TV Cream
Pot pourri
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125…just coming!
Hooray for the fantastic year enjoyed by Adam and Joe – in particular, the growing ubiquity of STEPHEN! and the success of Song...
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1732
‘Heavens woman, yesterday was 24 hours ago!’
An ex-KGB spy has bought the Evening Standard. If only this were 1969, not 2009… [AFTERNOON. INTERIOR. A CAVERNOUS OFFICE LINED WITH...
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1918
“…But was it ever like this?”
That holy trinity of pop anecdotage, Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice and Jonathan Rice, have this to say about 1986 in their book...
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1626
“A couple of tunes by a couple of prongs”
A plug for an album by Adam and Joe, which is available on iTunes from Monday. It’s a collection of their ace...
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1252
“All for just 37 pence a day”
With the BBC having inexplicably slipped back into some kind of mid-1980s crisis of confidence with doubters and baiters on every side...
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34019
“All them programmes is recorded in August!”
Christmas telly, eh? The Great Escape! Val Doonican! Noel Edmonds up the Post Office Tower! Of course, unless you're living in a...
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113
“And not much rhymes with Naughtie, Jim”
There was a great bit on this morning’s Today programme when, as part of their coverage from the Glastonbury Festival, the lead...
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3019
“And on my team this week…”
Seeing as how Daybreak is now officially A Flop, ITV bosses will soon be reaching around for other formats in which to...
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98
“And the outlook is…five more months at number one!”
One of the many things to fall by the wayside along with badly-printed jagged-edged Radio Times pages and Ice Magic have been...
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1939
“And what a great cover…”
We’ll be the judge of that, Gill. The Christmas Radio Times isn’t something that should need calling attention to, least of all...
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1001
“But Ann, this is the Close! This is England!”
Seeing as how the revival of To The Manor Born was so crap, the Beeb needs to start thinking now about something...
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1413
“Cost: under a pound, you know”
Courtesy of Chris Hughes, Jill Phythian and Jon Peake (who, in an alternative universe, would be the current Blue Peter team), here’s...
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1382
“He’s doing some deal up in Baltimore now…”
Inexpicably lost down between the sofa cushions of the latest TV Cream Update, here’s Chris Hughes with… OUR TWENTY BEST TUNESRadio 2’s...
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1625
“I knew it was an offer you couldn’t refuse”
It’s always fun seeing dramatisations of life at the BBC, and last week’s Mary Whitehouse knockabout was no exception. But they’re all...
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1393
“I only popped out for a bit”
It’s 50 years since the first Carry On film was released, and amidst all the justified retrospection and ribaldry, the fact that...
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109
“I’m sorry, there appears to be someone drilling in the studio downstairs”
Broadcasting House is 75 years old this week. The official opening of the second greatest building in the world (after BBC Television...
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292
“It’ll only go on for another six minutes!” – A tribute to Russell Harty
With BBC4 showing an episode of THE RUSSELL HARTY SHOW on Tuesday 20 March, and then ITV1 screening The Unforgettable… Russell Harty...
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220
“It’s a bad programme, and it’s yours”
It's 25 years, give or take a week or two, since current affairs disappeared from BBC teatimes. Sixty Minutes packed up just...
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1313
“Now on BBC1, it’s 5.35pm which means it’s time for…”
…what exactly? When Neighbours defects to Channel Five, just what kind of programme will inherit that all-important pre-news teatime berth? There’s been...
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130
“Please bring back club blue peeter it woz great”
This new book “by” Biddy Baxter comprising pieces of correspondence from the history of Blue Peter is a charming concept, but somewhat...
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1634
“Pwime Minister, pwease…”
Yesterday saw the last ever edition of The Sunday Programme on ITV, and with it the end of political shows on the...
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1554
“Stephen!” “Yes?” “I’m in trouble!” “Just coming!”
There’s already a thread about this on NotBBC, but it’s just too good a subject to pass over by way of a...
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148
“This is Maplins, not fucking Shakespeare In The Park!”
The success of BBC4’s Curse Of Comedy series must surely betoken a recommission. In which case, where better place to start than...
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34511
“Thursday night on BBC1, and…”
Things That Have Long Since Disappeared But Still Make Good Subjects For Idle Conversation #375: defining days of the week with TV...
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1181
“Today, not tomorrow: is it steal, or borrow?”
Ahead of Greg Dyke’s one-off BBC4 documentary on Lord Reith next week, here are five other format ideas, any or all of...
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2412
“Until the autumn, b’bye!”
TV Cream's pick of the best Blue Peter summer expeditions.
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210
“Watched myself in Countdown. It was terrible.”
When it comes to the penmanship of the crystal bucket's finest, you'd surely have to take diaries over memoirs any day. The...
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90
“Well blow me down! Bootlace!”
Sunday’s Shoestring retrospective on BBC4 was a useful reminder of how there’s always been so much potential for a revival, were it...
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1731
“Well, I don’t know about you, but…”
It’s precisely 50 years since the first edition of TONIGHT, the Beeb’s topical teatime tryst helmed by the impeccable, unflappable, infinitely three-piece-suitable...
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1222
“What are you worried about?” “Prices, mainly”
Next Tuesday at 8pm on BBC4 there’s a repeat of Michael Cockerell’s documentary on Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power, and if you...
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148
“What do you want?” “Information – but not too much and not too joyless”
One thing that TV Cream has been waiting for almost as long as the release of Let It Be on DVD is...
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1676
“You’re one step closer to that BBC Acorn computer”
The official BBC Beat The Teacher quiz book, published in 1985, contains some uncomfortably difficult questions. Were these really the type of...
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163
12 candidates. One channel. Sir Michael’s quest…begins.
The Apprentice is losing its lustre. ITV continues to struggle to find new hit shows. An obvious synthesis suggests itself. Next spring,...
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1674
31 Days In May: part 1
OK, so it’s not strictly the first of the month, but there’ll still be 31 days in May come what, er, may....
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1565
31 Days In May: part 10
Another mix’n’match today. Can you correctly pair up the song with the album on which it appears (in position Track 1, Side...
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1515
31 Days In May: part 11
Suggestions, please, as to what’s occurring here:
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1232
31 Days In May: part 12
Last lines of autobiographies, this one. Can you match up the five sign-offs with the correct author? a) Cue Frank FRANK BOUGH...
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24811
31 Days In May: part 13
More morbid stuff today. Which BBC programme was interrupted to announce the death of: 1) The Queen Mother2) Pope John Paul II3)...
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1715
31 Days In May: part 14
Which of these albums had the most number of tracks also released as singles? Madonna LIKE A PRAYERPet Shop Boys INTROSPECTIVEMichael Jackson...
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1483
31 Days In May: part 15
Match the household junk to the Blue Peter Appeal: 1) Used stamps2) Pre-decimal coins3) Silver paper4) Buttons, buckles and badges5) Scrap metal...
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1494
31 Days In May: part 16
Halfway through these now; to everyone who’s contributed so far, many thanks. Today: what’s happening here?
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1322
31 Days In May: part 17
Re-arrange this list of artistes into the order they appeared on stage at Live Aid (earliest first): U2Paul McCartneyElvis CostelloQueenSadeNoel Edmonds
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1988
31 Days In May: part 18
More Radio Times billings to identify, this time from March 1989: 1) Consumer advice, misprints, mishaps and real-life humour drawn from your...
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1647
31 Days In May: part 19
A theme scene today. Which programmes boasted (or in some cases, still boast) these pieces of music as their signature tune? 1)...
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1899
31 Days In May: part 2
A quick one today. Here, in alphabetical order, are the guests on an edition of Blankety Blank broadcast in September 1983. Who,...
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1535
31 Days In May: part 20
Another literary effort today. Who penned these memoirs? 1) Let’s Get Through Wednesday2) It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time3)...
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1676
31 Days In May: part 21
More sequel-itis: What was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite pop song?
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1121
31 Days In May: part 22
Match up the Eurovision winning song with the correct country: 1) Diggy-Loo Diggy-Ley2) Ding-Dinge-Dong3) A Ba Ni Bi4) La, La, La5) Insieme:...
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1362
31 Days In May: part 23
The production team for This Is Your Life used to have a code-name system in operation, to help disguise the identity of...
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1041
31 Days In May: part 24
Which of these are not episode titles from This Life? a) Milly Liarb) You Can’t Make An Omelette Without Breaking Eggc) Apocalypse...