It's time for another look into the increasingly distant past with another edition of Archive Tape Digging, the feature which digs up old programmmes, mind-bending adverts, and curious slices of continuity from Britain's rich televisual history.
It's been a quiet old year on Curious British Telly and, for most of 2024 it's been on hold, with nary a vintage programme passing through my retinas. My mind's been elsewhere due to some health problems, but I'm feeling a bit better now and the allure of that HUGE collection of Betamax tapes I picked up last year has simply been too much to resist.
I've been digging through these at weekends and unearthing the occasional gem, mostly found at the ends of tapes where a film finishes. Sadly, I still haven't stumbled across any episodes of Ragdolly Anna, but I live in eternal hope that I'll hit that particular jackpot one day. But there is lots of continuity, closedowns and a very festive programme to feast your eyes upon.
However, before we get onto the main attraction, a bit of sad news from the world of archive tape enthusiasts. At the end of October, Oliver Ashmole-Day - who ran the Ashmole Day Collection channel on YouTube - passed away after a battle with cancer. Oliver managed to uncover some fascinating programmes over the years and I was delighted, this past summer, to see that he'd uploaded an episode of Ragdolly Anna. RIP Oliver.
1. 18/09/1983 - ITV - Night Thoughts and LWT Closedown
First up is one of my favourite types of finds: the regional oddity. Way back, before the majority of the ITV schedules were homogenised into a national block of uniform programming, there were countless variations between the different ITV regions. Programmes aired in different timeslots and, sometimes, exclusive programmes were produced for individual regions.
Night Thoughts, from Thames Television, is the perfect example of this. Running for several years in the 1980s, it provided a few moments of religious reflection at the end of the evening before the closedown. Admittedly, it's far from thrilling viewing in 2024 - although it may be more engaging for those of a religious outlook - but it still represents an intriguing time-capsule of how television looked back in the early 1980s. And that's exactly what I found here, with this particular edition helmed by Dr A.A.Mughram.
Oh, and as an added bonus, there's also a look at the following day's weather - with a cartoony graphic - alongside the LWT lineup for Sunday evening before, very patriotically, we get to hear the national anthem over a montage of the Royal family. You quite simply wouldn't see anything like this on British television in the modern age. This is EXACTLY why I dig up these old clips.
2. 27/12/1983 - BBC2 - Closedown
We're going to stick in 1983 for a bit - although, to be fair, almost all of the 320 Betamax tapes I picked up last year date from 1983 - and get the festivities started with a look at a Christmas closedown. The following evening's programmes are detailed and, although none of them are remarkable offerings, the true beauty comes in the form of the Christmas ident - a simplistic, spinning set of foil Christmas trees accompanied by a gentle burst of classical guitar. Simplicity is always best.
3. 16/12/1982 - BBC2 - Russell Harty: The Nativity
Perfectly timed for Christmas, this excellent find features Russell Harty getting in the festive spirit by travelling to St Mary's Primary School, Sheffield for a behind-the-scenes peek at their nativity play. Steeped in nostalgia, this programme is a true time capsule of what a 1980s Christmas was like. It's also important to point out that the nativity play featured here is perhaps the most Yorkshire sounding interpretation of the Christmas story ever performed.
4. 25/03/1984 - Channel 4 - 4 What It's Worth Promo
4 What It's Worth is a programme I had no knowledge of prior to firing up my Sanyo Betamax, but now I want episode after episode of it. And all I've seen is a 30-second promo.
A consumer affairs programme, which ran on Channel 4 between 1982 - 89, 4 What It's Worth features a synthtastic theme tune and, once again, represents a treasure trove of insights about life in the 1980s. While features on unpredictable cars and how to save on your heating bills in 1984 are, no doubt, mundane to modern eyes, this is exactly what we want on Curious British Telly. We need to be savouring the real way of life in the past, rather than celebrating some nauseous ideal which never actually happened.
There doesn't appear to be any footage of 4 What It's Worth online, so please get in touch if you've got an episode or two stashed away.
5. 29/04/1983 - Channel 4 - Closedown
In the early days of Channel 4, they had in-vision continuity presenters for the closedown section and it's always a treat to excavate one of these. This particular example features David Stranks on excellent form as he references Channel 4's "resident Triffid" and remarks upon the amount of fan mail it receives. Simple, charming and just what you need before you switch off your television for the night.
As ever, I'm always interested in going through old video tapes from the 1980s, so please get in touch if you have any Betamax or VHS tapes of interest. It's been a couple of years since I searched through any VHS tapes - and my 20ish year old S-VHS player captures a much better picture than my 40ish year old Betamax player - so it would be amazing to look through some again.