40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Dutch Girls, an LWT chaste bawdy comedy along British Porky's lines complete with Timothy Spall as poor man's Belushi, was remarkably what much later got Colin Firth cast as Mr Darcy.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Dearth Of A Salesman, the second in the series of Coogan's Run, introduces self-unaware computer hardware trader Gareth Cheeseman.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: The Second Worst Of Alright On The Night, apart from the few minutes the uploader taped over. This was already the second compilation after six programmes, Denis handing over the chair and clipboard for one part to Rory Bremner.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Children In Need, wherein Terry Wogan is making jungle substantially less massive.

Three years before winning Mastermind Shaun Wallace, sporting a flat-top and emphasising his barrister profession to the hilt, and his mate appeared on delay enabling Ruby Wax game show The Waiting Game today in 2001. He doesn't win.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: there's something of the night about Chris Serle. Also Windmill's theme is things that go in the dark. Absolutely everybody will be able to guess the studio guest. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIra...

In this week's archive newsletter: the World Of Sport riot, Record Breakers rapping, 3D all round, the last stand of Lance Corporal Jones, Derek Jarman plays Space Invaders, Jennifer Connelly meets Mike Read, and "games maniac Willie Rushton". whydontyoutube.substack.com/p/the-why-do...

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Carry On Laughing, the attempted ATV franchise of the spluttering films, spoofs Lord Peter Wimsey with Jack Douglas, Kenneth Connor and Sylvia Sims from the usual brigade, Sherrie Hewson with a German accent and Johnny Briggs as a handyman.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY: acting as an adjunct to David Attenborough's Life trilogy, Life In The Undergrowth goes up close on the habits of invertebrates in the kind of detail not even scientists had achieved before then.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Roy Hudd is in his element as The Puppet Man, a sort of biopic of bohemian philosopher and travelling Punch & Judy man Walter Wilkinson.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: the final Game For A Laugh, and no wonder if their best idea was a Just William spoof with Bob Carolgees, Joe Brown, Gyles Brandreth and Rick Wakeman.

Michael Barrymore, Jeremy Beadle, Kylie Minogue join Frank Bough on LWT's news magazine show 6 O'Clock Live today in 1990, juggled with repossessions, Iraqi hostages, evening classes and Danny Baker meeting eleven year old pop wannabe Jennifer Love Hewitt.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: the BBC's turn to head Sherwood-wards, The Legend Of Robin Hood in the Sunday teatime epic slot, with never-quite-was Martin Potter meaningful in the lead role, Paul Darrow as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Diane Keen as Maid Marion.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Barbara Windsor returns to her semi-regular Big Breakfast haunt to pretend not to take umbrage at Mark Little's bright green suit and take part in a quiz with Ron Tarr, who doesn't even get referred to by his real name.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: the whole of Points Of View is dedicated to Di on Panorama, although as there hasn't been enough time to receive letters yet it's filled with reaction from other shows and the press, background details and a vox pop at Euston.

Ken Dodd's World Of Laughter was the most successful of Doddy's few TV series, beginning today in 1974 with guests Windsor Davies, Bill Tidy and Sandy Powell, loads of Young Generation and Miriam Margolyes doing a Scottish accent for no apparent reason.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Patrick Moore helps to introduce a phalanx of Doctor Whos and assistants onto Children In Need with their overlarge advertising hoarding of a cheque. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Q5...

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: "Doctor Who gets more and more silly" Kenneth Williams wrote of The Android Invasion and he wasn't alone, given it involves an alien race trying to wipe out earthlings via virus and duplication.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Brucie gets to use the phrase "brazen biologist" on the Generation Game, then gets to sing songs from the musicals and realise he hadn't expected the make. Astonishingly, the final is a Star Trek spoof with Gareth Hunt.

It's farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish Blakeys for Week 55 of Listing Dangerously. Also, Bill Maynard's on a bus, Pete Postlethwaite's in a caravan, Anthony Valentine's in Sydney, Orson Welles is in Norwich, and Simon Callow's in the pub, beating up squaddies. open.substack.com/pub/historyo...

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Sally James' pre-flan fiefdom Saturday Scene holds its own British Pop Awards at Wembley Arena. Listen to the reaction Russell Harty gets from the audience! Unless it's for someone else, but surely that can't be the case.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Alan Plater updates the Canterbury Tales and relocates them to a coach full of rugby league fans heading from Wakefield to Wembley. Trinity Tales starts with the driver's story of refound love and forged tickets.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: the Rising Damp boarding house collectively gets into keeping fit, which leads to Rigsby challenging a not overly keen Philip to a boxing match. www.youtube.com/watc...

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew on #totp, where they should have spent the whole song in those office chairs.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: on Tomorrow's World Maggie Philbin lights up her jacket and visits an underground house, Howard Stableford tries to kill fish and control a model train with his mind, Peter Macann kidnaps a child and Bob Symes joins the fire brigade.

60 YEARS AGO TODAY: Bjork is born. Some time around her thirtieth birthday, we don't know exactly when, she appeared on of all things This Morning, talking about the It's Oh So Quiet video as only she can.

Once more, seven days collated and expanded upon: whydontyoutube.substack.com/p/the-why-do...

20 YEARS AGO TODAY: OFI Sunday was Chris Evans' return on screen after five years of LA life, losing lawsuits and producing a string of flops. This did no better, just as self-indulgent as the title hints and dropped after six shows.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: 22.78 million people watch a Panorama special prosaically titled An Interview With HRH The Princess of Wales.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: The Krypton Factor's eighteenth final was also its last episode of the original run. Thanks to the Super Round the contestant who is miles ahead at the end of the regular quiz doesn't come close to becoming the Superperson of the Year.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Alias The Jester, another series from the Cosgrove Hall golden age, featuring a Richard Briers-voiced time traveller stuck in the Middle Ages as a court entertainer with a secret superhero sideline that usually leads to his being fired.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: The Krazy Kitchen gave Stu Francis the opportunity to crush some grapes for real, though he probably didn't, messing about next to Charlie Carioli and then around resident cook Carole Ann Rice and her 'crunchy citrus cup'.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: ITN reflects word that something's coming tomorrow on television. Nicholas Owen seems to be warning that the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission might have killed Diana.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY: the day before his grand comeback to television - you won't remember it, we'll explain more in a bit - Chris Evans talks to Parkinson.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Cooper, yet another of Tommy's many series under various names but broadly with the same structure - gags and tricks, sketches, song, pretend interview - ends. The bottle and glass trick is already received as a reliable old friend.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY: Final Score had been using The Fall's Theme From Sparta FC as its theme for this season, so someone had the brainwave of getting Mark E Smith to read the classified results on the red button service part of the programme.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: tonight on BBC2, as delivered by two people surely overqualified for the job.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: time to get kosmiche with Can on Whistle Test. Hard to know what to admire most between Jaki Liebezeit's extraordinary drumming, Michael Karoli's guitar soloing or Irmin Schmidt in a chainmail waistcoat karate chopping the keys.

20 YEARS AGO TODAY: as it will be for many years to come, the highlight of Children In Need is a mini-episode of Doctor Who, and not even a comedic one as it bridges the gap between the regeneration and the Christmas special.

60 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tomorrow's World predicts what "tomorrow's girl" will look like. Bald with paper and plastic clothes, and radios for earrings, which she'll need if having to listen to Raymond Baxter when he takes her to the pub of the future.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: Rod Hull lands his own low budget television station, Emu's Broadcasting Company, technical issues with Billy Dainty and Barbara New getting between a welter of regular offbeat and occasionally auto-destructive programming spoofs.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Central Post, a very brief letters page of the Midlands regional air, hauls Ted Rogers, clad in leather jacket and tie, in to explain the 3-2-1 clues.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY: 54 days after his TV husband, Ant McPartlin is born. Famously he made his TV debut as part of Easter 1988's Newcastle Why Don't You? gang.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Trevor & Simon have that effect on people.

Holy cow, the title sequence of 'Bernie' has turned up! youtu.be/WTGpwJ6F644?... @lordshortcake.bsky.social

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: Noel Coward's Mrs Capper's Birthday stars Patricia Hayes as an elderly widower torn between the couple she cleans for whose wife is having an affair with Hugh Laurie, local tobacconist Max Wall and the daughter who wants to take her in.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Coogan's Run allowed Steve Coogan to create six new characters for a self-contained anthology of one-offs, though to make sure we were all on firm ground the first centres on Paul Calf, getting into gang trouble and joining a cult.

40 YEARS AGO TODAY: a co-production between Yorkshire and NBC, Romance On The Orient Express stars Cheryl Ladd as a woman hoping to find... well, guess. Ruby Wax is Ladd's co-star, sharing a cast list for surely the only time ever with John Gielgud.

30 YEARS AGO TODAY: Faith In The Future, the sequel to sitcom Second Thoughts, except now Lynda Bellingham has split from James Bolam, is in an on-off relationship with Jeff Rawle, and her daughter Julia Sawalha has returned from a year away.