Old TV programmes you liked but no one else remembers

NewbridgeIR · 16-10-2020 6:08pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Mr Palfrey of Westminster, an ITV series from the 1980s.
Similar territory to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the 'non action' episodes of Sandbaggers.

Started out as a pilot in the 'Storyboard' series - of which Woodentop, the pilot for The Bill, was another entry.

I thought the lead actor (Alec McCowen) was excellent, reminded me a little of Ian Holm in his delivery.
He was usually pitted against quality character guest actors such as Tim Piggott Smith, Martin Jarvis, Julian Glover, Maurice Denham and our own Jim Norton.
His boss was perhaps too closely modelled on Margaret Thatcher though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=pbSah088Yic

Co-sign. Very enjoyable. I have the Network DVD set

branie2 · 16-10-2020 6:12pm

Dellaventura, a detective series starring Danny Aiello

the purple tin · 16-10-2020 9:21pm

Young Indiana Jones.
They had an episode where he got caught up in the Easter Rising.

odyssey06 · 16-10-2020 9:38pm

the purple tin wrote: »

Young Indiana Jones.
They had an episode where he got caught up in the Easter Rising.

Wonderful adventure series.

This is a great clip - Young Indy in a 'language duel' with guest star Elizabeth Hurley in 1916 London.

smilerf · 16-10-2020 9:58pm

A Sunday morning show I used to like about a dad and his two sons running a diner
Don't remember the name but there was a deadly blonde in it

Hangdogroad · 27-10-2020 5:42pm

Trying to remember the name of a short lived UK series from circa 1990/91. It was about a female private investigator, she was in her 20s and very cute, used to dress in a kind of indie/alternative style. She had a deadbeat Irish boyfriend with long hair. I remember in particular one scene where shes in the loo in some public building and spots a guy peering over the cubicle, its heavily implied that he was having a w@nk as he runs off fumbling with his trousers.

Skid X · 27-10-2020 6:03pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Trying to remember the name of a short lived UK series from circa 1990/91. It was about a female private investigator, she was in her 20s and very cute, used to dress in a kind of indie/alternative style. She had a deadbeat Irish boyfriend with long hair. I remember in particular one scene where shes in the loo in some public building and spots a guy peering over the cubicle, its heavily implied that he was having a w@nk as he runs off fumbling with his trousers.

Was it Anna Lee (Or Anna Lee: Headcase, as the pilot episode was called) ?

Hangdogroad · 27-10-2020 6:40pm

Skid X wrote: »

Was it Anna Lee (Or Anna Lee: Headcase, as the pilot episode was called) ?

Yes that's it!

Imogen Stubbs, I remember now she used to wear some really sexy outfits in this and she subconsciously reminded me of Leslie Dowdal from In Tua Nua whom I fancied the pants off.

trashcan · 27-10-2020 10:47pm

I have a bit of an obsession with The Fugitive. It's pretty hammy by today's standards, and David Jansen wasn't much of an actor, yet I find it strangely addictive. I've just discovered that it's all on YouTube too. Watched the finale last night. First time I'd ever seen it.

They tried re-making the series a few years ago after the success of the film, but it didn't work. Great concept for a tv show, a formula they repeated pretty closely for The Incredible Hulk in the 80's.

odyssey06 · 27-10-2020 10:53pm

Skid X wrote: »

Was it Anna Lee (Or Anna Lee: Headcase, as the pilot episode was called)

And bonus points that your clip features Kate Beckinsale in a very early role!

odyssey06 · 27-10-2020 10:56pm

The Inspector Dalgleish ITV series starring Roy Marsden (also great in Sandbaggers) based on the PD James books.

NewbridgeIR · 28-10-2020 1:17am

odyssey06 wrote: »

The Inspector Dalgleish ITV series starring Roy Marsden (also great in Sandbaggers) based on the PD James books.

Some good stories especially The Black Tower and Death In Holy Orders.
The Sandbaggers was brilliant; best spy series ever. D Ops and D Int and “C”

Flaccus · 28-10-2020 1:25am

The Fantasic Journey in 1976 was my favorite show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSGc3PsxfDc

And Space 1999 of course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SpX8bVEmJo

smilerf · 28-10-2020 2:04am

Just rewatched Nowhere Man.
Great show
Can't believe it only got 1 season

odyssey06 · 28-10-2020 9:49am

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Some good stories especially The Black Tower and Death In Holy Orders.
The Sandbaggers was brilliant; best spy series ever. D Ops and D Int and “C”

Sandbaggers, there was a show that pulled no punches.

I read that Channel 5 are planning adaptations of the Dalgleish stories.
Curiously, ITV did most of the 1980s & 1990s adaptations.
Then the rights shifted to BBC and Martin Shaw (The Professionals) stepped into the role. The stories were good but I couldn't warm to him at all, I don't know if that was because Marsden 'was the character' for me or if Shaw just wasn't great in the role.

When my OH saw a clip of Shaw in The Professionals she couldn't believe it was the same guy.

cml387 · 28-10-2020 1:42pm

Ok, here's one.

Forever Green.

TV series from London Weekend starring that famous TV husband and wife Pauline Collins and John Alderton.
RTE in the early nineties.
That was it as far as John Alderton and TV series goes, he's done some small parts since on film and TV.
Mentioned somehwere else that he was an awkward actor to deal with.

odyssey06 · 28-10-2020 2:00pm

cml387 wrote: »

Ok, here's one.
Forever Green.
TV series from London Weekend starring that famous TV husband and wife Pauline Collins and John Alderton.
RTE in the early nineties.
That was it as far as John Alderton and TV series goes, he's done some small parts since on film and TV.
Mentioned somehwere else that he was an awkward actor to deal with.

I remember that show alright.

They were both also in Upstairs Downstairs and in the PG Wodehouse Playhouse anthology series playing different characters in each episode.

Wondered what happened to him.

NewbridgeIR · 28-10-2020 8:24pm

Thomas & Sarah series too, also very good

branie2 · 28-10-2020 9:02pm

Into the Labyrinth, fantasy adventure series starring Ron Moody

odyssey06 · 30-10-2020 10:07am

I've heard good things about Special Branch, almost like a domestic version of Sandbaggers.
Any opinions on it?

NewbridgeIR · 30-10-2020 7:09pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

I've heard good things about Special Branch, almost like a domestic version of Sandbaggers.
Any opinions on it?

I rewatched the lot over the last 12 months. First viewing since mid 2000s.

There are four series
S1 1969 & S2 1970 with Derren Nesbitt, Morris Perry (both still alive) & Fulton McKay. All shot on videotape, a lot of B&W episodes in S1. Good plots, complex in parts - similar to Callan - with a few story arcs running throughout. Has a stagey feel to it.

S3 1973 & S4 1974 was made by Euston Films and is a lot less studio bound. However looks quite grotty now. George Sewell and Patrick Mower star. The stories are good; some bitter writing - people get shafted, used like pawns - and there's the shadowy Ministry figures in the background. There's a bit more action in these, terrorists, more violence and easy see how it influenced The Sweeney.

There's a huge contrast between S1/S2 and S3/S4 - they're like two different programmes. Certainly recommended.

NewbridgeIR · 01-11-2020 3:17pm

CI5: The New Professionals

I watched the original broadcasts in autumn 1999 on Sky One. There was a fair bit of publicity about it and it became obvious that episodes were being trimmed. So its reputation tanked and it was forgotten about for many years.

Not a patch on the original but re-watching on DVD now and the stories are better than I remember and reasonably entertaining. It *looks* more modern than it actually is. Edward Woodward does a good job while Lexa Doig is a treat to watch.

the purple tin · 01-11-2020 6:18pm

I just found out there was a remake of Porridge a few years ago. Completely passed me by. Has anyone seen it?
This was the time when BBC seemed to be doing remakes of old 70s sitcoms like Reggie Perrin and they all seemed to tank.

Sardonicat · 01-11-2020 6:23pm

the purple tin wrote: »

I just found out there was a remake of Porridge a few years ago. Completely passed me by. Has anyone seen it?
This was the time when BBC seemed to be doing remakes of old 70s sitcoms like Reggie Perrin and they all seemed to tank.

I've seen it. It's painful.

odyssey06 · 01-11-2020 6:23pm

the purple tin wrote: »

I just found out there was a remake of Porridge a few years ago. Completely passed me by. Has anyone seen it?
This was the time when BBC seemed to be doing remakes of old 70s sitcoms like Reggie Perrin and they all seemed to tank.

I must have actively avoided that one!
I remember an ITV remake of Minder with Shane Richie as mediocre?

The only ones I pay any attention to are the remade lost scripts.
UK Gold did some Dad's Army ones with a good cast Kevin McNally as Captain Mainwaring and Robert Bathurst as Wilson that was decent enough.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dad%27s_Army_missing_episodes

Kevin McNally also popped up in some 'Missing Hancocks' that I enjoyed, on TV and BBC Radio (not geoblocked).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04ly39j

Sardonicat · 01-11-2020 7:39pm

The 'new' Porridge was an updated version. The lead character had some connectioni to Fletcher, if I recollect right. Grandson or some such.

the purple tin · 01-11-2020 7:45pm

Sardonicat wrote: »

The 'new' Porridge was an updated version. The lead character had some connectioni to Fletcher, if I recollect right. Grandson or some such.

There was a follow up called Going Straight which was very good.

Fletch and Godber are released from Slade and try to get a job and keep out of trouble. Godber is going out with Fletch's daughter, it features a young Nicholas Lyndhurst as Fletch's son.

Sardonicat · 01-11-2020 7:53pm

the purple tin wrote: »

There was a follow up called Going Straight which was very good.

Fletch and Godber are released from Slade and try to get a job and keep out of trouble. Godber is going out with Fletch's daughter, it features a young Nicholas Lyndhurst as Fletch's son.

Porridge was great. Fletcher was such a brilliant character. It was gentle comedy, really.

ShyMets · 03-11-2020 9:44am

the purple tin wrote: »

I just found out there was a remake of Porridge a few years ago. Completely passed me by. Has anyone seen it?
This was the time when BBC seemed to be doing remakes of old 70s sitcoms like Reggie Perrin and they all seemed to tank.

They tried a few remakes/updates, nearly all of which failed. The only success, I think, was Still Open All Hours, which is more a spin off to Open All Hours

cml387 · 04-11-2020 1:53pm

So now again down memory lane.

When RTE 2 was in its test stages they started broadcasting programs in the evening, listed as experimental transmissions, I guess to encourage people to retune their sets and get new aerials if required.

One I remember was "Telford's Change", a series featuring Peter Barkworth as a downshifting bank manager.

I'm not altogether sure if another wasn't "The Glittering Prizes".

Does anyone remember other programmes shown in this startup phase? I'm pretty sure the Viv Nicholson docu-drama Spend Spend Spend was shown

George White · 07-11-2020 9:36pm

Anyone remember Skiboy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23lnt0Sgg5o

JimmyVik · 08-11-2020 2:52pm

I used to love The Invaders

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

and voyage to the bottom of the sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39u2y-wYgPQ

odyssey06 · 25-11-2020 5:31pm

Bumping thread to mention that if you have ITV4, they are repeating the Napoleonic naval series Hornblower on Sunday mornings.

Hangdogroad · 12-01-2021 4:26pm

The Brothers Lionheart, a Swedish fantasy film that was shown by BBC and RTE as a serial. I remember RTE showing it circa 1981_82 ish. The only bit I can recall with any clarity is in the final episode where the villain summons a dragon, shown in this clip. Only came across it again recently, it was one of those things that was driving me mad trying to identify.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1y5Viz2EsA

Hangdogroad · 25-01-2021 1:43pm

Two Aussie soaps that were shown on Sky 1 around 1991 to a lot of hype. E-Street, marketed as a kind of hipper, down with the kids Neighbours. All I remember about it was a storyline where one of the main female characters is raped and the dancey theme tune. Lasted two or three series.

Chances, that was marketed as an "adult" soap. Sky hyped this aspect of it to high heaven. There was some mild soft core stuff , nothing to get excited about. It was the storylines that stick in the mind though. When it started the main focus was on a family who win the lottery. I got tired of it early on and randomly started watching it again during the second series. It was like a totally different show, there was all this bonkers stuff about aliens and cults. I think it ended suddenly without any resolution.

Nigel Fairservice · 25-01-2021 6:34pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Two Aussie soaps that were shown on Sky 1 around 1991 to a lot of hype. E-Street, marketed as a kind of hipper, down with the kids Neighbours. All I remember about it was a storyline where one of the main female characters is raped and the dancey theme tune. Lasted two or three series.

Chances, that was marketed as an "adult" soap. Sky hyped this aspect of it to high heaven. There was some mild soft core stuff , nothing to get excited about. It was the storylines that stick in the mind though. When it started the main focus was on a family who win the lottery. I got tired of it early on and randomly started watching it again during the second series. It was like a totally different show, there was all this bonkers stuff about aliens and cults. I think it ended suddenly without any resolution.

I remember the Mr Bad storyline very well. I was a terrified of him at the time...the face paint. In my defence I was only 5 or 6 at the time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3guncPfmoYI

NewbridgeIR · 26-01-2021 12:39am

E-Street was good; relived some of it on DVD a while back.

trashcan · 26-01-2021 9:34am

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Two Aussie soaps .........

Nothing good can come from watching Aussie soaps, ever. They make the English ones look like high art.

ShyMets · 26-01-2021 12:50pm

trashcan wrote: »

Nothing good can come from watching Aussie soaps, ever. They make the English ones look like high art.

Well said. Sons & Daughters, anyone

Come to think of it in the 80's RTE's early afternoon schedule seemed to be one dreadful Aussie soup after another. A Country Practice, Sons & Daughters, The Sullivans.

I'm sure there was probably more

NewbridgeIR · 26-01-2021 2:55pm

ShyMets wrote: »

Well said. Sons & Daughters, anyone

Come to think of it in the 80's RTE's early afternoon schedule seemed to be one dreadful Aussie soup after another. A Country Practice, Sons & Daughters, The Sullivans.

I'm sure there was probably more

The Sullivans is my favourite soap ever. However RTE showed just ONE episode per week. Australian TV is underrated IMHO. Number 96 from the 1970s is seriously entertaining.

George White · 26-01-2021 10:07pm

Also, Number 96 is groundbreaking.

The actress who says, "you really don't mind me not being a girl", Carlotta was/is an actual trans woman, the first trans character in a soap opera, and played by an actual transgender, something which US TV wouldn't do for another rouglhy twenty five to thirty years (depending if you count Karen Dior in Xena)

odyssey06 · 28-01-2021 8:13pm

A Picture of Katherine Mansfield.
A BBC miniseries from the 70s.

The series adopted an unusual form - included dramatizations of Mansfield's life as well as adaptations of her short stories.
(I have also listened to adaptations of her short stories on BBC radio 4)

A bit stagey / literary production but a fine cast Vanessa Redgrave, Jeremy Brett, Annette Crosbie and the short stories have a dreamlike intense atmosphere. Or maybe it is like being at a turn of the century party half cut!

* eps are on youtube

ShyMets · 28-01-2021 8:57pm

The Fall of Egales. BBC mini series made in the early/mid 70's charting the decline and fall of the Russian, German and Astrio Hungarian Empires.

Stared my well known actors at the time and actors not so well known but who became famous. Considering the era the production values are good but its still somewhat stagey.

But if you like your historical fiction well worth a look. All episodes on youtube

Hangdogroad · 29-01-2021 11:23am

Nigel Fairservice wrote: »

I remember the Mr Bad storyline very well. I was a terrified of him at the time...the face paint. In my defence I was only 5 or 6 at the time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3guncPfmoYI

I don't think I was still watching it at this point, I'd deffo remember that lol. I'm not a big soap watcher though you certainly wouldnt get this in Fair City.

ShyMets · 29-01-2021 12:12pm

Another one for historical drama buffs is The Shadow of the Tower. Early 70's BBC mini series focusing on the reign of Henry VII.

It's not bad but it does suffer slightly from the wobbly set syndrome and the acting is very, very stagey.

Be warned. If you do watch it (all episodes on youtube) episode 4 focuses on events in Ireland. Be prepared for a few very dodgy Irish accents.

ShyMets · 29-01-2021 2:49pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

The Sullivans is my favourite soap ever. However RTE showed just ONE episode per week. Australian TV is underrated IMHO. Number 96 from the 1970s is seriously entertaining.

Strange. I'm seem to remember it being on everyday. My memory must be playing tricks on me.

I'll give it this much the opening titles and music very good

cml387 · 29-01-2021 2:55pm

Australia has been the source for tv serials (esp children's TV) since the sixties:

The Magic Boomerang
Skippy
The Adventures of the Seaspray

all shown on RTE in the 5:30 slot on weekday afternoons in the sixties.

NewbridgeIR · 29-01-2021 7:22pm

ShyMets wrote: »

Strange. I'm seem to remember it being on everyday. My memory must be playing tricks on me.

I'll give it this much the opening titles and music very good

In Australia it was shown four or five times a week. Over there, it ran from November 1976 to March 1983 - a total of 1,114 episodes (22 minutes each)

RTE started broadcasting it in October 1977 and showed one episode a week from the outset. If there was snooker or showjumping on it got bumped. Because it was so slow-moving, the television columns in the Irish Independent would regularly poke fun at it "running twice as long as World War II etc)" but completely missed the point that it was RTE's decision to drip feed it. I stopped watching it on RTE in the mid 1990s and they about three quarters of the way through it. They never finished the run.

Since then it has come out in DVD (Australia -region 4) so have picked up all 23 volumes through Crawford's overseas shop in London.

It was broadcast on UTV as well and they were a bit more generous with their frequency.

A Country Practice was shown daily on RTE - much more sensible. But in Australia the episodes were 50 minutes each. In Ireland they were shown in a 30 minute slot, so each one was cut in half and broadcast over 2 days.

odyssey06 · 30-01-2021 1:42pm

ShyMets wrote: »

The Fall of Egales. BBC mini series made in the early/mid 70's charting the decline and fall of the Russian, German and Astrio Hungarian Empires.
Stared my well known actors at the time and actors not so well known but who became famous. Considering the era the production values are good but its still somewhat stagey.
But if you like your historical fiction well worth a look. All episodes on youtube

There is something about those stagey / wobby set shows. They way they were filmed I find you are focused in and closer to the actors... in their faces almost. In a good way. Same for the classic sitcoms eg Rising Damp.
As long as you can suspend disbelief re the wobbly sets!

salmocab · 30-01-2021 7:27pm

Just on Aussie TV I recently rewatched anzacs it’s on YouTube. Very enjoyable world war 1 drama following men from when they enlist to getting home through Gallipoli, France and Belgium. Also shows some of the political carry on both in Australia and England. 5 episodes each over an hour long so well fleshed out. Paul hogan plays one of the main characters.

Old TV programmes you liked but no one else remembers

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