Old TV programmes you liked but no one else remembers

odyssey06 · 31-07-2020 6:38pm

the purple tin wrote: »

I found it, O Mary This London it is called. Not on youtube but

It was part of the BBC Screen Two series of once off dramas.
Some great entries in the series. Dont think they were ever repeated.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Two

odyssey06 · 31-07-2020 6:40pm

the purple tin · 31-07-2020 7:56pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

It was part of the BBC Screen Two series of once off dramas.
Some great entries in the series. Dont think they were ever repeated.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Two

Bummer I'd love to see it again.

odyssey06 · 31-07-2020 9:04pm

Whats funny about watching old shows on Youtube is that I now watch the ads for their nostalgic quality instead of fast forwarding.
Especially if they are American ads.
So cheesy.
Plus if you look closely you can see future stars in clips.

My only regret I cannot purchase the products at the advertised prices.

Purgative · 31-07-2020 9:16pm

Some of Play for Today were excellent:

- Abigail's Party
- Nuts in May
- Boys from the Black Stuff

Also

- Flintstones
- Tom and Jerry
- Strangely an episode of Magpie where Susan Stranks went bra-less
- Z Cars
- The Sweeney

George White · 31-07-2020 9:46pm

The BFI are releasing a volume 1 Play for Today box set, features an Irish-set play, Your Man from Six Counties.

corks finest · 01-08-2020 1:44pm

Purgative wrote: »

Some of Play for Today were excellent:

- Abigail's Party
- Nuts in May
- Boys from the Black Stuff

Also

- Flintstones
- Tom and Jerry
- Strangely an episode of Magpie where Susan Stranks went bra-less
- Z Cars
- The Sweeney

B f the blackstuff execellent, caught that ****e period for employment perfectly, was in the same situation, that and Aufwiedershen pet

NewbridgeIR · 01-08-2020 2:32pm

Purgative wrote: »

- Z Cars
- The Sweeney

Some early 70s Z Cars came out on DVD a few years back but stalled. We also got all the colour episodes (20) of Dixon Of Dock Green. A series that was very underrated and downbeat in its final years.

Currently rewatching the final series of both The Sweeney and Special Branch on DVD.

Arne_Saknussem · 01-08-2020 2:45pm

Something i've not seen in over 30 years and was thought to be lost but a copy has shown up on Youtube in the last year.

The Gourmet starring Charles Gray as a gourmet who's sampled almost everything the world has to offer whose interest is piqued when he's told it's possible to catch, and eat, a ghost.

Think it was shown twice on RTE back in the day.

odyssey06 · 01-08-2020 2:49pm

The unusual subject matter reminds me of an episode of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes called The Horse of the Invisible.
It starred Donald Pleasance as investigator Carnacki.
The plot was as ethereal and bizarre as the title.

Purgative · 01-08-2020 3:00pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Some early 70s Z Cars came out on DVD a few years back but stalled. We also got all the colour episodes (20) of Dixon Of Dock Green. A series that was very underrated and downbeat in its final years.

Currently rewatching the final series of both The Sweeney and Special Branch on DVD.

Yes Special Branch was another decent prog. I also enjoyed Callan.

I did try the new Sweeney (Ray Winstone, plausibleish and PlanB NFW ever) - I only lasted 8 mins.

AndrewJRenko · 01-08-2020 6:50pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Some early 70s Z Cars came out on DVD a few years back but stalled. We also got all the colour episodes (20) of Dixon Of Dock Green. A series that was very underrated and downbeat in its final years.

Currently rewatching the final series of both The Sweeney and Special Branch on DVD.

The Sweeney is on fairly consistent rotation on ITV4 if you have access to that. I'd often record them and watch it as a guilty pleasure. The sexism and racism are hard to believe, but that was mainstream TV in those days.

Hangdogroad · 01-08-2020 8:14pm

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Something i've not seen in over 30 years and was thought to be lost but a copy has shown up on Youtube in the last year.

The Gourmet starring Charles Gray as a gourmet who's sampled almost everything the world has to offer whose interest is piqued when he's told it's possible to catch, and eat, a ghost.

Think it was shown twice on RTE back in the day.

I remember this, I was thinking again about it a few years ago and had it mixed up as an episode of Tales Of The Unexpected.

NewbridgeIR · 01-08-2020 8:28pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

The Sweeney is on fairly consistent rotation on ITV4 if you have access to that. I'd often record them and watch it as a guilty pleasure. The sexism and racism are hard to believe, but that was mainstream TV in those days.

Reflects the time; the comedies of the era are worse though - still very enjoyable though. Both The Sweeney and The Professionals have stood the test of time and even my wife (who normally only watches “modern” tv) agrees with me. I occasionally watch ITV4 but primary preference is to buy the DVDs. I have picked up a serious number of Network titles since 2004. Great label.

Arne_Saknussem · 01-08-2020 9:07pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

I remember this, I was thinking again about it a few years ago and had it mixed up as an episode of Tales Of The Unexpected.

Yeah it's very like an episode of TOTU or the Twilight Zone.

I would have been very young when it wa on so would have been about 1988-89, they definitely showed it twice because i remember outling the plot to my brother while watching it and him telling me to stop talking bollox!

George White · 02-08-2020 12:45am

Hangdogroad wrote: »

I remember this, I was thinking again about it a few years ago and had it mixed up as an episode of Tales Of The Unexpected.

I was part of a group who went looking for it everywhere. A chance encounter with Sir Kazuo Ishiguro's daughter on a DART revealed that even the writer himself had no copy.

New Home · 02-08-2020 1:00am

George White wrote: »

I was part of a group who went looking for it everywhere. A chance encounter with Sir Kazuo Ishiguro's daughter on a DART revealed that even the writer himself had no copy.

That sounds so surreal, I'd love to hear that story!

02-08-2020 1:25am

Clochemerle

Worztron · 02-08-2020 10:07am

Doctor Snuggles (1979)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Snuggles
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081854

odyssey06 · 02-08-2020 11:15am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Clochemerle

Even just for Peter Ustinovs narration.

George White · 02-08-2020 1:42pm

New Home wrote: »

That sounds so surreal, I'd love to hear that story!

Well, I was on the Dart. I heard this English girl across from metalking about writing. And I asked. And she said she was a writer. I asked her name. Ishiguro? "Any relation to Sir Kazuo?" "Yes." And thus I told her that I was a member of a group of people looking for this short he'd written. She knew ofthe Gourmet, but said he had no copy.

rubadub · 02-08-2020 2:01pm

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

The Gourmet starring Charles Gray

The final credit says it was made in association with SPECTRE.

Charles Gray was head of them when he was Blofeld in Bond! I wonder if it was a nod to this and the storyline

odyssey06 · 04-08-2020 9:01am

Charles Gray also popped up in The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as easy living French detective Valmont:

And this is the eerie Donald Pleasance episode:

cml387 · 04-08-2020 10:33am

I want to just do a plug for the Talking Pictures TV channel. It's on Freeview in the UK so should be available FTA here .

It's speciality is old British films mainly , but also a lot of old TV shows from the ITV regions from the sixties/seventies/eighties.

The channel is run by a father and daughter based out of a shed at the back of their house belive it or not.

odyssey06 · 04-08-2020 10:46am

cml387 wrote: »

I want to just do a plug for the Talking Pictures TV channel. It's on Freeview in the UK so should be available FTA here .
It's speciality is old British films mainly , but also a lot of old TV shows from the ITV regions from the sixties/seventies/eighties.
The channel is run by a father and daughter based out of a shed at the back of their house belive it or not.

Alas I don't have a satellite... and I read on another site Talking Pictures are about to show the Lytton series with Peter Bowles as a journalist in 80s London of which I have only seen the pilot

Hangdogroad · 04-08-2020 1:05pm

I just saw something on Nationwide about the Spanish Armada and it sparked a memory of a one off RTE drama aimed at children. I think it was produced to mark the anniversary so I'd say shown in 1988. Main character was a young boy aged about 12/13 in contemporary Mayo or Sligo who learns about the Spanish sailors being wrecked on the Irish coast in history class and there were a lot of scenes set on the beaches there. I think there might have been some kind of supernatural element. The final scene was a Spanish sailor from the Armada struggling in the waves trying to reach the shore and I think calling out the boys name. Maybe he was a ghost, my memory of it is hazy. Anyone else remember this?

Gloomtastic! · 04-08-2020 1:59pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

I remember this, I was thinking again about it a few years ago and had it mixed up as an episode of Tales Of The Unexpected.

Tales of the Unexpected is on SkyArts every weekday at 1pm. Two episodes a day, they’re a bit dated but brilliant stories.

the purple tin · 04-08-2020 2:06pm

A lot of them were adapted from Roald Dahl's short stories weren't they.

Hangdogroad · 04-08-2020 2:53pm

the purple tin wrote: »

A lot of them were adapted from Roald Dahl's short stories weren't they.

Yes, in the early series he used to do these monologues to camera at the start of each episode to introduce the story.

cml387 · 04-08-2020 4:06pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Yes, in the early series he used to do these monologues to camera at the start of each episode to introduce the story.

Which reminds me of an earlier Anglia Televsion production: "Orson Welles Great Mysteries" with a cracking theme tune by John Barry apparently. Something similar (maybe the inspiration for) Tales of the unexpected, thirty minute tales of mystery toppped and tailed by the great man himself

Hangdogroad · 05-08-2020 7:34am

The Signal Box, a one off comedy short shown on RTE in either 95 or 96 with Sean Hughes and David Kelly as two railway signalmen and set entirely in the signalbox. It was a remake of a 1960s version where David Kelly had played the younger character alongside Jimmy O Dea (think this version was long since wiped). I keep hoping someone who recorded it will upload the 90s version to Youtube.

the purple tin · 05-08-2020 7:16pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

The Signal Box, a one off comedy short shown on RTE in either 95 or 96 with Sean Hughes and David Kelly as two railway signalmen and set entirely in the signalbox. It was a remake of a 1960s version where David Kelly had played the younger character alongside Jimmy O Dea (think this version was long since wiped). I keep hoping someone who recorded it will upload the 90s version to Youtube.

That reminds me of when they used to put on spooky ghost stories on Christmas Eve, BBC2 or BBC4 still do somethimes. They had The Signalman with Denholm Elliot a couple of years ago. Excellent.

AndrewJRenko · 05-08-2020 9:14pm

cml387 wrote: »

Which reminds me of an earlier Anglia Televsion production: "Orson Welles Great Mysteries" with a cracking theme tune by John Barry apparently. Something similar (maybe the inspiration for) Tales of the unexpected, thirty minute tales of mystery toppped and tailed by the great man himself

The Monkey's Paw episode scared the pants off a very young me, stuck in my brain for ever. No better man that Cyril Cusack to do the scaring.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0592522/

the purple tin · 07-08-2020 11:09pm

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin with the great Leonard Rossiter.
There was also a so-so remake with Martin Clunes in the role that seemed to sink without a trace.

Hangdogroad · 07-08-2020 11:12pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

The Monkey's Paw episode scared the pants off a very young me, stuck in my brain for ever. No better man that Cyril Cusack to do the scaring.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0592522/

Great episode, I remember well the story intro Roald Dahl told at the start about giving a lift to a couple of hippies who then stole his car at knife point resulting in him to distrust long haired men.

Kylta · 08-08-2020 6:38pm

Don't know if anybody mentioned
The Water Margin

Kylta · 08-08-2020 6:45pm

I remember the onedin line(something to do with a boat), not for the programme itself I was to young to understand it. It was the theme tune and I guess I'll remember the theme tune til I die. Actually has I got older I enjoyed the theme tune but still have no recollection or interest in the show.

Hangdogroad · 08-08-2020 11:31pm

Not a programme I liked as it was bloody awful but I'm trying to remember what this comedy thing shown on RTE circa 2007 was that lasted just one episode, it was a pilot that ended up not getting expanded to a series. All i can remember other than it being not remotely funny was the theme music was by Arcade Fire and a scene where a bunch of fellas with long hair and white make up who looked like death metal fans were threatening one of the main characters and calling him an ass clown.

Hangdogroad · 10-08-2020 1:47pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Not a programme I liked as it was bloody awful but I'm trying to remember what this comedy thing shown on RTE circa 2007 was that lasted just one episode, it was a pilot that ended up not getting expanded to a series. All i can remember other than it being not remotely funny was the theme music was by Arcade Fire and a scene where a bunch of fellas with long hair and white make up who looked like death metal fans were threatening one of the main characters and calling him an ass clown.

Found out what it was. The Roaring Twenties.

smilerf · 10-08-2020 3:22pm

Fairly recent but I'm not sure how many watched it
I was big fan of Monk

its_steve116 · 10-08-2020 5:21pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Found out what it was. The Roaring Twenties.

I would like to be able to see it

Speedsie · 10-08-2020 5:37pm

its_steve116 wrote: »

I would like to be able to see it

Here you go...
https://youtu.be/HmfvClO4JLM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmfvClO4JLM

salmocab · 10-08-2020 6:40pm

smilerf wrote: »

Fairly recent but I'm not sure how many watched it
I was big fan of Monk

I liked Monk but found after a while that the OCD stuff was just taking too much time and slowed down a quite good show.

donegal_man · 11-08-2020 11:17am

Gave up on Monk after Sharona (Bitty Schram) was written out, I found her replacement Natalie (Traylor Howard) rather dull by comparison.

madmaggie · 12-08-2020 12:02am

Oh No, it's Selwyn Frogitt. I remember my grandmother watching it.

MetzgerMeister · 12-08-2020 10:37am

Anyone mention Worzel Gummidge yet? Such a lovely show.

Hangdogroad · 12-08-2020 10:45am

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Anyone mention Worzel Gummidge yet? Such a lovely show.

Yes lol. I think I was about 5 when RTE began showing it. I thought at first he was being crucified when it showed him on his post.

rubadub · 12-08-2020 10:59am

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Anyone mention Worzel Gummidge yet? Such a lovely show.

yeah, was mentioned a fair few times, even the crowman mentioned it.

The Crowman wrote: »

No mention of Worzel Gummidge yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT-CLEsNR08

I found it creepy and didn't know what was going on half the time. I still say "cup of tea and a slice of cake" the odd time.

thebronze14 · 12-08-2020 11:38am

I'm sure it was mentioned but someone showed me the genius of Soupy Norman recently!

the purple tin · 12-08-2020 11:59am

thebronze14 wrote: »

I'm sure it was mentioned but someone showed me the genius of Soupy Norman recently!

Very funny show. Him trying to punch yer man every week

Paths to Freedom is another great Irish comedy. Probably the best one RTE ever did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adv4XGIhlzo

Old TV programmes you liked but no one else remembers

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