Broadcaster Terry Wogan once said ‘Radio has a way of getting into people’s heads’. There is no better example as BBC’s Test Match Special; which has been broadcasting the highs and lows of the England cricket team for over 65 years. The chatter and banter heard by a nation often surpassed the cricket being played…
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Brian Clough: Tomaszewski Gaffe In a must win World Cup Qualifier at Wembley in October 1973, England played Poland. Only a win for England would see them through to the World Cup finals in Germany the next year. Brian Clough was a pundit on ITV working on the match. Before the game he insisted the Poland…
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Just imagine, there is no fourth official and the linesman gets injured in an important Premier League football match. No one in the crowd is a qualified referee. Who could replace him? Think. Gary Lineker runs on the pitch offering his services. Then Alan Shearer says ‘I’m available?’ Sounds completely ridiculous? Yet this scenario was…
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A Brief British Football History ITV’s exclusive British TV football league contract finished at the end of the 1992 season. Since the mid 1980s, talk of a super league of elite English clubs had been frequently mentioned by various footballing bodies. As the 1990’s approached it became more of a reality. The English football clubs…
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The more outspoken they were the more television valued them. The public would switch on not only because they liked what they saw. But also to hate what they heard. Television football coverage and punditry has changed dramatically with the times. It has developed through the need of audience, growth of technology and the mass…
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‘She wanted me because I was George Best and I wanted her because she was Miss World. It wasn’t exactly a meeting of minds, it was a collision of bodies.’ – George Best George Best (1946-2005) finally walked out on Manchester United in January 1974, having done so twice before. Although one of the most…
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In preparation for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, one needed to check the England Esso coin collection was complete and the squad poster was neatly pinned to a teenagers wall. The England team left us with a song, ‘Back Home’ appearing on ‘Top of the Pops’ reaching number 1 in the charts on May…
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The Background Nacro Education (Spalding) provides an alternative to college for 16-18 year olds. Students may have struggled at school or attended alternative provision, and some of the students may have had disruption to their studies due to personal issues. Nacro Education Spalding provides a highly supportive educational environment to build confidence in a small…
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Bruce Forsyth was the last of the great entertainers, schooled in variety theatre making his name known to the public through early Television, in particular on ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’ a flagship entertainment show of the time. His ability to chat effortlessly and entertainingly to the general public came through in his compering…
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Laughter is infectious. Even more so when the laughter is coming from a group of animated horses. These horses are the stars of a new Volkswagen commercial advertising the trailer assist feature of the new Tiguan car. The hilarious Volkswagen advert was published onto their YouTube channel on the 12th October and now has over…
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BBC Programming Those of you who remember ‘Not the Nine O’clock News’ (BBC 1979 -83), ‘Spitting Image’ (ITV 1984 -96) and the ‘The Blackadder’ sitcom series (BBC 1983-89) may not realise what these shows had in common. Well, all of them were originally produced by John Lloyd. Who went on to make some of the…
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Terry Wogan to many was just as much part of breakfast as marmalade on toast. He was the cheery voice in the car among all that early morning traffic. BBC Radio2 broadcast ‘Wake up to Wogan’ (1972–84 & 1993–2009) to over eight million regular listeners. Terry made everyone feel he was their friend, he was…
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Beat the Clock The ‘Beat the clock’ section of the show was a product of American television. Manager of the Palladium Jack Parnell saw it, liked the idea of audience participation that it involved, and clinched a deal to sandwich ‘Beat the clock’ between the show’s two commercial breaks. The concept was simple but very…
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Sunday Night at the London Palladium began at 8:00pm on September 23 1955 with Gracie Fields and Guy Mitchell sharing top billing. The TV audience was estimated at around 350,000 a figure that today would not excite producers of a small cable channel, but then ITV was just three years old and available only in…
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[slideshow_deploy id=’2306′] The news of ‘The Great British Bake off’, one of BBC’s flagship programmes, leaving its comfortable TV home to attempt untried terrestrial territory, has raised questions and underlined the broadcasting world we now live in. The negotiations between The BBC and the owners of ‘Bake off’ reached stalemate, enter Channel 4 who outbid…
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Check out some of the funniest and most comical Quiz Show Contestant Bloomers, gaffes, errors, mistakes and slip ups. LINCS FM PHONE-IN Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world? Contestant: Barcelona. Presenter: I was really after the name of a country. Contestant: I’m sorry, I don’t know the names of any countries…
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Check out some of the funniest and most comical Quiz Show Contestant Gaffes, bloomers, errors, mistakes and slip ups. UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2) Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for ‘cherrypickers’ and ‘cheesemongers’? Contestant: Homosexuals ?. Jeremy Paxman: No. They’re regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you. BEG, BORROW OR STEAL…
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Parody is a well tried and tested form of humour used in many comedy sketch shows, films and indeed advertising. It is an artistic form within its self, sometimes called a spoof and has elements similar to pastiche. Parody in Advertising Parody is ‘A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an…
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Corporate training videos featuring comedians are to be preserved by the British Film Institute. Anyone who recalls being a delegate at a corporate conference in the late seventies or sitting in a bland training room in the eighties, will probably remember being exposed to at least one of John Cleese’s Video Arts training films. Such…
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A very bitter John Cleese recently complained of an Australian theatre company who had a “shameless rip-off” of ‘Fawlty Towers’ using all the characters from the TV comedy in a show which has a residency in London and abroad. Although there still maybe a case of copyright infringement, Cleese may have been better off taking out…
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So Manchester United finally got their man. Jose Mourinho becomes the clubs third manager since Alex Ferguson left at the end of 2013 season. Discussions to bring Mourinho to United took over three days, with his agent, Jorge Mendes, and United officials thrashing out a deal. So what was the hold up? The delay in…
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Paul Daniels was without doubt one of the most accomplished magicians in the world, and certainly one of the most exciting. Add to that a unique comedy patter and you had the complete entertainment performer. Paul Daniels: TV Magician He was a controversial person but deeply respected and admired by fellow magicians. Daniels had worked…
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With the BBC recently announcing remakes of classic TV comedy shows such as ‘Steptoe and Son’ and ‘Till Death Us Do Part’, ‘Are You Being Served?’, ‘Porridge’, ‘Up Pompeii’, ‘The Good Life’ and ‘Keeping Up Appearances; including the re-development of the lost ‘Hancock Half Hour’ tapes, you wonder whether some top TV executive has fallen…
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Paul Zerdin comic ventriloquist, winner of America’s got talent 2015, has signed for a long season at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas strip from April 30. His success after winning America’s Got Talent last year, has opened up so many wonderful opportunities for him. Apology From Las Vegas Headliner However, that has meant…
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