Regional Oddity: Mag is Mog

It’s very rare you’ll catch me writing about a television show I’ve never seen a single second of. For me, perhaps due to my lack of literary grace, I tend to focus on collecting solid facts and information together – that’s my USP. And, without footage of a programme, it’s difficult for me to paint a picture of what it truly was. However, it’s not a rule which is entirely set in stone. Just occasionally, I stumble across a television series which, for a myriad of reasons, is so irresistibly unique and obscure I have to investigate it. Even if any video evidence of it appears to have disappeared long, long ago. And a programme which falls perfectly into this narrow bracket is Mag is Mog.

Greenwich Cablevision: Britain's First Local Television Station

If there’s one thing which strikes fear into the heart of an audience, it’s local television. Blighted by budgets which make shoestrings look positively affluent, local television channels spend their time wading through treacle-like amateurishness and technological limitations. But there must surely be something intriguing within this package of mediocrity for the readers of Curious British Telly. And there is: Greenwich Cablevision.

If You See God, Tell Him

Society has been bombarded with adverts ever since the first marketing guru climbed out of the swamp and tried flogging cheap holidays to trilobites. A rather whimsical take on the history of advertising, perhaps, but the fact remains that advertising has assiduously worked its way into every space where humans dare tread. And the rise of the internet means we’re now targeted more frequently and with a disturbingly tailored precision. The result of having this consumerist dream regularly rammed down our throat is that it’s very easy to feel insecure. Adverts promise us nothing but undiluted happiness and the answers to all of life’s little problems. So, why wouldn’t we hang on their every word? Well, perhaps the answer lies in Andrew Marshall and David Renwick’s excellent 1993 comedy If You See God, Tell Him.

The Bizarre and Mysterious World of Miri Mawr - An Interview with Dafydd Hywel

G Neil Martin cocks his eye towards Miri Mawr, a Welsh language children's series from the 1970s which has to be seen to be believed - it also helps if you speak Welsh...

To non-Welsh eyes and ears, the name Dafydd Hywel will probably ring few bells. Mention his list of acting credits, on the other hand – 32 episodes of Stella, The Bill, Peak Practice, The Crown, Stanley and The Women, as well as a regular stint on Pobol Y Cwm – and bells might start ringing like testing hour at the Westclox factory.

A regular presence on television, with a distinctive, recognisable face which would place him easily in the world of the ornery, hard-boiled detective sergeant from a four-part murder series, Hywel is currently best-known for playing Glen Brennig in Ruth Jones’s comedy drama, Stella. He has also been the cover star of Radio Times when he featured in the drama, Out of Love. 

What is less well-known, and what will distract us here at Curious British Telly Towers, is his hinterland in 1970s commercial children’s television, specifically his role in the highly surreal and popular Welsh television series, Miri Mawr, broadcast by HTV Wales between 1972 and 1978, in which he played an enormous talking mole called Caleb for three years of the series’ run. 

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.