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Do You Recall? Half-Remembered British Television Shows [60s, 70s & 80s]

stu neville said:
DPL said:
The hero of the show was a scientist who was crippled in a mugging. Fortuitously, he had invented a metal that enabled him to regain his mobility when an electric field was applied (wow - hes rediscovered magnetism). Of course, this device, when built into a suit enabled him to evade dsicovery as this unlikely "superhero" - a cripple with mobility?
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It was Exo-man. I remember it cos I was laid up in hospital when I saw it, and wished I'd had a suit like that.
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Thanks!
 
Anyone remember Kinvig? Now that most of the other Nigel Kneale stuff it out on DVD, how about releasing this? I was fascinated by it when I was a kid, and not just because of Prunella Gee, either.
 
Does anyone remember a show which featured a kind of another plant or dimension or somthing which instead of aging got younger until they effectivly died whenthey had lost their last tooth. thats all i can remember but i remember i found it scary when i was little although i think it was quite funny.
 
This thread got me thinking about several shows.

One I didn't see mentioned (pardon me if it has), was Into the Labyrinth, with the great Ron Moody. Full of time travel and sorcery.

Linky goodness
 
GNC said:
Anyone remember Kinvig? Now that most of the other Nigel Kneale stuff it out on DVD, how about releasing this? I was fascinated by it when I was a kid, and not just because of Prunella Gee, either.
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Don't recall this one, but it sounds pretty good. Interesting to note that the main character owns a high street repair shop as it brings to mind a couple of other shows where a shop was really a front for more Fortean ventures. I'm thinking here of Goodnight Sweetheart (UK comedy show where a WWII memorabilia shop owner finds a time portal back to the War) and Mr Ben, the much loved 1970's kid's cartoon where a costume shop was really a doorway into other realities for the eponymous main character. Are there more along these lines that anyone can think of as it seems like a theme that could have been used quite extensively?
 
No one has mentioned The Book Tower with Tom Baker. Truly gothic and fear inspiring on a dark November night. The Box of Delights?? Slightly Fortean and another gothicy type one was Moon Dial about the kid who transported back in time via a moondial that was set in the grounds of this big stately home.

Chocky (by J.Wyndham) was really dark. As far as I can remember, a lot of the story was hinging round wether or not Matthew was mad (hearing voices in his head) or if he was being visited by some sort of non-human life form. A solid fortean base to feed your children on at the age of 7+ !!

Not scary at all but a programme that lurks around the deepest recess of my mind was an animated cartoon type show. I'm sure it was called The Bubbles or something similar, that had a talking letterbox on it..........

I'm really quite sane, no need to fear.
 
Chocky (by J.Wyndham) was really dark. As far as I can remember, a lot of the story was hinging round wether or not Matthew was mad (hearing voices in his head) or if he was being visited by some sort of non-human life form. A solid fortean base to feed your children on at the age of 7+ !!
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I used to absolutley love that programme. How come these sort of programmes are not repeated anymore? Your right Roachford the first seris seemed to concentrate on the one kid who was thought to be just hearing voices but he also experianced a huge leap in intelligence, i think the second seris focused on a group of children who were all in contact with chocky. I must have a look around for the book and to see if i can get the seris anywhere, i'd love to see it again.
 
I think that the videos/DVD's are available on amazon. The book should be available pretty freely I think.
 
I miss the childrens series Tripods with its totalitarian regime headed by the great actor John Woodvine(?), the 'capping' ceremonies and the endless quarry/Dartmoor settings.
 
I remember The Tripods well the first series I loved but for some odd reason I never even knew the second series even existed.
The Master Bates thing is actually from Gullivers Travels where the first page mentions a Master Samuel Bates.
Douglas adams apparantly wrote or Co wrote an episode of Doctor Snuggles.
I remember most of these shows and a lot of the cartoon shows wind up in ther video section of my Charity Shop.
 
Oh, oh, oh ... what about Number 73 - a Saturday morning programme (on a commercial station, I believe) with a young Sandi Tostvig and a leggy blond called Dawn who always wore rollerskates. Why was never explained - unless the producers liked to see her in mini-skirts, ra-ra skirts and hotpants. Which is a thought...
 
Stormkhan said:
Oh, oh, oh ... what about Number 73 - a Saturday morning programme (on a commercial station, I believe) with a young Sandi Tostvig and a leggy blond called Dawn who always wore rollerskates. Why was never explained - unless the producers liked to see her in mini-skirts, ra-ra skirts and hotpants. Which is a thought...
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My brother actually appeared on that show with the band he was then with. Needless to say as the show was only watched by about 5 people it wasn't the capapault to stardom he hoped for.
 
Stormkhan said:
Oh, oh, oh ... what about Number 73 - a Saturday morning programme (on a commercial station, I believe) with a young Sandi Tostvig and a leggy blond called Dawn who always wore rollerskates. Why was never explained - unless the producers liked to see her in mini-skirts, ra-ra skirts and hotpants. Which is a thought...
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Dawn's real name is Andrea Arnold and she won an Oscar this year. She said it was "the dog's bollocks" in her acceptance speech - she never used that kind of language on No. 73!
 
and a leggy blond called Dawn who always wore rollerskates.
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Arrghh! That was her name! I've been trying to remember it for ages!
 
When she got her award, was she still on rollerskates?
Rock on for the un-broadcastable quote, though. :lol:
 
min_bannister said:
I vaguely remember a program called The Moon Stallion (and having just looked it up and discovered how old it is I can see why its vague! :eek!!!!: )

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134256/
I don't remember much about it apart from an ethereal white horse which used to float about ethereally and, occasionally, stamp on people.
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Got a great lot of pix of the Moon Stallion here:

http://au.geocities.com/freycinette/moonstallion.html

And whilst looking for Moon Stallion stuff, I found this site that will be of interest to folks interested in cool old shows:

The UK Sci Fi TV Book Guide
WELCOME to the UK Sci-Fi TV Book Guide.

The object of the site is to provide a complete guide to all the various spin-off novels and script books that have been produced in the last fifty-odd years based on UK science fiction, fantasy and horror television programmes.

As well as the common series such as The Avengers, Blake's 7 and Quatermass you'll find more obscure programmes like Codename Icarus, The Moon Stallion and Supernatural. The only major omission is Doctor Who. Due to the number of books released — over four hundred and rising — it's taking rather longer than expected to get the full entries completed.
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Does anybody remember a programme called 'Friends from Space'? It would have been out around the late 70s, early 80s, and all I can recall of it was that it featured this guy who kept a weird glowing alien - which he'd named 'Nigel' - in his home.

Don't know if it was a one-off or a series, or if it was meant to be funny or not. It was, however, laden with that peculiarly desolate atmosphere that one finds from certain shows of that era.

Ring a bell with anyone?
 
gncxx said:
Huckleberry Swamp Hound said:
The first was broadcast in perhaps 1975 or ’76 and was the story of a young girl who upset the balance between mankind and electricity by smashing the screen of a television set. My recollection was that she then became a kind of fugitive, tying to escape from electrical appliances that were going haywire. As I was only 5 or 6 at the time, I may not have fully understood what was going on but I have a strong memory of one scene in particular which terrified me at the time. This involved the girl walking under some electricity pylons and experiencing painfully loud ‘electricity’ noises in her head.
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This was probably The Changes, based on the Peter Dickinson novel, which had a lot of impact on the kids who saw it. I've never seen it myself, however (surely a DVD is on the way?).
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Well, it only took 9 more years..!

http://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/scie ... -wBnuN31Y4

The long-awaited DVD premiere of this influential science-fiction series, which was first broadcast on BBC1 in early 1975. Well remembered for its unsettling depiction of a society in meltdown, The Changes paved the way for the likes of Survivors and Day of the Triffids.

When a strange noise is emitted from machinery and electricity pylons, previously placid and easy-going folk turn violently against technology that surrounds them – ruthlessly attacking radios, TVs and other domestic appliances. In the devastating aftermath, young Nicky Gore (Victoria Williams) is separated from her parents, but finds a surrogate home with a group of Sikhs. But they soon are dubbed ‘The Devil’s Children’ by superstitious locals and Nicky is accused of sorcery by a witchfinder. In grave danger, she is forced to find a way to escape, find her parents and uncover what caused the world to become so unbalanced.

This highly acclaimed series was adapted from Peter Dickinson’s best selling trilogy by Anna home (who would later become chief executive of the Children’s Film and Television Foundation), and features music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s Paddy Kingsland (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Its gritty depiction of a near-apocalyptic world, and its integration of Sikh characters make it as progressive and fascinating now as it was when it was first broadcast.
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Not seen it myself either.
 
The Changes [1975] paved the way for the likes of Survivors and Day of the Triffids
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Presumably 'Day of the Triffids' refers to a later TV adaptation.
The original book was published 1951, and the first film was in 1962! There were two BBC versions, in 1981 and 2009.
 
Here's the opening of a review for the BFI release of The Changes...
It was all too much for my mum. I might have been allowed to stay up late to watch Hammer films on TV, but the opening scene of The Changes, with it's visceral and sudden switch from domestic family life to violent chaos, exemplified by the smashing of a TV set was considered too much for an eight year old. The telly was switched off and the series forbidden to me. Of course, ten weeks is a long time in the memory of a parent, and so I was able to catch the final few episodes, which were less immediately confrontational in approach. Those episodes, and that opening scene from the first, stayed burned in my memory for years. That's how impressive this show is.

Made at the end of 1973 and finally broadcast in 1975, The Changes was certainly challenging for children's TV. The first episode came with no less than two warnings that emphasised it was aimed at 'older children' (it's essentially what we'd now call 'young adult' drama) and brought several complaints – though in those days, there was no OFCOM to enforce the views of the lunatic fringe. It's unsurprising that the series was considered unusual, even then, This was much more adult than most children's TV of the time – it came at a time when boundaries were being pushed, in style (the original, gritty version of Grange Hill came soon afterwards) and content (it's a contemporary of Children of the Stones, another pagan-flavoured horror series for kids), but had a harder edge than most. There's constant threat, violent (sometimes on screen) death and social issues galore in this series.
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http://www.strangethingsarehappening.com/changes.html
 
I loved Pinball. And Zokko kept me entertained on Saturday mornings. Although I always thought Ali Bongo a bit odd.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about about.... well... that's experience for you.
 
All of this has reminded me of Gerry Anderson's "Terrahawks" from the '80's. I loved that TV program.

And I also have a vague memory of another kids TV program set in space. In one part of the show, a child had to navigate their way over a grid like structure suspended in space. Their opponent was a robot?? who materialised at random on the grid and if they were on the same spot then the kid lost. Kind of like a cosmic chess game.

Anyone remember that or what it was called?
 
Ringo_ said:
All of this has reminded me of Gerry Anderson's "Terrahawks" from the '80's. I loved that TV program.

And I also have a vague memory of another kids TV program set in space. In one part of the show, a child had to navigate their way over a grid like structure suspended in space. Their opponent was a robot?? who materialised at random on the grid and if they were on the same spot then the kid lost. Kind of like a cosmic chess game.

Anyone remember that or what it was called?
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You're not thinking of the 'Adventure Game' are you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_Game

That had a game at the end where you had to travel from one side of the room on a grid to the other avoiding a black hole which was invisible!
 
Heckler20 said:
Ringo_ said:
All of this has reminded me of Gerry Anderson's "Terrahawks" from the '80's. I loved that TV program.

And I also have a vague memory of another kids TV program set in space. In one part of the show, a child had to navigate their way over a grid like structure suspended in space. Their opponent was a robot?? who materialised at random on the grid and if they were on the same spot then the kid lost. Kind of like a cosmic chess game.

Anyone remember that or what it was called?
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You're not thinking of the 'Adventure Game' are you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_Game

That had a game at the end where you had to travel from one side of the room on a grid to the other avoiding a black hole which was invisible!
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Yes! That's it. It was a vortex, not a robot but still. Wow. Thanks for finding that.
 
Thanks so much min_bannister and MrRING for putting me onto The Moon Stallion. Watched it on YouTube and - amazingly - it had a DVD release too which is now on the way. A hazy hodgepodge of mythologies all wired up to chalk hill figures on the downs and an immortal, mystical horse: this is a show that I would've been fondly ranting about for the last 40 years had I known it existed.

Alli
 
for the fortean interest tv shows, i cant beleive no one has mentioned children of the dog star, or the box of delights.
loved children of the dog star both as the tv series and the book
 
Ghosts Of Motley Hall I remember quite clearly (it even got a review in FT), I remember being a lad in the mid eighties and wondering why the special effects looked so naff (they were 1970's special effects, that's why! CSO has not stood the test of time!). Also, the Tomorrow Girl (Australian tv programme from the mid nineties) about a girl from the year 3000 who travels back to the mid nineteen nineties to capture a criminal from 2500!)
 
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