Christmas TV

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

There were many instances of people watching the 'wrong' ITV for their area due to a variety of factors. A classic example was lots of people in south Essex watched TVS, and later Meridian, as a legacy from when the Bluebell Hill transmitter broadcast Thames / LWT and provided the strongest signal for the area. Luton was officially Anglia but Thames / LWT was just as popular because Luton is an outpost of London so many residents want their news from London rather than Norwich. Granada was more popular in parts of north Wales than HTV was.

I am certain that people in Kent watched Anglia as well - I assumed that once you reached the mouth of the Thames, that is the end of the Anglia region and you were in the London area.

I used to be surprised that York was in Tyne Tees' area, but obviously that was due to the 1974 allocation of the Bilsdale transmitter from YTV. First time I was familiar with it was when I saw that outtake seen on It'll Be Alright on the Night where a Northern Life newsreader was referring to someone living in York as "experimenting with magic mushrooms" - I thought that York was naturally in YTV Calendar-land (just like any other county that had "Yorkshire" in its name).

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

Did Ulster tend to show more religious programmes around Christmas than other ITV companies did?

I know that they used to do some in the Highway slot - Mary O'Hara and Sing Out were two examples, and they also contributed to Highway as well.

Thinking about it, most people in Northern Ireland celebrate Christmas just as much as Great Britain - I don't think that the protestant - catholic divide made any difference. Let's face it: Christmas was (and should always be) a time of year when differences should always be put aside. I just assume that they had the same programmes as elsewhere. I know that Scotland did their Watchnight service that was sometimes shown elsewhere.

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Friday 23rd December 1983

BBC1

6.00am Ceefax AM
6.30am Breakfast Time
9.30am The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
9.50am Battle of the Planets
10.15am Tom and Jerry
10.30am Play School
10.55am Play Ideas
11.05am Mountain Born
11.50am Christmas Cartoons
12.05pm Look Back with Noakes
12.30pm News After Noon
Weather
12.57pm Regional News
Financial Report, and News Headlines (London and SE only)
1.00pm Pebble Mill at One
1.50pm Little Misses and The Mister Men
2.05pm Star Movie
Film : Bing Crosby in Welcome Stranger (1947)
3.53pm Regional News (excluding London)
3.55pm Play School
4.20pm The Adventures of Bullwinkle and Rocky
4.25pm Jackanory
4.40pm Take Hart
5.00pm Crackerjack
5.40pm Sixty Minutes includes
The News
5.53pm Regional Magazines
6.15pm Weather
6.38pm Closing headlines
6.40pm BBC Television's Carol Competition 1983
7.15pm Film : Across the Great Divide (1976) Première
8.50pm Points of View
9.00pm Main News
Weekend Weather
9.15pm The Princess and the People
10.05pm Film : The Dirty Dozen (1967)
12.30am Weather

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Eve Saturday 24th December 1983

BBC1

8.35am Inch High Private Eye

9.00am From All of Us to All of You
Walt Disney clip show

9.45am The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera
Gene Kelly presents a clip show

10.50am Film : A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court (1949) starring Bing Crosby

12.30pm Bonanza
with Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker

1.20pm Film : Around the World with Dot
starring Drew Forsythe

2.30pm TV Film : The Magic of Lassie (1978)
starring James Stewart and Mickey Rooney

4.10pm The Dukes of Hazzard

5.00pm Newsread by Jan Leeming

5.10pm Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1975 special starring Michael Crawford

5.55pm Pop Quiz
presented by Mike Read, with Roger Taylor, Dave Edmunds,
Mari Wilson, Limahl, Leee John and Midge Ure

6.30pm The Little and Large Show
with Jimmy Cricket, Joe Brown, Martin Daniels, Cleo Rocos and
Chas 'n' Dave

7.10pm Film : Flash Gordon (1980)
starring Sam Jones, Topol, Melody Anderson, Brian Blessed
and Max von Sydow

8.55pm Val Doonican's Christmas Party
with Howard Keel, The Nolans, Sky & Wall Street Crash

9.40pm Bergerac
starring John Nettles, with Liza Goddard

10.35pm Newsread by Jan Leeming Weather

10.45pm The Good Old Days
chaired by Leonard Sachs, with Danny La Rue, Valerie Masterson,
Robert White,Bernard Cribbins, Barry Cryer, the Clark Brothers
and Castan Bloom

11.45pm Midnight Eucharist
from the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn

12.45am Weather

12.50am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Day Sunday 25th December 1983

BBC1

8:35am The Christmas Raccoons
A musical cartoon narrated by Rich Little with the voices of Rita Coolidge
and Rupert Holmes
Can the horrible and greedy Cyril Sneer be responsible for making the
raccoons homeless at Christmas time?

9:00am Carols from Newby Hall
Ian Carmichael introduces Christmas music from Newby Hall at Ripon.
with Grace Kennedy , Robert White Cambridge University Chamber Choir

9:50am Away In a Manger
Children's stories, songs, pictures and thoughts about the Nativity.
'Mary was doing the washing-up when the angel came and told
her she was going to have a baby.'
'The three kings brought presents of gold, frankenstein and myrhh.'
'Today he would be born in a garage and they'd put him in newspapers

10:20am Christmas Morning Family Service
from The Mint Methodist Church. Exeter
A look at the stories which surround the birth of Jesus -
stories which have become an essential part of our Christmas
heritage and celebration

11:17am Weather

11:20am The Little Convict
A colourful animation adventure starring Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris , as Jake the Peg, with the Extra Leg, presents the
story of the convicts who settled and built the new country
of Australia.

12:35pm Ziggy's Gift
An award-winning animated Christmas story about the magic of
giving. Ziggy-a little guy in a big world, overweight and
underwhelmed-takes a job as a street-comer Santa.
But as luck (and his is usually bad) would have it, he unsuspectingly
goes to work for a con-man.... Even so Ziggy finds the true spirit of
Christmas in a greedy, commercialised world

1:00pm Bugs Bunny
in Abominable Snow Rabbit

1:05pm Film : Glitterball (1977)
A film for all the family starring Ben Buckton , Keith Jayne When a
spaceship crashlands on earth, its 'pilot'-a small silver ball-is
befriended by Max and Pete. They find that the alien being
has a vast appetite and can signal to its fellows in space
Première

2:00pm Top of the Pops 1983
Part 1: the Radio 1 DJs present the singers and bands who have
made this year's top-selling records.
Michael Jackson , Shakin' Stevens Men at Work, Bonnie Tyler,
Duran Duran , Bucks Fizz, Lionel Richie , David Bowie

3:00pm The Queen
speaks to the Commonwealth

3:15pm Blankety Blank
Terry Wogan hosts a special Christmas edition of the
comedy quiz game Sabina Franklyn, Roy Kinnear, Ruth Madoc,
Patrick Moore, Beryl Reid, Freddie Starr

3:50pm Film : Treasure Island (1950)
starring Robert Newton Bobby Driscoll , Basil Sydney
A host of characters from Robert Louis Stevenson 's greatest sea
tale of them all spring to life in Walt Disney's colourful live action
entertainment.
When the sinister Blind Pew visits the Admiral Benbow Inn to serve
the 'black spot' on ex-Captain Billy Bones , Jim Hawkins finds he has
possession of the secret map of Captain Flint's buried treasure.
His friends, Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, charter a ship, but
unknown to them Flint's old crew, led by peg-leg Long John, has
signed up for the voyage....
Première

5:25pm News with Jan Leeming and Weather

5:35pm Jim'll Fix It
with Jimmy Savile OBE
including: An 11-year-old Hi-de-Hi! Yellowcoat
Two pupils of a school for the blind riding at the Horse of the Year Show
An 8-year-old Father Christmas
How to crack Christmas walnuts

6:15pm Songs of Praise Special
from Peterborough Cathedral
Almost 2,000 years ago in a small village in the Middle East a baby
was bom. Only a few shepherds and strangers from afar suspected
that they were witnessing the most important event in the history
of the world. Today over a thousand million Christians all over the
world join in celebration of Christ's nativity.
Tonight in the Norman splendour of Peterborough Cathedral,
Geoffrey Wheeler joins schools, choirs and congregations in
their musical celebration of the Christmas story.

7.15pm The Two Ronnies
starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett and their special guest
Elton John featuring The Adventures of Archie a cautionary tale of
time and space

8:05pm All Creatures Great and Small
starring Christopher Timothy as James Herriot,
Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon, Peter Davison as Tristan Farnon
Carol Drinkwater as Helen
England, 1947. Demobbed from the army, James Herriot returns to his
beloved Yorkshire, to his wife and young son and the day-to-day dramas
of a country veterinary practice.

9:35pm Only Fools and Horses
Thicker Than Water
starring David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst with Lennard Pearce
Christmas is a time for family and friends. You can choose your friends -
but not your family!

10:05pm News with Jan Leeming and Weatherman

10:15pm Film : Better Late Than Never (1983)
starring David Niven, Art Carney, Maggie Smith
In this British premiere of David Niven's last film, he plays
Nicky-suave, charming, workshy and a total rascal. Art Carney
plays Charles-sober, hard-working and broke. Many years before,
Nicky and Charles were rivals for the love of Jennifer and either
might be the grandfather of her grand-daughter Bridget-a
precocious 10-year-old who just happens to have inherited
23 million dollars....
Première

11.45pm The Spinners at York
The festive season would not be complete without a session
with Tony, Hugh, Mick and Cliff.
Join them in the Dickensian street at York's Castle Museum
for an evening of not-so-familiar seasonal songs with
John McCormick on bass

12.15am Weather

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Boxing Day Monday 26th December 1983

BBC1

9.00am The New Adventures of Flash Gordon

9.20am The Natural World: Snowy
Chilly, Motley and Me, cats & dogs with Oxford zooligist John Paling

10.10am Cartoons
Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk, with Bugs Bunny and Dragoncastle

10.30am Play School
with the story Cobweb Christmas Tree, by Shirley Climo, presented
by Elizabeth Millbank and Brian Jameson

10.55am Pigeon Street

11.10am Strange Companions
a young runaway stows away on a light aircraft, 1/2

12.00 Look Back with Noakes
the coastal paths of Devon and Cornwall in summer

12.30pm News Headlines ; Weather

12.35pm The Racoons and the Lost Star
cartoon

1.20pm Cracked Ice
a Warner Brothers cartoon

1.30pm The Good Life

2.00pm Film : Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
starring Alec Guinness

4.35pm The Keith Harris Christmas Party
with Shakin' Stevens and Stu Francis

5.10pm Newswith Richard Whitmore

5.15pm Final Scorewith David Icke

5.25pm Circus World Championships

6.25pm The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show
with illusionists The Pendragons, acrobats, the Five Star
Endresz family and Professor Al Cartny and his
mechanical man

7.15pm The Kenny Everett Television Show

7.50pm Film : Rocky(1976)
starring Sylvester Stallone

9.45pm Lenny Henry presents Laughing Matter
a selection of classic comedy clips

10.25pm Newswith Richard Whitmore

10.35pm Kiri and Friends
with Thomas Allen, Wayne Sleep, Alessandra Ferri,
Marisa Robels, Richard Van Allen and Dimitris Sgouros

11.35pm The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

12.15am Weather

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Holiday Tuesday 27th December 1983

BBC1

9.00am The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
Ming's Last Battle

9.25am Why Don't You....?
"Why Don't You just switch off your television set and go out and do
something less boring instead?"
Your ideas, games and activities presented by the children of the
Belfast Why Don't You....? Gang

9.50am Paddington Special
Paddington goes to the Movies

10.10am Jackanory
The Dangerous Journey by Elizabeth Renier

10.25am Ivor the Engine
Snowdrifts

10.30am Play School
Presented by Elizabeth Millbank, Fred Harris, Wayne Jackman

10.55am Gran
Gran's Goat
narrated by Patricia Hayes Gran's Goat
Gran gets some goats to keep her grass down-but they
get her down too.

11.00am Stop-Go!
Go Train Go
Locomotives may have to be repaired and carriages cleaned
before they join up to make a train waiting to leave the station.
Narrated by Ben Thomas

11.10am Strange Companions
Part 2

12.00 Look back with Noakes
John Noakes and Shep review the adventures and travels
of the Go with Noakes series.
The Oxford Bumps
John coxes the Balliol eight to inglorious defeat.

12.30pm News Headlines, Weather

12.35pm Color Rhapsodies
Gifts from the Air
The Little Matchgirl
A double-bill of seasonal cartoons

12.55pm Take Two
In a special end of year edition Lucie Skeaping presents clips
from your favourite television programmes and recalls what the
critics had to say about them.
New requests are also included with fresh voices from up and
down the country giving their opinions on Seaview, The Late Late
Breakfast Show, Harty and Blankety Blank.
An opportunity also to enter the last competition of the year,
so have your pencil and paper ready.

1.35pm Film : El Cid (1961)
The first of two feature films starring Charlton Heston with
Sophia Loren Gary Raymond , Raf Vallone Genevieve Page ,
John Fraser

4.30pm Disney Time
The traditional Christmas visit to the world of Walt Disney films
introduced by Mike Read and Sarah Greene
Films include:
Jungle Book
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Lady and the Tramp
Never Cry Wolf
Sleeping Beauty
The Sword and the Stone

5.20pm Evening Newswith Frances Covcrdale
Weatherman

5.25pm Final Score
Introduced by David Icke

5.35pm It's a Christmas Knockout
A festive Anglo-Swedish competition on ice from the
Aviemore Centre, Scotland.
Featuring a team from Karlskrona. representing Sweden,
and a British squad made up of ice skaters recruited from
Bournemouth, Altrincham, Aviemore and Queens Ice Rinks
Introduced for Great Britain by Stuart Hall and for Sweden
by Henrik Engberg
Referees:
GB-Lorna Brown (former World Professional Skating Champion)
Sweden - Willie Lofqvist (former Olympic Ice Hockey player)

6.25pm Film : Hooper (1978)Première
starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Brian Keith

8.00pm Dallas
The Buck Stops Here
Pam has a rough ride when she sees Bobby and Jenna at the
Charity Rodeo, but she's soon back in the saddle to make up
with Mark.
Meanwhile back at the office J.R. plans to rope in the traitor in his
camp....

8.50pm Last of the Summer Wine
A comedy film adapted from his novel by Roy Clarke
starring Bill Owen, Peter Sallis, Brian Wilde
In answer to his one last request, Compo, Clegg and Foggy
reluctantly sneak Sam out of his invalid bed for a final frolic
with the not so young as she used to be Lily-Bless-Her.
Then - with an unthinking lack of gratitude and a smile on his face -
Sam drops them right in it by becoming far more trouble dead than
alive...

10.20pm Main Newswith Frances CoverdaleWeatherman

10.30pm Wedding In Las Vegas
The true story of how a fake wedding party and a computer
improved the odds for a rock group manager who set out to
make a big win at blackjack in the world's most famous casinos.
Every blackjack player dreams of the perfect system. Is this it?

11.20pm Men v Women
An International Golf Challenge
The opening match of a series especially made for BBC1 between
top American women golfers Joanne Carner and Sandra Haynie
and two of the world's leading golfing men, Germany's Bernhard
Langer and the 'Great White Shark' from Australia Greg Norman.
The only concession the ladies receive in the opening four-ball
match over nine holes of the Duke's Course at Woburn, is to play off
the forward tees.

12.10am Weatherman

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Wednesday 28th December 1983

BBC1

6.00am Ceefax AM
6.30am Breakfast Time
9.00am The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
9.25am Why Don't You....?
9.50am Wacky Races
10.00am Play Chess!
10.10am Jackanory
10.25am Paddington
10.30am Play School
10.55am Hokey Cokey
11.10am Three Tall Tales
12.00 Look Back with Noakes
12.30pm News After Noon
Weather
12.42pm Regional News
Financial Report, and News Headlines (London and SEonly)
12.45pm Tom and Jerry
1.00pm Bonanza
1.50pm Film : Dodge City (1939)
3.30pm The World of Stanley Holloway
4.20pm Heyyy, It's the King
4.30pm Jackanory
4.45pm Gulliver's Travels
5.35pm Ivor the Engine
5.40pm Evening News, Weatherman
5.50pm Regional news magazines
6.00pm Film : The Great Escape (1963)
8.45pm Main News, Weatherman
9.00pm The Best of Three of a Kind
9.30pm Review 83
10.50pm Phil Silvers as Sgt Bilko
11.15pm Men v Women
An International Golf Challenge
12.05am Weatherman

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Thursday 29th December 1983

BBC1

10.30am Play School
10.55am Postman Pat
11.10am Smoke
12.00 Look Back with Noakes
12.30pm News After Noon
Weather
12.42pm Regional news
Financial Report, and News Headlines (London and SE only)
12.45pm Barney Bear
12.50pm Yellowstone Below Zero
1.15pm Bonanza
2.05pm Film : Brother of the Wind (1973) Première
3.30pm The World of Stanley Holloway
4.20pm Laurel and Hardy
4.25pm Jackanory
4.40pm Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
5.05pm Blue Peter Review of the Year
5.35pm Ivor the Engine
5.40pm Evening News, Weatherman
5.50pm Cartoon : Alias St Nick (London and South East only)
Regional News (All other English Regions)
6.00pm A Question of Sport
6.35pm Tomorrow's World
7.00pm Top of the Pops 1983: Part 2
7.55pm Rainbow Safari
8.45pm Main News, Weatherman
9.00pm Film : Coma (1978) Première
10.50pm Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko
11.15pm Men v Women
An International Golf Challenge
12.05am News Headlines; Weatherman

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Friday 30th December 1983

6.00am Ceefax AM
6.30am Breakfast Time
9.00am The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
9.25am Why Don't You ...?
9.50am Wacky Races
10.00am Play Chessl
10.10am Jackanory
10.25am Paddington
10.30am Play School
10.55am Play Ideas
11.05am Little Misses and The Mister Men
11.20am Smoke
12.05pm Look Back With Noakes
12.30pm News After Noon
Weather
12.42pm Regional news
Financial Report, and News Headlines (London and SE only)
12.45pm Tom and Jerry
1.00pm Bonanza
1.45pm Film : Khartoum (1966)
3.50pm Goodbye to The Good Old Days
4.20pm Laurel and Hardy
4.25pm Jackanory
4.40pm Yogi Bear
4.45pm Take Hart
5.05pm Cheggers Plays Pop
5.40pm Evening News, Weatherman
5.50pm Cartoon Lonesome Strangers (London and South East only)
Regional News (All other English Regions)
6.00pm Cartoons
6.20pm Film : Warlords of Atlantis (1978)
7.55pm The Superstars
8.45pm Main News
Weekend Weather
9.00pm Waters of the Moon
10.40pm Carrott's Lib
11.25pm The Late Film: The Midnight Man (1974)

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

New Year's Eve Saturday 31st December 1983

BBC1

8.35am Inch High Private Eye
9.00am Saturday Superstore
12.12pm Weather
12.15pm Grandstand
5.05pm News, Weatherman
5.15pm Sport/Regional News
5.20pm Jim'll Fix It
5.55pm The Little and Large Show
6.30pm Film : Arabian Adventure (1979) Première
8.05pm Best of British Comedy
8.55pm Bergerac
9.50pm News and Sport
Weatherman
10.05pm Match of the Day
10.45pm A Farewell Celebration of The Good Old Days
11.45pm Across the Years
12.10am At Last -It's 1984!
1.05am Weather

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Saturday 17th December 1983

BBC2

10.35am Open University
2.45pm The Sky at Night
3.05pm Play Away
3.25pm The Emigrants
5.50pm Greek - Language and People
6.15pm Whistle Test - On the Road
6.55pm Newsnight December
7.45pm News and Sport
8.00pm Zubin Mehta Masterclass
8.50pm Film ; Cary Grant In Night and Day (1946)
10.58pm News Summary Weather
11.00pm The New Land

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Sunday 18th December 1983

BBC2

11.25am Open University
Caring for Older People: Voluntary Workers
11.50am Maths: The Alvey Report 3: Software Engineering
12.15pm Towards One Force of Nature
2.25pm Horizon
3.15pm Beethoven Piano Sonatas
3.45pm The Great Palace: The Story of Parliament
4.35pm Rugby Special
5.25pm Ski Sunday
6.00pm News Review
6.30pm The Money Programme
7.15pm Russell Harty : The Nativity
7.45pm The Natural World : Pelican Delta
8.40pm News on Two, Weather
8.45pm Did You See...?
9.35pm Pranks
10.15pm TV Film : Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Monday 19th December 1983

BBC2

3.55pm Film : Cary Grant In Bringing Up Baby (1938)
5.35pm News Summary, Weather
5.40pm Eureka
6.10pm International Show Jumping
6.55pm Schoolgirl Chums
8.00pm Food and Drink
8.30pm The Bob Monkhouse Show
9.25pm A Talent for Murder
10.55am Frank Delaney

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Tuesday 20th December 1983

BBC2

4.00pm Film : Cary Grant In Mr Lucky (1943)
5.35pm News Summary
Weather
5.40pm Rockschool
6.05pm Gymnastics
7.05pm St Ursula's In Danger
8.10pm Bookmark
9.00pm Film : Rollerball (1975) Première
11.00pm Out of Court
11.30pm News on Two, Weather
11.35pm Greek-Language and People