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Thank Your Lucky Stars

Thank Your Lucky Stars was a British television pop music show made by ABC Television, and broadcast on ITV from 1961 to 1966. Many of the top bands performed on it, and for millions of British teenagers it was essential viewing. As well as featuring British artists, it often included American guest stars. It would appear from the surviving footage that the bands mimed their latest 45. Occasionally a band was allowed to do two numbers, and if you were pop royalty like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones you could do four numbers. Audience participation was a strong feature of Thank Your Lucky Stars, and the Spin-a-Disc section, where a guest DJ and three teenagers reviewed three singles, is a very well remembered feature of the show. Generally American singles were reviewed. It was on this section that Janice Nicholls appeared. She was a former office clerk from the English Midlands who became famous for the catchphrase "Oi'll give it foive" which she said with a strong Black Country accent. After she was dropped from the show she trained as a chiropodist and ran a practice in Hednesford in Staffordshire. Billy Butler was another reviewer and dozens of teenagers had their fifteen minutes of fame on the show.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

7.0 N/A
Ghost Squad

Ghost Squad, known as G.S.5 for its third series, was a crime drama series about an elite division of Scotland Yard that ran between 1961 and 1964. Each episode the Ghost Squad would investigate cases that fell outside the scope of normal police work. Despite the show and characters being fictional, an actual division did exist within the Metropolitan Police Service at the time. Inspiration for the series was taken from a book of the same name, written by John Gosling — a retired police officer and former member of the team. Although the real-life squad only operated in London, the fictionalised team travelled internationally; however — as was typical of the time — most foreign locations were actually a combination of stock footage and sets at Independent Artists Studio at Beaconsfield and Elstree Studios. Music was by Philip Green. The show was produced by ITC Entertainment, along with Rank Organisation TV and ATV. It was the first ITC show filmed to fit the one hour time-slot — setting the trend for the majority of ITC's future output. Another common ITC trait was to feature an American, in this case Michael Quinn, in a leading role so as to increase the chances of international sales. At 6' 3", Quinn often towered over his co-workers. This was especially noticeable in the first series title sequence showing him walking through a crowd walking in the opposite direction. He frequently smoked in the show as did many others. The second series had a different title sequence and Neil Hallett sometimes replaced Quinn. Hallett looked more like a spy while Quinn looked a bit like a playboy. Quinn was replaced by Australian actor, Ray Barrett in the third series. Ray Austin played Billy Clay in and was also Stunt Director on all series bringing the action to life. Austin went on to become a renowned TV director in Hollywood and the UK.

Ghost Squad

6.0 N/A
Tempo

A long-running ITV arts and culture series that aired from 1961 to 1968, Tempo was a landmark British television programme dedicated to the performing and visual arts. With a flexible magazine format and an open editorial remit, the series explored cinema, music, dance, photography, literature, theatre, and contemporary cultural life. Combining intellectual ambition with accessible presentation, Tempo established a model for serious arts broadcasting on commercial television and laid the groundwork for later landmark programmes such as Aquarius and The South Bank Show.

Tempo

8.0 N/A
The Rag Trade

The Rag Trade is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by LWT between 1977 and 1978. The scripts were by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, who later wrote Wild, Wild Women, Meet the Wife and On the Buses. Wild, Wild Women was a period variation of The Rag Trade. The action centred on a small clothing workshop, Fenner Fashions in London. Although run by Harold Fenner and Reg the foreman, the female workers are led by militant shop steward Paddy Fleming, ever ready to strike, with the catchphrase "Everybody out!" Other cast members included Sheila Hancock, Esma Reese Cannon, Wanda Ventham and Barbara Windsor. The Rag Trade was revived by ITV company LWT in 1977, with Jones and Karlin reprising their roles. The 1977 version ran for two series, most of the scripts being based on the BBC episodes from the 1960s, and featured Anna Karen and future EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth as factory workers. The theme tune for the LWT series was written and performed by Lynsey De Paul.

The Rag Trade

6.3 N/A
Harpers West One

Harpers West One is an ATV television drama series created by John Whitney and Geoffrey Bellman about a fictional department store, Harpers, in the West 1 district of London. The show ran in one-hour episodes from 1961 to 1963. It was introduced by ATV while Probation Officer, was being rested but became an immediate success. Press releases described it as "shopping with the lid off". A combination of drama and soap opera, it has also been described as presaging corporate dramas such as The Brothers for its depiction of power struggles at board level.

Harpers West One

8.0 N/A
Roamin' Holiday

The Englishman on holiday? That is the theme of Roamin' Holiday, ATV's series starring Max Bygraves as the Englishman. The scene is the Italian Riviera Resort of Alassio. Against this setting, a holiday tonic to relieve the gloom of winter for viewers at home, the series will feature comedy situations and musical numbers. With Max at large in the town mingling with their residence and thronging holiday makers. Max's 13-year-old son Anthony, who sang with his father at the London Palladium last September, will appear in four episodes of the Roamin' Holiday.

Roamin' Holiday

NR N/A