Baxter
On Travel
BBC 1964
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A
fortnightly series featuring subjects as viewed through the
cynical but highly observant and comic eyes of comedian Stanley
Baxter. Other series episodes, produced by Michael Mills,
featured 'Baxter On Law', 'Baxter On Sex', 'Baxter On Theatre'
and 'Baxter On Television'
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Crossroads
ATV 1964-88
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Originally
titled 'The Midland Road' this early afternoon soap was one
of the most successful of all time, despite its tight production
schedule and somewhat rickety sets which led to it being standard
cannon fodder for comedians of the day. Although shown four
times a week in the Midlands and London it was not networked
nationally until 1972. Set in the fictitious Midlands suburb
of King's Oak the stories revolved around the life and loves
of the Crossroads Motel staff and customers. Original regular
characters included Meg Richardson ( Noele Gordon ), Jill
( Jane Rossington ) and Sandy ( Roger Tonge ) her children,
husband Dick ( Brian Kent ), Brian and Kitty Jarvis ( David
Fennell and Beryl Johnstone ), Spanish chef Carlos ( Anthony
Morton ), waitress Marilyn Gates ( Sue Nicholls ) and receptionist
Diane Lawton ( Susan Hanson ). The series was created by Hazel
Adair and Peter Ling and the theme music was composed by Tony
Hatch and Jackie Trent
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The
Eamonn Andrews Show
ABC 1964-69
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A
45 minute late night chat and music programme hosted by the
genial Irishman, an earlier, less manic version of Terry Wogan.
An earlier series of the same name made by the BBC ( 1956-57
) had been more comedy oriented. A third generation of the
series was made by Thames in 1979
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Fire
Crackers
ATV 1964-65
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The
incompetent firemen of Cropper's End blessed this slapstick
comedy series with a style similar to the Keystone Cops. The
star of the show was Bessie, an antique fire engine which
was ineptly mishandled by the helmeted layabouts who included
Joe Baker, Alfred Marks, Cardew Robinson, Sidney Bromley and
Ronnie Brody. The series was written by Fred Robinson and
produced by Alan Tarrant
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The
Fugitive
ITV 1964-
Quinn Martin Productions
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A
real quality American import from Quinn Martin which featured
David Janssen as Dr Richard Kimble, a man on the run after
being wrongly convicted of the murder of his wife. The four-year
series told of his search for the real murderer, a one-armed
man, while being relentlessly pursued by policeman Lieutenant
Gerard, played by Barry Morse
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Gideon's
Way
ATV 1964-65
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26
x 60 minute episodes were made of this Robert S. Baker and
Monty Berman-produced police drama series which was based
on the novels by John Creasey ( J.J.Marric ). John Gregson
starred as Commander George Gideon who seemed to be in almost
constant conflict with his younger, more scientifically-minded
assistant DCI David Keen ( Alexander Davion ). Ian Rossiter
played DCS Bell and Daphne Anderson featured as Gideon's wife,
Kate
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Horizon
BBC2 1964-
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Horizon
began its long, successful run as a monthly series. It became
fortnightly in January 1965. Essentially a science programme,
it dealt with a particular facet of science in each episode
and examined it in depth, from many different angles. A curiosity
of the show was that it also contained an occasional drama
production looking at some point, real or fictional, in scientific
history. 'A Hundred Years Of Humphrey Hastings' was one such
which was developed from a single episode into a 6 x 30 minute
'Christmas Special' mini series. Original producer was Ramsay
Short and the editor was Philip Daly
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The
Jetsons
US
Tx 1962 |
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Only
24 x 30 minute episodes were made of this Hanna-Barbera cartoon
series. It is almost a futuristic version of 'The Flintstones'
using a similar family sitcom basis. The Jetsons were dad George
( who worked back-breaking 3-hour days for boss Mr Spacely at
Spacely's Sprockets), mum Jane, daughter Judy and son Elroy
with a very Scooby-Doo like dog called Astro and a robot housemaid
called Rosie ( voiced by Jean VanderPyl who also voiced in The
Flintstones )
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The
Likely Lads
BBC2 / BBC1 1964-66
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Classic
British comedy at its finest, written by Dick Clements and
Ian La Fresnais. It's hard to watch an episode of this without
thinking 'yeah...I've been there!'. Staid, upright Bob Ferris
( Rodney Bewes ) constantly found himself in sticky situations
and dubious schemes masterminded by his Jack-the-lad best
mate Terry Collier, played by James Bolam. The series was
set in the North of England but could equally well have been
situated in any town or city of the Sixties. 20 x 25 minute
episodes were made in three series and it was revisited in
1973 with a further 27 episodes of 'Whatever Happened To The
Likely Lads' and a 1976 feature film
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Little
Big Business
GRANADA 1964-65
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David
Kossoff starred as stubborn Jewish businessman Marcus Lieberman,
a type of role which he successfully carried into other series.
Francis Matthews played his ambitious son, Simon, who constantly
tried to drag his father and their furniture business into
the twentieth century, invariably resulting in some disagreement
- a kind of gently comic Jewish 'Steptoe and Son'. The series
was written by Jack Pulman and produced by Peter Eton. James
Maxwell played son Simon in the original pilot episode broadcast
in 1963
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Match
Of The Day
BBC2 1964-66 BBC1 1966-
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A
programme created from TV rights negotiations between Alan
Hardaker of the Football League and Bryan Cowgill of the BBC.
An agreement was reached whereby the BBC would record a selected
match and broadcast 45 minutes of edited highlights on a Saturday
evening. The show really took off when it was moved onto mainstream
BBC1 in 1966. The original producer was Alan Chivers with
commentary on outside broadcasts being supplied by Wally Barnes
and Kenneth Wolstenholme, among others
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Meet
The Wife
BBC1 1964-65
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Another
classic comedy which evolved from a single production in Comedy
Playhouse. Written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, this
30 minute show featured Freddie Frinton and Thora Hird as
the Blacklocks, a constantly bickering but loving Northern
married couple. The series was produced by Robin Nash. The
original Comedy Playhouse production 'The Bed', broadcast
in 1963 and also featuring Hird and Frinton, was produced
by John Paddy Carstairs
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The
Protectors
ABC 1964
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Not
to be confused with the later Gerry Anderson series of the
same name, this programme had essentially the same setup.
Two men and a girl comprising a team providing private security
and protection. The men were played by Andrew Faulds ( Ian
Souter ) and Michael Atkinson ( Robert Shoesmith ) with Ann
Morrish as the glamour factor, secretary Heather Keys. !4
x 60 minute episodes were made, produced by Michael Chapman
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R3
BBC1 1964-65
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A
sort of 'scientific soap' with a moral message, 52 x 50 minute
episodes were made in two series featuring the working and
private lives of scientists at Government Research Centre
Number 3 ( R3 ). The second series was a bit more lively than
the first, featuring spies, secret agents and the like whereas
the first series had dealt with the world's problems such
as drugs and bombs more seriously. Head of R3 was Sir Michael
Gerrard ( John Robinson ), supported by staff played by Moultrie
Kelsall, Elizabeth Sellers, Michael Hawkins and Oliver Reed
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Stingray
ATV / ITC 1964-65
AP Films Productions
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Gerry
Anderson series were getting better and better. This one featured
the activities of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol ( WASP
) and their constant struggle against various evil underwater
civilisations. The organisation, based in Marineville, was
headed by Commander Shore. Captain Troy Tempest was the ace
sub-pilot who crewed Stingray along with navigator 'Phones'
Sheridan. Romantic interest centred around the menage a trois
involving Troy, Commander Shore's daughter Atlanta and mute
undersea beauty Marina. 39 x 30 minute episodes were produced,
each with the militaristic all-action opening theme and sequences
'Anything can happen in the next half hour' and the beautiful,
haunting end theme 'Aqua Marina' sung by Gary Miller
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The
Sullavan Brothers
ATV 1964-65
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26
x 55 minute episodes starred Anthony Bate, Tenniel Evans,
David Summer and Hugh Manning as four brothers in the legal
profession. Respectively Paul, John, Patrick and Robert, they
acted as a team comprising of three solicitors and a barrister.
Mary Kenton played Paul's wife Beth. The series was created
by Ted Willis and produced by Jack Williams
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Tales
From Europe
The Singing Ringing Tree
BBC1 19-26 November and 3 December
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Curious
that this 3 x 25 minute episode fairy story about a prince
searching for a magic tree to offer as a gift to an ill-tempered
princess should feature so highly in people's memories. It
was part of a larger series shown in serial format under the
general title 'Tales From Europe' which was a collection of
productions from various European sources. This particular
segment starred Christel Bodenstein, Charles-Hans Vogt and
Eckhart Dux. Co-written by Anne Geelhaer and Francesco Stefani,
the English version was written and presented by Peggy Miller
and narrated by Antony Bilbow. Other stories in the series
included 'Snow White', 'Rumpelstiltskin', 'The Golden Goose',
'The Tinder Box', 'Heidi' and 'The Boy and The Pelican'
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Theatre
625
BBC2 1964-68
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This
was a series of programmes presented by the newly-formed BBC2
which closely examined dramatic productions, often in serialised
form. Much of the footage was from original stage productions
although some segments were re-shot for television.Some titles
transmitted during its run were 'Talking To A Stranger', 'The
Year Of The Sex Olympics', 'The Seekers','The World Of George
Orwell' ( a trilogy ) and 'Coming Up For Air'
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Thorndyke
BBC1 1964
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Based
on the stories of Richard Austin and evolving from a single
production in the earlier 'Detective' anthology series, this
crime drama starred Peter Copley as Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke,
an amateur detective. Although investigating cases in a very
Holmesian scientific style, Thorndyke boasted two assistants
instead of one. Dr Jervis was played by Paul Williamson and
butler Polton was played by Patrick Newell. The 50 minute
episodes were produced by John Robins
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The
Villains
GRANADA 1964-65
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Another
crime drama series that looked at the subject from the other
side of the law. Howard Baker and H.V. Kershaw produced this
collection of studies of various criminal elements from the
North of England which tended to concentrate more on the psychology
and day to day lives of the criminals rather more than on
the crimes that they committed
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The
Wednesday Play
BBC1 1964-70
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A
long-running series of widely varying dramatic productions
containing both original stories and new versions of older
productions. The first programme shown was 'A Crack In The
Ice', written by Nikolai Leskov, directed and dramatised by
Ronald Eyre. Other titles transmitted included Sartre's 'In
Camera', adapted by Philip Saville. The list of actors in
starring roles in these productions reads like a who's who
of the British theatre industry. The one production that sticks
in the mind was directed by Kenneth Loach and featured Carol
White in a dramatised version of the classic Sixties cultural
story 'Up The Junction' which was transmitted on 3rd November
1965
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