TV Cream

Your Wednesday Night In...

Your Wednesday Night In… January 1983


Wednesday, 26th January 1983

PICK OF THE DAY

6.45pm DOCTOR WHO BBC1
The final part of ‘Snakedance’ (co-starring Martin Clunes as Future Clipshow Fixture) which comes from the show’s 20th series, as Dr Who continues on his exploration of strange new worlds – Tuesday and Wednesday teatimes. The billing deployed by both the Radio Times and The Mirror captures the unhelpfulness of stories featuring a high-concept baddy, asking: “Will the Doctor prevent the Becoming?” Most readers, no doubt, more worried about the Bewildering. However, as the YouTube clip below reveals, Wednesdays actually felt like a pretty good fit for TV’s favourite Time Lord, parked in between Nationwide and A Question of Sport. Although, again with the esoteric!  “Now on BBC1, the future of the space-time matrix is at stake…”

ALSO SHOWING:

9.05pm TROUBLEMAKERS, ITV
A two-part drama-doc about ‘problem pupils’, this opener, ‘Belinda’ features “a girl so naughty, she is sent to a special guidance centre – one of the so-called educational ‘sin bins’.” It all feels a little more Scene than post-post Corrie fare. Stars 14-year-old Paula Brigham in the title role, who told the press she didn’t like acting the “heavy-petting” scenes, prefers snooker and that “when my parents tell me I have to be in at a certain time, I’m in.”

8.35pm COLLECTING NOW, BBC2
Jaunty, upbeat magazine show about collecting and hobbies, which arrived each week with a stop motion title sequence in which a swathes of whimsical items made their way into a branded crate. Hosted by Harriet Crawley and Mike Dornan, but with roving reporters of the Sarah Kennedy and Ray Gosling ilk. This week, a man (a man!) with 400 prams in his house, 10 of which live in his bedroom, a collection of cats, and the magic world of oriental carpets. Nothing says mid-1980s BBC Bristol more than that!

8pm BROOKSIDE/8.30pm BROADSIDE, Channel 4
Weird sequencing that sees two almost identically-named shows go out back-to-back. In the first, Roger and Heather receive a provocative suggestion. In the second, investigative current affairs featuring horrific footage of Iranian attacks.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Glenn A

    January 24, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    Error spotting time, you mention Doctor Who following Nationwide. Sadly, Nationwide had been cancelled in 1983 and Doctor Who was preceded in 1984 by the shortlived news and current affairs show 60 Minutes. Also 1984 would be the end of Peter Davidson’s three series as the Doctor and the show go into its twilight years.

    • TV Cream

      January 24, 2018 at 1:16 pm

      Actually, this is January *1983*.

      • Glenn A

        January 24, 2018 at 7:19 pm

        Damn, I wondered afterwards and then realised it was January 1983, as Nationwide still had six months to run.
        On a different note, Peter Davidson’s spell as the Doctor wasn’t that great and by 1984 the show was looking cheap and dated( check out Warriors of the Deep for one of the cheapest and least convincing monsters ever). Things were only to get worse for the show, though.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To Top