TV Cream

Cream over Britain

Advent Calendar: December 14th

1976: Post-Grundy, the Sex Pistols found promoters and local councils weren’t as amenable to putting on their UK tour as they had been. Three of the original 19 dates went ahead, and one extra in Caerphilly after Cardiff backed off. It’s there that HTV Wales caught up with them, having avoided the carol singing protestors outside, and found Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock more bemused than anything.

1985: A busy evening on BBC1, housing both a Christmas film preview and a transmission fault as Olympia weren’t ready for them. Listen very carefully for director feedback right after the announcement.

1987: Something a surprising number of people seem to remember from Blue Peter as the magic of CSO leads to Mark Curry joining the Terracotta Army on their first trip outside China. Curry had first helped transport them into the Royal Horticultural Halls, something they surely wouldn’t have accepted a year later after his Lego man experience. Meanwhile the RAGS appeal is ongoing and there’s a candle to be lit, plus Caron Keating’s hat to navigate around.

1990: As part of Roy Castle’s ongoing attempt to break every available world record related to numbers of simultaneous dancers, Record Breakers had a shot at the world’s longest chorus line. It’s all in aid of Childline, with Esther on hand, and there’s the usual array of faces of the time trying to blend in. Meanwhile Roy went to meet Carl Lewis, the viewers have been designing the Guinness Book’s cover for that year and the show’s US correspondent Ron Reagan Jr – who has worked as a political talk show host and commentator in the US, currently on hand for MSNBC, and this appears to be his only work in the field of entertainment – is on a rollercoaster.

1991: The fatal stabbing of a police officer in central London leads the BBC news, with John Arlott of Test Match Special’s death a lesser priority then it would be these days.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. THX 1139

    December 14, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    I’m blaming every continuity announcement error pre-1990 on The Yogs.

  2. Arthur Nibble

    December 17, 2018 at 1:24 pm

    Some great Mark E Smith end-of-word pronunciation by that Caerphilly protester early doors, plus some lovely Georgie Fame style library music for the technicla fault.

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