BBC Four's 1997 Week

**Milky Tears** · 2nd Mar 2007, 7:09 PM

Think it was mentioned in BBC Four's March trailer last night. Some programmes are already up on the Radio Times site:

Saturday 10th March
7:00pm The Mill On The Floss (starring Emily Watson, Cheryl Campbell and Bernard Hill)
9:00pm A Year In Chat: 1997
10:00pm Hotel (docusoap)
10:30pm Face (Antonia Bird's 1997 film. Starring Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Lovely Lena Headey and Damon Albarn!)

Sunday 11th
7pm EastEnders: Ricky & Bianca's wedding (a classic episode with some funny business in Kent)
7:30pm Full Circle with Michael Palin
8:20pm Trouble At The Top: Freddie's Back (Freddie Laker/Skytrain profile from January 1997)
9:00pm 1997: A Year On TV
10pm Bright Hair (1997 drama with Emilia Fox, James Purefoy and Toby Whithouse!)

Monday 12th
10:00pm Hotel (docusoap)

Tuesday 13th
7:10pm I Love 1997 (it was obvious they would show this)
10:00pm The Car's The Star (double-bill of Quentin Wilson's motoring show)

Wednesday 14th
7:00pm Teletubbies (in primetime!!)
7:30pm Vets In Practice (worth watching to see Trude

)
10:00pm Hotel (docusoap)
11:00pm Hotel (docusoap)

Thursday 15th
7:30pm Tomorrow's World: Genetics Special (from May 1997)
10:30pm Operation Good Guys: The Informant (first episode of this underrated comedy)

Looks similar to their 1973 Week last Spring (especially with A Year On TV & A Year In Chat). Panaroma Revisited appears a couple of times, but no programme details are given. Trailers will probably be starting this weekend.

Rumours of a TOTP broadcast on Friday 16th March appeared on Digital Spy earlier in the week. Think it was listed on Digiguide, or something!? Could possibly be the 1997 Christmas Special or a 1997 compilation!?

BBC Four are also looking for your comments on the channel and its programmes as they reach their Fifth Anniversary:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/yoursay...birthday.shtml

**SiHart** · 2nd Mar 2007, 8:28 PM

Why 1997? Why not 1981?

Oh hang on... ten years ago... Oh I see... what was I doing ten years ago? Oh yes... coming out! Happy days. But I don't want to relive them really!

Si xx

Pip Madeley · 2nd Mar 2007, 8:42 PM

1997 reminds me of meeting Tom Baker and getting mugged. They weren't connected.

The documentaries sound interesting though, but like Simon implied, it would've been better if it wasn't as recent.

**Lissa** · 2nd Mar 2007, 9:26 PM

Not everyone approves of that line-up.

**SiHart** · 2nd Mar 2007, 9:28 PM

@ Lissa! It's strangely accurate...

Si xx

Captain Tancredi · 2nd Mar 2007, 9:41 PM

They could have a special re-run of 'Planet of the Spiders' with a "Major Breaking News Story" caption at the bottom of the screen.

**Andrew Curnow** · 2nd Mar 2007, 10:30 PM

Somehow, a 1997 week doesn't have quite the same appeal as a 1973 week - it's not really long enough for us all to laugh at the ridiculous things we used to wear and how much hair we used to have, is it? And they'll be scraping around for 'classic' TV I'd've thought - which I suppose explains the presence of the Teletubbies...

Pip Madeley · 2nd Mar 2007, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Tancredi

They could have a special re-run of 'Planet of the Spiders' with a "Major Breaking News Story" caption at the bottom of the screen.

I still own my off-air of that broadcast, it's a nostalgia thing. My younger self was cheesed off after the third time it appeared, mind, I was taping it to keep...

**Milky Tears** · 3rd Mar 2007, 12:21 AM

Think I've still got three or four recordings of 'Planet of the Spiders' off UK Gold kicking about somewhere! Only need to label about two hundred unmarked tapes before I find them.

**Alex** · 3rd Mar 2007, 1:45 AM

Bejebus, is it 10 years already? I was half way through my first year at uni at the start of the year1997, and wasn't really watching much tv, certainly the line up they've got there suggests I wasn't missing much.

The only thing I can definitely remember watching was Brasseye, but as that's a C4 programme of course they can't show that...

**Milky Tears** · 3rd Mar 2007, 1:41 PM

Originally Posted by Milky Tears

Rumours of a TOTP broadcast on Friday 16th March appeared on Digital Spy earlier in the week. Think it was listed on Digiguide, or something!? Could possibly be the 1997 Christmas Special or a 1997 compilation!?

Christmas 1997 show now listed on the Radio Times site for Friday 16th @ 7-8pm:

Originally Posted by Radio Times

The 1997 Christmas edition, with Eternal, Hanson, Chumbawamba, Gala, Brightman and Bocelli, Natalie Imbruglia, Sash, Shola Ama, Ultra Nate, All Saints, Texas, Aqua, Spice Girls and Elton John.

**Dave Tudor** · 3rd Mar 2007, 4:37 PM

I know the 1973 week was to tie-in with the debut of 'Life On Mars', but I don't really understand the relevance of a 1997 week? Is it to mark ten years of Blair being in power, or something?

**Jonno** · 3rd Mar 2007, 6:35 PM

Surprised there's no This Life - the final episode would have made sense. I'll be looking out for the TOTP Xmas special though - I still liked the charts back then!

**Simon R** · 4th Mar 2007, 12:47 AM

We were on hoilday in Majorca when Ricky and Biwanker got married.

1997 was Spiceworld.

**Dave Tudor** · 4th Mar 2007, 1:39 AM

I went to the cinema to watch 'SpiceWorld' with my my little brother, and I actually quite enjoyed it - especially the bus 'jumping' over Tower Bridge scene.

Thinking about it, there was a lot of good music around in 1997, at the tail end of 'Brit Pop', and I probably bought more singles in that year than any other year before or since.

**Milky Tears** · 6th Mar 2007, 4:07 PM

The "centrepiece of BBC Four's 1997 Week" is the three-part documentary series Are We Having Fun Yet?:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documen.../fun-yet.shtml

I wondered what it was (along with Panorama Revisited) when I spotted it in the BBC Four listings last week.

The season might make a bit more sense with this information.

**Dave Tudor** · 6th Mar 2007, 4:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dave Tudor

I don't really understand the relevance of a 1997 week? Is it to mark ten years of Blair being in power, or something?

Ah, so I was right, then.

**Simon R** · 6th Mar 2007, 7:48 PM

The U.K. won Eurovision in 97. Katrina's PVC trousers sealed the vote.

Pip Madeley · 6th Mar 2007, 10:05 PM

Think I've still got three or four recordings of 'Planet of the Spiders' off UK Gold kicking about somewhere!

That's quite frightening... why did you tape it four times?

**Milky Tears** · 6th Mar 2007, 11:35 PM

1st time - August 1995: satellite dish wasn't set up correctly/dodgy reception
2nd time - September 1995: omnibus edition/still dodgy reception
3rd time - August 1997: perfect reception... but "Breaking News" caption on bottom of the screen
4th time - January 1999: omnibus edition

Think I might've recorded another UK Gold screening in 2000/01 as well!? I probably couldn't locate the unmarked 1999 tape at the time!

That makes five recordings!

Pip Madeley · 6th Mar 2007, 11:46 PM

The sad thing is, I like collecting UKGold trailers

Many of my UKGold off-airs have the sparkles. Happy days.

**Milky Tears** · 10th Mar 2007, 7:15 PM

At least they haven't stuck BBC Four 1997 Week in the top left corner of the screen during their archive repeats.

D'oh!

WhiteCrow · 10th Mar 2007, 10:46 PM

I saw part of an interview with Demi Moore - too scarey for me ...

**Dave Tudor** · 11th Mar 2007, 5:07 PM

I notice that on BBC Four tonight at 10, is the 1997 drama 'Bright Hair', starring Emilia Fox as a disturbed young murderer; at the same time, ITV are showing 'Fallen Angel', a new drama in which Emilia Fox plays a disturbed young murderer....

Who said there's no originality on TV these days...?

Pip Madeley · 11th Mar 2007, 5:14 PM

Just seen a pic from Bright Hair:

Eww!

Better!

(she's no Trudi though

)

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