Retro TV

[steelclaw]

You can buy the full series here.

http://networkonair.com/shop/507-mind-y ... eries.html

[DavidKW]

Yeah its' been on DVD bar the very last series which was independently produced and only got shown on 3 ITV regions.

Some got onto the Central region in 1986, which I had to watch on black & white portable in our house as the main TVs only got the TVS region (which was dross).

That series included a blonde Swede girl & a different but good looking Franch girl. The theme music ws different - was a synth tune where the words "mind your language now" was sung at the end.

Photographic memory doing overtime here.

[philcom55]

I think I can honestly say that I've never watched a single episode of 'Mind your Language'. I did, however, see the Bill Titcombe strip that was based on it in Look-In.



- Phil Rushton (wondering if this counts as off-topic on a thread for 'non-comics discussion'! )

[stevezodiac]

That's Tommy Godfrey in the cheesecutter (cloth cap). I used to see him quite often in The Cut, Waterloo as he lived nearby. Always liked that area. Shame Cookes's pie and mash shop closed a few years back.

[philcom55]

Was Tommy a proper cockney as portrayed in the strip - or was he just acting?



(Incidentally, I can't help noticing how effortless Bill Titcombe's likenesses were. In spite of being the first artist to draw Buster it seems to me that he rarely gets the attention he deserves!)

- Phil R.

[stevezodiac]

IMDB says he was born in Lambeth which covers the Waterloo area so he must have lived there all his life. A born and bred South Londoner so I presume he spoke like a cockney in normal life. I know he turned up in Till death Us Do Part.

[DavidKW]

I just today got a DVD from a car boot sale (from a very trusted reputable dealer) of a children's 1972 ATV drama series called "Escape Into Night".

I'd never heard of it but instantly read plot on back and didn't hesitate on buying. Sounds and was told it was very creepy (like "The Owl Service" from 1970).

Has the added bonus of being made in black & white - thanks to a technicians strike at ITV (which sure gave a good effect to many other shows).

Never saw that at HMV - no wonder they went bust. Should've stocked more of these old TV shows at a reasonable price, instead of over-charged & filling stocks of US shows that the supermarkets had lots of already.

Can't wait to spin this show.

[DavidKW]

Just realised it may be black & white not because of strike, but that it's all that survives - ie import copy?

A disgrace so much great Tv got junked & is so much snobbery about showing things in black & white on TV today.

[DavidKW]

I had a good night's TV on Thursday - a recording of George & Mildred shown earlier, plus Top Of The Pops 1978 (spoiled by Peter Powell's presentation) then Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? (still funny after all these years). Pity Bullseye is not currently repeated on Thursdays.

[Raven]

Escape Into Night was made in colour, but only those black and white telerecordings are known to survive. It's based on an interesting 1958 children's book: 'Marianne Dreams' by Catherine Storr, and I'd recommend getting the DVD of the more adult-orientated 1988 film adaptation: Paperhouse (rated 15) - it's only around £3.00 online, and is quite memorable. (4 out of 4 review from Roger Ebert here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/paperhouse-1989 )

Originally, Escape Into Night wasn't available in the shops, just as an online exclusive on the Network website like many other fascinating old TV titles - this is the place you need to be: http://networkonair.com/ - and that policy has only changed fairly recently.

[stevezodiac]

Diana Rigg is interviewed in the latest Radio Times.

[DavidKW]

Thanks for that Network site Raven - llots of great stuff I didn't know was out - will start buying when I can get a credit card (I'll be like a kid in a sweet shop & overspend if I buy now! And not afford comics).

Was just also thinking of some other drams that are not out on DVD (far as I've researched) but should be:

"Come Back Lucy" - creepy ATV kids' drama with creepier intro, based on a children's book.

"The Molly Wopsies" - 1930s/40s/50s? set comedy featuring mischievous kids clashing with a police officer (young Phil Daniels one of the kids). Filmed in Oxfordshire I believe (I think Escape Into The Night was too - in early seen I notice the giant electric pylons which dominate there. And it was ATV territory).

"The Real Eddy English" - 80s Channel 4 drama, set the real side of Oxford - not of this slow Insp Morse/Lewis Oxford tourism propaganda (I hate Morse with a passion from having lived on Oxfordshire) - set in sight of run-down shops & housing, giant pylons, dodgy business people.

[Raven]

"Come Back Lucy" - creepy ATV kids' drama with creepier intro, based on a children's book.

Episode one of this was on Network's 'Look-Back on '70s Telly Issue 4' compilation, which seems to be deleted now.

This is the next '70s ITV kids' drama series they're releasing (from 1977-79):

http://networkonair.com/shop/1748-paper ... 91447.html

[Raven]

Now available again (see above):

http://networkonair.com/shop/1265-look- ... sue-4.html

[Marionette]

"Come Back Lucy" - creepy ATV kids' drama with creepier intro, based on a children's book.

Not a bizarre sequel to I Love Lucy, then?


For any interested, quite a lot, if not all of it seems to be available on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoqhSCliJ2Y