Christmas TV

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Wednesday 21st December 1983

BBC2

4.15pm Film : Cary Grant In Every Girl Should be Married (1948) Première
5.35pm News Summary, Weather
5.40pm A Waltons Special : A Wedding on Waltons' Mountain
7.15pm Championship Darts Special
8.30pm Nature
9.00pm Entertainment USA
9.25pm My Music for Christmas
9.55pm Barry at Blenheim
10.40pm News on Two, Weather
10.45pm TV Film : The Roads of Exile (1978) (Part One) Première

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Thursday 22nd December 1983

BBC2

3.30pm Film : Cary Grant In Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House (1948)
5.00pm The World Chess Championships
5.35pm News Summary, Weather
5.40pm Sports Review of 1983
7.25pm Callas An International Celebration
9.25pm The Great Palace: The Story of Parliament
10.15pm Christmas at Cromore
11.05pm News on Two, Weather
11.10pm Film : The Roads of Exile (1978) (Part Two)

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Friday 23rd December 1983

BBC2

3.55pm Film : Cary Grant in The Grass is Greener (1960)
5.35pm News Summary, Weather
5.40pm A Waltons Special : Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain
7.15pm Championship Darts Special
8.20pm Global Report
8.50pm M*A*S*H
9.15pm The Everly Brothers Reunion Concert
10.30pm Film : The Marx Brothers In Monkey Business (1931)
11.45pm News on Two, Weather
11.50pm The Old Grey Whistle Test : Pick of the Year

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Eve Saturday 24th December 1983

BBC2

1.05pm Film : Scrooge (1951)
starring Alistair Sim

2.30pm Shakespeare in Perspective
comedy with Roy Hudd


2.55pm The Book Game
chaired by Robert Robinson, with Anthony Burgess, Germaine Greer,
Susan Hill and Adam Mars-Jones, Freddie Jones reads the extracts

3.25pm Film : That Touch of Mink (1962)
starring Cary Grant and Doris Day

5.00pm The BBC Television Shakespeare
The Comedy of Errors, starring Roger Daltrey and Michael Kitchen
as the two pairs of twins, with wendy Hiller, Cyril Cusack, Charles Gray,
Suzanne Bertish and Joanne Pearce

6.55pm Sky at Drury Lane with guest Patrick Ros

7.45pm Newswith Jan Leeming

7.55pm Cider with Rosie
starring Rosemary Leach in the 1971 production

9.30pm Private Lives
highlights from the series with Maria Aitken

10.00pm Whistle TestPresents
Paul Young from the Hammersmith Odeon

10.45pm Film : To Catch a Thief (1955)
starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in Hitchcock's thriller

12.35am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas Day Sunday 25th December 1983

BBC2

2:00pm Nobody Minded the Rain
Impressions of Coronation Day
Where were you on 2 June 1953? Perhaps you were one of the
20 million who watched the day's events on television; perhaps
you were one of the hundreds of thousands who braved the cold
and rain to cheer the Queen through the streets of London. Possibly
you were one of the 7,000 people present in Westminster Abbey
for the Service, the most glittering ceremony that our tradition provides.
This programme tells the story of Coronation Day and the
preparations for it through the reminiscences of people who were
there, including Lord Ramsey-then Bishop of Durham, Lord Eccles -
then Minister of Works, Lady Rayne-one of the Queen's Maids of Honour,
together with many citizens who, for one reason or another, have
good cause to remember the day, like the crewmen of the Lowestoft
lifeboat who were among the few that missed the Coronation
celebrations

3:00pm The Book Game
The second of four conversational games about books and writers
in which Anthony Burgess , Germaine Greer , Susan Hill and Adam
Mars-Jones try to identify recited extracts, and then give vent to their
literary likes and dislikes

3:30pm The Great Palace : The Story of Parliament
The People of the Palace

4:20pm Henry's Cat
Christmas Dinner

4:25pm Film : Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
starring Judy Garland with Margaret O'Brien Mary Astor Leon Ames
Meet Me in St Louis is perhaps Vincente Minnelli's best-loved
musical, featuring Judy Garland in numbers like 'The boy next
door' and 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas' and, of course,
the classic 'Trolley song'. It traces the life and loves of a middle-class
St Louis family through the four seasons, investigating the trials and
tribulations of growing-up

6:15pm The Natural World : Winter Days
Narrated by Robert Powell
A season of death and decay, or months of magic? When the sun
departs and winter days arrive, how does our wildlife cope with the cold?
There are many strategies for survival. Some prepare carefully, making
food stores, laying up fat, going underground, hibernating. Others adapt,
migrate, develop anti-freeze, flee. Some just shiver to survive, but all
behave in ways that ensure that life triumphs over death. Award-winning
cameraman Hugh Miles explores the still, silent, but stormy beauty of
this most challenging season of the year. It is a season to survive

7:05pm News on Two with Jan Leeming, Weather

7:15pm Cinderella
Rossini's delightful comic opera based on the classic pantomime
story provides a special musical treat for opera lovers at Christmas

9:50pm The Queen
The Christmas Day programme in which Her Majesty speaks to the
Commonwealth (with open subtitles and sign language interpretation
for the deaf and hard-of-hearing)

10:05pm The Bob Monkhouse Show
Bob Monkhouse presents the last of the present series in which he
introduces the best of comic talent from around the world.
This week his special guests are Norman Wisdom and from the
USSR via Los Angeles 'The Russian Comic', Yakov Smirnoff with
music from Bertice Reading and The Harry Stoneham Band

11:00pm Film : The Marx Brothers in Duck Soup (1933)
The postage-stamp republic of Freedonia, threatened by a
revolution, appoints Rufus (Groucho) T. Firefly as its dictator.
With Chico and Harpo as double agents working for the rival
state of Sylvania, Freedonia is about to get a traumatic taste
of Marxist rule!

12:10am Closedown

[darren]

Re: Christmas TV

Boxing Day Monday 26th December 1983

BBC1

12.45pm Racing from Wincanton
introduced by Julian Wilson, with Peter O'Sullevan &
Richard Pitman (1.00, 1.35, 2.05 races)

2.20pm Joseph and Child
Arthur Dooley's sculpture

2.35pm The Tale of Beatrix Potter
a biographical play with Penelope Wilton and Michael Hordern

4.30pm The Book Game
with Anthony Burgess, Germaine Greer, Susan Hill &
Adam Mars-Jones

5.00pm Shakespeare in Perspective
The Two Gentleman of Verona
Broadcaster Russell Davies introduces tomorrow's BBC2 comedy
of young love and some fascinating variations on the mating game

5.25pm Film : Mame (1974)
starring Lucille Ball and Robert Preston

7.15pm A Life in the Theatre
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies

8.05pm News Summarywith subtitles

8.10pm Romeo and Juliet
Prokofiev's ballet from La Scala, Milan, choreographed by John
Drummond with Carla Fracci, Rudolph Nureyev and
Dame Margot Fonteyn

10.25pm Film : The Ipcress File (1965)
starring Michael Caine, Nigel Green and Guy Dolman

12.15am Closedown

[Arran]

Re: Christmas TV

(By the way, I know that this thread has drifted off from its original Christmas TV topic to regional variations, although I believe that the thread has focused on television rather than holidays, and so I believe that this should have been in the television forum from the outset anyway).

I’m interested in ITV regional opt outs. I would love to have a list of the ITV schedules for Christmas and New Year over the years complete with the regional opt outs.

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.

Ulster used to produce a lot of low budget local programmes all year round. I’m intrigued to know if they regularly produced standalone religious programmes as regional opt outs that were not networked. On the Christmas Eve schedule Ulster decided to show What the Churches Say (almost certainly a local programme) when the mainland watched Punchlines!

Ulster wasn’t unique in 1982 for religious opt outs. TSW showed a local programme Carols of Cornwall first thing in the morning when the rest of the country, except for Grampian and Tyne Tees, got Sesame Street. Any idea what The Good Word shown by Tyne Tees was about and was it a religious programme?

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

I believe that The Good Word was a religious thing that was shown first thing before schools programmes and all that. Tyne Tees also rounded off the evening with Three's Company, which is unrelated to the American sitcom version of Man About the House that some ITV regions shown, probably in the 5.15 pm slot.

Many people were fascinated as to what Gus Honeybun was, and I believe that many people wanted to stay in the South West to see what the programme was all about, only to find that it was a jazzed-up birthday slot. I used to see a programme mentioned in regional ITV variations called "Party with the Rovers" that was often on after News at Ten on either Border or Ulster, and I actually thought it was some little-known obscure Coronation Street spin-off, because of the reference to "The Rovers" in its title.

On the other hand, while ATV/Central, TVS, LWT (and HTV with its own regional presenter) got Police 5, while Ulster had got Police 6. Should have kept 'em peeled for that one.

Regional variations were both fascinating and yet frustrating because of the fact that we couldn't pick all of these stations up on our TV - if only we had today's Sky Digital technology back in the 1970s and 1980s - it would be better than the extra channels that we have now!

[George 1978]

Re: Christmas TV

I’m interested in ITV regional opt outs. I would love to have a list of the ITV schedules for Christmas and New Year over the years complete with the regional opt outs.

So am I.

[Rollingstone88]

Re: Christmas TV

Christmas TV these days revolve around soaps and reality shows. No variety at all. I haven't even looked through the Christmas issue of Radio Times. All I saw was the Christmas Day schedule of 3 hours of soaps and Strictly Come Dancing and lost the will to liveThe only thing I fancy is the musical 'Elf' on 23rd Dec, Channel 5. You're so right, akb48fan, I used to love the festive morning screenings of Harold Lloyd, Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, and later Charlie Chase and Thelma Todd/Zasu Pitts shorts. Also, gone are the Christmas morning Morecambe & Wise and Two Ronnies. I have happy memories of opening my presents while those were on TV. Then, later, enjoying Christmas specials of Larry Grayson's Generation Game and Blanketey Blank before snouts in the trough with the family and more than a few drinks! Just not the same now. I find Christmas very boring and depressing now, or is it my age (54) and pining for the past?I just buy special DVDs to watch. Films or my old favourites. Hardly watch any TV over Christmas now.

[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