40 YEARS AGO TODAY

I wonder if Joss Ackland did the voice on this? (The Paul Merton-voiced Fred is NOT CANON)

Some sad news to report, I'm afraid... Jeff Grant, the director of legendary public information film Lonely Water, died on 13 March. He fought to include the film's horror elements, and they proved so successful that it opened the door to the shocking PIFs that we know and love. (1/2)

There is surely a story somewhere about how ANY of this was allowed, and I'll find it out one day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJuH...

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: maybe the reason this isn't part of the televisual April Fools canon is Channel 4's big idea happened at closedown, not just after the traditional midday cut-off - after all, all of those above were too - but technically on the 2nd.

That's Miranda Pollard off of Crossroads!

It was Tony Rivers who was not-Freddie on what's generally regarded as the Top Of The Pops LPs finest achievement, the cover of Bohemian Rhapsody (and when they needed a Little Jimmy Osmond soundalike, he got his son to take a day off school to come to the studio) youtu.be/Xns7-Tl0pdo?...

🟥 REWIND | All this fuss about who has what it takes to present an early morning radio show. Back in the day, TV announcer/director David Allan would finish his evening/late night shift on BBC One and head over to Broadcasting House to do the early shift on BBC Radio 2.

And here's the full version of you'd like to hear it - Steve Race himself on piano, with flute solo by Johnny Scott youtu.be/KOmHTgqa9dA?...

Best #Crossroads post-credits scene ever!

Back in the 70s you just had to wait for a big strike, and then film quickly, all the bodies piling up in the street and people going cap in hand to wherever and crisis what crisis and all that sort of bleeding carry on. Then you’d have a pension off documentary montages forever.

Brilliant film! I've always wondered how it was done - you can't cover Portobello Road in loads of rubbish without someone noticing. I wonder if the local paper covered it at the time?

Nice to see some love for this on the timeline, instead of the slagging it usually gets for some unfathomable reason - flutes with space echo always get an instant like from me, anyway!

Every copy of this album originally came with a real button attached, which is why there's always a hole punched in the upper right corner of the sleeve - the vast majority of them have dropped off now! Great album by one of my absolute favourite bands.

Yes! Max Bygraves did a version, bizarrely - and he did it four years before Prisoner was even shown over here. Composer Alan Caswell said it was one of the worst things he'd ever heard.

I'd just like to point out Henry Mancini's version is actually insane youtu.be/Z7hgscZ0Ndg?...

This is great - I love the contrast between the jovial 'This man plays a door!!' preamble and the actual music that he plays, fantastic stuff!

Terry from Minder on every bank note. On the five pound he's just a bit grumpy, but he gets progressively more angry with each banknote. "Can you change my Furious Terry for five Vexed Watermans please?"

Southern's clock from 1964-76 appears to be a very stylish off-the-shelf Solari Ciffra 5 from Italy - buy one and you too can be Brian Nissen doing a link into First Report

GERRINWIVITT!!!! youtu.be/-fqfqIZmW6s?...

Fabulous! Johnny Scott doing the jazz flute solo - still alive (at time of typing) aged 95, and one of the nicest people in the music biz. I've been to his house!

Should've been the theme to the film

I've been slightly bingeing on old About Anglias recently - absolutely wonderful, I wish the regional magazine show still existed in this form

We are The Famous Five We're coming back to you Whenever there's time

Two things I love about this: Ken Jones and the band gradually picking up their instruments and ad libbing a backing which ends up sounding pretty decent Su Pollard yelling 'VERY GOOD!' at the end like she's his mum

MUM: What's wrong, Stan? You ain't eaten your fry-up STAN: Blimey mum, I'm an actor, comedian and pianist, but every time my mush pops up all people mention is that bleedin' cash machine ARTHUR: Serves you right OLIVE: Arthur, don't be mean! BLAKEY [face at window] Who's driving the Number 11 then?

Poor old Frank Windsor used to be sick with nerves before every live Z Cars episode - I think his colleagues have just found out where

Post a banger not in English youtu.be/-AjYqWpodfE?...

Currently in the big easy chair on www.serenade-radio.com playing the instrumental sounds of Syd Dale, Ronnie Aldrich, Keith Mansfield and many more - join me if you dare....

Oh no, that's a shame, I used to love The Organist Entertains, I even had a request played on it when I was 14. There's a great episode of Granada's This England where three chaps have a disused theatre organ installed at their house in Manchester, and one of them is a young Nigel Ogden.

Shot in portrait mode, for people watching on their phones

Emma was best solo Spice Girl - exhibit B, no further questions, m'lud

Flashbacks to my first radio job where this was one of the highlights of the playlist - today was the first time I'd heard it in about twenty years. With hindsight, there is a case to be made for Emma being the best solo Spice, but then I probably secretly thought that at the time as well

Doing this again right now!

The director of this also did the video for Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush

A thing I genuinely didn't realise - Roger Whittaker used to do a radio show where he invited listeners to send poems in and he'd make songs out of them. Silversmith Ron Arthur Webster from Birmingham sent one in, which became "The Last Farewell". Blimey!

One of the greatest records ever made, and belting video too - the reason why they're at Tintern Abbey is I believe because this was made for a Dave Cash TV series which featured pop acts filmed at locations in the HTV region

Nice recovery when he completely screws up the lyrics on the middle eight - what a pro

Me trying to be mindful at 3am My brain: And now my brain and its Orchestra presents an hour of the hits of 1993 in Tijuana style

Getting a telling off in my first job for leaving the internet connected overnight

Sparks (Les Sparks) on the french version of Celebrity Squares www.facebook.com/academiedesn...

The correct answer is Together - watch to the end! youtu.be/jcf6acqsZUE?...

Somebody needs to tell Ian Katz this is the kind of thing Channel 4 should still be showing now

I'm on Serenade Radio till 9pm playing the easy listening instrumental muzak I love, drawn from the charity shops and bargain bins of Europe - have a listen if you like that kind of thing: www.serenade-radio.com

I cannot find any information on The Wotsit From Whizz-Bang at all - it's just there, like we all know what it's about and we don't need an explanation

Wish there were still TV programmmes interviewing French critical theorists

The 1972 French pressing of Little Darlin'. I have no idea who the guys in that sleeve photo are, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's almost definitely not Adge Cutler & The Wurzels...

Say what you like about the film, but this is the definitive version of this song