S19 Contemporary TV

[Jonno]

S19 saw consistently high ratings in the two weekday slots, with 5 episodes achieving 10m+. These days, 10m would be pretty much top of the TV charts, but S19's peak position was #26 for the first part of TimeFlight. So what was the nation watching on the 3 channels in January 1982? And what were you watching, whether on this list or not? The book I have lists a Top 10 for both BBC and ITV and as you can see all of the ITV Top 10 are higher than anything on the BBC!

1) Jim'll Fix It - 13.4m
2) Last of the Summer Wine - 13.3m
3) Top of the Pops - 12.5m
4) Terry and June - 12.4m
5) Goodbye Mr Kent - 12.3m
6) Dallas - 12.3m
7) Shoestring - 12.3m
8) A Shot in the Dark - 11.9m
9) The Les Dawson Show - 11.7m
10) Holiday - 11.3m

1) Coronation Street - 17.1m
2) This Is Your Life - 16.9m
3) Coronation Street - 16.8m
4) Family Fortunes - 15.1m
5) Wish You Were Here - 14.9m
6) Shine On Harvey Moon - 14.5m
7) The Fall Guy - 14.3m
8) Hart To Hart - 14.3m
9) Crossroads - 13.9m
10) 3-2-1 - 13.9m

[Nyder]

I'd forgotten how popular This Is Your Life was!

[Andrew Curnow]

Also, I find it interesting how much more popular Wish You Were Here was than the BBC's Holiday equivalent. Not to mention how many people watched them anyway!

I recognise most of those programmes, and I think back in the day we watched most too - except Goodbye Mr Kent. What's that Jonno?

[Jonno]

It's a lost one on me, Andrew - never heard of it! My TV Comedy book tells me it was a one series, 7 episode sitcom which aired on Thursdays at 8.30pm. It starred Richard Briers and Hannah Gordon - she was a divorcee who took him in as a lodger.

Of course, amazing to think that the year began with Swap Shop, concluding its run, and replaced by Saturday Superstore which started in the autumn. I loved watching those, and another big fave was Grange Hill - an excellent season which introduced iconic characters Zammo and Roland, and had Gripper Stebson at the peak of his bullying, notably of poor Roland.

[SiHart]

That's one of my favourite seasons of Grange Hill. Really good strong stuff that year. For a show that was synonymous with Tucker and his lot, they got by just fine with a few cameos from the original team.

[Andrew Curnow]

Oh! I didn't recognise the name, but I do recognise your description of Goodbye Mr Kent, Jonno. Although the memory cheats, my memory is that it was really well-trailed, quite hyped up (I guess because Richard Briers and Hannah Gordon were a quality cast) but was quite a big flop. I think Richard Briers' character was... not rude, or unlikeable exactly, but very oblivious to other people, something like that. I do remember watching it and thinking he'd be good playing a new Doctor in a similar vein!

And yes, good old Grange Hill - classic times indeed!

[Stephen Morgan]

One of the great things about the DVD extras is that they more often than not feature clips and continuity for that evenings TV.
I was watching the Kinda disc last night and clicked on the continuity extras and found that airing opposite Who on BBC2 is a music magazine show called Riverside. The show often featured New Wave artists, in the early 80s a lot of synth bands were featured. The Kinda continuity mentions Bauhaus, an early 80s synth band who never really made a big impression on the charts other than with Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Oddly enough though while looking around for more details on this show I've just found a video of their first TV appearence, the Riverside performance mentioned on the Kinda continuities from February 1982.
I see that evenings TV also consists of A Question of Sport and comedy Terry and June, also The Rockford Files on Monday's. I think mention of that will trigger a few memories for my fellow posters.

[Rob McCow]

I think refering to 'Terry and June' as 'Comedy' is a bit strong. Interesting about Riverside, I should imagine that it's completely lost to us now!

[Jonno]

Here's the BBC and ITV Top Tens for February 82 :

1) Last of the Summer Wine - 14.1m
2) Jim'll Fix It - 13.6m
3) Dallas - 12.6m
4) Shoestring - 12.3m
5) Terry and June - 11.8m
6) The Black Windmill - 11.6m
7) Holiday - 11.5m
8) News And Sport - 11.5m
9) Top of the Pops - 11.4m
10) The Les Dawson Show - 11.1m

1) This Is Your Life - 17.5m
2) Coronation Street - 17.3m
3) Coronation Street - 16.3m
4) Family Fortunes - 14.9m
5) Shine On Harvey Moon - 14.7m
6) Hart To Hart - 14.6m
7) Wish You Were Here - 14.5m
8) The Fall Guy - 14.5m
9) The Gentle Touch - 14.4m
10) 3-2-1 - 14.3m


The Black Windmill anyone? Was that a film?

[Andrew Curnow]

Last of the Summer Wine - more popular than Dallas!! Crikey!

[Jon Masters]

The Black Windmill anyone? Was that a film?

There is a film called the Black Windmill, a thriller with Michael Caine in it - not too bad either.

[Dirk Gently]

1) Last of the Summer Wine - Never watched it as a kid.
2) Jim'll Fix It - We always watched it.
3) Dallas - NEVER!!!!
4) Shoestring - Don't recall ever seeing it.
5) Terry and June - Another weekly favourite.
6) The Black Windmill - Not seen it.
7) Holiday - No fear! What's the point of watching someone else enjoying a holiday that we can't afford to go on?
8) News And Sport - Not my age.
9) Top of the Pops - Always on even if I wasn't paying it attention.
10) The Les Dawson Show - Another weekly fav.

1) This Is Your Life - Watched it on & off.
2) Coronation Street - NO!
3) Coronation Street - Still NO!
4) Family Fortunes - Another weekly fav. Can't remember if this clashed with anything else.
5) Shine On Harvey Moon - Nope.
6) Hart To Hart - Always used to be on, Jonathan & Jennifer Hart with Max & Freeway the dog.
7) Wish You Were Here - See Holiday.
8) The Fall Guy - Lots..
9) The Gentle Touch - My Mum loved this.
10) 3-2-1 - Always watched, never understood the clues.

[Jonno]

I'm very much in tune with your responses there, Tim, bar TOTP which was a big favourite of mine throughout the 80s. To round things off for this season, here's the Top 10s for March 82 :

1) Jim'll Fix It - 14.0m
2) Top of the Pops - 13.3m
3) Kenny Everett TV Show - 12.7m
4) Shoestring - 12.7m
5) Dallas - 12.7m
6) The Dukes of Hazzard - 12.0m
7) The McKenzie Break - 11.9m
8) Nanny - 11.3m
9) A Question of Sport - 10.8m
10) The Les Dawson Show - 10.7m

1) This Is Your Life - 17.3m
2) Coronation Street - 17.1m
3) Coronation Street - 17.0m
4) Hart To Hart - 15.0m
5) Family Fortunes - 14.7m
6) 3-2-1 - 14.4m
7) Nature Watch - 14.2m
8) Magnum Force - 14.2m
9) Crossroads - 13.9m
10) Minder - 13.9m