Tonight’s Thames/LWT and Channel 4… in 1986 

2 May 2018 tbs.pm/66465

The TVTimes tells us what’s on Thames/LWT and Channel 4 on Friday 2 May 1986. Things worth noting include:

Space for programme detail is very much at a premium on the morning/early afternoon page: only Mad Lizzie’s spots on TV-am get anything resembling a blurb, while the descriptions for the school programmes seem to give up on finding individual ways of stating they’re mainly repeats. Meanwhile, and from the J Arthur Rank stable, the Friday matinee at 1.30pm dates back to 1962.

Thames’ last programme of their share of the day’s broadcasting is the start of a new teenage magazine programme, but it’s back to Euston Road during The 6 O’Clock Show for a news update. Having said that, LWT do offer regional current affairs in a serious vein after News at Ten.

Bookended by repeat showings of two British sitcoms, a tale from the second series of Murder, She Wrote airs at 7.30pm, while 9.00pm offers the eleventh episode of the second series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, with the story of the Magnificent Seven now based in Spain.

Around other regions, only Anglia perseveres with the Friday episode of Albion Market at 7.00pm, while various films fill the post-News at Ten slot for viewers in the South, the East and the Midlands.

Over on Channel 4, afternoon racing comes from the Anglia region, while the fourth edition of The Chart Show at 5.30pm forms part of a pre-Channel 4 News audio-visual segue. Staples of early-years Four are peppered throughout the evening: a magazine programme for an ethnic minority, two American sitcoms separated by a gardening series, and jazz music after the late film.


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5 responses to this article

David Rhodes 2 May 2018 at 1:16 pm

Anglia’s Patrick Anthony shows up on TV-am at 0640.

Viewers my age will recall Scooby Doo in his various vehicles as a BBC1 staple (from 1970-84), but he’s crossed channels by 1625.

The Bizz is co-hosted by Kelly Temple – possibly still at Capital Radio back then; ex-Radio Hallam. Didn’t realise he’d done any telly.

Credit to LWT for managing three hours of regional interest programming between 6pm and 12.30am.

Arthur Nibble 2 May 2018 at 1:57 pm

Sorry to be picky (honestly), but Central were also showing “Albion Market” at 7.00, as well as the Scottish TV game show “Now You See It” – apparently LWT showed the quiz for about three years.

Classic bit of comedy with “Car 54, Where Are You?” on Channel 4.

Mark Jeffries 2 May 2018 at 10:09 pm

The two American sitcoms on Channel 4–“The Cosby Show” and “Cheers” were the anchors of NBC’s long-successful Thursday night lineup for many years, which also included “Family Ties,” “Night Court” (which was replaced on Thursdays in 1987 with an unsuccessful adaptation of the film “Nothing in Common” and later with the acclaimed cult item “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,” the first contemporary one-camera sitcom to ditch the use of canned laughter on the soundtrack, a standard nowadays for those shows) and the drama “Hill Street Blues.” However, in 1986 “Hill Street” in its last series was showing its age, so NBC moved into the time slot creator Steven Bochco’s new series “LA Law,” an equally successful programme. “The Cosby Show” in particular was one of the most popular American series of the 80s and was considered a general saviour for the sitcom genre in general, which had been chipped away by the popularity of the nighttime soaps like “Dallas.” Now, thanks to the revelations of Bill Cosby’s off-screen activities, Bounce TV, a digital terrestrial network aimed at African-Americans, has taken repeats of “The Cosby Show” off of its schedules. They were the last U.S. network or station to screen that series.

Victor Field 13 May 2018 at 12:59 pm

“Fifty Fifty” on TVS at 1.30 was an appalling US detective show which was called “Partners in Crime” I wouldn’t be surprised if Clive James watched it at least once, since co- starred Lynda Carter.

Sheryl Roper 25 August 2020 at 11:39 am

I am trying to find an ITV programme which aired on a Sunday night in the 1980s. My brother remembered the programme being about two couples; one rich, the other poor. The rich couple lived in a mansion. He remembers that he used to switch over to ITV after watching Howard’s Way. Also, he thinks that the programme starred Lesley Vickerage who, later, went on to star in Soldier, Soldier.

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