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Greg Scott Talks About Life as a TV Warm-Up
Greg Scott is probably best known as one of the hosts of ITV’s Quizmania, but he’s also spent part of his career warming up TV audiences. I caught up with Greg to take a look at this little-known...
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First Impressions: Crown Court
Lunchtime television in Britain is a peculiar beast, prone as it is to serving up peculiar fluff including half the features on Pebble Mill at One, forgotten oddities such as Raw Energy (see the clip I...
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Book Review: Play School Annual (1985)
Back in the pre-internet age, parents knew there was one Christmas present guaranteed to generate a beaming smile from a child: the TV tie-in annual. A cheap, simple purchase, the TV tie-in annual...
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Grange Hill Revisited
Today's post is, drum roll please, a GUEST POST! And it's all thanks to the inner workings of Elly-Mae Gadsby's noggin.As a child I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of television. I am an only child and,...
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Some Vaguely Interesting Loft Finds Relating to British Television
I recently asked my mother if she could search out my GCSE certificates - for some work-related thing - but, unfortunately, she couldn't find them. However, whilst she was sifting through the loft she...
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Mug Review: Doctor Who (1987)
I originally received this rather splendid mug back in the late 1980s, and it provided me with drink after drink for close to 25 years. And then someone broke it. The culprit was never apprehended,...
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Astronauts
What's this? Astronauts? A sitcom written by Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden? And there's more? It was script edited by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais?Yes, that's right, it's not April Fools Day at...
View Article10 Hours of the Chock-a-Block Theme
I was rather bored yesterday, it was Sunday after all, so I decided to do something productive with my time. Not surprisingly, it resulted in a 10-hour video loop of the theme tune to Chock-a-Block....
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Square Deal: Consumer Rights Advice from EastEnders in 1991
I've encountered some curious offshoots of British television in the last 10 years, but one of the most unexpected oddities to land on my desk is easily Square Deal. Produced by the Office of Fair...
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Random Episode: Our Backyard (19/06/1985)
In this edition of Random Episode, Ben Ricketts sniffs out an elusive episode of the mid-1980s lunchtime children's programme Our Backyard.Produced by Granada Television for ITV, Our Backyard ran for...
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Erasmus Microman
Ah, Erasmus Microman! Now there's a television programme I've been meaning to watch for years and years and years! Somehow, despite my love of time travel based sci-fi programmes, I completely missed...
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News at Twelve
Most children, at some point, pretend to put on their own TV show from within the junk-filled confines of their bedroom. At least, that's what they did in the pre-internet age. These days, all they...
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Book Review: Tomato Cain and Other Stories by Nigel Kneale
Being one of British television's most innovative, forward thinking and fiendishly skilled writers, Nigel Kneale needs little introduction to the readers of Curious British Telly. However, whilst we're...
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Cartoon Crackers
Do they still show Looney Tunes cartoons on ITV? It always felt, when I was a child, that all you had to do was wait 15 minutes and, soon enough, Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck would be popping up on the...
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DVD Review: Tales of Unease
Over 50 years since the original broadcast of Tales of Unease, ITV's chilling and unsettling anthology series finally emerges from the vaults to terrify us once again.Produced by LWT, Tale of Unease...
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10 Years of Curious British Telly
Yes, it was 10 years ago today that the very first post on Curious British Telly was launched into the digital stratosphere. 10 whole years of my life dedicated to unearthing curiosities from the dark,...
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NeTWork 21: The Story of London's Best Pirate TV Station
Ask most people in Britain about pirate radio and the majority will know what you’re talking about; the more culturally savvy will even exclaim “RADIO CAROLINE!” with great delight. But ask the...
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The Launch of Sky Channel in 1984
Sky has changed the British television viewing experience over the last few decades, but it started off as a single loss-making channel back in 1984.Turn on your TV and, unless you haven’t paid your...
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DVD Review: Come Back Lucy
Network continue their season of spooky releases with Come Back Lucy, an enchanting, yet equally chilling children's drama which was first broadcast on ITV in the spring of 1978. Not seen on British...
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The Bizarre and Mysterious World of Miri Mawr - An Interview with Dafydd Hywel
G Neil Martin cocks his eye towards Miri Mawr, a Welsh language children's series from the 1970s which has to be seen to be believed - it also helps if you speak Welsh...To non-Welsh eyes and ears, the...
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