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Scariest Programme When You Were A Kid (Or Indeed A Nipper)?

Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Ohhh nooooo not that X-Files thing.!.. when Mr Zebra and I watched that episode I spent pretty much the entire time with my hand over my eyes trying not to see that... that.... hideous, frightening thing.

Noseybonk wasn't as scary as that.
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Don't mention His name!!! It's like frickin' candyman - 3 times and you'll summon Him!!!!!
 
Min Bannister said:
Why Don't You only bothered me because it was fundamentally illogical.

"why don' t you just switch off your television set and go out and do something less boring instead?"

Okay *click*
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Thank you! I remember having a rant about this in a University Common Room in the late 90s. Apparently I was being unreasonably pedantic!

Which is possible. That wasn't uncommon of the time. :)

But still, it was flawed logic!
 
So I was digging through some of the earlier pages of this thread and started looking into some of the programmes I'd never heard of (and as a kid born in 1979, there are a few). I cam across a single reference on page 5 to a Granada TV show called The Owl Service.

And found the definitely quite sinister opening titles:


Based on the book of the same name.

Long before my time (winter 1969) - 8 part 'children's series'. Which (as I understand it) featured possession, leading to adult sexual passions being worked out through late teenagers, jump cuts and other intentional attempts to disorientate the viewer.

A series Granada had difficulty trying to sell in abroad because of those themes. A German TVpanel reviewing it for broadcast noted that it was 'deeply disturbing' and questioned 'whether it was not indeed reprehensible to offer such material to young people'

Reviewer Kim Newman has said "It's unthinkable that something as complex, ambiguous, difficult and strange as The Owl Service could be broadcast on British television in a prime time slot these days - let alone on ITV1 as a children's programme"

The story was set in modern day (for the late 60s) Wales and revolves around teenager Alison, her stepbrother Roger and her friend Gwyn. Whilst holidaying in a house in Wales where their parents had once honeymooned they discover a dinner set in the loft.

Only it turns out to be cursed, and sets in motion a series of tragic events.

The trio find themselves repeating the actions of a Welsh folk tale which - originally ended in death and tragedy for the original love triangle. Alison seemingly becomes possessed by the spirit of Blodeuwedd, from Welsh myth. Roger starts to become disturbingly jealous over Gwyn's friendship with Alison.

Then a set of photographs taken by Roger of nearby woods are developed and which seem to have captured the spooky image of ghostly figures which were not there at the time.

The love triangle which develops between three characters possessed by ancient spirits is noted as being more than a little disturbing on multiple levels - especially given that part of the trio are step brother and sister, and also because of jump cuts suggesting sexual acts which may/may not be consensual. That probably shouldn't have been teatime viewing on ITV.

Does anybody remember this from the time? It's ten years older than I am.
 
CuriousIdent said:
So I was digging through some of the earlier pages of this thread and started looking into some of the programmes I'd never heard of (and as a kid born in 1979, there are a few). I cam across a single reference on page 5 to a Granada TV show called The Owl Service.

And found the definitely quite sinister opening titles:


Based on the book of the same name.

Long before my time (winter 1969) - 8 part 'children's series'. Which (as I understand it) featured possession, leading to adult sexual passions being worked out through late teenagers, jump cuts and other intentional attempts to disorientate the viewer.

A series Granada had difficulty trying to sell in abroad because of those themes. A German TVpanel reviewing it for broadcast noted that it was 'deeply disturbing' and questioned 'whether it was not indeed reprehensible to offer such material to young people'

Reviewer Kim Newman has said "It's unthinkable that something as complex, ambiguous, difficult and strange as The Owl Service could be broadcast on British television in a prime time slot these days - let alone on ITV1 as a children's programme"

The story was set in modern day (for the late 60s) Wales and revolves around teenager Alison, her stepbrother Roger and her friend Gwyn. Whilst holidaying in a house in Wales where their parents had once honeymooned they discover a dinner set in the loft.

Only it turns out to be cursed, and sets in motion a series of tragic events.

The trio find themselves repeating the actions of a Welsh folk tale which - originally ended in death and tragedy for the original love triangle. Alison seemingly becomes possessed by the spirit of Blodeuwedd, from Welsh myth. Roger starts to become disturbingly jealous over Gwyn's friendship with Alison.

Then a set of photographs taken by Roger of nearby woods are developed and which seem to have captured the spooky image of ghostly figures which were not there at the time.

The love triangle which develops between three characters possessed by ancient spirits is noted as being more than a little disturbing on multiple levels - especially given that part of the trio are step brother and sister, and also because of jump cuts suggesting sexual acts which may/may not be consensual. That probably shouldn't have been teatime viewing on ITV.

Does anybody remember this from the time? It's ten years older than I am.
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Watched it in its entirety on YouTube last year. Quite an unsettling atmosphere. Also lots of rumours of the production being cursed with bad things befalling the cast and crew.
 
It's now on my list of things to watch! I do remember the book from the school library, but Alan Garner always freaked me out so I'm not sure if I read it at the time.
 
David Plankton said:
but when I tried to go fullscreen it buggered up my computer, forcing a restart.
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I right-clicked the thumbnail and chose "open frame in new window" - the only way I could read the pages. It works OK on Mac-Safari. Thanks for the link! I think that will keep me busy for a while. :atom:
 
If you come across my scary human-eating TV programme, please let me know! :)
 
I LOVED The Owl Service! I would have been about ten when it was on, so I didn't understand all the psycho-sexual stuff going on, but I did start reading Alan Garner soon afterwards. There was even a book called The Making of the Owl Service' partly written by Alan Garner's kids on set.
 
CuriousIdent said:
So I was digging through some of the earlier pages of this thread and started looking into some of the programmes I'd never heard of (and as a kid born in 1979, there are a few). I cam across a single reference on page 5 to a Granada TV show called The Owl Service.

And found the definitely quite sinister opening titles:


Based on the book of the same name.

Long before my time (winter 1969) - 8 part 'children's series'. Which (as I understand it) featured possession, leading to adult sexual passions being worked out through late teenagers, jump cuts and other intentional attempts to disorientate the viewer.

A series Granada had difficulty trying to sell in abroad because of those themes. A German TVpanel reviewing it for broadcast noted that it was 'deeply disturbing' and questioned 'whether it was not indeed reprehensible to offer such material to young people'

Reviewer Kim Newman has said "It's unthinkable that something as complex, ambiguous, difficult and strange as The Owl Service could be broadcast on British television in a prime time slot these days - let alone on ITV1 as a children's programme"

The story was set in modern day (for the late 60s) Wales and revolves around teenager Alison, her stepbrother Roger and her friend Gwyn. Whilst holidaying in a house in Wales where their parents had once honeymooned they discover a dinner set in the loft.

Only it turns out to be cursed, and sets in motion a series of tragic events.

The trio find themselves repeating the actions of a Welsh folk tale which - originally ended in death and tragedy for the original love triangle. Alison seemingly becomes possessed by the spirit of Blodeuwedd, from Welsh myth. Roger starts to become disturbingly jealous over Gwyn's friendship with Alison.

Then a set of photographs taken by Roger of nearby woods are developed and which seem to have captured the spooky image of ghostly figures which were not there at the time.

The love triangle which develops between three characters possessed by ancient spirits is noted as being more than a little disturbing on multiple levels - especially given that part of the trio are step brother and sister, and also because of jump cuts suggesting sexual acts which may/may not be consensual. That probably shouldn't have been teatime viewing on ITV.

Does anybody remember this from the time? It's ten years older than I am.
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I watched it as a kid. Found it a bit laboured but it does get the surly Welsh rural stereotype spot-on.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Crikey. I'd forgotten all about that one. And just a year before Threads. No wonder I started going to the pub underage.

A couple of years earlier it would have been The Nightmare Man that scared the living daylights out of me.
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Yes, The Nightmare Man, made by some of the Doctor Who production team I believe. That was real watch behind a cushion material, I got the DVD decades later and it was actually pretty decent, nice rural Scottish atmosphere to it (though it wasn't filmed in Scotland).

I also got The Owl Service on DVD about the same time, very strange series, turns into The Exorcist for kids - before The Exorcist had been filmed. The title refers to a set of dinner plates!
 
onetwothree said:
I don't. But it was literally years ago when I used to post here as xynisteri.

I wish I could find out what the TV programme was! I'd assumed something like 'Play for Today' but I can't find anything about it anywhere.
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I'm really intrigued by your "stripy top television eating thing" so I tried googling (or rather, DuckDuckGo-ing) your old username along with fortean times.

Nothing about your programme yet, but I did find this result which shows your old username:

upload_2018-5-4_18-29-7.png


Yet... when I click on the thread link (here: http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/ventriloquists-dummies.10488/page-2) It appears to show your name as Anonymous? So I'm not sure if this is of any help at all to finding your old thread?
 
GNC said:
...I also got The Owl Service on DVD about the same time, very strange series, turns into The Exorcist for kids - before The Exorcist had been filmed. The title refers to a set of dinner plates!
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There is an essay in Garner's collection The Voice That Thunders about the making of The Owl Service (I've mentioned this several times before - apologies to those who've read it several times before). It appears to have been a not terribly happy time for anyone. Garner had a breakdown at around the same time as the series was in production; possibly brought on by it - I can't recall just now. He also punched one of the actors.
 
Spookdaddy said:
There is an essay in Garner's collection The Voice That Thunders about the making of The Owl Service (I've mentioned this several times before - apologies to those who've read it several times before). It appears to have been a not terribly happy time for anyone. Garner had a breakdown at around the same time as the series was in production; possibly brought on by it - I can't recall just now. He also punched one of the actors.
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Yes, I've read that essay. The odd thing is, he was forced to see a psychiatrist because he found the production so traumatic, and the shrink listened to his account then asked a simple question: "Is the book written in the past tense or the present tense?" This was the key, it was in the past tense but the production was (obviously) playing out in the present, so all the trauma of the story felt like it was happening currently to Garner himself. He was OK after that realisation.
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
What I find amazing about Ironside is that, way back in the 60s he could go pretty much anywhere in his wheelchair. No buildings were obstacles.
Yet fast forward to 2018, and well... :actw:
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He did have a young assistant who did much of the running around.
 
While on the (so far un-fruitful) quest to find onetwothree's lady with the stripey top and jeans, I came across a site mentioning a programme, which I don't think has been mentioned on this thread (apologies if it has) and it looks like it would fit on this thread as the description sounds a bit creepy..

It's not at all familiar to me (or to Mr Zebra) but I thought I'd throw it in here in case anyone remembers it?

upload_2018-5-4_23-32-26.png
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
I'm really intrigued by your "stripy top television eating thing" so I tried googling (or rather, DuckDuckGo-ing) your old username along with fortean times.

Nothing about your programme yet, but I did find this result which shows your old username:

View attachment 9597

Yet... when I click on the thread link (here: http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/ventriloquists-dummies.10488/page-2) It appears to show your name as Anonymous? So I'm not sure if this is of any help at all to finding your old thread?
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Thank you! I exist!

Thanks also for your efforts trying to find that damn TV!
 
I can't. In fact for something that happened so long ago, I'm surprised by just how much I do
remember.

And, just your very efforts are appreciated! Look well if it turns out to just be a dream or something. :bored:
 
OK, I watched The Mad Death, and it fits in with stuff like Threads as a TV domestic apocalypse. Lots of pets getting shot, so don't watch if that upsets you. But the scene with the fox and Ed Bishop's car? It did make me jump! Not bad for a 1983 TV show.
 
my first reaction was king of the castle, probably mentioned somewhere upthread as it is legendary

but id forgotten about the owl service, which after watching in the whatever, mid 70s, caused me to complain about hearing scratching noises every night for im not kidding, about the following 2 years ... must have been a nightmare for my mum and dad
 
Dad used to let me stay up and watch the series Quatermass and another series I'm suprised no one has mentioned, A for Andromeda, either of which had me hiding under the blankets at bedtime! Some years later the film Witchfinder General with Vincent Price and that bloke who played The Saint Mk II also had me going, but in a more angry way.
 
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