The Old Grey Whistle Test is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. It took over the BBC2 late-night slot from Disco 2, which ran between September 1970 and July 1971, while continuing to feature non-chart music. The original producer, involved in an executive capacity throughout the show's entire history, was Michael Appleton.
Carol Patricia Smillie is a Scottish former television presenter, actress and model. Smillie became famous as a presenter on British TV during the 1990s and early 2000s. She was best known for assisting Nicky Campbell on the UK version of the game show Wheel of Fortune between 1989 and 1994. Between 1996 and 2003, she was the main presenter on the BBC One home makeover show Changing Rooms.
Philippa Clare Ryan Forrester is a British television and radio presenter, producer and author.
Yvette Paula Fielding is an English television presenter, producer, actress, and writer. In 1987, aged 18, she became the youngest presenter on the BBC television programme Blue Peter. With her husband Karl Beattie, she presented the Most Haunted series on the Living channel, via their own production company, followed by Ghosthunting With..., establishing Fielding as 'first lady of the paranormal'. She has appeared in a wide range of other programmes, from The Wright Stuff to Through the Keyhole and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.
Frederick Edgar Dinenage is a British author, broadcaster and television presenter. His television career has spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and ITV's regional programming in the south of England. Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.
Live & Kicking is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for Going Live!, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of cartoons. Once Live & Kicking had become established in series two, it reached its height in popularity during series four, when it was presented by Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston; their final edition won a BAFTA award. After this, the programme's ratings dropped with the launch of SMTV Live on ITV and the show ended in 2001.
Mark Preston Curry is an English actor as well as a television and radio presenter. He is best known for his career on the British-television children's show Blue Peter (1986–1989) as a host, as well as his run as host on ITV British gameshow Catchphrase (2002).
Robert Brinley Joseph Harris, popularly known as "Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter. He was a host of the BBC2 music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test from 1972 to 1979, and was a co-founder of the listings magazine Time Out co-editing until the early part of 1969. He has presented The Country Show on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday nights since April 1999, and Sounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoons since November 2024, replacing Johnnie Walker.
Wallace Victor "Wally" Whyton was a British musician, songwriter and radio and TV personality.
Chock-A-Block is a BBC children's television programme, created by Michael Cole and Nick Wilson. It was first shown in 1981 and repeated through to 1989 and shown as part of the children's programme cycle See-Saw. "Chock-A-Block" was an extremely large yellow computer, modelled to resemble a mainframe of the time; it filled the entire studio and provided the entire backdrop for the show. The presenter of the show played the part of a technician maintaining the computer. There were two presenters, Fred Harris ("Chock-A-Bloke") and Carol Leader ("Chock-A-Girl"), but only one appeared in each episode. At the start of the show, the presenter would drive around the studio towards the machine in a small yellow electric car, the chock a truck, before saying the catchphrase "Chock-A-Bloke, checking in!").
SMart was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham. The format is similar to the Tony Hart programmes Take Hart and Hartbeat. The show was revamped into an hour-long show in 2007; from 1994 to 2006 it was previously a 25-minute show. From 1994 to 2005, the show also featured Morph, originally from Take Hart. The series run featured 199 episodes, last airing on 11 August 2011.
Galaxy was a short-lived British satellite television channel, owned and operated by British Satellite Broadcasting.
Tim Dixon is an English television presenter who rose to prominence in 2003. In 2005 he was described by Flextech as "The best young up-and-coming television presenting talent in the UK".
William Hanrahan is a British television/radio producer and presenter best known for working on BBC programmes such as Watchdog and Good Morning. Since 1994 he has headed an independent TV company which currently produces studio programming and documentaries for the BBC and Sky TV, A&E, Foxtel, Netflix, CBS, Discovery and UKTV. He is a three-times Royal Television Society Award winner and his programmes are currently airing in over 70 countries. He has executive produced for both the BBC and ITV working with Alistair McGowan on the BBC Restoration project, and Chris Tarrant on the BBC Four History of the World in 100 objects series. He is a law graduate with experience in consumer and legal programming. In 2013/14, Hanrahan also returned to radio presenting as a guest host on BBC Radio in 2014 and 2015. In 2017, his legal TV series 'The Jury Room' for CBS Reality also saw him present a six-part Podcast.
Ragtime is a children's television series created by Michael Cole and presented by Maggie Henderson and Fred Harris. The programme features play with words, songs, stories and puppets. Puppets made by Joanne Cole emerge from the green Ragtime Bag, including wooden spoons with faces drawn on them. These are named Mr Porridge, Mr Curry, Mr Jelly, Miss Sponge, Mrs Custard, Uncle Casserole and Mrs Ragamuffin. Other puppet regulars include Dax and Sniff, Humbug the tiger and Bubble, a cushion-shaped toy.
Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice, known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, journalist and painter.
This is a list of British television related events from 1979.
This is a list of British television related events from 1975.
Simeon Courtie is an English broadcaster and writer. He is known as a TV presenter on Children's BBC, as a radio presenter on BFBS, and BBC local radio, a TV and radio comedy writer contributing to programmes including Have I Got News For You?, and is the author of the humorous travel book The Long and Whining Road. and the thriller All Hollow
Michael Cole was a British writer. He created a number of children's programmes from the 1970s to the 1990s, including Alphabet Castle, Heads and Tails and Ragtime, for which he won a Society of Film and Television Award for Best Children's Programme. Together with his wife Joanne Cole, he created Bod, originally published as four books in 1965 and made into a TV show in the 1970s, as well as Fingerbobs and Gran.
