TERM 2: Week 3
Monday January 21st -
Sunday January 27th, 1980
St Pauls
Riots
Apr 2, 1980
Mugabe
Elected
Mar 4, 1980
Echo Beach
Martha and the
Muffins
TERM 2 IN LINK FORM
BBC 1, 7.15 pm: Blake’s 7 -
Volcano - a dull episode which
focuses mainly on the new
additions to the crew and some
very boring colonists on a
deeply boring volcano planet.
For once, Cally’s telepathic
abilities are instrumental to the
plot, but only for one scene.
BBC 2, 7.25 pm: Rock Goes to
College, featuring The Specials
playing live at the Colchester
Institute. Because God forbid
you should like Blake’s 7 AND
pop music. That’d just be too
much, wouldn’t it? But don’t
worry if you missed it - there are
two versions of it on YouTube:
•
Shorter, better quality
•
Longer, worse quality
BBC 2, 8.10 pm: The Goodies -
Saturday Night Grease. Despite
everything I said about The
Goodies last week, this one
hasn’t aged well. It’s definitely
memorable - some of the
images burned themselves
deeply into the weirdness
centres of my brain - not least
the disturbingly surreal sight of
Robin Yad (basically Graeme
Garden with a bag on his head,
which for some reason chilled
me to the core). It was obviously
appealing to kids, with its silly
dancing, corny jokes and
squeaky-voiced John Travolta
impressions. But it’s hard to
imagine it appealing to an adult
in 2021 - the blacking up, the
violently sexist language, the
general impression that they’re
saying it’s a shame you can’t get
away with feeling people up on
the dance floor any more - and
it’s even harder to believe it
would appeal to an adult in
1980, mainly because the
targets (Grease, Evita, Saturday
Night Fever) were all so
embarrassingly out of date. This
one was clearly written two
years prior and things had
definitely moved on.
BBC Radio 4, 10.30 pm: The second series of The
Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy begins, its five
instalments broadcast one a night over the course of
the week. In the lexicon of the Hitch-Hiker’s
production continuity, this episode is referred to as Fit
the Eighth (the first series or Primary Phase having
been Fit the First to Fit the Sixth, with Fit the Seventh
having been broadcast as a one-off Christmas special
at the end of 1978). I didn’t listen to this at the time. I
didn’t know it existed. I don’t think I even knew Radio
4 existed. We were strictly a Radio 1-only household.
It might also be worth mentioning that, in this series
and indeed all the Hitch-Hiker’s radio series, Ford
Prefect is played by Geoffrey McGivern and, one day
in the far-flung future of the 21st century, we would
both be in the same BBC sci-fi show - both as
recurring characters - though we never actually met
on screen. And, in another alternative future career as
a composer, I once wrote a piece of music to
accompany a film of him striding about the woods
bellowing about magic. Which you can listen to here
(and buy a copy of here).
Another thing worth mentioning is the incidental
music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s Paddy
Kingsland. Even if I’d heard this at the time, I still
wouldn’t have known it was a sneak preview of the
way Doctor Who would sound later in the year.
Tuesday January 22nd
History: The Story of Nelson
Grange Hill: Series 3, Episode 5 - yet another
safeguarding nightmare, as Miss Peterson’s refusal to
take Sally seriously when she says she’s not feeling
well leads to a terrible accident in the gym. This place
should have been closed down years ago.
The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Ninth
Wednesday January 23rd
English: What I Do on Monday
The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Fit the Tenth
President Jimmy Carter uses his State of the Union
Address to discuss the Iran Hostage Crisis and the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A full video and
transcript can be seen here.
Thursday January 24th
Spectacular Spider-Man Weekly No 360
Incredible Hulk Weekly No 48
Marvel Superheroes No 358
Star Wars Weekly No 101 - continuing its new blend of
fiction and behind-the-scenes fact with an article
about actor Mark Hamill. There’s also an ad for
something called The Incredible Hulk - The Movie,
based on the TV series of the same name starring Bill
Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Apparently it’s due to hit UK
cinemas on January 27th and, in those days of double
features, is twinned with The Magic of Lassie. Good
luck finding a kid who wants to see both.
Doctor Who Weekly No 16: another week, another
lame attempt at the Crazy Caption Competition.
Except this week, it’s almost quite good. Or it would
have been if I hadn’t inexplicably cut out half the
photo for some other mysterious purpose:
Monday January 21st
English: Sleeping Beauty
BBC 2, 6.50 pm: Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way,
Part 3 - in which Barbara Woodhouse trains the
owners (because it’s the owners she’s really training,
not the dogs) to teach the dogs to sit. “Si- TTT!”
Meanwhile in London, this
article about the Blitz nightclub
appears in the Evening
Standard.
BBC 1, 7.25 pm: Top of the
Pops - presented by Mike Read,
with:
•
The Plastic Age Buggles
•
I’m in the Mood for Dancing
The Nolans
•
Spirits Having Flown Bee
Gees (via Legs & Co)
•
It’s Different For Girls Joe
Jackson
•
Mama’s Boy Suzi Quatro
•
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Dollar
•
Too Much Too Young The
Specials
•
Caravan Song Barbara
Dickson
•
Buzz Buzz a Diddle It
Matchbox
•
Spacer Sheila & B Devotion
•
7 Teen The Regents
•
Brass in Pocket Pretenders
ITV: TV Eye - about the
Government’s proposal to ban
secondary picketing.
BBC Radio 4, 10.30 pm: The
Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy - Fit the Eleventh
Friday January 25th
Paul McCartney is released and
deported after spending nine
days in a Tokyo jail.
Grange Hill: Series 3, Episode 6
Monkey: Pigsy Woos a Widow
The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy: Fit the Twelfth
Saturday January 26th
2000 AD Prog 150: Judge
Death, Part 2 - introducing
popular recurring female
character Judge Anderson
Ants manager Malcolm
McLaren calls a meeting,
during which Adam Ant is
effectively fired from his own
band. He keeps the name - the
remaining three members
renaming themselves Bow
Wow Wow - and vows to beat
McLaren at his own game.
In other Doctor Who news, Target Books publish
Terrance Dicks’ novelisation of Doctor Who and the
Underworld.
Sunday January 27th
Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after five years in
exile.
Paul McCartney returns to the UK after nine days in a
Tokyo jail.
Worzel Gummidge: The Trial of Worzel Gummidge - a
great episode in which Worzel faces a true existential
threat, first in the form of an “electronic crow scarer”
and then in the form of a trial at the hands of the
Crowman.
UK SINGLES CHART
No 1: Too Much Too Young The Specials
No 29: Three Minute Hero The Selecter
No 30: Save Me Queen
No 37: And the Beat Goes On The Whispers
No 60: Touch Too Much AC/DC
No 62: Carrie Cliff Richard
UK ALBUMS CHART
No 1: Pretenders Pretenders
No 26: Flex Lene Lovich
No 30: Metamatic John Foxx
ITV: the first ever UK screening of hit US show Hart to
Hart - this quickly becomes a weekly staple in our
house (though honestly, I remember it being
broadcast on Sundays). If you’re lucky, by the time I
publish this, you’ll still be able to watch some of these
episodes online. But if not, the show’s memorably
cheesy intro can be seen here.
MEANWHILE, IN AN ALTERNATE
UNIVERSE…
Doctor Who: Shada - Part Two
•
Not quite as appealing as last week’s episode,
but the thrilling chase sequence through
Cambridge in the last five minutes totally
redeems it
Look-in No 5: This week’s cover is shared by Robin
Cousins (in anticipation of the Winter Olympics) and
Bob Geldof (whose band has a new single out). And
another ad for The Incredible Hulk - The Movie, so it
must have been a thing. There’s also a feature about
Mike Holoway, in connection with the apparent
return of The Tomorrow People. But on closer
reading, it’s just a repeat of the final series, which
aired last year.