Tonight’s Yorkshire Television… in 1975 

2 August 2017 tbs.pm/13111

TVTimes tells us what was on YTV on Saturday 2 August 1975. Things worth noting include:

  • YTV opens its doors at 10am with a programme educating parents about their children’s education in Open Day, sounds a bit too stuffy to me on a Saturday morning. Let’s have a cartoon to follow, it’s Dodo the Space Kid at 10.25pm. Time for some classic comedy at 10.30am in the shape of those great heroes of slapstick Laurel & Hardy, who are this week’s stars of Saturday Morning Cinema. At Midday, it’s ‘comedy’ and ‘music’ with The Osmonds.
  • World of Sport at 12.30pm offers such delights as Swimming, Racing, Speedway, Wrestling, Dwarf Tossing and even an update of the ITN News to boot.
    After the ITN News at 5.10pm, it’s cartoon fun with The Flintstones at 5.20pm.
  • Prime time viewing now and at 5.45pm a variety of ‘New Faces’ line up to perform in The Summer Show, hosted by the legendary Leslie Crowther. Entertaining you this evening is this week’s TVTimes cover star, Marti Caine. There is also comedy from up and coming stars such as Lenny Henry and the wondrous Victoria Wood. This just screams ATV doesn’t it?
  • The Main Feature film at 6.30pm on YTV sounds delightful. Run Wild, Run Free is about a boy who is unable to speak, but begins to open up when he befriends a retired army colonel. And a star cast to boot, John Mills, Gordon Jackson and Sylvia Syms no less.
  • An oddity at 8.15pm, fully networked that evening, is Crown Court. Normally a daytime staple, and here running at 45 minutes long. One wonders if this was a two-part programme cobbled together. Why it’s being shown at prime time though is beyond me!
  • After the ITN News at 9.45pm, it’s bawdy entertainment, and I use the word entertainment loosely there, from Granada and The Wheeltappers & Shunters Social Club. Bernard Manning… even the name makes me shudder.
  • YTV ends with another film and The Movie Through Midnight (Only Just) is A Rage to Live… no me neither! Yorkshire comes to close at 12.15pm

Variation time:

  • ANGLIA: Out of all the regions listed, it’s Anglia who gets up early this morning with Open Day at 9am. We’re invited to Play a Tune at 9.25am, before we head off into the wonderful world of children’s TV. I really can’t make out what’s at 9.50am on Anglia… I assume a foreign cartoon? Good old Hammy Hamster and the magical Johnny Morris arrive at 10am before we head for our morning film, Hide & Seek at 10.15am. Then it’s good old Woody Woodpecker at 12pm bringing us up to World of Sport. We veer off the network at 5.20pm for an earlier airing of The Summer Show and then onto a film at 6.05pm, The Long Duel. As network from 8.15pm until after the ITN News, then film time again with The Gazebo.
  • MIDLAND: Time for a spot of Gardening at 9.15am on ATV, Play a Tune at 9.40am then it’s a very early version of Tiswas, in its continuity only stages, with special guest programme Tarzan. Then, as YTV until 5.20pm when Cartoons and a Western film called Wyoming Mail come on. At 7pm it is action from ITC with The Persuaders followed by a prime-time spot for their programme The Summer Show. As YTV until 10.30pm then another film – The Long Ride Home, another Western, this time starring Glenn Ford, Inger Stevens, George Hamilton.
  • TYNE TEES: 9.25am Here Lies… a schedule filler? Play a Tune (AGAIN) at 9.35am then as YTV until Woobinda at midday. TTTV deviates again at 10.30pm for their own film, The Long Ride Home.


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10 responses to this article

Richard Jones 2 August 2017 at 12:39 pm

The reason for the prime time Crown Court was cuts that were imposed in 1975 by the ITV companies which resulted in the suspension of all the afternoon soaps for the summer months. Crown Court, however was a particularly cheap way of filling peak time with high quality drama so was temporarily promoted to Saturday peak time. As it ran for 3 half hours a week it was easily transmittable as a 90 min special. General Hospital was also transmitted as an hour-long evening slot but benefited from filmed inserts and a new theme tune.

Geoff Nash 2 August 2017 at 1:31 pm

9.50am on Anglia is ‘Paulus’, a puppet series for the under-fives I believe from Holland (I stand to be corrected). I think it used stop-frame animation, I do remember seeing it on Thames around ’69/’70.

David Rhodes 2 August 2017 at 2:26 pm

Paulus on Anglia at 9.50am was indeed a Dutch cartoon about a wood gnome. Seen on various ITV stations during the 1970s, supposedly only one episode survives; a well-known streaming site has it.

Tyne Tees’ Here Lies is likely to be a religious prologue – at one stage, they had a short Godspot at both ends of the day.

Somewhere online, I’ve seen the titles for one of these feature-length Crown Courts, using the title Crown Court Film. Dashed if I can track it down now, though.

None of YTV’s own productions on that Saturday schedule, and no sign of any regional content either in Yorkshire or adjoining areas. The IBA seemed not to mind too much, as long as the companies made an effort with some sort of politics, farming or football on the Sunday.

Finally – Seventies Manning makes you shudder? I feel the same about Eighties Ben Elton…

Robert Michael Fearn 2 August 2017 at 5:09 pm

Jase, that programme you were thinking of – Paulus – was a Dutch cartoon about a little gnome, and was named after the eponymous titular character.

Victor Field 2 August 2017 at 7:52 pm

Barbadian viewers also got subjected to “Crown Court” in primetime compilations as well in the 1980s. They were episodes from the the 1970s, and they were not put togther by Granada…

Mark Jeffries 2 August 2017 at 9:19 pm

“Dodo” and “The Osmonds” were both animated by Halas and Batchelor but with scripts and soundtracks produced in the U.S. or Canada (presumably for “Dodo,” since everyone sounds American), making them technically American series. Film producer Joseph E. Levine and “Lassie” creator Robert Maxwell were credited as “presenters” in the production sense for “Dodo,” while Rankin/Bass produced “The Osmonds” in the mold of their “The Jackson 5ive,” with both series boasting H&B animation, Paul Frees doing supporting character voices and an insistent laugh track with canned applause and screaming.

Jason D'Arcy 2 August 2017 at 9:41 pm

Wow! Guys, well impressed. Thank you for the information.

Geoff Nash 3 August 2017 at 12:08 am

“Wheeltappers And Shutters. ….” at 9.45. Well when Granada did light entertainment it just HAD to be different, especially put against ATV’s cheesy earlier offering. “Wheeltappers. …”managed to mock the northern working man’s clubs while paying tribute to them at the same time. Watching recently on DVD a (relatively) subdued Bernard Manning played the perfect master of ceremonies while the star “turns” allowed themselves to blend in with the northern club scene. Love it or hate it, this had GRANADA stamped all over it.

Paul Mason 3 August 2017 at 10:40 pm

Paulus the Woodgnome and Perry Mason were a plague of my life as you will observe.
The Summer Show used acts from the recent seasons of New Faces, with Leslie Crowther being a staple of Saturday evening TV after leaving Crackerjack. Of the acts Charlie James was a smallish female singer who never troubled TV again. Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood were growing on the public but they were finding their feet in the 1970s
The present day singer Jane McDonald reminded me of Marti Caine, a Yorkshire singer whose career was cut short by cancer at 55.
Laurel and Hardy were Saturday morning favourites and posthumously had a following on TV.
Crown Court on Saturday evening was an odd one, it wasn’t on Granada in the evening.
Wheeltappers and Shunters Club I recall, but Manning behaved himself on the show, apart from taking the mickey out of Colin Crompton, who on the Comedians told some home truths that upset the tourist industry in Morecambe. Unfortunately the bell that Crompton used was in schools a fire bell and many got in trouble for shouting “Bingo tickets on sale!” while misusing the bell.
Anyway then and now its summer, light nights, audience on holiday or outdoors and TV puts its cheapest tat out until September.

Paul Mason 3 August 2017 at 10:43 pm

I apologise for putting this here,(you might want to move it) just to state the sad news of the deaths of Robert Hardy (aged 91) and Hywel Bennett (aged 73) on 3rd August 2017.

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