Something Else (TV series)

Last updated

Something Else
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original release
Network BBC2
Release1978 (1978) 
1982 (1982)

Something Else was a television show, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and scheduled on its BBC2 channel between 1978 and 1982, targeted specifically at a youth audience. It began in 1978 on Saturday evenings and is an early example in British television of the genre known as "Youth TV" (later deliberately misspelled and referred to as "Yoof TV"), [1] encompassing unknown and largely untrained young presenters with undisguised regional accents, minimal scripting, a magazine format, and freeform discussion of contemporary concerns to young people, interspersed with performances by up-and-coming new bands.

The programme's innovative presentation style influenced subsequent shows in the genre such as The Tube , Oxford Road Show , Network 7 and The Word .[ citation needed ] It was also satirised by Not the Nine O'Clock News [ citation needed ] (as Hey Wow), which began that same autumn, and also in The Young Ones (as Nozin' Aroun').

During its run, it captured on film The Clash performing "Clash City Rockers" and "Tommy Gun" in 1978, in their only televised performance for the BBC; the last (and only nationally broadcast) television appearance by Joy Division, playing "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control" live in the studio in September 1979; The Jam (on the same episode) playing "Eton Rifles"; and U2 featured in May 1982 performing a three-song set consisting of "Rejoice", "I Will Follow" and "With a Shout (Jerusalem)", promoting their second L.P., 'October'.

Programme guide [2]

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References

  1. Hooper, Mark (14 May 2019). "'We wanted to hack your television!' – how yoof TV changed the world". The Guardian.
  2. Radio Times
  3. "Fay Ray". facebook.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.