British Television – Cottage Capers

On this day in history….9th December 1960

On this day in history : 9th December 1960 – The very first episode of Coronation Street is aired at 7pm on ITV – and is watched by 7.7 million people….

The soap, which was first broadcast in black and white, was only ever meant to have run for 13 episodes – but is now Britain’s longest running soap, having been aired nearly 10,000 times….

The brainchild of scriptwriter Tony Warren of Granada TV, the idea was at first rejected by the TV station’s founder, Sidney Bernstein…. However, producer Harry Elton persuaded Bernstein to run a 13 part pilot series….within 6 months it had become the most watched TV show in Britain…. It has since become a true British institution and part of our culture – even the Queen watches! Many fans around the world can also view it; it has been shown in Australia since 1963 and from 1964 in New Zealand…. It can be seen in Canada, the USA, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland…. Satellite channels make it available in countries such as Cyprus and Malta – and also in Asia and the Middle East….

The soap focuses on the everyday life of working class folk in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on Salford, Manchester…. In its fictional history The Street was built in 1902 as a tribute to the Coronation of King Edward VII….

Cast of Coronation Street, 1960 – Fair use

The very first words spoken in the first episode – “Now the next thing you’ve got to do is get a sign writer in” – were by the character Elsie Lappin as she handed over the reins of the corner shop to Florrie Lindsey…. Also in this first episode Elsie Tanner nags her 18-year-old son, Dennis, who has just served a prison sentence, to get a job…. She also discovers her daughter, Linda, has split up with her husband…. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Ken Barlow argues with his father, Frank, at the dinner table…. The rebellious Ken was later to cause outrage in a 1961 episode when he uttered the first swear word of the soap – “bloody” – which received 83 complaints from viewers….

Ken Barlow in the first episode, 1960 – Fair use

The most watched episode ever was on Christmas Day 1987 – when 26.6 million tuned in to watch Hilda Ogden say “goodbye” to the Rovers…. Not bad viewing figures considering the negative reception it had from the media back in 1960…. The Mirror reported on it as “doomed from the outset”….as it objected to the depressing view of terraced houses with their smokey chimneys ~ and the dreary signature tune…. Even Granada’s general manager said he “couldn’t find a single redeeming quality” about it…. But obviously the British public thought differently….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….23rd November 1963

On this day in history : 23rd November 1963 – The very first episode of the science fiction series Dr. Who is shown by the BBC….

‘An Unearthly Child’ was shown in four weekly parts and introduced William Hartnell as the first Doctor….with Carole Ann Ford as his granddaughter and companion….

William Hartnell as the first Doctor – BBC – Fair use

The first episode centres on school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton (played by Susan Foreman – with Jacqueline Hall and William Russell) discovering the Doctor and his TARDIS…. The rest of the story takes place in the Stone Age and follows the plot of warring tribes who have lost the knowledge of how to make fire….

British History

On this day in history….10th November 1998

On this day in history : 10th November 1998 – The death of English actress and singer Mary Millar – who played Rose in the highly successful BBC TV comedy series Keeping Up Appearances….

Mary Millar as Rose in ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ – Fair use

Mary was born on the 26th of July 1936 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, to music hall singers Horace and Irene Weston…. Her parents had an act, Sweethearts in Harmony and as a child Mary would go on tour with them…. At first she had her heart set on becoming a stable hand – but changed her mind and began singing arias on stage at the age of 14….

In 1953, aged 17, Mary made her first TV appearance in Those Were the Days…. She went on to appear in The Dick Emery Show and The Stanley Baxter Show…. But she is probably best remembered as Rose, the youngest sister of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances…. Rose, with her eye for the men (especially married ones) and her love of skimpy clothes, who brought shame to her social climbing snobbish elder sister….

The cast of ‘Keeping up Appearances’ – Fair use

In 1962 Mary made her acting stage debut in Lock Up Your Daughters; in the same year she married Rafael D Frame and the couple had a daughter in 1972…. Mary had a busy and constant theatrical career and was in the original cast of Phantom of the Opera…. Her final performance was in 1998 as Mrs Potts in the West End production Beauty and the Beast…. She left the production in February 1998 as her health was deteriorating – she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer the previous month…. Mary lost her battle with her illness in the November of 1998, dying in Brockley, London, with her husband and daughter at her bedside….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….20th October 1946

On this day in history : 20th October 1946 – Muffin the Mule appears on BBC Children’s Television for the first time….

Muffin the Muke puppet toy, Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh – Image credit : Chemical Engineer CC BY-SA 4.0

Muffin was already 12-years-old before debuting on TV…. Hogarth Puppets, run by puppeteers Jan Bussell and his wife Ann Hogarth, were used as an experimental medium during the pioneering days of television in the 1930s…. The mule, which at that point remained nameless, was made by Fred Tickner (who also created Punch and Judy) and was added to the Hogarth collection in November 1934….

It was in 1946 that Annette Mills, older sister of actor John Mills, joined the BBC…. Annette had been an accomplished and up and coming dancer – but her dancing days ended when she suffered a broken leg…. In a career change she took on the role as presenter of a show to entertain children by singing and telling stories….using the top of her grand piano as a ‘stage’ for the characters in her stories….

Annette and her colleague, producer Andrew Miller Jones, approached Jan Bussell and Ann Hogarth – and together as a team they devised the ‘Muffin the Mule Show’ using the mule puppet Fred Tickner had created….

Usually the show went out on air at Sunday teatime and ran on the BBC until Annette’s death in 1955…. Each 15 minute episode began with Annette singing the theme tune ~ “We want Muffin, Muffin the Mule…. Dear old Muffin, playing the fool” …. Ann Hogarth would operate the puppet, so that it would be dancing on the piano top, from behind a screen…. A story would then be told by Annette, usually featuring other puppet characters, such as Sally the Seal, Poppy the Parrot, Peregrine the Penguin and Katy the Kangaroo….

Muffin was one of the first stars of British television – and one of the first examples of character merchandise….including toys, books, playing cards, clothing and games, such as ‘Pin the Tail on Muffin’…. The puppet featured as a regular comic strip in the 1950s publication ‘T.V. Comic’ and there was even a Muffin the Mule Club to join….

https://youtu.be/6ZwubBK78nw

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….9th July 1955

On this day in history : 9th July 1955 – Dixon of Dock Green is shown on British television for the first time…. With Jack Warner playing the part of George Dixon the series ran for 21 years….

Image credit : Leonard Bentley via Flickr

The programme, created by Ted Willis, ran on the BBC between 1955 and 1976 for 22 series with 367 episodes….and centred on everyday life in an East End of London police station…. It dealt with petty crime in a reasonable and human way….

Jack Warner had been a comedian on the radio and continued to play comic characters in his early film career…. However, in the early 1940s he began to extend his range, becoming a character actor….displaying warmth and maturity…. ‘George Dixon’ made his first appearance in the film ‘The Blue Lamp’ in 1950….

As a TV programme Dixon of Dock Green aired at 6.30pm on a Saturday evening….and always started with one of its famous lines….”Evening, all”…. In 1961 it was voted the second most popular TV show, with an estimated 13.85 million viewers…. Dixon was popular among the police themselves; Warner was made an honorary member of both the Margate and Ramsgate police forces…. On a visit to the studios, where the series was made, HM The Queen said she thought Dixon of Dock Green had become part of the British way of life….

However, towards the end of the 1960s ratings had begun to decline – faster paced cop shows, such as Z Cars and then later The Sweeney, were becoming increasingly popular…. Loyal fans stuck with Dixon though; in one episode when the character was shot over 4,000 letters were received by the BBC inquiring of his well-being…. An announcement had to be made on TV to say he was alright….

But by the mid 1970s Jack Warner’s own health was beginning to suffer….he was looking frail and no longer looked the part in a police uniform…. The series came to an end with the last episode being shown on the 1st of May 1976…. “Goodnight, all”….