Beadle's About | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy |
Created by | Ralph Edwards |
Presented by | Jeremy Beadle |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 10 |
No. of episodes | 93 |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Production location | The London Studios |
Running time | 30 minutes (inc. adverts) |
Production companies | LWT in association with Ralph Edwards Productions and Action Time |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 22 November 1986 – 14 September 1996 |
Related | |
Game for a Laugh |
Beadle's About was a British television programme hosted and written by Jeremy Beadle, where members of the public became victims of practical jokes behind hidden cameras. It was produced by LWT for ITV, and ran on Saturday nights from 22 November 1986 to 14 September 1996.
Many of the practical jokes involved someone's car or van secretly being swapped for an identical one, and then having a disaster befall it, such as exploding, falling into the sea, or being dropped from a great height, as the owner of the vehicle looked on in horror. After a few minutes, Beadle would appear in disguise (typically, as a policeman or some other figure of authority, and often wearing a fake beard on top of his natural beard), and interact with the shell-shocked and/or irate victim. He would subtly drop more and more hints and would remove his disguise and point a stick microphone at the person. As the public were familiar with Beadle from the earlier show Game for a Laugh , they would then immediately realise they had been had, often with the words "I don't believe it!". A follow-up series was entitled 'It's Beadle!' which followed a similar format. [1]
One of the most notable pranks was where Dorset resident Janet Elford was convinced into believing that aliens had landed in her garden. Members of the public were set up by a resident team of Beadle's About actors including: Pam Cole, Ricky Diamond, Tony McHale, Nicholas Young and Flavia Brilli. [2]
At its peak, the show attracted approximately 15 million viewers, making it one of ITV's most popular Saturday night programmes during that period. [3] After the show was axed by ITV in 1996, Beadle's About was repeated on Granada Plus in the late 1990's, the show was then repeated in full on Challenge TV throughout the 2000's, although Challenge (and sister channels Ftn and Virgin 1) sometimes aired certain Beadle's About sketches (under the banner The Best of Beadle's About) as programming fillers whenever the channel had allocated time to fill after programmes finished early, Beadle's About then wasn't repeated in full on national TV for over a decade afterwards, until That's TV announced in December 2021 that the programme would feature in its Christmas schedule alongside other ITV programmes like The Benny Hill Show and Kenny Everett's New Year Specials. [4] [5] [6]
The "Bleep!" or "Oops!" bubble used to block out offensive language was a well known feature from the show. The bubbles were simply clouds with either "Bleep!" or "Oops!" in them, the text being set in Balloon typeface. These were also used to cover up offensive hand gestures as well.
Jeremy once revealed in an interview that during editing, they deliberately inserted "bleeps" where there were no profanities as this made it funnier.
Series
| Highlights Specials
|
The first two series of Beadle's About have been released on DVD by Network.
DVD Title | Discs | Year | Episodes | Release date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Complete Series 1 | 1 | 1986 | 6 | 28 March 2011 |
Complete Series 2 | 1 | 1987 | 8 | 2 April 2012 |
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill was an English comedian. He is remembered for his television programme, The Benny Hill Show, an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double entendre in a format that included live comedy and filmed segments, with Hill at the focus of almost every segment.
Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaus and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C.
Kenny Everett was an English radio DJ and television entertainer. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the first DJs to join BBC Radio's newly created BBC Radio 1 in 1967. It was here he developed his trademark voices and comical characters which he later adapted for television.
The Kenny Everett Video Show is a British television comedy and music programme that was made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981.
Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. From the 1980s to the late 1990s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared in 50 weeks of the year.
You've Been Framed! is a British television programme on ITV where viewers could contribute to the programme with their humorous home movies for the entertainment of others. It was produced by ITV Studios. The series ran from 14 April 1990 to 27 August 2022.
Game for a Laugh was a British light entertainment programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by LWT for the ITV network.
Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by its original name. On 1 November 2004, it was permanently closed down by ITV plc in an attempt to bring its replacement, ITV3, onto Sky.
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and double entendre.
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a lighthearted revue/tribute style.
Debbie Linden was a Scottish-born glamour model and actress best known for her career in England, especially her role as old Mr Grace's secretary in the sitcom Are You Being Served? (1981). Born in Glasgow, she played roles in various other TV series, such as The Professionals, Just Good Friends, Bergerac, and The Bill; she appeared in several feature films, among them Home Before Midnight and The Wildcats of St Trinian's.
The Morecambe & Wise Show is a comedy sketch show originally broadcast by BBC Television and the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. It began airing in 1968 on BBC2, specifically because it was then the only channel broadcasting in colour, following the duo's move to the BBC from ATV, where they had made Two of a Kind since 1961.
This is a list of British television related events from 1981.
Harry Hill, later titled The All-New Harry Hill Show and also referred to as The Harry Hill Show, is a British stand-up comedy sketch show, starring comedian Harry Hill, that ran for four series from 1997 to 2003, on both Channel 4 and ITV.
...on Television or ...on TV, is a long-running late night television programme on ITV. The programme, which was made first by LWT and then Granada Productions, featured a number of clips from unusual or amusing television programmes and commercials from around the world.
That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media. That's TV started off as the owner of a number of local television licences in several conurbations, but even though regional news can still be found via these services, these channels simulcast the classic hits and television schedule of the national That's TV channel for most of the day. That's Television Ltd is owned by That's Media Ltd, which is based at The Flint Glass Works in the Ancoats neighbourhood of Manchester.
Virgin Media Three, also called Virgin Three, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Television.
This is a timeline of That's TV, which provides local and national channels in the United Kingdom.