to create their own versions of Ceefax and ORACLE.

But now that technology has moved on, most teletext service have been adapted to a new digital television standard or been converted to something new such as the BBC's red button service trying to keep as many of the old Ceefax numbers as was physically possible. Ceefax bowed out at 6am on 22nd October 2012, nearly forty years to the day that the original was first announced. With a simple thank you from the duty announcer on BBC Two, it was gone from our shores. Some versions will be kept for BBC stations abroad such as BBC World. For what influence it had over all those thirty-eight years, it was our first port of call for breaking news, it gave us ideas of what to cook, it made us laugh with daft book titles and it revealed itself to the public as a part of everyone's lives...

Pipkins down at Cockleshell Bay with Mr Spoon (Part Two)

So where did we get to then? Its the early 1980's and it all change with the new ITV franchises coming into effect and even over at the BBC where Watch with Mother is phased out for something new and a new raft of programmes as well.

In late 1980, the new ITV franchises were announced with the biggest being ATV changing into Central Television. With that came new ideas and for Hartley Hare, the end of the line... 


Let's Pretend which used both former Pipkins puppeteer Nigel Plaskitt and also former Pipkins producer Michael Jeans and deviser of Let's Pretend as well, was unique in that it used what it found around to make stories and also letting children use their imagination to create their own stories following on from the programme's end. First broadcast in January 1982, parents were disappointed to see Pipkins being replaced by a new programme but over time the programme grew in people's conciousness not only for the theme but also the puppet caterpillar which would move across the screen in the titles. For some people it would seem almost surreal with the puppet making a squeaking noise as it moved along, with its montage of what had happened during the programme at the end. It lasted nearly seven years until 1988 when once again new shows were brought in to replace it.




Meanwhile over at the BBC, the Watch with Mother strand has changed into See Saw. The See Saw branding was first used in 1980 introduced Pigeon Street, King Rollo and The Flumps to programmes for the under five's. Originally like Mr Benn, King Rollo had been a series of books  for children written by David McKee published in 1979. Seeing the potential once again, the BBC commissioned the books to be animated creating 13 episodes made by King Rollo Films 
which was set up by McKee in 1978. 


The tales of King Rollo, The Magician, Cook and his cat Hamlet were one of the young king exploring through life much like the young viewers at home whilst entertaining them as well. By using the same animation technique as Mr Benn, it gave the programme a bright look almost like a parent would have drawn for their child. With the walking aspect, the characters legs rotating outwards as they walked gave it charm and a look of something which had taken time to create. Much like the simple animations of Firman and Postgate did before this, enabling simplistic animation to become the norm which would used again in Peppa Pig at the start of the 21st century. 


After the 13 episodes had been broadcast, King Rollo Films found a niche area for producing animations for younger children. Towser made in 1982 voiced by Roy Kinnear, Victor and Maria broadcast by ITV in 1983 and The Adventures of Spot made in 1987 adapting Eric Hill's books for television very much like had been done to McKee's one nearly twenty years before that. Such was the success of the animation studio, that it still makes programmes for the under fives, even reviving Mr Benn for Nickelodeon's Nick Jr channel in 2004 with a brand new adventure following McKee writing Mr Benn - Gladiator as a book in 2001. 




Pigeon Street which like Mary, Mungo and Midge was set in an urban settting. Where as Mary's flat was a penthouse, Pigeon Street was more like an ordinary urban estate with terraced housing and tower blocks. Much were the norm of social housing at that time, Alan Rogers and Peter Lang made the animation who were later to make Rub-A-Dub-Dub for Tv-am. It showed an urban landscape which was real for most children in early 80's Britain. Using the character and their mixture of them allowed something different to what had been seen before, by taking Long Distance Clara and Hugo the Cook, who were cohabiting partners showed that people lived together who might not be married but this was balanced out by Mr Macadoo, his wife and  their twins Molly with an 'M' and Polly with a 'P' as their song went when ever they first appeared on screen during the episode. 


But not only this, the use of ethnic characters as well meant that these programmes were showing that Britain was changing and so the characters in these programmes had to as well. Reflecting the world outside the young viewers windows meant that seeing this changing Britain that they could recognise.


Meanwhile up at Yorkshire Television, they had been invaded by the cat from outer space... Get Up and Go featured Beryl Reid and Stephen Boxer assisting Mooncat in adjusting to his life on earth explaining his new surrounds to him much like a parent or guardian would do to a young child. In a similar vain to earlier shows such as Hickory House, the exploration of a young child's  world. With a tried and tested format of filmed inserts, stories and songs kept the series going for four years even with a change of title to emphasize Mooncat's role in the show and allowed Mooncat to finally dump the Moon Machine in which he saw life outside on and get out into the wide world. Though Beryl Reid wasn't available to film the 1984 series after being offered a role in a major ITV drama, meaning the setting was changed to Mooncat and Boxer living in a junk shop that Boxer was supposed to own. 


The role of Reid was filled by various celebrities playing different roles when they popped in the junk shop such as Pam Ayres, Wilf Lunn, Patsy Rowlands, Kenny Lynch and Pat Coombs later to have her own programme with Ragdolly Anna. Boxer eventually left as well with former Opportunity Knocks winner Bernie Flint taking over Boxer's role with Mooncat even though Boxer's face was on the opening credits still.


With Claridge's move with Roland Rat to the BBC in late 1985 meant Mooncat ended but the format of celebrities playing roles in a shop would be seen again though...


By the mid to late 80's, shows for the under fives were changing with more animations and puppet based shows becoming the norm each trying to compete with Rainbow which by 1987 had been on the air for fifteen years. In the mid to late 80's though two comedy stars were on both sides of the airwaves lending their voices to animated shows. From the BBC came Bertha  
with Towzer's own Roy Kinnear lending his vocal talents to the show, the show made by Woodland Animations came from a line of shows such as Postman Pat made by Ivor Wood. Bertha's purpose was to manufacture varying items but whenever there was a problem, Bertha would solve it. Bringing out teamwork and helping people in the show to the children.


On ITV, a man who had links with Monty Python was already performing in Puddle Lane for Yorkshire Television. Neil Innes, who had previously worked along side the Pythons and Eric Idle in Rutland Weekend Television narrated, voiced the characters, performed and composed the music as well. Where are Pigeon Street reflected a different Britain at the start of the 1980's , The Raggy Dolls encouraged young children to think about people with disabilities and also teaching them about humility as well. With Sad Sack being gloomy and cynical but with a heart of gold, Dotty with paint split on her and being the leader of the Raggy Dolls, Hi-Fi having a stammer after being dropped when being tested, Lucy having limbs which were poorly stitched,  Back to Front having his head round the wrong way, Claude who was dropped out of a box of French Dolls heading for export over the channel and finally of the original dolls comes Princess who is made up of left over material. 


The vast majority of the dolls in their own ways represent different disabilities both physical and mental as well. Hi-Fi having a speech impediment, Sad Sack having a mental illness Lucy having weak joints, Dotty having a birthmark and Back to Front having mobility problems etc. But this is a difference in these types of shows, at the time it doesn't seem obivious like most of  these shows, they are dealing in social issues behind the background of animations and songs.  



Where as The Raggy Dolls brought an understanding of physical disabilities to the screen, Granada's Tickle on the Tum brought the everyday local shop to the screen, familiar to any young child or parent who would go shopping locally. Ralph McTell who had come from another Granada programme for the under fives, Alphabet Zoo along with Danuschia Harwood in the first series and Jaqueline Reddin from the second series onwards worked in their shop where a local person came in recalling something which happened to them during that week, allowing McTell to play a song on the guitar or either play a song which would be related the story in that week's episode. 


Similar to Mooncat and Co. performers played the local residents who came into the shop, such as Tim Healy playing Barney Bodger, the local handyman or Kenny Lynch, playing the local milkman. Plus Penelope Keith playing the local school bus driver or the late, great John Wells playing a local farmer. These characters helped the plot along interacting with Ralph, Danuschia or Jaqueline, it was a fun series always seeing familiar faces coming into the shop and making good use of performers as well who were established at that time and especially good comic people as well. Before the end of the final series in 1988, McTell went back to his recording career leaving Jaqueline in charge of the shop and to sing the theme tune that McTell did previously. 




By the end of the 1980's lead to the ITV franchises changing again in 1992, meaning saying goodbye to another lot of shows, but with new franchises came new shows such as Meridian getting in on the slot with Wizadora. Wizadora, the trainee wizard performed the usual role of being the main performer with her friends Stan, the local shopkeeper played by Brian Murphy and Tatty Bogle, a scarecrow who was more bumbling then dim witted played from 1993 to 1994 by Joe Greco  and from 1995 to 1998 by later to become the main anchor of CITV and future Dick and Dom in Da Bungalow producer Steve Ryde, himself a alumni of the Central Television Workshop in the early 1980's. 


Taking elements from other shows meant that Wizadora followed in a long line of shows which is continued by both Cbeebies and Mini CITV for the terrestrial channels as well as plenty of other digital channels. 


Television for younger children maybe seen by some people as stunting their growth, its also a part of growing up no matter what their age is. From the grandparents of The Woodentops, the parents of Pipkins, the Uncles and Aunties of Pigeon Street and King Rollo to the children of Wizadora. Thanks to DVDs, that we no matter what our age can still see them and show them to the next generation too...

Pipkins down at Cockleshell Bay with Mr Spoon (Part 1)...

You may think "Now that's an odd title for a blogpost..." But in a way, our earliest memories of television watching comes from puppets and their human friends. I'll admit, my earliest memory comes of watching Cockleshell Bay eating cheese and pickle sandwiches as a very young avid viewer. I know its odd that something as odd as a cheese and pickle sandwich can remind me of that, but it just does.

For as long as we've known it, we been lead on a journey by television through trying to make sense of the world as a young child. Programmes for the under fives do this, in their time dealing with new experiences even touching on death as well. Though with that, escapism play a part in the development of new viewers. Though originally For The Children which was presented by Annette Mills, the sister of Sir John Mills was conceived in 1937 being broadcast in a ten minute slot, with Muffin the Mule becoming the first success of this slot. With this arrangement happening until 1952 when Watch with Mother was launched.

From Watch with Mother's launch in 1952 as an offshoot of radio's Listen with Mother, these programmes have formed formative memories. Created by Freda Lingstrom, this slot was seen to be as a pre Children's Hour programme allowing older children their own programme a bit later in the afternoon. The show such as Bill and Ben, Andy Pandy and Muffin the Mule would have their own longevity such as Muffin being shown upto 1955, just before Annette's own death. Andy Pandy, which its twenty-six episodes had been repeated until just before the advent of colour, lead to the BBC commissioning thirteen new ones in colour and showing this upto 1976. 

None the less, Andy even made a comeback at the turn of the 21st century when Cbeebies brought him, Teddy and Looby Loo back again so a new generation could see them playing together. Similarly the same happened with Bill and Ben and Muffin the Mule being revived for a new audience, meaning that in these classic shows that Grandparents, Parents, their children and their own children could watch together.

As the Sixties drew in new programmes such as the Johnny Morris voiced Tales of the Riverbank, The Trumptonshire Trillogy, The Herbs, Pogles' Wood were added to the line-up not reflecting as such the times outside the window. But one programme, got the atmosphere of that time just right. Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, had been making children's programmes since the 1950's with Alexander the Mouse for Rediffusion being their earliest example of work. Though having to do cut-out animation live was not the most ideal solution for either of them. Their first joint project was to be a story told over and over again, as in 1959 they let the handbrake off Ivor the Engine for the first time. As this was such as success for the fledgling network, that Rediffusion wanted more to made, although Postgate and Firmin thought that Ivor had arrived in the sidings for good.

They offered a new idea Noggin the Nog to Rediffusion as a replacement for Ivor, but much like the Beatles being rejected like Decca, they took the idea to the BBC and six episodes were made, shortly after their success another six were made. Leading to other projects for their new production company Smallfilms to be made for both the BBC and ITV, but it was in 1968 that they took a colourful leap into a new era of programmes for younger children. Taking two ideas which come together to make seminal programme of its age.

The Clangers was the right programme at the right time, with the focus being on the lunar landings and also the new age as well. It was seen as something different to what had gone before, where as series previously had been only earth bound. It took an age old question and made it real, which was "Is there anybody out there?" By taking the situation of lunar exploration let Postgate and Firmin run their imaginations to another level, take on these types of programmes to new levels and to new imaginary worlds. But even The Clangers made it out of their own sphere when Postgate and Firmin made "Vote for Froglet" which was broadcast on the night of the second election of 1974, this was an answer the political unrest of the early 1970's and to be able to convey this to the voters in such a way they could understand it much like a child would.

Over at ITV, with the relaxing of broadcasting hours in 1972, this allowed programme for the under fives to become part of their daily daytime schedule. Allowing each of the big four weekday franchises to provide programmes of their own in different styles. From Thames came  

Rainbow, originally with David Cook presenting with Bungle, Sunshine and Moony. When Zippy came along, they were phased out for George and the pattern of the regulars was completed when Geoffrey Hayes came into present. As such the programme lasted for twenty years, even with revivals the early 90's.

Those as such were memorable, but backing Rainbow up was Indigo Pipkins. Originally based around a puppet maker and his puppets, Hartley Hare was sent into the world on the first day of 1973. With George Woodbridge originally presenting up until March 1973 when during the filming of the second series he died. The following year this was put into the programme, which this had never been done by children's television. Although the subject was repeated in 1978 when a pet goldfish died, leading to Topov the Monkey and Johnny, played by Wayne Laryrea to discuss why did people had to die. When Woodbridge died, the original idea of a puppet workshop was changed to the puppet becoming "The Help People" as suggested they would help people in their daily lives. 

Laryrea moved on himself in 1978 to be replaced by Jonathan Kydd, with him coming the human helper to Hartley and all with Kydd himself leaving in 1980 replaced by Paddy O'Hagan for the final two years. Even the set was given a revamp in 1979, by using techniques perfected on The Muppet Show lead to the set becoming roomier and giving the puppeteers more space to move around in.   

Meanwhile, Granada had gone for different approach in its programme. Hickory House from the outside seemed almost like ITV's own version of Playschool. With human presenters in a mocked up house with puppers, it did have the feel of being able to talk down the lens to children at home, almost one on one... But also had the same sort of thing as Rainbow, Pipkins and other shows, with humans and puppets interacting with each other. But with concept of being based in a house, it allowed household objects to come alive. By setting it in what a young child could recognise as similar to their own surroundings with everyday objects. Encouraging them to build a fantasy world in their own real one, allowing them to learn at the same time. 


Alan Rothwell with fellow Coronation Street alumni Amanda Barrie, Louise Hall-Taylor later present Watch for the BBC and Julia North all presented Hickory House until 1977 when the programme finished, though the programme may have been memorable in itself, it was also so for the Granada Giro 'G' ident transforming into the house itself through animating. Of all the shows for the under fives, it has never been released on DVD much to the opposite of Pipkins released through Network DVD although 129 editions remain in the Granada archives to this day.


For all the puppets and humans, come the shows from left field. One of the strangest has to be Yorkshire's entry into the pantheon of these shows, Mr Trimble. It was first broadcast like the others in 1972, by using the usual mixture of live actors, puppets and filmed inserts. Tony Boden played Mr Trimble whose wife Maureen Sutcliffe worked on another Yorkshire series for schools, My World took the leading part, although Sutcliffe provided some of the voices for the puppets. Based in an attic, Mr Trimble lived with Glug the Goldfish and also a robot for company as well. Though Trimble's look owed more to Mr Pastry, with glasses and a prominent moustache on his top lip, almost like a friendly uncle type of figure to be exact. Its strange combination of elements lead to the viewing experience to be slightly odder for anyone tuning in to catch Leonard Parkin reading the News at One, but this gave it a freedom to be more informal to younger eyes almost they had been invited to visit this man to interact with him. Seemingly almost trusting him in learning new experiences and also being entertained as well.


Though from the mind of John Read, a key part of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation films during the 50's and 60's, having worked on Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet came three series which were to key parts of the schedule in the mid to late 70's. Cloppa Castle was the first of these three, where he took a producing role then came Here Comes Mumfie in 1975 where he was producer/director. 


The Munch Bunch set of books were created in 1979 by Denis Bond under the pen name Giles Reed, after their success Lord Lew Grade through ITC Entertainment commissioned 12 episodes to be made under Read and Mary Turner, the stories were different to the books with Read mainly penning new stories for the characters. The success of those first twelve, lead to another forty to be made over the next four years. The series of books lasted longer then the television show lasting until 1984 with the final episode of the series being shown in May 1982.


By this time with the ITV franchises changing in January 1982, lead to shows coming in plus new ideas as well, though old favourites would still be there on both channels...


Coming up next time...


A King, A cat from Outer Space, Neil Innes in full effect and a ride on the See Saw...


That's in Part Two of Pipkins down at Cockshell Bay with Mr Spoon...

TV Nostalgia - Record Breakers

"What is the tallest building in the world?" or "Who holds the record for putting the most number of underpants on in a minute?" Questions, questions... All vital and sometimes amusing, though from a simple idea of putting the Guiness Book of Records on television came Record Breakers. 


The host Roy Castle would muck in himself, literally. The phrase jack of all trades is understated for Roy, an song and dance man, he transformed himself into a superman by setting three world records himself including wingwalking on a aeroplane across the channel! 


The weird and wonderful nature of the show allowed people to set record by balancing milk crates on their head, making it certainly a very unique way of delivering milk. The set piece record attempts, such as the biggest dance troupe in the world, which was so iconic that it was voted one of the most favourite TV moments of all time, when perfomed  it was so big that it filled the whole courtyard of BBC TV Centre full of tapping feet leaving Castle the only place to perform was a platform on the fountain in the middle, almost literally singing in the rain!


As always though the end theme tune said it all, dedication's all you need. The dedication of the viewers was enough to make sure that Record Breakers was a hit even after Roy Castle's death in 1994. As Roy would have surely said himself "How's about that for blowing your own trumpet, eh?"