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Compact

Compact was a British television soap opera shown by the BBC between 1962 and 1965. The series was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, who together went on to devise Crossroads. In contrast to the kitchen sink realism of Coronation Street, Compact was a distinctly middle-class serial, set in the more "sophisticated" arena of magazine publishing. An early "avarice" soap, it took the viewer into the business workplace, and aligned the professional lives of the characters with more personal storylines. The show was scheduled for broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus avoiding a clash with ITV's Coronation Street on Mondays and Wednesdays. When Compact began, the editor was a woman, Joanne Minster, yet it was not long before she was replaced by Ian Harmon, the son of the magazine's owner. Despite being largely criticised by reviewers, Compact was popular with the general public, and in 1964 a regular omnibus edition was introduced, broadcast on Sundays. Morris Barry, a some-time actor and BBC director – he directed several Doctor Who stories in the 1960s – took over as producer and was given a brief to spice the series up in view of the criticism it had received from the national press. But the BBC, never comfortable with the concept of soap opera, quietly dropped the series in 1965.

Compact

5.0 N/A
Steptoe and Son

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father and son played by Wilfred Brambell and Harry H. Corbett who deal in selling used items. They live on Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the US as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert and in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon. In 1972 a movie adaptation of the series, Steptoe and Son, was released in cinemas, with a second Steptoe and Son Ride Again in 1973.

Steptoe and Son

7.8 N/A
Fireball XL5

Fireball XL5 is a science fiction-themed children's television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. The show was produced in 1962 by husband and wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson through their company APF, in association with ATV for ITC Entertainment. While developing his new show, Anderson thought a brand of motor oil—Castrol XL—had an interesting sound. A phonetic change created the name "Fireball XL", with the "-5" added as the title seemed a bit flat without the numeral. The show featured the Andersons' Supermarionation, a form of puppetry first introduced in Four Feather Falls and Supercar and used again in their subsequent productions such as Stingray and Captain Scarlet. Thirty-nine black and white half-hour episodes of Fireball XL5 were made on 35mm film: all future Anderson series were produced in colour. Several Anderson series have been shown in syndication in the US, but Fireball XL5 is the only Anderson series to have run on a US network. NBC ran the series in its Saturday morning children's block from 1963 through to September 1965. A similar programme often confused with Fireball XL5 is Space Patrol, produced by Gerry Anderson's ex business partner and co-founder of AP Films, Arthur Provis due to a number of similarities and settings.

Fireball XL5

6.4 N/A
The Scales of Justice

The Scales of Justice is a series of thirteen British cinema featurettes produced from 1962 to 1967 for Anglo-Amalgamated at Merton Park Studios in London. The first nine were made in black and white, and the last four in colour. The finale, Payment in Kind, was Merton Park's final production. Episodes were based on criminal cases, and each film was introduced by criminologist Edgar Lustgarten. The series derives its title from the symbolic scales held by the statue of Justice, situated above the dome of London's Central Criminal Court, The Old Bailey. The opening narration describes her as having "in her right hand, the Sword of Power and Retribution, and in her left – The Scales of Justice".

The Scales of Justice

6.7 N/A
That Was The Week That Was

That Was the Week That Was, informally TWTWTW or TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost. An American version by the same name aired on NBC from 1964 to 1965, also featuring Frost. The programme is considered a significant element of the satire boom in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. It broke ground in comedy through lampooning the establishment and political figures. Its broadcast coincided with coverage of the politically charged Profumo affair and John Profumo, the politician at the centre of the affair, became a target for derision. TW3 was first broadcast on Saturday 24 November 1962.

That Was The Week That Was

8.5 N/A
Brothers In Law

Brothers in Law is a British television series inspired by the 1955 comedy novel Brothers in Law by Henry Cecil Leon. It first aired on the BBC in thirteen half-hour episodes between 17 April and 10 July 1962 and followed the trials of an idealistic young lawyer entering the legal profession. The series was adapted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, two of the most prolific sitcom writers of the era, as well as Richard Waring. The sitcom gave Richard Briers his first regular starring role in a television series; he also worked with writer Richard Waring and producer Graeme Muir on Marriage Lines in the same period. The series was also the TV debut of Yootha Joyce and the final episode inspired a spin-off series, Mr Justice Duncannon featuring Andrew Cruickshank. A BBC Radio 4 adaptation featuring almost the same cast was broadcast for 39 episodes between 1970 and 1972.

Brothers In Law

7.0 N/A
The Big Pull

The Big Pull was a highly innovative BBC science-fiction series concerning an alien invasion of earth. Unlike conventional science-fiction of the Doctor Who-type, there were no monsters or humanoid aliens. In this respect it was similar to A for Andromeda. The events occur during early space exploration. Earth came under attack by an invisible force, which took over humans in pairs; one disappears, one dies. The disappeared one emerges under alien control. The fear grows palpable when it is realised that the number of victims is growing exponentially; the time between each attack halves each time, and the number of victims doubles. The hero, Sir Robert Nailer, realised this trend when he was following a van sporting the advertisement for a typewriter which read, "Twice the output in half the time". Again, unusually for the genre, the series ends with widespread panic as it is realised that every effort has failed, the scientists are dead, that the whole population of the Earth will be gone within hours, and there is nothing that can be done. The series ran over six episodes, during the time that the first ventures into space by Russian and American astronauts were taking place. As of 2009, however, no episodes exist in the archives.

The Big Pull

8.0 N/A
BBC Spotlight

Spotlight is the BBC's regional news programme for the southwest of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, southern and western Somerset, western Dorset and the Channel Islands. There is also a special version of the programme for viewers in the Channel Islands. The main version of the programme broadcasts between 18:30 and 18:58 on weekdays, with shorter bulletins at other times. The programme can be viewed anywhere in the UK on Sky channel 967/968 on the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service. Its main competitors are ITV West Country's main evening programme ITV News West Country in Cornwall, Devon, southern Somerset and western Dorset and ITV Channel Television's main evening programme ITV News Channel TV in the Channel Islands. Spotlight is broadcast from BBC Broadcasting House in Seymour Road, Plymouth - this is the main headquarters for all BBC South West programming, on TV, radio and online. There are also smaller studios in Barnstaple, Exeter, Paignton, Taunton and Truro.

BBC Spotlight

NR N/A