Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm looking back at what many people reckon is one of the greatest British sitcoms ever made. A sitcom that lasted just 12 episodes, and yet more than 50 years later remains part of the British cultural furniture. We're going to Fawlty Towers.

What to Expect:

The Real Basil Fawlty: I trace the origins of the show back to 1970, when the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and John Cleese encountered one of the rudest men he had ever met.

Cleese and Booth: Why Fawlty Towers wasn't simply a John Cleese creation, and why the writing partnership with Connie Booth was so crucial to making the show work.

The Characters: I revisit Basil, Sybil, Manuel, Polly, and the Major, plus the unforgettable Mrs Richards and her sea view.

The Germans: I spend time with one of the most famous episodes in British comedy, looking at what the joke is really about and why John Cleese saw it as a comment on British attitudes rather than simply making fun of Germans.

12 Episodes and Then It Was Over: Why Fawlty Towers never came back, and why that might be part of the reason it remains so beloved.

A Little Bit of Basil in Us All: Why we still recognise Basil Fawlty more than 50 years later, and why the show continues to make generation after generation laugh.

What's your favourite Fawlty Towers episode or moment? Do you remember watching it for the first time? Get in touch and let me know!

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game – launching very soon!

Our playable version of the theme tune round is launching very soon and we are planning some very special events that you may be able to take part in to mark the occasion. If you are interested in finding out more, do register your interest and we will be in touch.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

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Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week marks a rather satisfying milestone: our 75th quiz, three quarters of a century of questions about growing up with British television in the 1970s. To celebrate, Round One takes us back to one of the most cherished slots in the history of British children's television: Watch With Mother. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1976 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish.

What to Expect:

• Round 1: Watch With Mother Five questions about the shows that filled the BBC's legendary lunchtime slot for young children.
• Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge Questions drawn from over 200 episodes of the podcast. Regular listeners may have a slight advantage.
• Round 3: Name That Tune (1976) Five theme tunes from shows first broadcast in 1976. You'll need to listen to the podcast to play this one.
• Round 4: TV Times General 70s TV trivia. Anything goes.
• Bonus Question One final challenge to separate the casual viewers from the true obsessives.

Grab a pen and paper, settle in with your favourite brew, and let's see how many you can get right. Send your score to [email protected] or drop me a comment on social media.

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game – launching very soon!

Our playable version of the theme tune round is launching very soon and we are planning some very special events that you may be able to take part in to mark the occasion. If you are interested in finding out more, do register your interest and we will be in touch.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

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📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/70stvchildhood
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This has been a Worth A Listen Production for Lucky Table Media.

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Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm looking back at one of the biggest stars of Saturday night television, a man who entertained millions with a remarkable gallery of comic characters. Dick Emery was a fixture on BBC One for over a decade, and his catchphrases entered everyday conversation across the country. From the unforgettable Mandy to the Toothy Vicar, the Bovver Boy to the controversial Clarence, his characters were as familiar as members of our own families.

Before we start, a reminder that the My 70s TV Childhood Theme Tune Game is launching very soon. It is a nostalgic family game based on the classic British TV theme tunes we all remember, designed to be played around the table with family and friends. The perfect gift for anyone who grew up with 1970s British television. Our launch date is drawing closer and there will be more details to follow very shortly. If you would like to hear more, visit www.my70stvchildhood.com and pop your name on the waitlist.

💬 What to Expect:

Saturday Night Television: I set the scene for what Saturday nights were really like, with one television set, three channels, and the whole family watching together.

The Man Behind the Characters: Dick Emery's extraordinary early life, from music hall parents to the RAF Gang Show, where he invented his first character, Vera Thin, and discovered he was "far better in drag than in combat gear."

Mandy: The glamorous blonde who gave us one of Britain's greatest television catchphrases. "Ooh, you are awful, but I like you."

The Toothy Vicar, Hetty and the Bovver Boy: I revisit the gallery of characters that made the show essential Saturday viewing, including the one that went down particularly well in our house, given that my father was a vicar.

Clarence and Comedy That Changes: I look at the character that raises the most questions today, and explore why some 1970s comedy has aged differently from others.

A Legacy of Laughter: Dick Emery's influence on later character comedians, from The Fast Show onwards, and why his greatest strength was making us all laugh together as a family.

Do you remember watching Dick Emery with your family on a Saturday night? Can you still hear those catchphrases? Get in touch and let me know!

Take care,

Oliver

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▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This has been a Worth A Listen Production for Lucky Table Media.

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Support the show

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One is all about the summer variety show Seaside Special, a fixture of Saturday night television throughout the mid to late 1970s, plus a few other seaside-related questions. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1975 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish.

What to Expect:

• Round 1: Seaside Special Five questions about the summer variety show and a few other seaside-related favourites.
• Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge Questions drawn from over 200 episodes of the podcast. Regular listeners may have a slight advantage.
• Round 3: Name That Tune (1975) Five theme tunes from shows first broadcast in 1975. You'll need to listen to the podcast to play this one.
• Round 4: TV Times General 70s TV trivia. Anything goes.
• Bonus Question One final challenge to separate the casual viewers from the true obsessives.

Grab a pen and paper, settle in with your favourite brew, and let's see how many you can get right. Send your score to [email protected] or drop me a comment on social media.

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game – launching very soon!

Our playable version of the theme tune round is coming very soon. Our launch date is drawing closer and there will be more details to follow shortly. If you might be interested in getting the game, you can register your interest on our blog and we will keep you updated.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

Connect & Follow

👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood/

🐦 X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/home

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This has been a Worth A Listen Production for Lucky Table Media.

Get in touch!

Support the show

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game is launching very soon!

We are launching a playable version of our regular theme tune quiz, and we are planning some extremely special events that you may have the opportunity to take part in. More details to follow shortly. If you are interested in finding out more about the game, please do register your interest and we will be in touch.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com

This week, we're diving into one of the most beloved and gloriously chaotic pieces of 70s children's television - The Flashing Blade! Originally a serious French historical drama called "Le Chevalier Tempête," this tale of dashing French spy Chevalier de Recci became a British TV legend thanks to some wonderfully eccentric dubbing.

Recording from Melbourne during the Australian winter, Oliver explores how this big-budget French production about the War of Spanish Succession became a summer holiday staple for British children. The show followed François de Recci and his loyal servant Guillot as they attempted to break through Spanish lines during the siege of a French castle.

What made The Flashing Blade so memorable wasn't just the swashbuckling action and gorgeous Loire Valley cinematography - it was the hilariously limited dubbing. With apparently just three or four British voice actors voicing every single character, from heroic colonels to crying peasants, the result was glorious chaos. Our dashing hero sounded like a suave graduate while his sidekick Guillot emerged as a comedy cockney chimney sweep spouting lines like "Shall I bash him with me baguette?"

The show's enduring appeal lies in this unintentional comedy gold - a serious historical drama transformed by budget constraints and questionable voice acting into something uniquely British and utterly unforgettable. Add to this the mystery of the missing final episode (thanks to technical faults that plagued Episode 12's broadcasts) and you have a perfect storm of nostalgic television.

From the iconic theme tune to the endless sword fights and galloping horses, The Flashing Blade epitomized those long summer holiday mornings when the BBC filled time with cheap foreign imports that somehow became more memorable than expensive homegrown productions.

Do you remember The Flashing Blade? Can you solve the mystery of who provided those unforgettable voices? Share your swashbuckling memories with us!

Connect & Follow

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood/

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/home

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This have been a Worth a Listen production for Lucky Table Media

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Support the show

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to the golden age of 1970s television advertising. I will give you some information from a famous advert and you have to tell me the product or brand it was for. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1971 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish.

What to Expect:

• Round 1: Commercial Break Five famous 1970s TV adverts. Can you name the product or brand?
• Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge Questions drawn from over 200 episodes of the podcast. Regular listeners may have a slight advantage.
• Round 3: Name That Tune (1971) Five theme tunes from shows first broadcast in 1971. You'll need to listen to the podcast for this one.
• Round 4: TV Times General 70s TV trivia. Anything goes.
• Bonus Question One final challenge to separate the casual viewers from the true obsessives.

Grab a pen and paper, settle in with your favourite brew, and let's see how many you can get right. Send your score to [email protected] or drop me a comment on social media.

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game is launching very soon!

We are launching a playable version of our regular theme tune quiz very soon, and we are planning some extremely special events that you may have the opportunity to take part in. More details to follow shortly. If you are interested in finding out more about the game, please do register your interest and we will be in touch.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

📲 Connect & Follow

• 👍 Facebook: www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood
• 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood
• 🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/home
• ▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This have been a Worth a Listen production for Lucky Table Media

Get in touch!

Support the show

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm delighted to welcome a very special guest, a man I can only describe as a legend of children's television. He's the puppeteer behind Zippy on Rainbow, he was Sweep alongside Harry Corbett, he worked with Jim Henson on Labyrinth, he performed on the Muppet films, and he even became a rave star in the 1990s touring university discos with Zippy and George. Welcome to the podcast, Ronnie Le Drew.

But first, our My 70s TV Childhood theme tune quiz game is about to go into manufacturing. If you'd like to register your interest, head to www.my70stvchildhood.com and join the waitlist. There's no commitment at this point, but it helps us get our production numbers right.

💬 What to Expect:

From Pelham Puppets to the Puppet Guild: Ronnie tells us how it all began with three Pelham puppets, a wind-up gramophone, and kids sitting on a freezing concrete staircase in a South London block of flats.

The Little Angel Theatre: How a 15-year-old Ronnie wrote to the legendary John Wright asking for an apprenticeship, and the extraordinary conversation his parents had in the kitchen that changed his life.

Muffin the Mule and the Park Shows: Working with Jan Bussell and Anne Hogarth, performing three shows a day from a caravan in London's parks.

Rainbow and Zippy: How Ronnie joined Rainbow for a six-week contract on a massive £125 a week and stayed for 20 years, lip-syncing to Roy Skelton's voice as the most lovably naughty character on children's television.

Sweep and the Corbetts: Ronnie's time working with Harry and Matthew Corbett, and the little reed in the mouth that gave Sweep his voice.

Labyrinth and David Bowie: Auditioning for Jim Henson with a fake American accent, working as a goblin puppeteer at Elstree Studios, and the moment David Bowie walked onto set in a dressing gown and said hello.

The Rainbow Rave Years: When Thames Television lost its franchise in 1992, Ronnie took Zippy and George on a three-year tour of university discos. A generation that had grown up watching Rainbow was now old enough to buy them drinks.

What are your memories of Rainbow, Zippy, Sweep, and the characters that Ronnie brought to life? Get in touch and let me know!

Take care,

Oliver

📲 Connect & Follow

• 👍 Facebook: www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood
• 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood
• 🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/home
• ▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

Get in touch!

Support the show

Welcome to the 72nd edition of the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to those glorious school holiday mornings in front of the television, with five questions about the shows that filled our summers throughout the 1970s. 

A quick note before we start: some of the shows mentioned were made before the 70s but were endlessly repeated and very much part of our 70s TV childhood. 

What to Expect:

• Round 1: Summer Holiday Five questions about the school holiday morning shows that filled our summers in the 1970s.
• Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge Questions drawn from over 200 episodes of the podcast. Regular listeners may have a slight advantage.
• Round 3: Name That Tune (1976) Five theme tunes from shows first broadcast in 1976. You'll need to listen to the podcast for this one.
• Round 4: TV Times General 70s TV trivia. Anything goes.
• Bonus Question One final challenge to separate the casual viewers from the true obsessives.

Grab a pen and paper, settle in with your favourite brew, and let's see how many you can get right. Send your score to [email protected] or drop me a comment on social media.

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game is nearly here!

We are about to start production on a playable version of our famous Name That Tune round. That is right, you will be able to play at home with family and friends and show them all how brilliant your knowledge of theme tunes really is. It would help us enormously to know how many of you might be interested in buying the game. Any profits will go straight back into helping with the costs of producing the podcast.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

📲 Connect & Follow

• 👍 Facebook: www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood
• 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood
• 🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/home
• ▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This have been a Worth a Listen production for Lucky Table Media

Get in touch!

Support the show

Welcome back to My 70’s TV Childhood, a British nostalgia podcast about growing up with classic television in 1970s Britain. This week, I’m heading back to 1974 and one of the most talked-about and controversial programmes in the history of British television. The Family was a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary series that followed the everyday lives of an ordinary working-class family from Reading, and it changed television forever.

But first, a quick reminder that our My 70’s TV Childhood Theme Tune Game is coming very soon. It is a nostalgic family game for people who grew up with 1970s British television, designed to get grandparents, parents and grown-up children around the table, guessing and singing along to the classic TV theme tunes we still remember from childhood. Head to www.my70stvchildhood.com to register your interest. No commitment required.

💬 What to Expect:

• The Television Landscape of 1974: I look back at what British television was like when The Family first aired, three channels, families gathered around one set, and a BBC that carried real authority.
• The Wilkins Family: I introduce Bill, Marg, and their children from Reading, and the lodger Tom Bernes, who became one of Britain’s first reality television stars decades before anyone used that phrase.
• How The Family Was Made: Director Paul Watson and producer Franc Roddam embedded a crew in the family’s daily life for months, capturing meals, arguments, celebrations and boredom in a way that had never been seen on British television before.
• The Controversy: I explore why The Family shocked so many viewers in 1974, from debates about class and privacy to questions about whether the presence of cameras changes the reality they are supposed to be recording.
• The Legacy: I look at how The Family paved the way for everything from observational documentaries to modern reality television, and why the questions it raised are still being argued about today.

Do you remember The Family? I would love to hear your memories, so get in touch and let me know!

Take care,

Oliver

📲 Connect & Follow

• 👍 Facebook: www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood
• 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood
• 🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/home
• ▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

Get in touch!

Support the show

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to some of the most watched moments in 1970s television, the great Royal events that brought the nation together around the TV set. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1970 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish.

What to Expect:

• Round 1: Royal Ratings Five questions about the most watched Royal events on British television in the 1970s.
• Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge Questions drawn from over 200 episodes of the podcast. Regular listeners may have a slight advantage.
• Round 3: Name That Tune (1970) Five theme tunes from shows first broadcast in 1970. You'll need to listen to the podcast for this one.
• Round 4: TV Times General 70s TV trivia. Anything goes.
• Bonus Question One final challenge to separate the casual viewers from the true obsessives.

Grab a pen and paper, settle in with your favourite brew, and let's see how many you can get right. Send your score to [email protected] or drop me a comment on social media.

Take care,

Oliver

🎲 The My 70s TV Childhood Board Game is nearly here!

We are about ready to start manufacturing. But as we get to that point, it would be a huge help if you could let us know whether this is something you might be interested in buying. Any purchases of the game will help towards the costs of producing the podcast, and there is no commitment at this stage.

Register your interest at: https://my70stvchildhood.com/

Connect & Follow

• 👍 Facebook: www.facebook.com/my70stvchildhood
• 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/my70stvchildhood
• 🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/home
• ▶️ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@my70stvchildhood

This has been a Worth A Listen Production

Get in touch!

Support the show