Programmes Certain Companies just didn't like

I'd argue the show was too childish for even CBeebies!

Nah, it was just total crap. It was the sort of show early 2000s Challenge could have commissioned back in the day, something weird, wacky and a shot to nothing with nothing to lose if it craps out and everything to gain, or a surreal format straight off Japanese Television. To put that on peak time BBC One prior to Doctor Who was pretty much asking for trouble.

Tyne Tees never showed Tiswas until the final series (Sep 1981-Apr 1982). They had been persisting with their home-grown Saturday morning output Lyn's Look-In/Saturday Shake-Up, because it had been beating BBC1's Swap Shop in the ratings.

TISWAS wasn't on all year round, so if Tyne Tees's show was good enough to beat Swap Shop, it's surprising they didn't decide to use it as the off-season format nationally.

I dont think you know what the TT programmes were like:


9:00 Saturday Shake-up
9:05 Solo One
9:30 Saturday Shake-up
9:40 Film: Thunderbirds Are Go
11:00 Saturday Shake-up
11:20 240 Robert
12:20 Saturday Shake-up

9:00 Saturday Shake-up
9:05 BJ And The Bear
9:50 Saturday Shake-up
9:55 Butch Cassidy
10:20 Saturday Shake-up
10:30 Film: Windbag The Sailor
12:00 Saturday Shake-up

9.10 Saturday Shake-up
9:15 Space 1999
10:15 Saturday Shake-up
10:30 Film: Tarzan And The Great River
12:10 Saturday Shake-up

If there really were beating SS with that line up in Newcastle, then well No wonder TT stuck with it, since it was sooo cheap.
Grampian even tried it during 76-jan 79

9:30 Scene On Saturday
9:45 Merrie Melodies
10:10 The Lone Ranger
10:35 Popeye
10:40 Thunderbirds
11:35 Big Blue Marble
12:00 The Munsters

Mind you Ron and friend., I dont trust that clown nor Rupert.

It wasn't just beating Swap Shop -- for a while these programmes were thrashing the BBC in the ratings, despite being little more than a series of continuity announcements in the early years. The unions even got involved as the shows weren't treated as programmes in their own right for a number of months.

I seem to recall that Sep-Dec 1981 was the only period where TISWAS was networked, as in January 1982 TSW started with their own programme.

I believe the only reason the Tyne Tees programmes started to die off was that Lyn Spencer left the company in 1979 and her replacement wasn't as popular, so they pulled the plug in 1981 as they felt the idea had run its course. I think by the end, the show had become almost a mini Razzmatazz prototype, with pop stars doing recorded segments etc.

One set of programmes that haven't been mentioned yet were the sex-related shows that YTV and Tyne Tees stopped showing around 1994. I recall this started with "The Good Sex Guide" -- I think it was the second series that Bruce Gyngell banned, but a few episodes did go out in the North East as Tyne Tees were showing a shorter regional programme than YTV so some episodes went out before Gyngell pulled the plug. There were then a number of other shows that were pulled, including God's Gift as I recall.

Any ideas what documentaries C4 refused to show because of controversial or contentious reasons?

I never know that, so cheers for filling in the gaps. If you ignore Channel then yes to Sept - DEC 1981 TVS also opted out in Jan 82. TSW line up does beg the question:

9:25 The Saturday Show
10:25 Survival
10:50 Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays
10:55 Incredible Hulk
11:45 University Challenge
12:12 TSW News

Of course there was also Sesame street which we have covered before, it wasn't until 1982 when TT and YTV started the series, STV never took the series until 1979 and it always replaced the network morning service. Of course LWT hated Thats my boy and moved it to 9.30pm. There also hated Price is right and switched it around to go out at 9pm.

Thames TV dropped "Crossroads" for a time in the late 60s....STV transmitted "Crossroads" at 5.15 rather than 6.30 or 6.35 for many years. In fact, In fact only ATV, Border and Ulster screened the comings and goings at the Midlands motel from episode one.

Yes, plus the primetime series Hollywood Lovers in January 1997, replaced by Whicker's World repeats. I remember Dangerous Dave Pearce running a competiton on Radio 1 at the time, only open to listeners in Yorkshire and the North East, where the prize was he'd tape it off the telly and send it to you.

Any idea who replaced Lyn? She was still around in 1980, as borne out by YouTube clips, and covered the odd continuity shift in the early-to-mid 80s before returning full time near the end of the decade. Was it one of the duty CAs who took over Saturday mornings?



Channel 4 originally backed out of showing The Maltese Double Cross , a film that questioned the case against Libya over the bombing of Flight 103, after relatives of the victims protested about the film. They did eventually show an edited version, with the most questionable parts removed, but still received criticism over their decision to screen it.