In the year 1986, “Christmas” as far as the Radio Times was concerned meant “Christmas in Albert Square” and didn’t we just know it? But then this was the year of that Christmas episode, possibly the template for all of the future “Best Christmases that Walford’s ever had” or, as the Christmas Day listing actually puts it: “Nothing can go wrong, Den, I want this to be the best Christmas we’ve ever had at the Vic…”
Before all that, though, Christmas Eve brought us “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Box of Delights”, “Jim’ll Fix It” and “Mr Mum”, a disturbingly titled “Childwatch update” (I think that it probably didn’t mean it literally), “The Two Ronnies”, “Dallas” with some shenanigans at the Oil Baron’s Ball, “Wogan” meeting “J.R.” and “Sue Ellen” from same, and Christmas Eve with Val Doonican, or, if you preferred the offerings from BBC2, Kiri Te Kanawa, Alan Ayckbourn’s “Season’s Greetings” and “Harty’s Christmas Party” before finishing the day with “Meet Me in St Louis”.
After “The Guns of Navarone” (Huzzah!), Boxing Day brought Michael Crawford’s “Barnum” to the BBC1 small screen before treating us to all new “’Allo, ’Allo!” and “Bergerac” and Paul Newman in “The Verdict”, whilst BBC2 had Cricket Highlights from the fourth test in Melbourne (Test cricket on the BBC… sigh!) and “Laurens van der Post at Eighty” before giving over the evening to the ballet “Onegin” and another Billy Wilder movie, the sublime “Some Like It Hot”.
New Year’s Eve on BBC1 featured the daytime movies “Young Winston” and “The Camel Boy” before treating us to “World Superdance” and “The World’s Strongest Man” alongside the Paul Daniels quiz “Every Second Counts”, more “Dallas”, a new “Dave Allen” show and a drama starring Hannah Gordon called “Day After the Fair” and based upon a Thomas Hardy short story, before “Wogan” took (some of) the nation into 1987. Over on BBC2 that job was given to Kim Wilde, which followed an evening of “Rock Concerts” featuring Jean-Michel Jarre and “The Prince’s Trust Birthday Party” as well as the usual “Pick of the Year” gubbins, before they kicked off 1987 proper with the film of “Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars”.
New Years Day was comparatively tame by comparison, although the Circus World Championships did liven up the familiar line-up of “Russ Abbot”, “Top of the Pops” and “EastEnders” and there was another Bank Holiday perennial “Mary Poppins” earlier on in the afternoon. Late evening BBC1 then had a repeat of the “Only Fools and Horses” special “To Hull and Back” before feature films filled up the schedules with “Local Hero” and “To Have and Have Not”.
The alternative selection on BBC2 involved “Silas Marner”, “Ski Jumping”, “Die Fledermaus” and the first part of a French thriller called “The Secret Drawer” before giving the rest of the evening over to highlights from “Cricket: The Perth Challenge” and the thought of cricket on the BBC still brings me a slight tingle as I lament yet another lost world.
Your given listings make it very easy to remember how prized many of these films and programmes were. With four channels and not necessarily owning a video recorder, if something was on and you wanted to watch it then that is when you needed to be in front of your TV. You didn't half watch something in the background because you knew it would be on plus one, or anytime, or it was one of fifteen showings that week.
ReplyDeleteI think we have had this conversation before but there has been a real devaluation in appreciation of what we watch on TV. Something lost in the shared experience. Albeit shared in different locations but we shared the same event in time and were primed to discuss it the following day. I shall stop babbling before I start making sense.
I loved the Box of Delights.
ReplyDeleteIan's right it was great back then and these days it is mainly pap.
You see... Who said nostalgia ain't what it used to be...?
ReplyDeleteMore tomorrow. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends, I suppose, upon whether "Holmes talking about the telly" seems the most natural thing in the world to you or not.
Nevertheless, we're committed now (or perhaps I should be...), the programme is set, the course is clear... For better or worse we're off on our travels... M.