Up first this evening is Angels, and an episode from the series’ penultimate run. I’ve yet to find Angels‘ reformat into the ‘soap’ format (2 x 25 minute episodes each week) that engrossing, although maybe I’ve yet to give it a fair chance. It’s another of those series that I need to really find the time to watch consistently in sequence. Maybe it’ll be another one to attempt next year. I’ll add it to the list ….
BBC2 offers a Grange Hill repeat from series five, originally broadcast earlier in the year. It’s this one, which continues the harsher tone that’s quite noticeable this year. I’ve no doubt touched upon this before, but it’s interesting to wonder just how much input GH‘s producer (this year was Susi Hush’s sole year in charge) had in the direction of the series. Possibly the scripts had already been locked down before she arrived, but the emergence of Gripper as Roland’s nemesis throughout series five was something new for the series (previously, bullies had tended to restrict their reign of terror for only a few episodes).
The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim is on at 9.00 pm. Given that it was written by Clement and Le Frenais it’s a curiously forgotten sitcom, although it’s true that the pair do have a number of equally obscure entries in their back catalogue. It’s certainly worth checking out, even if it’s easy to initially miss that the series was set in the late sixties. Today’s episode can be found here.
Over on ITV, it’ll just be Coronation Street for me.
Archive Television Musings 
Forty years ago I was in my first term at college. College finished at half past four, and rather cleverly the bus arrived at the college at twenty-five past and five to the hour. So unless I managed to get out early and/ot the 4.25 bus was late I would miss the previous bus by five minutes and have a twenty-five minute wait for the next one.
So I didn’t get home for children’s tv, which that day included Jackanory regular Ronald Pickup reading The Revenge of Samuel Stokes by Penelope Lively, and Blue Peter marking National Tree Week. I don’t remember Clock On at the Laughter Factory, but I would rather have watched Dangermouse on ITV. Educating Marmalade was dreadful.
I would have seen that episode of Grange Hill first time around, but looking back I don’t know what I ever saw in Grange Hill.
After tea I would study for an hour or so, so I didn’t watch early evening tv unless it was something I really wanted to see like Doctor Who. I’ve heard of Tales of the Gold Monkey but I never saw it.
I did watch Further Adventures of Lucky Jim, but I talked about that the last time we looked at a Monday in 1982.
Film 82 looked at two cult movies, George Romero’s Creep Show, and Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. Now we could do with a Cult Movies Musings website.
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There was a proliferation of youth programmes on early weekday evenings on BBC2, Something Else, The Oxford Road Show, and forty years ago today it was Riverside with Attila the Stockbroker.
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