DVD Review: Come Back Lucy

Network continue their season of spooky releases with Come Back Lucy, an enchanting, yet equally chilling children's drama which was first broadcast on ITV in the spring of 1978. Not seen on British screens since a repeat run in 1980, the only way to view the serial in the intervening years was through a German DVD release which included an English language track. However, thanks to Network, it's now available in the UK and comes bundled with a fascinating documentary on the programme's production.

The Launch of Sky Channel in 1984

Sky has changed the British television viewing experience over the last few decades, but it started off as a single loss-making channel back in 1984.

Turn on your TV and, unless you haven’t paid your electricity bill, you should be confronted by close to 8,000 channels; there also won’t be anything worth watching. That’s not the grumblings of someone unable to accept progress, it’s fact. Sure, some of the best television ever made has emerged in the last 10 years, but the incredible amount of available programming means the quality to trash ratio is unanimously skewed towards shows like What’s in My Shed? hosted by Vernon Kay. Much of the changes to our viewing landscape have come about thanks to the multi-channel approach of Sky Television. Their dominance and ubiquity in our lives, however, wasn’t always the case.

NeTWork 21: The Story of London's Best Pirate TV Station

Ask most people in Britain about pirate radio and the majority will know what you’re talking about; the more culturally savvy will even exclaim “RADIO CAROLINE!” with great delight. But ask the denizens of this glorious isle what they know about pirate television and they’ll probably respond with “You what, mate? You mean like Captain Pugwash?”.

But this lack of insight is not without good reason. Pirate television is a relatively rare phenomena compared to the proliferation of pirate radio stations which have infiltrated our airwaves since the late 1950s. And, in Britain, pirate television has only hoisted its skull and crossbones on a handful of occasions. One of these was the forward thinking, almost political, art stylings of NeTWork 21 which emerged onto our airwaves in 1986.

10 Years of Curious British Telly

Yes, it was 10 years ago today that the very first post on Curious British Telly was launched into the digital stratosphere. 10 whole years of my life dedicated to unearthing curiosities from the dark, dusty corners of our memories and the archives. And today is the day I end it all. Goodbye, it's been fun, but it's time to move on.

DVD Review: Tales of Unease

Over 50 years since the original broadcast of Tales of Unease, ITV's chilling and unsettling anthology series finally emerges from the vaults to terrify us once again.

Cartoon Crackers

Do they still show Looney Tunes cartoons on ITV? It always felt, when I was a child, that all you had to do was wait 15 minutes and, soon enough, Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck would be popping up on the screen. Sometimes these animated shorts popped up when there was a gap in the schedules, sometimes they were packaged together with linked presentation such as, uh, Rolf's Cartoon Club. Another programme which presented these cartoons in a similar fashion, and one which has a less dubious background, was the short-lived Cartoon Crackers.

Book Review: Tomato Cain and Other Stories by Nigel Kneale

Being one of British television's most innovative, forward thinking and fiendishly skilled writers, Nigel Kneale needs little introduction to the readers of Curious British Telly. However, whilst we're all familiar with Quatermass, The Stone Tape, The Woman in Black and, ahem, Kinvig, Kneale's 1949 collection of short prose entitled Tomato Cain and Other Stories is less well known. But this lack of recognition is less an indicator of quality and more a matter of circumstance, for Tomato Cain and Other Stories has been out of print for over 60 years. Luckily, 2022 has seen its pages (and a few bonus features) resurrected by Comma Press.

News at Twelve

Most children, at some point, pretend to put on their own TV show from within the junk-filled confines of their bedroom. At least, that's what they did in the pre-internet age. These days, all they have to do is jump in front of a webcam and, before they know it, they're broadcasting to millions and putting my lifetime earnings to shame by the time they're seven. As you can tell, I'm not remotely bitter.

Anyway, back in the late-1980s, there was, in fact, a minuscule chance of a bedroom broadcaster succeeding. Well, as long as it was based within the realms of fiction. And that's exactly what News at Twelve is. Wait a minute, News at Twelve? What on EARTH is that? Are you sure you're not thinking of News at Ten? You know, on at 10pm, the iconic bongs of Big Ben and Trevor McDonald's cooler-than-a-cucumber charm? Nope, I genuinely and ABSOLUTELY mean News at Twelve.

But I wouldn't blame you for thinking I was cracking up, for News at Twelve is perhaps one of the most obscure programmes this blog has covered (and, boy, have we covered a few). It's yet another programme where footage is hard absolutely impossible to find online, but, yet again, I've gone the extra mile for you and watched a few episodes at the BFI.

And, better yet, I've even tracked down the star of the show to dig up some deliciously insightful insights regarding News at Twelve.

Erasmus Microman

Ah, Erasmus Microman! Now there's a television programme I've been meaning to watch for years and years and years! Somehow, despite my love of time travel based sci-fi programmes, I completely missed it when it aired on ITV at the tail end of the 1980s. But what's life without a few mistakes, eh? Anyway, I've been determined to cover it for several years, and it was destined to appear in one of my books on children's TV, but this never quite happened. Redemption, though, is finally here, and it's time to tell you all about Erasmus Microman.