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Advent Calendar Day 11: Tinsel-Free and not-so Joyous

2016-12-11T07:00:00+00:00

Rick Wakeman on Grumpy Old Men At Christmas, 2003

"The children get tired and fractious, Grandpa goes to sleep, Auntie gets indigestion, Dad complains about the expense and I do the washing-up!" - things aren't always joyful, joyful in the holiday season and �� Genome listings reflect this.

Apart from the usual tragic EastEnders Christmas plots - which should by now be considered traditional, the reports about those having to work over the holidays, and the special programmes for the lonely, there's also the desire for a somewhat alternative celebration, either by slightly changing the menu or rethinking the decorations...

Radio DJs are also known to rebel against the festive overload. John Peel felt the need to declare his �� Truths programme a "tinsel-free zone": "no mistletoe, no fairy lights, just good wholesome fair". Tom Watts opted for an alternative collection of Christmas record that didn't include "Wizzard and Wham!, Slade and Spector", and Chris Moyles and his team offered seven hours of "their own sideways look at the world" on Christmas Day.

Grumpy famous men have also been offered the chance to vent against "pantos, nativity plays, false bonhomie and novelty socks", while grumpy women bemoaned "supermarket shopping" and "multi-tasking". Our favourite, though, is this Woman's Hour listing/song... no bitterness here...

Woman's Hour, Woman's Hour Women all the way.
Have a merry Christmas,
Don't work too hard today. Let him stuff the turkey, Let him fill your sack,
Stay in bed all morning, Let him break his back
With brussels sprouts and holly And artificial snow.
Let him change the fairy lights And buy the mistletoe.
So why not have a change of plan?
We've got the best solution,
Listen each day to Woman's Hour For your New Year's resolution.

Stars of Genome: Margot Hayhoe

2016-11-11T07:00:00+00:00

Margot Hayhoe in studio TC6

Margot Hayhoe joined the �� in 1964 as secretary in �� Enterprises – she then progressed to the Drama Serials Department where she worked up the ladder from Assistant Floor Manager to Associate Producer. She worked in Doctor Who, EastEnders, Silent Witness, Man in the Iron Mask, War and Peace and many other �� productions. She left the staff in 1994 and worked as a freelancer until 2005 when she retired for production work – she occasionally works as a background artist.

What was your first job in the ��? My first job was acting in the children’s drama African Holiday which was transmitted live from Lime Grove. It was telerecorded then transmitted again in April. I also appeared in Jack in the Box, The Thompson Family, Women of Troy, The Common Room, The Lady from the Sea and Champion Road for the �� plus Cool for Cats, Emergency Ward 10 and The Lonely World of Harry Braintree for ITV amongst others. These were whilst I was still at my school,The Arts Educational.

Were you ever mentioned on the Radio Times magazine? Or is there any particular magazine you have kept as souvenir? I have never been interviewed for the Radio Times, only had my name listed in the casts of the above productions. I have kept the front covers of the Radio Times for the programmes I worked on as part of the production team, such as Christ Recrucified, Prince Regent, War and Peace, The Old Men at the Zoo plus many others. I also kept the supplement that came for War and Peace.

How do you use �� Genome? And have you found any particular programme episode you are fond of? I sometimes look to Genome to jog my memory of which actors were in certain series. I was particularly fond of any of the Francis Durbridge serials which always had wonderful cliff-hanger end of episodes!

"When finding locations, the variety of places I have been to has added to my education: inside prisons, mortuaries, council flats then stately homes, hospitals, court rooms, the working end of crematoriums, factories, dock yards and airports."

Can you share any special memories you have of the programmes and features you worked in? It is very difficult to pick out any special memories from Doctor Who and many of the other productions I worked on, as they mostly have all been memorable. However a Dr Who I did with Patrick Troughton called Fury from the Deep gave me the chance to fly in a helicopter for the first time. As we took off from a cliff edge to go down to the beach, I screamed as I watched the earth disappear from beneath my feet which encouraged the pilot to swerve around, very exciting.

Another memorable moment was on Les Miserables, a serial with Frank Finlay, when we were filming a scene on the Isle of Wight that involved convicts in chains. These 20 or so actors were costumed and made-up in Portsmouth and I had to get the ferry tickets and march the men on board with their chains clanking away to get them to the location.

Trudging 14 times up and down St, Michael's Mount in a day on Man in the Iron Mask is seared into my brain as is hiding in cars to cue the drivers on Z Cars before the days of walkie-talkies.

A scene from War and Peace

On War and Peace we had a thousand Yugoslav soldiers for several days and the organisation involved in getting them ready and into position was impressive.

Filming in the centre of Bern for A Perfect Spy which involved closing the streets for a night shoot; Filming on Tender is the Night in Switzerland and France was a challenge, especially the beach scenes with strong winds blowing away the parasols and having to reschedule due to the rain.

Shooting Old Men at the Zoo with wild animals was interesting, plus having to find enough male extras prepared to have their bottoms exposed for injections as part of one scene shot in a disused biscuit factory near Hereford.

Trying to shoot London street scenes for Day of the Triffids was problematical as it was supposed to be deserted of any moving traffic. I enjoyed filming in Bath on Persuasion, as to see the actors in period costumes in the actual places in the book was a delight.

When finding locations, the variety of places I have been to has added to my education: inside prisons, mortuaries, council flats then stately homes, hospitals, court rooms, the working end of crematoriums, factories, dock yards and airports.

Working with the Visual Effects on Silent Witness makes one a bit blasé about body parts and post mortems!

How important do you think it is to preserve the history of TV and radio listings? I think it is very important to preserve the history of TV and Radio listings to show future generations the breadth and level of productions of the past. Looking at the pages in the 1950s and comparing them with the present day listings, shows how trivial much of today's output has become. It is also a great reference source.

Stars of Genome: Andrew Collins

2016-07-31T09:00:00+00:00

Andrew Collins (resplendent in mustard) made an early TV appearance on Telly Addicts

Andrew Collins is a broadcaster and writer with numerous credits to his name.

He has written scripts for EastEnders, co-wrote the first two series of sitcom Not Going Out, and along with Stuart Maconie co-hosted a show on Radio 1. Andrew still maintains a connection with the current Radio Times as its regular film editor. He also hosts a weekly TV review show on UKTV's YouTube channel.

Here he takes a trip through his career by way of his listings in Genome - an estimated 450 (including credits pointing to his film columns in the magazine).

_____________________________________________________________________________

What was your first job in radio or television? My first appearance on television was in 1980. My schoolfriend Paul Garner and I were invited to guest on �� news programme Look East to talk about the caricatures we’d started drawing for local Northampton newspaper the Chronicle & Echo.

It was an exciting day. The school gave us time off, my dad drove us to Norwich, we pre-recorded an interview with presenter Ian Masters, then repaired to the green room, where soft drinks were free, and drew a caricature of Masters and fellow presenter Tony Scase, which we presented to them live at the end of the broadcast.

Only one of our friends, Craig, had parents with a video recorder, so we were able to watch our appearance back and soak up the fame the next day. I was paid an £8 appearance fee, which to me was a fortune! Dad got £38 travel expenses, which he kindly split between me and Paul.

My second appearance was 10 years later with my family when we were contestants on Noel Edmonds’ quiz show Telly Addicts, by which time I worked on the NME. We made it through to the semi-finals and were knocked out by the Allman family. As a self-consciously “cool” music journalist, I ought to have been embarrassed by this, but I wasn’t. Not at all. I even wore an NME t-shirt on our final appearance.

My first job on television was as a scriptwriter on Family Affairs, brand new Channel 5’s soap in 1997. My day job was editor of Q magazine, but I was getting itchy feet. I’d never written a script, but with five episodes a week, they needed to run in new writers, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. I ended up writing around 33 episodes over the next three years. And yes, I did leave my day job.

Andrew Collins says he is 'impressed' by the digitisation of Genome's listings

Do you remember the first time your name appeared in the Radio Times? My first solo mention must have been when I formed a comedy double act with my NME colleague and great friend Stuart Maconie. We had our own comedy series called Fantastic Voyage on the youth-aimed Radio Five – this was before it became news-and-sport Five Live. Although technically my name appeared before that, in 1988, when, as an avid Radio Times reader, I had a letter printed in the magazine and was chuffed to bits.

How did you feel when your photo was first published in the magazine? It was quite disarming. When Fantastic Voyage started, the magazine ran a small interview with an amusing press photo in which I am sucking on a plastic cigar. The Radio Five publicist, ever resourceful, brought it along to the photographic studio, and I was playful enough to use it.

Can you tell us your memories of the following programmes which you are associated with in the listings?

Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade After Fantastic Voyage, suddenly our names were in the title of a brand new Radio 1 review show. We used smart, funny journalistic types as our regular guests like Caitlin Moran, Miranda Sawyer and David Quantick. It was such fun to do – we also interviewed famous pop stars and had bands playing unplugged. This led to Stuart and I being asked to host Radio 1’s live coverage of the Brits and the newly-minted Mercury Prize for at least two years running. It seems almost surreal that we were part of of the nation’s favourite radio station at such a relatively early stage of our tenure, but this was the 90s of Cool Britannia – anything could happen!

Andrew says he is most proud of Not Going Out episode Winner

EastEnders My apprenticeship at Family Affairs directly led me to EastEnders. Its launch producer Mal Young moved to the �� and put my name forward. I tried out via the regimented induction process for new writers. They give you a storyline document and you have to write a number of scenes based upon it. You then hand this in, like an exam paper, and they decide whether they want to develop the relationship further.

I’ve just looked at the script I submitted – in it, Roy goes into the shop and asks Terry, “I’m in a bit of a hurry. Do you sell drawing pins?” Terry replies, “Over there with the Sellotape.” With dialogue like that, it was a forgone conclusion! Seriously, to my great delight, I was accepted.

I managed to earn consistent script commissions from 1999 to 2001, and had my name on 11 episodes, something I remain inordinately proud of. I even got to kill off a regular character: Nick Cotton’s son Ashley. It was hard work: you are expected to write up to six drafts of each script. I used to compare writing an episode to producing a single slice of salami that would fit perfectly into a whole sausage.

And yes, I did get to walk round Albert Square, but only once – you’re too busy writing to hang around the set! However, Barbara Windsor did give me a kiss after an official �� drinks party.

Not Going Out Being put together with Lee Mack was the most significant blind date of my career. He’d been developing a sitcom based on a live show, and I was drafted in to help with the structure. I clicked with Lee and we were quickly set to work in a rented office in Central London.

I thought of the title, so was really hoping nobody would come up with a better one! Luckily nobody did. It was hard graft for six months’ solid, but Lee and I found a good, symbiotic working relationship, which included each of us coming up with five suggestions for each punchline and choosing the best one.

Because it was shot in a studio, I was present for the entire recording, which I soaked up. I co-wrote the whole first series with Lee, then the majority of series two with him, and a couple of episodes in series three and four, after which they decided to streamline the writing process. And Not Going Out is re-run on a constant loop, so it’s lovely to have had a hand in something that’s endlessly repeated.

Second had to be good enough on an edition of Celebrity Mastermind

You are also noted in the listings for your work as a screenwriter. What is it like to breathe life into new characters and add to existing ones? I could barely believe it when I first got to write dialogue for iconic EastEnders characters like Dot, Nick, Phil and Peggy. But these characters already had voices, your job was to stay true to them. A completely different job to creating a character, which I was able to do in my first solo-written sitcom Mr Blue Sky for Radio 4. It’s a treat to have actors as skilled as Mark Benton, Rebecca Front and Claire Skinner, as they will do things to your words that you might never have envisaged. But the very act of typing words to be read out by professionals is hard to beat.

How important do you think it is to preserve the history of TV and radio listings? I live for printed TV and radio listings. Because I now work for Radio Times, I get sent a contributor’s copy, but if I’d never set foot in the building of the magazine I’d still be a subscriber. Online listings are fine if you want to do a quick search, but on a week by week basis there’s nothing to beat literally flicking through a magazine, browsing, happening upon the odd gem. I am a child of the analogue age, but as an adult, I am totally wired – and certainly not a Luddite. At the Radio Times office there is an archive of every copy of the magazine, which I am lucky enough to be able to use. Paper archives are unutterably romantic to me. I am hugely impressed by the digitisation that the �� Genome project has achieved, because it’s available to all, as it should be in an information democracy.

Have you ever searched for your own name in the Genome database? I have, of course. I’m pointlessly troubled by the fact that there is another Andrew Collins in the world who seems to have quite a following – he’s an author and speaker who specialises in ancient Egypt, Atlantis, UFOs, that kind of thing – but it’s not a competition. There’s a well-regarded writer of gay travel guides with the same name, too, and an actor in LA. But I think I may be the only one to be listed in the Radio Times archive, so that’s something.

The Sunday Post: Soap on the Box

2016-07-03T09:00:00+00:00

TV's first soap family - the Groves - launch the series in 1954, when having a camera in shot was still regarded as compulsory by �� stills cameramen

Having looked at the world of radio soap operas recently, we now take a look at the television equivalent.

�� television has sometimes seemed to struggle with the genre, and it was not till 1985 with the start of EastEnders that it succeeded in creating a long-running popular soap to rival Coronation Street.

The first proper television soap was The Grove Family, which ran from 1954 to 1957, and whose title referenced its home at Lime Grove studios, which was taking over from Alexandra Palace. The Groves were a great hit, as television started to gain ever greater popularity in the aftermath of the Coronation in 1953, with even the Royal Family tuning in.

The cast consisted of a father and mother, their four children, and grandmother, one of the earliest ‘grotesque’ soap characters, much given to speaking her mind. There was an educational slant to many of the episodes, with wise advice on a range of practical matters. The series even spawned a feature film early in its run, possibly the only time that has happened with a soap opera. The Groves were not typical of the genre however, as only one family was regularly featured, and it was perhaps inevitable that it should be short-lived.

The ��’s next attempt at a continuing serial drama was Starr and Company in 1958, about an engineering firm and the families of its employees, but it only lasted nine months. By this time ITV was up and running, and the �� was finding it hard to compete. ITV’s Emergency Ward 10 had begun in 1957 and was to run for 10 years, but the �� would not find a long-running contemporary medical drama until the 1970s.

A wedding in Angleton for The Newcomers' 200th episode. Little does the bride realise, she is marrying Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett...

Another workplace setting was to prove far more popular with the launch in 1962 of Compact, concerning the lives and loves of the staff of a glossy women’s magazine of that name. People became obsessed with the glamorous milieu, which contrasted with ITV’s Coronation Street, which began in 1960.

During Compact's run a second twice-weekly serial called Swizzlewick was introduced - an odd, would-be satirical tale of goings on in and around Midlands local government. It was controversial and had endemic script problems which led to its relatively swift demise. When Compact finally came to an end in the summer of 1965 it was replaced by 199 Park Lane, concerning the occupants of an exclusive high rise block. This series also had writing problems and was not engaging enough to catch on, although letters to Radio Times reveal it had some fans.

Autumn 1965 saw two new series starting, one of which all but saw out the decade. This was The Newcomers, based on the topical 60s subject of new towns, and the conflict between those moving out from the cities with the existing inhabitants of villages and the countryside. Set in the new town of Angleton, The Newcomers proved very popular, and saw the likes of Alan Browning (formerly in Coronation Street) and Wendy Richard in regular roles. Romance was also featured, with the 200th episode featuring the wedding of newcomer Philip Cooper (Jeremy Bulloch) to a local girl.

The other series that began in October 1965, United!, was based on the activities of a fictional Second Division football team, Brentwich United. Although benefitting from technical advice by Jimmy Hill, the series struggled to balance convincing on-pitch action with boardroom battles and the tribulations of the footballers’ wives. Ronald Allen, formerly of Compact and later a stalwart of Crossroads, had a stint as the team’s manager.

When United! got an early bath in the spring of 1967, the �� took the unusual step of resurrecting Z Cars, which had ended in December 1965. Transforming it into a twice-weekly series with each story split over two episodes, it was never really a traditional soap opera, with minimal glimpses of the off-duty world, but filled a similar function in the schedules.

The definition of a soap opera is not absolute, and there are shows which are soaps to some and not to others. Programmes like The Flying Swan – a vehicle for British film star Margaret Lockwood and her daughter Julia (and inspired by an earlier drama that they starred in, also set in a hotel, The Royalty) – or boardroom dramas like Champion House or The Brothers, fulfil the continuing serial element to some degree, but were not presented in the usual never-ending story format central to the classic soap.

Lynda Marchal (now La Plante, in the blue dress) and other members of the cast of The Doctors celebrate its launch in November 1969 - the ��'s first colour soap

The ��’s only really successful daytime soap is the long-running Doctors, which began in 2000, though there was an attempt to create one as far back as the 50s with Our Miss Pemberton – a continuing serial in the weekday afternoon Mainly for Women strand.

The Doctors (not to be confused with the above series), began in the first week of ��1 colour transmissions in November 1969. Set in a North London group practice, with the sparky receptionist played by Lynda Marchal, who has had more success as writer Lynda La Plante.

Nigel Stock played a doctor called Thomas Owens, whose name changed for obscure reasons to Owen, and ended up being spun off into the successful series Owen MD, well known for its hit theme tune Sleepy Shores.

By 1972 the �� had seemed to have given up on soap operas, with its only bi-weekly dramas being Z Cars and espionage series Spy Trap, but even these soon abandoned that format. Soap opera was left to ITV, who that year added Emmerdale Farm to its roster.

The one trend bucker was Welsh language series Pobol y Cwm, which began in October 1974 on �� Wales/Cymru and continues to the present day, although it transferred to Welsh language channel S4C in 1982.

At the end of the 1970s ��1 decided to turn its successful 50-minute hospital show Angels, which began in 1975, into a bi-weekly series. The new producer appointed to steer the programme was Julia Smith, a very experienced drama director.

In 1981 the �� decided to try another bi-weekly, Triangle, starring Kate O’Mara, Michael Craig and Larry Lamb. It was shot on outside broadcast cameras aboard a ferry on the triangular (hence the title) route between the UK, Holland and Sweden. It was an ambitious change from studio-bound dramas, but was not judged a success, despite running for three seasons. Both Angels and Triangle only ran for three months of the year, rather than continuously.

The original title caption for EastEnders, launched in 1985

Meanwhile, Julia Smith, with her script editor Tony Holland, had been given the task of devising a new, all-year-round soap opera for ��1. They set up the series that was to become EastEnders, which debuted in February 1985. Made on permanent sets built at Elstree, the show soon became a fixture of the ��1 schedule, and along with other soaps expanded over the years from two to four episodes a week.

There is no such thing as an infallible team, however. When Smith and Holland were asked to create another soap in 1992, they came up with the ill-fated Eldorado. With a purpose built exterior set built in Spain (reflecting the way Channel 4’s Brookside had been produced on a real housing estate) and an international cast, the show was never a critical or popular hit, and the plug was pulled after only a year.

The only other successful soaps introduced by the �� in recent years has been River City, which is only seen in Scotland. It began as two 30-minutes episodes a week in 2002, but changed to a single hour-long instalment from 2007. River City follows much the same pattern as most other soaps, and is set in the fictional Glasgow district of Sheildinch.

Although longer form dramas like Casualty and Holby City now have virtually continuous runs, and have a more soap opera approach to stories, it’s arguable they don’t quite fit the genre with episodic stories and lack of domestic backdrop.

Soaps could be almost seen as a necessary evil, getting big ratings in a highly competitive market, though the really heated days of ‘soap wars’ are perhaps cooling off now, and more excitement is generated by more limited run dramas such as The Night Manager and Doctor Foster.

But soap remains economical to produce, and programme planners rely on them to bring viewers to a channel. The chances of anyone cancelling any of them in the current TV environment seems unlikely.

What is the future of TV soap? Will it always be with us? Could we live without it? Tell us your views in the space below.

�� Three leaves the airwaves

2016-02-16T10:30:00+00:00

Little Britain's David Walliams as the ever-helpful Carol.

Today �� Three switches from a linear broadcast channel to an online-only presence. We mark the occasion by considering the when, what and why of �� Three.

The �� moved into digital broadcasting in the late 1990s, with the launch of the �� News channel (aka �� News 24) in November 1997, followed by �� Parliament and �� Choice in 1998, and �� Knowledge in 1999. �� Choice launched as an online service initially, as it was not until a week after its debut on 23 September 1998 that digital television became available in the UK with Sky Digital on 1 October, and ONdigital in November. Choice was the first UK channel to transmit solely via digital broadcasting.

�� Choice was seen initially as an extension of the existing terrestrial channels, offering repeats and extended content related to programmes on �� One and Two. Its programmes included The Take and Backstage, the former a combination of themed archive clips and programmes, the latter a look behind the scenes of �� shows. Unlike �� Three, Choice also broadcast children’s programmes, only at weekends at first, but later on weekdays too.

In summer 2000, the �� changed the format of both Choice and �� Knowledge, with the former concentrating far more on the youth audience. Soon after proposals were put forward to rebrand �� Choice as �� Three and �� Knowledge as �� Four, with children’s programming moved to two dedicated channels, CBeebies and C��.

�� Four got the go-ahead, but the government wanted more consultation about �� Three because of a perceived clash with what was already being offered by channels such as ITV2 and E4, and it was not until early 2003 that the �� was able to proceed with the new service.

�� Three launched on Sunday 9 February 2003, though �� Choice had its last proper programmes the preceding Friday, with a �� Three ‘preview loop’ transmitted on Saturday. To promote the new channel, �� Two simulcast the first two hours of programming, which included the chat show Johnny Vaughan Tonight, music show Re: Covered and entertainment news strand Liquid News (the last had evolved from a �� News channel show called Zero 30).

But one lasting legacy of the evening would be a new sketch show, a television version of a successful Radio 4 programme, Little Britain. It starred Matt Lucas and David Walliams, with voice-over support from Tom Baker. Like the earlier The Fast Show, Little Britain proved more than just a cult hit, with memorable characters and catchphrases that caught the popular imagination, making Lucas and Walliams into national celebrities.

Some �� Three logos. Take you back don't they... (I miss the little orange guys)

�� Choice had repeated EastEnders since the autumn of 1999, and this continued on �� Three, with EastEnders Revealed one of the few original series to translate to the new channel from Choice. From the start, �� Three had more success in finding new comedy shows than dramas, though it did eventually launch Torchwood, as well as hosting repeats of the new series of Doctor Who from 2005 (and spin-off Doctor Who Confidential).

There was also the popular fantasy drama Being Human, about a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf sharing a flat, which starred Russell Tovey and Aidan Turner, though there were several cast changes over its lifetime (including changes from the pilot).

Aside from Little Britain, undoubtedly the two most prominent �� Three comedies have been the prolific Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (although that was actually premiered on ��2, to promote it, and was another series carried over from �� Choice, where it debuted in 2001), and the sublime Gavin and Stacey. The latter, written by and co-starring James Corden and Ruth Jones, concerned the long-distance relationship of Gavin (Matthew Horne) from Essex and Stacey (Joanna Page) from Barry, South Wales, and the problems that arise from their marriage and attempts to start a family, complicated by their respective best friends (Corden and Jones) and their families, friends and neighbours.

It’s always hard to analyse what makes a comedy successful, if it was possible to pin it down there wouldn’t be so many that fail to make the grade and are forgotten in the mists of time. Gavin and Stacey had some almost soap opera elements, mixed with surreal character traits in the supporting cast, but at its heart there was a truthfulness about relationships that struck a chord with many viewers.

Like many a hit on a minority channel it did make the journey to the mainstream to capitalise on its success, but it succeeded in drawing attention to �� Three as a seed bed for innovative programming.

The Gavin and Stacey cast celebrate the monarchy becoming a job-share.

�� Three also has a strong history of documentary making with a youth-oriented slant, and the kind of subjects it tackles have also been covered by its occasional one-shot dramas. Since 2009 there have been a series of documentaries presented by Stacey Dooley, who first appeared as one of the contributors to Blood, Sweat and T-shirts the year before. This led to her being asked to present investigations into such subjects as child labour, the sex trade, drugs, and the effects of tourism on the Third World.

News has also been a feature of the channel. Although its half hour news slot The News Show, later The 7 O’Clock News on ��3, was dropped in 2005, news has continued to be presented in the form of 60 Seconds, a brief bulletin (hence the title), which later had dedicated summaries covering world events, science and entertainment.

One of the most striking features of the �� Three had been its transmission hours – starting in the early evening but going on through the night. Even though many channels are 24-hours now, the overnight programming tends to be uninspired due to the low viewing figures. Although �� Three (and Four is the same) does not do much new programming after midnight it repeats some of the same programmes as earlier in the evening.

This falls in line with the general policy of smaller channels: the big beasts of �� One and Two are always going to get more viewers, so it would be wasteful to only show a programme once, denying many people the chance to see it. Putting a programme on more than once in a day, or repeating it over a number of days, not only spreads out costs, but gives more viewing opportunities.

Interestingly, this approach mirrors the earliest days of television. When the ��’s high definition service began officially in November 1936, programmes were often given more than one outing, because even with the very small audiences then available it was recognised that someone who could view in the afternoon might not do so in the evening, or vice versa. Many shows were done twice in one day, and revived days, weeks or even years later. We’re all used to the concept of repeats, but in the 60s and 70s some came to regard them at times as an annoyance. However for every person who has seen a programme before, there are always more people who have not.

�� Three has suffered an image problem during its existence, with Jeremy Paxman famously deriding some of the titles of its shows on Newsnight. Nonetheless, the news that it was to become an online-only channel was condemned by many leading lights in the comedy world who saw the value of the exposure the channel gave to new and innovative comedy. Whether such shows will continue to be made and gain prominence in the new format of the channel, will only become apparent over time.

The �� had been concerned for a long time that the younger part of the population has been falling out of love with traditional linear media. The reaction to the �� Three move has perhaps shown that the feeling is not universal, despite the fact that it seems the most logical channel to move if its target audience is really more interested in the internet than in television.

Even the younger viewers who are the core of C��'s audience are now also said to be more inclined to view online than on a television set, so it seems likely the CBeebies audience may follow suit over time.

Will all �� channels one day only be available online? What are your memories and opinions of �� Three? Let us know, as ever, what you think, in the space below.

Swapping actors in roles – from Ann and Harold to Doctor Who

2016-01-17T10:00:00+00:00

A 1938 episode of Ann and Harold when Ann Todd was actually present.

Choosing the cast for any drama or comedy is one of the most important factors in its success. Many things have to be taken into account, not just the suitability of a performer for a role, but how they balance against the other actors, whether they are available for the shooting dates, whether – if they are a star name – the production can afford their fee… Sometimes, however, despite all these efforts, for one reason or another an actor has to be replaced even in the most successful programmes.

There are generally two options when an actor has to be replaced, to recast the role, or in some circumstances to ‘kill off’ the character and devise a replacement – as sometimes the problem is not with the performer, but with the character itself.

In an earlier Post I mentioned the situation with the 1930s comedy series Ann and Harold, where lead actress Ann Todd got a part in a West End play during its run and asked to be released early from the programme. Television at that time was not in a position to argue it seems, as the series was shortened from 6 to 5 episodes to accommodate her.

Examples of actors being replaced at the last minute include Dame May Whitty, a legendary figure in theatre and film, who had to withdraw from the second performance of the drama The Royal Family of Broadway on 14 February 1939 due to illness. In this case as she was a major attraction of the production, the producer George More O’Ferrall made an on-screen apology for her non-appearance before the transmission. Her role was taken by Betty Romaine, who had played another part in the first performance.

Less high-profile substitutions occurred in series such as Dixon of Dock Green, first broadcast in 1955. For example in the series 2 episode The Rotten Apple (which had a young Paul Eddington among the cast), the regular character of Inspector Cherry was played by Stanley Beard instead of Robert Cawdron, and A.J. Brown played Alderman Mayhew in place of the billed Geoffrey Wincott.

Z Cars and other products of the �� drama department documentary unit in the 50s and early 60s did not make public any cast substitutions, as they did not publish cast lists in Radio Times. But being live they were still susceptible to accidents of fate. In the case of the episode The Share Out in 1965, an actress died just over a week before transmission and had to be replaced. Even when Z Cars returned as a twice-weekly, videotaped series in spring 1967, its relentless schedule occasionally meant that lead actors missed a week and replacement characters were hurriedly written in to cover the gap.

Not the Lad 'Imself

Another notable substitution in another genre occurred with the second series of the radio Hancock’s Half-Hour in 1955. Tony Hancock was under a lot of pressure with stage commitments, and as the second series was about to start, producer Dennis Main Wilson was informed that Hancock had left the country… It was the first major indication of the nerves that were to afflict the rest of Hancock’s career and contributed to his battle with alcoholism. While attempting to locate his star and coax him back, Main Wilson still needed to produce a show, and turned to a friend and colleague, who he knew from the early years of The Goon Show – Harry Secombe. While Secombe was a very different character to Hancock, he was willing and able to step in and replace him for three episodes.

Cast substitutions happened with the Goon Show too, though the circumstances were different. Over the long run of the show, from its early days under the title Crazy People in 1951, there were occasions when all of the main cast missed episodes. In the case of Secombe and Peter Sellers it was minor illness that prevented them appearing, and various colleagues stepped in – more difficult in the case of the multi-voiced Sellers, who required more than one replacement, including the likes of Kenneth Connor, Dick Emery, and, resurrected from ITMA, Jack Train’s Colonel Chinstrap, who was anyway not too dissimilar from Sellers’ character Major Bloodnok.

It was Spike Milligan who suffered the longest absence however, when he had a full blown nervous breakdown, caused by, among other things, the pressure of producing scripts every week, and the after-effects of post-traumatic stress, as it would now be termed, a result of his service in the Italy in World War Two. The fourth original cast member was Michael Bentine, but he clashed with Milligan over the direction of the series and decided to leave after two series.

The first of the Last of the Summer Wine.

One series that had a large number of cast changes over the years was Last of the Summer Wine. Originally a Comedy Playhouse transmitted in January 1973, with Michael Bates as Cyril Blamire, Bill Owen as Compo Simmonite and Peter Sallis as Norman Clegg, a series followed the same year. After the second series Bates left due to ill-health, although he continued in his role in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, presumably as, being mostly studio-based, it was less arduous. Blamire was replaced by Foggy Dewhurst, played by Brian Wilde, who stayed for nine years. Foggy was then replaced by Michael Aldridge’s Seymour Utterthwaite, before returning briefly in 1990. Illness forced his replacement by Frank Thornton as ex-policeman ‘Truly’ Truelove, and though Wilde had wanted to return, this never happened. Bill Owen himself died in 1999, and was replaced by his son Tom Owen, playing Compo’s son. As the programme continued, while some secondary characters were not replaced, the regular cast gradually increased, in part to lessen the burden on the central trio, and by the last series a completely new group of characters were roaming the Dales, with Peter Sallis’s Clegg making cameo appearances – though it was he who delivered the series’ last line when it finally ended in August 2010.

A similar thing occurred more recently with the popular police series New Tricks, which shed the original cast members in its last few years, until by the end the four leads were all different (but at least they kept Dennis Waterman singing the theme tune). Waterman, the last of the originals to go, had been in the situation before when he left the ITV series Minder after many successful years, and back at the beginning of his career, when he had starred in the �� William series in 1962. He was replaced by Denis Gilmore in the 1963 series – well, the name was close enough...

It is clear that the replacement of a character is a far more common occurrence than the replacement of the actor playing a part. Obviously there are reasons for that, not least the credibility problem of a character suddenly having a different face. In ensemble dramas that can be got round in part by having the character disappear for a while, and when they return hopefully people will accept the new actor – although obviously their performance is likely to be different from the original.

One of the most obvious examples of the replacement of the actor playing a character is of course Doctor Who, where it has become part of the format that the lead role can be played by someone else. By 1966, the original Doctor, William Hartnell, had difficulty learning lines and was generally ailing physically, but the �� did not want to end the series – its instigator, Sydney Newman, was still head of drama and was reluctant to dispose of his brainchild. The fact that it had been established from the start that the Doctor was from another planet, led to the brainwave that he could change his face. When Hartnell was transformed into Patrick Troughton at the end of the story The Tenth Planet, it was rationalised that he had rejuvenated, as if Troughton was just a younger version of Hartnell. Indeed, his costume was similar to his predecessor’s, and actually changed along with his body...

The Doctor reads aloud from his 500-year diary, unaware that the Tardis is bugged.

A few months into the reign of the new Doctor, there was another kind of substitution when the character of Chicki was played by Sandra Bryant in episode one and by Karol Keyes in episode four of the adventure The Macra Terror – Bryant had been contracted for both episodes, but asked to be released after the first recording. At the time the show was being recorded just a week in advance of transmission. As the character was relatively minor, it’s likely the production team assumed no-one would notice the difference.

After the first recasting of the lead role, it was often uncertain whether the show would be cancelled when subsequent lead actors decided to leave. This was certainly the case in 1969 when Patrick Troughton left, and the �� actively looked for a replacement series. On a personal note, I for one was not happy with the change at the time – aged 5 ½ I was assured by my (lovely) older sisters at the end of Troughton’s final story that he was dead; when the Doctor returned to television some six months later in the guise of Jon Pertwee, instead of being reassured, the style of the programme had changed to a much scarier, violent, adult version, which put me off watching for the next two years…

By the time Tom Baker took over in 1974, Doctor Who had become a ratings-winner, but this was no longer the case when he left seven seasons later. Through the 1980s the series did recover viewers at first, but after its ‘rest’ in 1985-6 audiences gradually reduced, partly due to erratic and unfavourable scheduling, with two more changes of lead from Peter Davison to Colin Baker, and then Sylvester McCoy. An American co-produced TV movie with Paul McGann in 1996 failed to take off despite good ratings in the UK, and it was not until 2005 that a new series emerged, starring Christopher Eccleston. Eccleston unexpectedly bowed out after only one season, replaced in turn by David Tennant, Matt Smith, and the current incumbent Peter Capaldi.

But Doctor Who is a unique case. We find it hard to adjust to well-known characters seeming to become other people. There are exceptions, though it helps if you get in early.

Recasting occasionally happens in soap operas, most commonly with child actors who cannot or will not continue to appear as a particular character – and a child actor cannot be guaranteed to turn into a convincing performer when they get older. Occasionally an adult part is recast, as in the case of Mark Fowler, following the suicide of original actor David Scarboro, replaced some time later by Todd Carty. The redoubtable Peggy Mitchell too was originally played by Jo Warne, but she was only in the series briefly; when the character returned in 1994 she had morphed into Barbara Windsor. Another member of the Mitchell family, Sam, was first played by Daniella Westbrook, but following a troubled history with the programme due to her cocaine use, Kim Medcalf was brought in to replace her in 2002. Yet when the character came back again briefly in 2009, Westbrook played the role again.

Typecasting can be the bane of an actor’s life, and being known for one part can prevent them getting more interesting and different work – it’s certainly one of the reasons for people leaving a role, they hope, not too late to escape it. Rupert Davies, star of Maigret from 1960-63, certainly felt that the series blighted his career, though he still returned to the part in a 1969 Play of the Month. Ironically he had not been in the 1959 edition of Sunday-Night Theatre which acted as a pilot for the series. It’s a testament in a way to the strength of an actor’s performance if we cannot accept them as anyone else than the part that made them famous. It is however much harder to accept someone else playing that role.

Replacement characters are another matter altogether – but viewers I’m sure are not always sorry to see the cast of long-running series refreshed from time to time. With the accidents of mortality, or just the wishes of actors to spread their wings after a time, it is something that we all have to get used to.

Have you had a traumatic reaction to a new Doctor Who actor? Do you get confused by the changing faces of soap actors? Have you missed or welcomed replacement actors in your favourite series, from Dixon and Z Cars to Casualty and New Tricks? Let us know…

The Sunday Post: Life before Dot

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Actress June Brown is inextricably linked with playing one character, the instantly recognisable Dot Cotton (later Branning) in EastEnders for the past 30 years.

She wasn’t actually in the first episode of EastEnders. Dot was originally brought in as a support character for her dastardly son Nick, gracing the cast list for the first time in July 1985.

But Dot - the god-fearing woman who is never one to gossip - went on to become a much-loved figure at the centre of Walford life, with connections to both original and new characters to grace Albert Square.

Brown is now 88 and her career has almost exactly matched the development of TV in the UK. You can follow her long career on screen through the Genome listings.

The actress made her first credited appearance in 1957, playing Aisla Crane in a TV adapation of Edgar Wallace's crime thriller The Case of the Frightened Lady (below). Brown was also rewarded with this photo and caption in the magazine along with co-star Enid Lindsey.

June Brown followed up her initial success with more theatre for the screen, including an adaptation of The Rough and Ready Lot in 1959. She played the character of Chica, but this time wasn't featured in a photograph which accompanied the listing.

She went on to take roles in a variety of leading programmes during the 1960s, including Dixon of Dock Green on a number of occasions, Z Cars and outings of The Wednesday Play.

The flow of appearances continued into the 1970s, including a part in Doctor Who four-parter The Time Warrior opposite Jon Pertwee, while she was seen in a number of dramas that were a far cry from the grit of Albert Square.

Brown played a substantial role in The Duchess of Duke Street (below), a 15-part costume drama set in Edwardian London in which she played the heroine's mother, Mrs Leyton. The actress showed her mettle in another period piece, with the Tudor setting of Mark Twain's The Prince and The Pauper which screened in 1977.

Four years later she was again in costume in era-straddling, cross-generational children's television drama, God's Wonderful Railway - her last major listing before the domination of Dot.

As recalled in last week's Sunday Post, Angels was a major, long-running TV medical drama - and it just so happens that June Brown was in the first episode of its second series.

But Brown is forever to be thought of as Dot, and has hundreds of listings for EastEnders. The soap opera was initially teased in the Radio Times with lines from that episode's dialogue - and Dot landed her first taster in March 1986: 'No law against a bloke visiting his own wife, is there, Dot?'

When simpler plot summaries took their place, Dot has been regularly mentioned and continues to be to this day. In 2008, Brown's performance in a unique single-handed episode of EastEnders won her a Bafta nomination.

June Brown continued to pursue an acting life outside of EastEnders. In 2000 she starred in the lavish adaptation of Mervyn Peake's fantasy drama Gormenghast as the deliciously named character Nannie Slagg (below).

What else has Brown featured in and what about performances that weren't on the ��? Can an actor escape their best-known creation? Let us know what you think in the space below.

Kathy and the EastEnders teasers

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Kathy Beale pictured in 1988 with her first husband Pete

EastEnders stalwart Kathy Beale is making her regular return to the soap after apparently being dead for almost a decade.

Here at Genome, her comeback has prompted a delve into the TV listings. As one of the original Albert Square line-up, it's no surprise to find that 'Kaff' - played by Gillian Taylforth - is on the first cast list for the show on 19 February 1985.

In the early days of EastEnders, episodes were teased with a single line of dialogue - and some of them were very mysterious indeed.

The first one to mention Kathy's name popped up in the listings on 8 January 1987. What does it mean? And what happened in the episode itself? We'd like to hear your theories or even memories of that.

Around 1990 it appears that these curious little tasters were replaced with more digestible, obvious plot synopses, with Kathy's first mention being about "deciding it's time for some straight talking".

Welcome back, Kathy - you've been missed.

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