Christmas TV

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Thursday 30th December 1982

BBC2

11.00am Play School
11.25am Closedown
2.05pm The Incredible Heap
2.55pm Common Sense
3.55pm Film : Kirk Douglas in Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
5.40pm Film : Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)
7.10pm Cricket : Fourth Test
7.35pm News Summary, Weather
7.40pm Joyce in June
8.50pm Falstaff
9.00pm John Denver-his Guitar and his Music
9.55pm Film : All the President's Men (1976)

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

New Year's Eve Friday 31st December 1982

BBC2

11.00am Play School
11.25am Closedown
2.05pm Etosha- the Place of Dry Water
2.55pm Common Sens
3.55pm Film : Kirk Douglas in Lust for Life (1956)
5.50pm North Face -Ben Nevis
6.35pm People v Scott
7.35pm News Summary, Weather
7.40pm Film : Paper Moon (1973)
9.20pm Janet Baker: Full Circle
10.35pm News on 2, Weather
10.45pm Film : Hands of the Ripper (1971)
12.10am The Old Grey Whistle Test : Pick of the Year

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Eve Friday 24th December 1982

ITV LONDON

9.30am Sesame Street

10.30am A Handful of Songs

10.40am Once Upon a Time

10.55am The Dollar Bottom
starring Robert Urquhart

11.30am A Christmas Treat
read by Edna O'Brien

12.00 Aldabra-Island of Giant Tortoises

1.00pm News at One

1.20pm Thames News

1.30pm The Journey

2.00pm We Six Kings
The King's Singers from Nostell Priory

2.30pm Film : Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

4.15pm Strawberry Ice
spectacular fantasy on ice

5.15pm The Goodies Christmas Special
Snow White part 2

5.45pm ITN News

6.00pm Thames Weekend News

6.15pm Cartoon Time

6.30pm Punchlines!
with Lennie Bennett

7.00pm A Christmas Lantern
with Cliff Richard, Una Stubbs, Robert Hardy,
Christopher Timothy, Mike Reid and Wayne Sleep

8.00pm In Loving Memory
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

8.30pm The Stanley Baxter Hour

9.30pm ITN News

9.45pm A Christmas Carol
Thea Musgrave operatic version

11.45pm Watchnight Service
from St Andrew's and St George's Church of Scotland, Edinburgh

12.30am Closedown

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

TVS
1.20pm TVS News
6.00pm Coast to Coast.

ANGLIA
1.20pm Anglia News, Weather
6.00pm About Anglia.

TSW
9.25am Carols of Cornwall
1.20pm TSW New s
4.15pm The Messengers
4.45pm Emmerdale
5.15pm The Waiters;
6.00pm Today South West
12.30am Postscript
12.35am Weather and Shipping Forecast

HTV
1.20pm HTV News
6.00pm West : HTV News;
6.00pm Wales : Wales at Six

CENTRAL
10.55am Christmas Message
11.05am The Nutcracker
1.20pm Central News
6.00pm Central News

GRANADA

1.20pm Granada Reports
6.00pm Granada Reports
12.30am Lou Grant
1.00am Close

TYNE TEES
9.20am The Good Word
9.25am NE News
1.20pm NE News, Lookaround
6.00pm Northern Life

YORKSHIRE
1.20pm Calendar News, Weather
6.00pm Calendar, Weather

ULSTER
10.55am Cartoon Time
11.05am Stingray
1.20pm Lunchtime
4.13pm Ulster News
6.00pm Good Evening, Ulster
6.30pm What the Churches Say
9.44pm Weather

STV
1.20pm STV News
1.30pm Children's Ceilidh
4.15pm Freetime;
4.45pm Emmerdale
6.00pm Scotland Today
9.43pm STV News

GRAMPIAN
9.25am First Thing
1.20pm North News
1.30pm Children's Ceilidh
2.30pm Film: Charlotte's Web (1973)
6.00pm North Tonight, Weather
9.43pm Reflections

BORDER
1.20pm Border News
6.00pm Lookaround Friday

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Day Saturday 25th December 1982

ITV LONDON

9.00am Film : Journey Back to Oz (1972)
cartoon

10.30am Christmas Morning Service
from the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady, St John's Wood

11.30am TV Film : Enid Blyton's Island of Adventure (1982)
with Wilfrid Brambell and Norman Bowler

1.00pm Film Fun at Christmas
with Derek Griffiths

2.00pm Andy Williams' Christmas Special

3.00pm The Queen

3.05pm Film : The Parent Trap (1961)
starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara & Brian Keith

5.25pm ITN News

5.35pm 3-2-1
with Ted Rogers

6.35pm Game for a Laugh

7.25pm Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right

8.00pm Film : The Black Hole (1979)
starring Maximillian Schell, Anthony Perkins and Robert Forster

9.50pm Chas and Dave's Christmas Knees-Up

10.50pm ITN News

10.55pm Cleo and John
Cleo Laine and John Dankworth

11.55pm Christmas at Radio GOSH
at Great Ormond Street Hospital

12.05am Closedown

ITV YORKSHIRE (as ITV London)

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Sunday 26th December 1982

ITV LONDON

9.00am A Snow White Christmas
animated sequel to the fairy tale

9.50am Day of Days
Dr Robert Runcie looks back to the historic Canterbury service with the Pope

10.20am The Birth of Christ
with Dr John Newton, past-president of the Methodist Conference

10.50am Film : The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)

12.30pm Survival Special: Tiger !, Tiger !

1.30pm University Challenge

2.00pm Film : Benji (1974)
with Edgar Buchanan and Peter Breck

3.30pm The Krankies Christmas Club

4.15pm The Pyramid Game

4.45pm Pop Goes Christmas
with David Essex, Shakin' Stevens, Toyah and many others

5.40pm Bullseye

6.10pm ITN News

6.15pm Children Sing Christmas
introduced by Nanette Newman, from Salisbury Cathedral

7.15pm Film : Bear Island (1979)
starring Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave & Richard Widmark

9.25pm Secombe at Christmas
with Gemma Craven and Christopher Gable

10.25pm ITV News

10.30pm Rod Stewart- Tonight He's Yours
at the Los Angeles Forum last Christmas

12.10am Closedown : Peace on Earth
with Barbara Leigh-Hunt

12.20am Closedown

ITV YORKSHIRE (as ITV London except)

12.10am Five Minutes

12.15am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Sunday 26th December 1982

ITV LONDON

9.00am A Snow White Christmas
animated sequel to the fairy tale

9.50am Day of Days
Dr Robert Runcie looks back to the historic Canterbury service with the Pope

10.20am The Birth of Christ
with Dr John Newton, past-president of the Methodist Conference

10.50am Film : The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)

12.30pm Survival Special: Tiger !, Tiger !

1.30pm University Challenge

2.00pm Film : Benji (1974)
with Edgar Buchanan and Peter Breck

3.30pm The Krankies Christmas Club

4.15pm The Pyramid Game

4.45pm Pop Goes Christmas
with David Essex, Shakin' Stevens, Toyah and many others

5.40pm Bullseye

6.10pm ITN News

6.15pm Children Sing Christmas
introduced by Nanette Newman, from Salisbury Cathedral

7.15pm Film : Bear Island (1979)
starring Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave & Richard Widmark

9.25pm Secombe at Christmas
with Gemma Craven and Christopher Gable

10.25pm ITV News

10.30pm Rod Stewart- Tonight He's Yours
at the Los Angeles Forum last Christmas

12.10am Closedown : Peace on Earth
with Barbara Leigh-Hunt

12.20am Closedown

ITV YORKSHIRE (as ITV London except)

12.10am Five Minutes

12.15am Closedown

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

Regarding Christmas Day 1982, it would be great if you had the TSW (and Channel) regional variations for the ITV schedule, as they had opted out of the Black Hole film to show The In Laws.

By the way, it may have been called Christmas Sunday back then, I have always called it Boxing Day even if 26th December fell on a Sunday.

[Arran]

Re: Christmas TV

If you look at the Christmas Eve schedule it's noteworthy how TSW, Ulster, STV, and Grampian have most of the opt-outs.

Any idea why Ulster didn't show the Dollar Bottom? Central decided to use the time for it's Christmas message followed by the Nutcracker which is a local event.

STV and Grampian both showed Children's Ceilidh instead of the Journey, presumably because it was a Scottish cultural programme but Border didn't show it.

TSW and STV opted out of Strawberry Ice, although Grampian showed it, for The Messenger and Freetime respectively. These were then followed (co-incidentally?) by Emmerdale. TSW had a habit of moving around programmes but can anybody confirm if STV showed Take the High Road in the same evening timeslot that most of ITV showed Emmerdale?

Why did Grampian decide against showing the film Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood? Was there something they disliked about it?

Ulster was alone in not showing Punchlines! but instead showed a locally produced religious programme.

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

I can understand Ulster, Scottish and Grampian opting out but not TSW - on Christmas Day, Scottish and Grampian used to have the Scottish Moderator's Christmas Message, just like they did for most of the 1970s, and I suppose that prior to TV-am going on the air, this could be scheduled before the main programmes started, but once breakfast television started, this was a bit more difficult. I am certain that STV hardly have any opt-outs on Christmas Day nowadays apart from adverts and continuity.

As you mentioned, Central used to have a local Christmas message - I don't know whether any other regions had this, although it might be a Midlands' equivalent of YTV and the London Christmas Line getting a mention. Central also did an Easter one up until around 1985, although I am certain that this could have been shown just before Closedown. I have this feeling that it was a local clergyman - perhaps the Bishop of Birmingham, sitting in a TV studio, doing a speech for the best part of ten minutes.

TSW opted out of The Black Hole because its Managing Director Kevin Goldstein-Jackson, (who had only just joined the company from Anglia), was quoted in The Times as the film being not good enough for Christmas Day, or "a load of rubbish" as he said. However, there had been plans for TSW to have shown it in January 1983, but I had not come across any rescheduling in old newspaper TV schedules. However, they had learnt their lesson, as TSW and Channel had shown it along with the rest of the network when it was shown on Christmas Day in 1985 - ironically enough, it was Scottish that had opted out of it that time.

Central only opted out of Dollar Bottom to show the Christmas Message - they kept the remainder of the network schedule intact, and they had even shown Sesame Street at 9.30 am along with the rest of the network as well, just like they did on some days during the 1982 Christmas season as well. They never shown that during ordinary school holidays, and they had washed their hands of it by the end of May 1984, probably because of the American style of education would be assumed to mislead youngsters in Great Britain. It is ironic in a way that Central didn't want anything to do with Sesame Street considering ATV's association (if you excuse the pun) with The Muppet Show - ATV became Central at the start of 1982 due to company restructuring and a change of shareholding, and more regional identity, and of course, Kermit the Frog was the only character to appear in both The Muppet Show and Sesame Street.

I just wished that I lived just over ten miles north of where I lived, and get Yorkshire Television instead.

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Regarding christmas sunday not being boxing day altho to me it still is.
Whats the idea behind monday then being boxing day.

Ill see if i can find the tsw channel regional variations i always like to fin the most complete listings.

regarding christmas day 1982, it would be great if you had the tsw (and channel) regional variations for the itv schedule, as they had opted out of the black hole film to show the in laws.

By the way, it may have been called christmas sunday back then, i have always called it boxing day even if 26th december fell on a sunday.

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Boxing Day Monday 27th December 1982

ITV LONDON

9.30am Cockleshell Bay

9.40am Rainbow

9.55am Stainless Steel and the Star Spies

10.45am Dangermouse

11.05am Film : Black Beauty (1971)
with Mark Lester

1.00pm ITN News

1.05pm Racing from Kempton
(1.10, 1.40, 2.15 races)

2.30pm Film : Hollywood : The Gift of Laughter

5.15pm ITN News and Sport

5.30pm Give Us a Clue
presented by Michael Aspel

6.00pm Coronation Street

6.30pm The James Bond Film : Moonraker
starring Roger Moore, Richard Kiel and Lois Chiles

9.00pm The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show

10.00pm ITN News

10.15pm Film : California Suite (1978)
starring Michael Caine, Alan Alda, Maggie Smith,
Walter Matthau, Jane Fonda and Elaine May

12.15am Closedown : Sit Up & Listen
with Barbara Leigh-Hunt

ITV YORKSHIRE (as ITV London except)

12.10am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

CHANNEL 4'S 1ST EVER CHRISTMAS


Christmas Eve Friday 24th December 1982

4.45pm Buster Keaton Film : Cops (1920)
A series of mishaps manages to make a young man get chased by a big city's entire police force (b&w)

5.15pm The Tube
Christmas Eve - live in Studio Five with Paula Yates, Jools Holland

7.00pm Channel Four News
Peter Sissons, Trevor McDonald, Sarah Hogg, Godfrey Hodgson

7.30pm The Friday Alternative
The 'other' news seen not by newscasters or reporters but by the public

8.00pm In the Spirit
gospel Christmas celebration featuring Natalie Cole, Rev James Cleveland, Marion Williams, Dorothy Norwood
Southern California Community Choir (Repeat)

9.00pm The Sixties : Swingeing
Photographers like David Bailey, pop stars like The Beatles, and film stars like Michael Caine appeared to herald a new
age of classlessness and sexual freedom. The Pill, abortion on demand and homosexual rights, contributed
to a feeling that the Sixties were a liberal, permissive age. Inevitably, there was a backlash. Mary Whitehouse
tried to clean up TV, the police raided Andy Warhol's film 'Flesh' and Mick Jagger was arrested on drugs charges.
Narrated by James Bolam

10.00pm The Curious Case of Santa Claus
starring James Coco, Jon Pertwee
Santa Claus has an identity crisis. Is he really Santa Claus?
Why do people call him Father Christmas?
He goes to a psychiatrist, Dr Merryweather who in a hilarious travelogue, takes Santa from his birth in Turkey,
through sleigh rides in Siberia, miracles in italy and pageants in Holland to our hearth in 1982.
It is a blend of seasonal comedy and fascinating history -St Nicholas, Santa Claus or Father Christmas?
Who is he? Who cares? 'Even if we don't believe in him forever' says Dr Merryweather, 'we all believe for a time'

11.00pm Norman Gunston at Christmas
It's the little Aussie bleeder himself. Comedian Norman Gunston - he of the blood soaked shaving technique and creeping
sycophancy and startling interview technique - tonight fills out the role of Father Christmas. Or tries to but his
attempt is even more inept than his surreal encounters with Hollywood celebrities like Lee Marvin, Elliot Gould,
Karen Black, Zsa Zsa Gabor and the Bee Gees

12.00 Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

CHANNEL 4

Christmas Day Saturday 25th December 1982

10.30am Film : Captain Stirrick (1982)
musical starring Freddie Jones, Roger Sloman, Ronnie Stevens
This is the first production of the newly-formed Children's Film Unit, a unique organisation which gives , children the opportunity to make films.
With music by Richard Brett it tells the story of the teenage leader of a gang of Victorian child pickpockets.
They rule the streets of Smithfield, until their attempt to rob a lord leads to murder

12.10pm The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin
animated version of the pantomime story in which the characters are played by Penguins

12.20pm Film : Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
starring Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains
George Bernard Shaw's comedy about Julius Caesar's years in Alexandria. Caesar guides the young Egyptian queen
Cleopatra from wilful girl to powerful monarch

2.40pm Preview 4
Holiday viewing highlights with Paul Coia, Keith Harrison, Olga Hubicka, and David Stranks

3.00pm Magic of China
Mark Wilson, Nani Wilson, Greg Wilson, The People of China, Top American illusionist Mark Wilson takes his wife Nani and
son Greg on a wondrous trip. Magic has a special meaning in China. For hundreds of years magicians have been known as
'men who confuse vision'. Wilson's magic is as spellbinding to the Chinese as his trip is to European eyes. Narrator: Steve Allen

4.00pm Buster Keaton Film : The Navigator (1924)
Rollo Treadway catches the wrong boat to Hawaii and becomes involved with a gang of spies trying to sink the ship. With the love
of his life, he lands up on an island and is chased by cannibal (b&w)

5.05pm Brookside
Lucy and Karen escape their families to enjoy the festivities and Heather gets some unexpected attention at the Law Society dance.
Christmas Day dawns peacefully at Brookside for everyone except Bobby Grant and his union committee. And what with Barry's injury,
Karen's hangover and Damon's school report, Sheila's wondering what she's supposed to be celebrating(Repeat)

6.00pm The Queen's Christmas Message
The Queen speaks to the Commonwealth

6.05pm St Mark's Gospel
When Alec McCowen performed his one-man version of St Mark's Gospel in New York last year, it was hailed as a prodigious feat of memory, an act
of faith and a virtuoso performance. McCowen tells the Gospel story as if it was hot news and becomes a multitude of characters: Pharisees and disciples,
the lame and the blind., Salome, Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ

8.00pm News Headlinesfollowed by
Upstairs, Downstairs
The Key of the Door
In November 1908, Elizabeth Bellamy comes under the influence of a woman with radical views(Repeat)

9.00pm Film : Richard III (1955)
starring Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud
Olivier's classic interpretation of one of Shakespeare's most evil characters — Richard Crookback, the Medieval prince whose accumulation of treacherous
deeds eventually brought him the crown of England, led to the Battle of Bosworth Field and the Tudor era

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

CHANNEL 4
Christmas Sunday 26th December 1982

11.45am Los Villancicos
Luis Alvarez
A series of lively, dramatic cantatas by 18th-century Spanish composer Antonio Soler (1729-83). The work is set in Spain, 1760.
A choirboy, a priest and a poet stand on the altar steps of the village church arguing about the form the annual Christmas entertainment should take.
These cantatas, consigned to a dusty corner for centuries, have been rediscovered and restored to new life by musicologist Alice Pole.
With Luis Alvarez (baritone); the Choir of Escolania Di Santa Cruz Del Valle De Los Caidos, directed by Laurentino Saez De Buruaga;
and the Arthur Haas Ensemble, music director Arthur Haas

1.20pm International Film Season : Sholay (Flames of the Sun) (1975)
This epic action film from India has been described as a curry western. It tells of Thakur, a retired policeman living in an isolated mountain village.
He hires two criminals, Jai and Veeru, as gunmen to protect the village from the ravages of a marauding gang

4.30pm Film : A Night at the Opera (1935)
One of the Marx Brothers' most famous comedy films. Otis B Driftwood is an opportunist who is wooing wealthy Mrs Claypool who is,
in turn, being persuaded to invest some of her millions in the New York Opera Company by its untrustworthy chief, Gottlieb.
Driftwood tries to out-manoeuvre Gottlieb by signing his protégé, Lasparri, but, through the chicanery of an Italian called Fiorello, finds himself
saddled with an unknown young singer from the company's chorus. Everyone sets sail for New York, but Driftwood discovers that his tiny cabin
is beset by stowaways and unwelcome visitors... (b&w)

6.15pm The Snowman
By Raymond Briggs
An animated version, produced to appeal to audiences of all ages, of the well-known children's story.
It's Christmas Eve and the snow is falling. A time for magic. A little boy races outside to build a snowman.
Later when everyone's asleep, the snowman comes alive and after a spin or two on a motorbike the snowman and the boy fly off
to the North Pole to meet a Very Important Person

6.45pm Sleeping Beauty Wakes Up at the 10th Street Car Wash
Hilarious, simple tale of a middle-aged lady who takes her car to the car wash only to find herself in a strange fantasy world

7.00pm The Love of Three Oranges
Prokofiev's opera is set in a fantasy world of magic, pantomime and knockabout humour. The Prince can be cured of his illness only if he
is made to laugh. The outstanding success of the 1982 Glyndebourne season, this lavish production features the Glyndebourne Chorus,
director Jane Glover; the London Philharmonic Orchestra, leader David Nolan, conductor Bernard Haitink.
Designed by Maurice Sendak, the opera includes special animated sequences

9.15pm News Headlines followed by
Bob Hope's Double Bill
Film : The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
Bob Hope, Virginia Mayo, Walter Brennan, Victor McLaglen
Aboard the good ship Mary Ann, Sylvester the Great, an actor who is his own biggest fan, keeps bragging to Margaret Warbrook,
a princess in disguise fleeing to the West Indies after a royal row with her father. Sylvester's veneer of courage soon breaks down
when the ship is captured by The Hook, a villainous pirate who intends to hold the princess to ransom

11.00pm Film : They Got Me Covered (1943)
Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Otto Preminger
The Bob Hope double bill concludes with this spy spoof which casts Hope as a newsman fired from his news syndicate for muffing a story.
Seeking consolation with Christine, the head of his bureau's office in Washington, he runs across a confidential report on spy activities in
America and becomes involved with a spy ring who have lethal plans for his future....

12.45am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

CHANNEL 4

Boxing Day Monday 27th December 1982

3.00pm Film : Hans Christian Anderson (1952)
starring Danny Kaye
Musical based on the life of one of Denmark's most famous sons, the fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen

5.00pm Madam
The Story of Rake's Progress
First of five films about the work of Britain's grand lady of ballet, Dame Ninette de Valois.
Last year, both the Royal Ballet and Sadler's Wells Theatre celebrated their 50th anniversary.
For the golden anniversary of the company she started, Dame Ninette re-staged her classic
ballet, The Rake's Progress. This first programme tells the story of the ballet. Appearing are
members of Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, directed by Peter Wright, Sir Robert Helpmann,
Sir Anton Dolin, Pamela May, June Brae, Peter Wright and Barry Wordsworth

5.45pm Preview 4

6.00pm Fifties to the Fore (until 10.00pm)
Fifties nostalgia comes to Channel Four in this selection of top ITV programmes from the period.
Comedy, drama, vintage rock n' roll — it's all here for your enjoyment.
All programmes were made in black and white
The Arthur Haynes Show
Re-run of one of the most popular variety shows. This one from 1959 shows 'the large
as life and twice as sly' Arthur outwitting authority. Also appearing: Aileen Cochrane,
Nicholas Parsons, Kept Morris, Leslie Noyes, Diana French, and Jessie Ball

7.00pm Oh Boy!
Jimmy Henney, Tony Hall
Relive the days when beat music exploded live from the Hackney Empire.
Vintage rock rolls again with Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard and the Drifters, The Dallas Boys,
Cherry Wainer, Don Lang, Cuddly Dudley, The Vernons Girls, Lord Rockingham's XI,
Rod Price, Billy Fury, Dickie Pride, Mike Preston, Bill - Forbes, Peter Elliott, Neville Taylor and His Cutters and Lorie Mann

7.30pm The Larkins
Ale and Farewell
In this episode of the classic sitcom, first shown in 1958, Ada is on the warpath

8.00pm Armchair Theatre
Hot Summer Night
starring John Slater
Jacko believes everyone's equal on the factory floor, but not at home, especially when his daughter acquires a new boyfriend

9.30pm Fifty Paces
Catch the flavour of the Fifties in this selection of documentary material

10.00pm Whatever You Want
Tansey Lambert is Dead, OK?
A seasonal greeting is despatched from his cell by a youngster called Tansey

11.00pm Johnny Cash in Scotland
Join singers Johnny Cash and Andy Williams, June Carter Cash, John Carter Cash, Carlene Carter

12.00 Closedown