Up Sunday

Up Sunday 1970

1

Up Sunday was a British late night comedy satire TV show shown on BBC2 that ran for 55 editions over four series from January 1972 to December 1973, featuring many comedy stars of its era. It was a spin-off from the arts discussion show Late Night Line-Up, and created by its Programme Editor, the late Mike Hill. Initially the show featured the "long, rambling topical reflections" of Willie Rushton and James Cameron. These were later pruned, and the cast enlarged to feature the likes of Clive James, Kenny Everett and John Wells. All broadcast late on a Sunday night. Wells said the show was "aimed at dirty minded insomniacs". The cast enacted the roles of newscasters, celebrities, pedestrians, and innocent bystanders. Described by the Off The Telly site as "a haphazard but worthwhile review of the week with plenty of above average material and a small but loyal audience". The show was very low-budget, and considered the very "last gasp" of the sixties satire boom, featuring many of that movement's key figures. The show later broadened its talent base to go into wider and more surrealist areas. Guests included Peter Sellers, Eric Idle, Sir John Betjeman, Spike Milligan, Ivor Cutler, Eleanor Bron, Barry Humphries, John Fortune, Max Wall, Richard Murdoch, Roy Hudd, Vivian Stanshall, Percy Edwards, Adge Cutler and The Wurzels. The show also contained musical spots, like folk singer Jake Thackray singing Brother Gorilla and Little Black Foal.

1970

The Motorway: Life in the Fast Lane

The Motorway: Life in the Fast Lane 2014

1

Documentary series following the workers who keep the traffic flowing on one of the busiest stretches of road in Britain, where the country's longest motorway, the M6, meets four other major routes.

2014

Can't Take it with You

Can't Take it with You 2011

1

Sir Gerry Robinson helps two families torn over what to write in their wills.

2011

A Gift From The Sea

A Gift From The Sea 1987

1

Go on a stunning journey through some of our most beautiful and unique places! Discover the strange world of New Zealand's limestone areas; learn about the amazing animals that live on the sand dunes of our beaches, and explore Kapiti Island, one of our oldest wildlife sanctuaries that is refuge to some of New Zealand's most unique wildlife.

1987

In the Looking Glass

In the Looking Glass 1970

1

In the Looking Glass is a surreal television series, broadcast on BBC2 in 1978. It starred John Wells, John Fortune, Carl Davis, and Madeline Smith, was directed by Andrew Gosling and produced by Ian Keill. The same team had previously created 1974's The End of the Pier Show. Wells, Fortune and Davis appear to have been the main writers for both series. In the Looking Glass was notable for its design, overlaying live action and drawn or animated backgrounds, for instance, a hole drilled to the centre of the earth, or the Monopoly board on which a character risks being crushed by rolling dice. The production team went on to develop this approach further in the "live action comic strip" series Jane, for which McCallum won two BAFTA Best Graphics awards.

1970

QI XL

QI XL 2009

1

Extended version of the comedy quiz show, full of quirky facts, in which contestants are rewarded more if their answers are 'quite interesting'.

2009

The British at Work

The British at Work 2011

1

Kirsty Young looks at British working lives since the Second World War.

2011

Cracking Antiques

Cracking Antiques 2010

1

Series which drags antiques from their pedestals, blows the dust off them and shows how they can be more affordable, stylish and better made than much of what the high street has to offer.

2010

Cuba: Castro vs. the World

Cuba: Castro vs. the World 2020

1

The story of how Cuba struggled in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, their main economic and political supporter. The massive decline in living standards triggered refugee crises, which played havoc with Cuba's already difficult relations with the US and forced the two enemies to negotiate for the first time one-on-one and officially.

2020

Eating with the Enemy

Eating with the Enemy 1970

1

Home cooks compete to impress four of the country's toughest and most feared food critics

1970

Muslim Driving School

Muslim Driving School 2010

1

Muslim Driving School is a documentary series which follows some Muslim women as they learn how to drive.

2010

Thin Ice

Thin Ice 1970

1

Thin Ice was a British comedy television show on BBC Two starring Marc Wootton and Nina Wadia. All the episodes were written by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp. It began on 28 February 2006 and ran for six 30 minute episodes until 4 April 2006. It was based around an ice rink in Derby, revolving around the intense rivalry which exists between an amateur ice-skating trainer and her nemesis. The programme was filmed, however, at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, and around the town of Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, which are mentioned as to where the British Championships would be held in the series. The programme ran for one series, but was not renewed by the BBC.

1970

Back in Time for Brixton

Back in Time for Brixton 2016

1

A family give up their modern lives for one summer to experience what life was like for Caribbeans who immigrated to Britain in the postwar period. Beginning in 1948, the year the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury and discharged its passengers, the Irwin family travel through the 1950s and 60s, guided by presenter Giles Coren and social historian Emma Dabiri who introduce them to their new homes as well as the events of the time. Along the way the Irwins discover the food, work and entertainment of first-generation immigrants making their lives in Brixton.

2016

Westminster Live

Westminster Live 1970

1

Westminster Live was a weekly television programme focusing on political developments within the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The programme began in November 1989 on the same day as television cameras were first allowed into the House of Commons. The programme lasted until 2002 when it was discontinued, and succeeded by the Daily Politics. The programme was presented by Nick Robinson and Iain Macwhirter. Robinson left the BBC to join ITV and Macwhirter went on to report on the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood Live. The first presenter was Vivian White and later hosts included Nick Ross and Diana Madill. The programme was originally presented from a small studio opposite the Houses of Parliament, but in later years it came from the BBC's Millbank base. It focussed on coverage from Parliament far more than its successor.

1970

Sea Cities

Sea Cities 2016

1

Sea Cities is a documentary series where we meet the people who live and work around Britain's port cities.

2016

Trouble at Topshop

Trouble at Topshop 2022

2.00

The story of the rise and fall of an iconic fashion brand and of an entrepreneur with ambitions to be king of the high street.

2022

Bears About The House

Bears About The House 2020

1

Conservationist Giles Clark embarks on his biggest mission to date - taking on the illegal wildlife trade and helping to build a new bear sanctuary in Laos, south-east Asia. Giles has been asked by good friend Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears, to help for 12 months and is not long into his role when he has to step in to help Mary, a five-month-old sun bear. Mary was rescued after her mother was killed in the wild and was spotted on the back of a truck for sale into the illegal wildlife trade. Fragile and malnourished, she lives with Giles and Matt at home while she needs round-the-clock specialist care.

2020