The pilot episode aired on 12 April 1977. The first series of eight episodes aired from 3 November to 15 December 1977 (apart from a Christmas special aired on 22 December 1977). The second series, of six episodes, was scheduled to air from 1 December 1978 to 5 January 1979, but the fifth episode was postponed due to industrial action, eventually being broadcast on 16 August 1979. The third series, of seven episodes, began on 20 September 1979 and ended on 1 November. The fourth and final series consisted of seven episodes, beginning on 23 May 1980 and ended on 4 July 1980.
The 1980 Christmas special is 30 minutes long and aired on 31 December 1980. All episodes were originally shown on BBC One.
In this pilot for the series we meet the Tooting Popular Front and its leader, Wolfie Smith.
Series 1 (1977)
No.
Title
Original air date
Prod. code
2
"Crocodile Tears"
3November1977(1977-11-03)
LLCD876H
Once again we meet the Tooting Popular Front and its leader, Wolfie Smith in this straight forward remake of the Pilot (but with Peter Vaughan as Dad instead of Artro Morris.)
3
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
10November1977(1977-11-10)
LLCD877B
When Wolfie comes around for dinner, trouble isn’t far behind.
4
"Abide with Me"
17November1977(1977-11-17)
LLC1521K
Will Wolfie be allowed to move in upstairs or will he have to remain on the streets?
5
"The Weekend"
24November1977(1977-11-24)
LLCG917T
When Wolfie takes Shirley away for the weekend, her dad isn’t best pleased.
6
"The Hostage"
1December1977(1977-12-01)
LLC1523Y
A kidnap plan goes wrong when they kidnap the wrong person (Harry Fenning instead of the newly elected local MP).
7
"The Path of True Love"
8December1977(1977-12-08)
LLC1524S
Wolfie finds himself a new girlfriend when he spots Shirley with another man.
8
"But Is It Art?"
15December1977(1977-12-15)
LLC1525L
When Ken brings a paving slab home, Wolfie calls it anything but art.
Christmas special (1977)
No.
Title
Original air date
Prod. code
9
"A Story for Christmas"
22December1977(1977-12-22)
LEGR471A
It's Christmas time and Wolfie, Ken and Tucker are struggling for money to buy presents, so Ken suggests that he tries praying to God. It seems to work and they have a lot of luck with stamps – well at least they think they do!
Series 2 (1978-79)
No.
Title
Original air date
Prod. code
10
"Speed's Return"
1December1978(1978-12-01)
LLCY432E
Speed is being released from prison. Wolfie sees Speed's girlfriend Desiree outside a Hospital at heading for a maternity/gynaecology clinic, and tells Shirley and Ken about it, but Charlie and Florence overhear them talking and think that Shirley is pregnant.
11
"Rebel Without a Pause"
8December1978(1978-12-08)
LLC1549W
When Shirley's dad is made redundant, Wolfie decides to have a demonstration outside the factory gates.
12
"The Tooting Connection"
15December1978(1978-12-15)
LLC1551J
Some stereos have been stolen from Charlie's factory, and Wolfie just happens to know where they are.
13
"Working Class Hero"
29December1978(1978-12-29)
LLCY435L
When Wolfie is holding a Right to Work protest at the Labour Exchange, he gets a job, but he can't say no or his benefits will be stopped. But, when he actually goes to work he is shocked to see that Charlie is his new boss! Originally scheduled for broadcast on 22 December 1978, but rescheduled due to industrial action.
14
"Rock Bottom"
5January1979(1979-01-05)
LLC1554R
Wolfie tries to get into the pop world by going for an audition.
15
"Spanish Fly"
16August1979(1979-08-16)
LLC1554R
Wolfie gets an offer of support from Jose, a brother from Spain who will provide Bilbao Liberation Movement soldiers to help Wolfie take control of Tooting. This episode has the last appearances by Peter Vaughan as Dad and Cheryl Hall as Shirley. Originally scheduled for broadcast on 29 December 1978, its place was taken by "Working Class Hero" and it eventually aired the following summer.
Series 3 (1979)
No.
Title
Original air date
Prod. code
16
"Don't Look Down"
20September1979(1979-09-20)
LLCA721R
When Shirley takes a job in Rimini, Wolfie threatens to throw himself off the roof of the pub and he has a heart-to-heart interrogation with a policeman named Brian Tofkin (This episode has Tony Steedman making his first appearance as Dad).
17
"Only Fools and Horses"
27September1979(1979-09-27)
LLCA725S
Wolfie and the gang try to lobby a local council meeting but it all goes wrong and they end up taking over a lift instead.
18
"The Big Job"
4October1979(1979-10-04)
LLCA722K
Ken is shocked when Wolfie decides to turn to crime to get some money for the cause.
19
"Tofkin's Revenge"
11October1979(1979-10-11)
LLCA726L
Inspector Tofkin asks for help from Wolfie and the Front to get his own back on his cousin Harry Fenning.
20
"We Shall Not Be Moved"
18October1979(1979-10-18)
LLCA723E
When Dad throws Wolfie and Ken out from their home, they sneak back in later as squatters.
21
"The Party's Over"
25October1979(1979-10-25)
LLCA724Y
Wolfie and the Johnsons get invited to a special party by Wolfie's new girlfriend. (This episode has the last appearance of Stephen Greif as Harry Fenning and his two "foster children".)
After the failure of their coup, Wolfie and the gang are stuck in jail. (Valerie Singleton appears as a BBC reporter who interviews Wolfie.)
24
"Changes"
30May1980(1980-05-30)
LLCB352H
Wolfie and the gang are released from prison and notice that Tooting has changed a lot, so Wolfie thinks of a plan to try to change things back to normal.
25
"The Final Try"
6June1980(1980-06-06)
LLCB353B
Wolfie plans to try to disrupt a proposed tour of the UK by a multi-racial rugby team from South Africa.
26
"The Letter of the Law"
13June1980(1980-06-13)
LLCB354W
Wolfie turns up for jury duty and finds out that the trial is for Ronnie Lynch.
27
"Prisoners"
20June1980(1980-06-20)
LLCB355P
When some unexpected visitors call at the house, it looks like everyone will have a night that they won't forget in a hurry.
28
"Casablanca Was Never Like This"
27June1980(1980-06-27)
LLCB356J
The Tooting Popular Front hire a private detective to prove that Speed is innocent of the crime that he has been accused of committing; unfortunately the detective in question, Dick Diamond, is in fact Tofkin.
29
"Sweet Sorrow"
4July1980(1980-07-04)
LLCB357D
Trying to save Tooting that he loves gets Wolfie in a lot of trouble.
Christmas special (1980)
No.
Title
Original air date
Prod. code
30
"Buon Natale"
31December1980(1980-12-31)
LLCB358X
Ken and Wolfie take a trip over to Italy for the Christmas holidays.
To the Manor Born is a BBC television sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special one-off episode was produced in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by Peter Spence, the creator, while the final episode in 1981 was written by script associate Christopher Bond. The title is a play on the phrase "to the manner born," from Shakespeare's Hamlet
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 16 October 1979 to 8 March 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The programme features Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.
Top of the Pops (TOTP) is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its history, it was broadcast on Thursday evenings on BBC One. Each show consisted of performances of some of the week's best-selling popular music records, usually excluding any tracks moving down the chart, including a rundown of that week's singles chart. This was originally the Top 20, though this varied throughout the show's history. The Top 30 was used from 1969, and the Top 40 from 1984.
The Generation Game is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes.
Citizen Smith is a British television sitcom written by John Sullivan, first broadcast from 1977 to 1980.
A Question of Sport is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series ran from 1970 until production ceased in 2023. The final presenter was Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.
Emu is a British television puppet, modelled on the Australian flightless emu bird and operated by the performer Rod Hull. After appearing on a number of variety shows, he was given his own television series on the BBC, then on ITV.
The second series of British science fiction programme Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". A regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast weekly in 2006, starting with "New Earth" on 15 April and concluding with "Doomsday" on 8 July. In addition, two short special episodes were produced; a Children in Need special and an interactive episode, as well as thirteen minisodes titled Tardisodes. It is the second series of the revival of the show, and the twenty-eighth season overall.
The Russ Abbot Show is a British television sketch comedy series which in 1980 onwards stars Russ Abbot and ran for 17 years on television before moving over to Radio 2 for a further five years.
This is a list of British television related events from 1978.
This is a list of British television related events from 1977.
"A Christmas Carol" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is the sixth Doctor Who Christmas special since the programme's revival in 2005, and it was broadcast on 25 December 2010 on both BBC One and BBC America, making it the first episode to premiere on the same day in both the United Kingdom and United States. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes.
The sixth series of British science fiction television programme Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011, beginning with "The Impossible Astronaut" and ending with mid-series finale "A Good Man Goes to War". The final six episodes aired from August to October, beginning with "Let's Kill Hitler" and ending with "The Wedding of River Song". The main series was preceded by "A Christmas Carol", the 2010 Christmas special. The series was led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, alongside executive producers Beth Willis and Piers Wenger. Sanne Wohlenberg, Marcus Wilson, and Denise Paul served as producers. The series was the sixth to air following the programme's revival in 2005 after the classic era aired between 1963 and 1989, and is the thirty-second season overall.
The seventh series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who was broadcast concurrently on BBC One in the United Kingdom, and was split into two parts as the previous series had been. Following its premiere on 1 September 2012, the series aired weekly with five episodes until 29 September. The remaining eight episodes were broadcast between 30 March and 18 May 2013. The 2012 Christmas special, "The Snowmen", aired separately from the main series and introduced a new TARDIS interior, title sequence, theme tune, and outfit for the Doctor.
The 2013 specials of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who are two additional episodes following the programme's seventh series. In addition to the traditional Christmas episode broadcast on 25 December 2013, a feature of the revived series since 2005, there was also a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of the programme broadcast on 23 November 2013, both airing on BBC One.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
