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Your Wednesday Night In...

Your Wednesday Night In… December 1980


Wednesday, 24th December 1980

PICK OF THE DAY

4.45pm THE ALL STAR RECORD BREAKERS, BBC1
In the great 2000+ years history of Christmas, there is a special bauble near the very top of the festive tree reserved for this wonderful annual venture from the BBC’s children’s department. Arguably, only The Box of Delights offers up as concentrated a dose of Yuletidalia. Obviously, we are past peak-ASRB here (there is nothing as discordantly affecting as the 1977 rendition of “Inchworm”), but good cheer still reeks from every frame of this utterly marvellous television selection box and we still thrill at seeing the unknowable Paul McDowell outwith his usual Newsround context.

ALSO SHOWING:

6.30pm GIVE US A CLUE FOR CHRISTMAS, ITV
It’s only just struck us now that the latter day GUAC theme (“We’re asking you, Give Us a Clue…”) was remarkably similar in tone and objective to the infodumpy jingle that heralded the commencement of each episode of Chain Letters. Anyway, we will leave that thought with you. We’re at peak GUAC here with the (from left to right) Stubbs-Aspel-Blair axis leading the festive bonhomie. It is, of course, fashionable to berate the later series’ Parky and Goddard augmentation and we’re nothing if not fashionable

8.55pm INSTANT SUNSHINE – ROADS TO STARDOM, BBC2
Perfect Christmas Eve fare, this. A film about four prattish, but still loveable chaps, whose collected vocals make for, and we’re sure you’ll concur, an agreeable tone. Instant Sunshine, lest we forget were (are?) a light-hearted vocal and instrumental group made up of three doctors and a journalist, namely David Barlow and Peter Christie, and the slightly more memorable Miles Kingston and Alan Maryon-Davis. The latter, was notable for his female-skewing surname.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. THX 1139

    December 26, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    Alan Maryon-Davis was great presenting Pebble Mill at One, too.

    The only reason All-Star Record Breakers isn’t on DVD is presumably because of the rights to the songs they used. But a repeat on BBC Four one Christmas wouldn’t go amiss. Not this Christmas, alas.

  2. Glenn Aylett

    December 26, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    Give Us A Clue was in its imperial era with the Grange Hill theme and Una Stubbs. Interesting how what was an afternoon game show in the seventies grew into a decent sized hit in the early eighties. Possibly inspired by seventies kids show, Star Turn, which had a very popular charades section.

  3. Glenn Aylett

    December 22, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    Instant Sunshine gave us the surreal Source Of The M1 the following Christmas. A shame offbeat vocal groups like Instant Sunshine, Fascinating Aida( all female group) and Kit And The Widow no longer exist.

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