Curious British Telly
@curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
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I'm vaguely starting to run out of Betamax tapes, so if you've got any old ones stashed away in cupboards/lofts, please let me know. VHS more than welcome too. Only looking for 80s recordings. Thanks.
New article looks at Checkpoint Chiswick www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/10/chec... a powerful 1987 satire on not only the decline of society, but also the unwieldy power of the media.
Checkpoint Chiswick (1987)
The home of all those British TV shows you thought you'd forgotten about...
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
New article looks at Checkpoint Chiswick www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/10/chec... a powerful 1987 satire on not only the decline of society, but also the unwieldy power of the media.
Bagpuss to the theme from Minder.
September 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Bagpuss to the theme from Minder.
Still don't understand why they can't bring back in-vision continuity announcers. All you need is a comfy chair, a plant and some top-line 80s fashion.
September 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Still don't understand why they can't bring back in-vision continuity announcers. All you need is a comfy chair, a plant and some top-line 80s fashion.
It's time to flick through the Boots Freetime Autumn 1985 magazine www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/09/boot... featuring toys, technology, gruesome recipes and some curious tracksuits.
September 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
It's time to flick through the Boots Freetime Autumn 1985 magazine www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/09/boot... featuring toys, technology, gruesome recipes and some curious tracksuits.
New article is A Tale of Digging Through Old Video Tapes www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/09/a-ta... where I discuss how I got into salvaging old video tapes and the associated pleasures and pains.
A Tale of Digging Through Old Video Tapes
The home of all those British TV shows you thought you'd forgotten about...
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
September 16, 2025 at 9:49 PM
New article is A Tale of Digging Through Old Video Tapes www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/09/a-ta... where I discuss how I got into salvaging old video tapes and the associated pleasures and pains.
Yes, it's another mini-review of a Let's Pretend episode www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/09/0312... and this time it's The Broom and the Vacuum Cleaner from 1984.
September 13, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Yes, it's another mini-review of a Let's Pretend episode www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/09/0312... and this time it's The Broom and the Vacuum Cleaner from 1984.
Let's take a look at the EMAP company newsletter from December 1985 www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/09/spla... featuring arm wrestling with Brian Blessed, Linda Lusardi, ghoulish Halloween costumes and lots of advertising executives.
September 6, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Let's take a look at the EMAP company newsletter from December 1985 www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/09/spla... featuring arm wrestling with Brian Blessed, Linda Lusardi, ghoulish Halloween costumes and lots of advertising executives.
Has there ever been a greater pair of lads? Ant and Dec ain't got nothing on these two.
September 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Has there ever been a greater pair of lads? Ant and Dec ain't got nothing on these two.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
Folk horror comes to Crown Court! This case from 1974 is inspired by the Lower Quinton ‘witchcraft murder’ of 1945 & written by David Pinner, whose novel Ritual inspired The Wicker Man m.youtube.com/watch?v=6O3r...
Strange Past - Complete (1080p)
YouTube video by Forgotten British Television
m.youtube.com
September 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Folk horror comes to Crown Court! This case from 1974 is inspired by the Lower Quinton ‘witchcraft murder’ of 1945 & written by David Pinner, whose novel Ritual inspired The Wicker Man m.youtube.com/watch?v=6O3r...
We're truly living in The Day Today.
September 4, 2025 at 6:06 PM
We're truly living in The Day Today.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
Here's 159 British Children's TV Shows from the 1980s You Forgot About www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2022/01/159-... a definitive look at all those long forgotten shows we enjoyed as kids.
October 21, 2023 at 11:16 AM
Here's 159 British Children's TV Shows from the 1980s You Forgot About www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2022/01/159-... a definitive look at all those long forgotten shows we enjoyed as kids.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
I'm vaguely starting to run out of Betamax tapes, so if you've got any old ones stashed away in cupboards/lofts, please let me know. VHS more than welcome too. Only looking for 80s recordings. Thanks.
March 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I'm vaguely starting to run out of Betamax tapes, so if you've got any old ones stashed away in cupboards/lofts, please let me know. VHS more than welcome too. Only looking for 80s recordings. Thanks.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
Don't forget to take a peek at the Curious British Telly Substack substack.com/@curiousbrit... chockablock with vintage telly goodness and nutrition - subject to regional variations.
January 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Don't forget to take a peek at the Curious British Telly Substack substack.com/@curiousbrit... chockablock with vintage telly goodness and nutrition - subject to regional variations.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
Remember Get Set Go? 1984 game show/manic word play hosted by a youthful Michael Barrymore on BBC1? Me neither, but it certainly happened as I've written about it here: www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/get-...
Get Set Go
The home of all those British TV shows you thought you'd forgotten about...
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
August 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Remember Get Set Go? 1984 game show/manic word play hosted by a youthful Michael Barrymore on BBC1? Me neither, but it certainly happened as I've written about it here: www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/get-...
Remember Get Set Go? 1984 game show/manic word play hosted by a youthful Michael Barrymore on BBC1? Me neither, but it certainly happened as I've written about it here: www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/get-...
Get Set Go
The home of all those British TV shows you thought you'd forgotten about...
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
August 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Remember Get Set Go? 1984 game show/manic word play hosted by a youthful Michael Barrymore on BBC1? Me neither, but it certainly happened as I've written about it here: www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/get-...
It's time to admire my recently acquired St Michael dressing gown ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/08/st-m... which dates back a cool 40 years.
St Michael Dressing Gown (1985)
Rediscovering Britain's forgotten past from the 1980s. One curious, ephemeral item at a time.
ephemeral80s.co.uk
August 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
It's time to admire my recently acquired St Michael dressing gown ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/08/st-m... which dates back a cool 40 years.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
Channel 5 revives BBC’s Play for Today to ‘help shape future of British drama’
Channel 5 revives BBC’s Play for Today to ‘help shape future of British drama’
Series aims to follow original in tackling ‘thornier issues’, and to support talent from lower-income backgrounds
It was one of the most influential British television series of the last century, renowned for exploring thorny societal issues and bringing the work of emerging talent, such as Ray Winstone, Alison Steadman, Helen Mirren and Dennis Potter, to mass audiences.
Now Play for Today is being revived on Channel 5, to give young writers, actors and producers from lower-income backgrounds a way into TV, helped by established talent. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Channel 5 revives BBC’s Play for Today to ‘help shape future of British drama’
Meanwhile, over on Ebay, you can pick up this lovely Puddle Lane pencil set for just £37.08...
August 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Meanwhile, over on Ebay, you can pick up this lovely Puddle Lane pencil set for just £37.08...
An amazing trailer for How to Pick Up Girls, Win Arguments and Influence People - an edition of QED which first aired in 1982. Different times indeed. Found on Betamax.
August 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
An amazing trailer for How to Pick Up Girls, Win Arguments and Influence People - an edition of QED which first aired in 1982. Different times indeed. Found on Betamax.
New article looks at 02/11/1987 - Let's Pretend: Fred Midas www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/0211... a typical episode of the 1980s ITV lunchtime children's programme which I missed, at the time, having recently started school.
August 7, 2025 at 6:16 PM
New article looks at 02/11/1987 - Let's Pretend: Fred Midas www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/08/0211... a typical episode of the 1980s ITV lunchtime children's programme which I missed, at the time, having recently started school.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
An utterly delightful slice of 80s ephemera, here's a copy of the Lacock Parish Magazine from September 1984. Read more at www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/laco... and get ready for the upcoming church fete.
Lacock Parish Magazine - September 1984
Sure, Ephemeral 80s will no doubt feature more ephemeral slices of 1980s Britain in the future, but this particular item hums with a convict...
www.ephemeral80s.co.uk
July 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM
An utterly delightful slice of 80s ephemera, here's a copy of the Lacock Parish Magazine from September 1984. Read more at www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/laco... and get ready for the upcoming church fete.
Reposted by Curious British Telly
The Amstrad technical guys look like the baddies in a direct to VHS Die Hard knock off.
August 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The Amstrad technical guys look like the baddies in a direct to VHS Die Hard knock off.
An utterly delightful slice of 80s ephemera, here's a copy of the Lacock Parish Magazine from September 1984. Read more at www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/laco... and get ready for the upcoming church fete.
Lacock Parish Magazine - September 1984
Sure, Ephemeral 80s will no doubt feature more ephemeral slices of 1980s Britain in the future, but this particular item hums with a convict...
www.ephemeral80s.co.uk
July 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM
An utterly delightful slice of 80s ephemera, here's a copy of the Lacock Parish Magazine from September 1984. Read more at www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/laco... and get ready for the upcoming church fete.
New blog looks at Think Tank curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/07/regi... a fiendishly difficult teatime quiz show from 1981 hosted by Tony Wilson. Don't recognise it? Well, it only aired for one series in the Granada region.
Regional Oddity: Think Tank (1981)
The home of all those British TV shows you thought you'd forgotten about...
curiousbritishtelly.co.uk
July 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
New blog looks at Think Tank curiousbritishtelly.co.uk/2025/07/regi... a fiendishly difficult teatime quiz show from 1981 hosted by Tony Wilson. Don't recognise it? Well, it only aired for one series in the Granada region.
It's time to dig out my St Michael coffee glass from 1985 and have a quick hit of caffeinated nostalgia: www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/st-m...
St Michael Coffee Glass (1985)
Coffee, that jittery, brown stimulant of the overworked, is the unofficial national religion of Britain. First coming to these shores in the...
www.ephemeral80s.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 10:44 AM
It's time to dig out my St Michael coffee glass from 1985 and have a quick hit of caffeinated nostalgia: www.ephemeral80s.co.uk/2025/07/st-m...