Christmas Radio Times (December 1959)

Granted, I know it's still four months until the Yuletide season but I came across this Radio Times Cover for Christmas 1959 and couldn't resist do a post about it!

Film Pictorial - Ginger Rogers

Film Pictorial was published in the United States and ran from the 1920s through to the late 1930s. The magazine went through many formats during that time, all of which I intend publishing on this site. The covers dedicated to this first post all feature Hollywood Icon, Ginger Rogers. The above cover dates back to 1938. The covers directly below all date back to 1936.

When Johnny was Animal Magic!

Johnny Morris had been a voices man on children's radio and was well-known as television storyteller the Hot Chestnut Man (seen in Playbox, BBC, 1955-64) when approached by Desmond Hawkins, then setting up the Natural History Unit at BBC Bristol and looking to create a programme for children.

The first programme aired 13 April 1962, featuring zoo vet Gerald Durrell and reporter Tony Soper out in the field with a film from Pembrokeshire. Morris meanwhile had a run in with a woolly monkey called Darkie - it climbed over Morris' head as the presenter tried to do his piece to camera but Johnny took it all in good humour, setting the tone for the next twenty-odd years.

The series was a mix of animals brought into the studio, film location reports and bought-in animal footage. the anthropomorphic antics of 'Keeper' Morris, always finding humorous ways of explaining animal facts, were its best remembered aspect. Morris dressed up as a zookeeper for a succession of films (most shot at Bristol Zoo), encountering every kind of animal and post-dubbing them with a variety of silly voices and personalities.

The programme tried to keep up with modern techniques, for instance quickly and successfully aping the special effects-heavy approach of Bellamy's Backyard Safari (BBC, 1981) in a special programme Animal Magic Goes Down To Earth (tx 8/9/81). Johnny and co-host Terry Nutkinswere shrunk to a few inches high to explore a farmyard now full of dangerous giant creatures.

The whimsical eccentricity for which Animal Magic was most loved led to its demise when in 1983 new BBC bosses judged it too 'unscientific'. Tony Soper pioneered more scientific approaches in Wildtrack (BBC, 1978-85) and Terry Nutkins headed Animal Magic's award-winning successor The Really Wild Show from 1986.

Ernest John "Johnny" Morris OBE (20 June 1916 – 6 May 1999) was best known for narrating the imported, Canadian-produced Tales of the Riverbank series of stories about Hammy the Hamster, Roderick the Rat, GP the Guinea Pig, and their assorted animal friends along a riverbank and children's programmes for the BBC on the topic of Zoology, most notably Animal Magic.

Morris was discovered telling stories in a pub by the then BBC Home Service West Regional producer Desmond Hawkins. Morris made his radio debut in 1946, and featured in a number of Regional series throughout the 1950s often employed on light and entertainment programs as a storyteller, such as in Pass the Salt, or as a commentator on local events.

A natural mimic and impersonator, Morris first appeared on television as The Hot Chestnut Man, a short slot in which he was shown sitting roasting the chestnuts, he would tell a humorous yarn in a West Country Accent, often ending with a Moral.

In 1960 he narrated the imported, Canadian-produced Tales of the Riverbank series of stories about Hammy the Hamster, Roderick the Rat, GP the Guinea Pig, and their assorted animal friends along a riverbank. The show used slowed-down footage of real animals filmed doing humanised things such as driving a car or boat, and living in houses. In the 1960s Morris also narrated books 1 - 8 of The Railway Stories, recordings of the railway series books by the Rev. W. Awdry.

Morris's ability to create a world which children could relate to through his mimicry led to his best-known role, that of the presenter, narrator and 'Zoo Keeper' for Animal Magic. For more than 400 editions, from 1962 until 1983, and with inserts shot at Bristol Zoo Gardens, Morris would carry out a comic dialogue with the animals, whom he also voiced. His regular companion on the show was Dotty the Ring Tailed Lemur. When the idea of imposing human qualities and voices upon animals fell out of favour the series was discontinued.

Morris carried over his comedic commentary technique into other programmes, such as Follow the Rhine, a BBC2 travelogue which included a witty Morris commentary featuring his companion Tubby Foster – actually his producer Brian Patten. Follow the Rhine was based on Morris' earlier BBC Radio 4 series Johnny's Jaunts. These series chronicled not only the Rhine journey but other worldwide journeys and were broadcast between 1957 and 1976. Included in this series were tales based upon his visits to such places as Austria (a skiing misadventure!), Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South America, South Sea Islands, France; and even a cruise on the River Thames.

Morris was also Vice President of the Bluebell Railway in Sussex from its early days in the 1960s until the late 1980s, attending several anniversaries and landmark events over the first few decades of the railway's existence. He also made two promotional LP's for the Railway in the 1970s.

In the 1970s, Morris read children's bedtime stories for the Post Office to be heard via the telephone. Children could dial 150 and hear a different story over the telephone each week. He was also a presenter on BBC School Radio's Singing Together and wrote and read stories on BBC School Radio's A Service for Schools which was later renamed Together.

In a nod to his role with Animal Magic, Morris also added his voice to the award-winning Creature Comforts series of electricity advertisements, created by Aardman Animations. These advertisements featured animated claymation animals speaking about their life and conditions in a way comparable to the dialogues that Morris has created in the earlier television show.

Although latterly criticised in the 1990s for his anthropomorphic technique of introducing television viewers to animals, Morris was active in environmentalism in his eighties demonstrated against the building of the Newbury Bypass near his home. In June 2004, Morris and Bill Oddie were jointly profiled in the first of a three part BBC Two series, The Way We Went Wild, about television wildlife presenters.

Morris was awarded the OBE in 1984. His autobiography, There's Lovely, was first published in 1989.

A diabetic, Johnny Morris collapsed at his home in Hungerford, Berkshire in March 1999 when he was about to star in new animal series Wild Thing on ITV. Admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon for tests, he was discharged to a nursing home in the Devizes and Marlborough district, where he died on 6 May 1999. His wife, Eileen, had died ten years previously, but he had two stepsons. He bequeathed his house to his co-host on Animal Magic, Terry Nutkins, and cut his family out of his will. Morris also left a large sum of cash to his housekeeper, Rita Offer, and smaller sums to his gardener and his builder. He left nothing to his stepsons, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The Queen & The Prowler! (1982)

Michael Fagan was the intruder who broke into Buck House and entered Elizabeth 2nd's bedchamber in the early hours of 9 July 1982. The unemployed father of four children managed to evade electronic alarms as well as both Palace and Police guards.

It was the 32-year-old's second successful attempt to break into Buckingham Palace. On his first attempt, he scaled a drainpipe, briefly startling a housemaid who called security, who subsequently decided not to act. Fagan entered through an unlocked window on the roof and spent the next half hour eating cheddar cheese and crackers and wandering around. He tripped several alarms, but they were faulty. He viewed the royal portraits and rested on the throne for a while. He then entered the postroom, where the pregnant Diana, Princess of Wales had hidden presents for her first son, William. He drank half a bottle of California white wine before becoming tired and leaving.

On the second attempt, an alarm sensor detected him. A worker in the Palace thought the alarm to be false, and silenced the alarm. En route to see the Queen, he broke a glass ashtray, lacerating his hand.

Her Magesty woke when he disturbed a curtain, after which he sat on the edge of her bed talking to her for about ten minutes. The Queen phoned twice for police but none came. He then asked for some cigarettes, which were brought by a maid. When the maid did not return to base for some time Footman Paul Whybrew appeared. The incident happened as the armed police officer outside the royal bedroom came off duty before his replacement arrived. He had been out walking the Queen's dogs.

Since it was then a civil wrong rather than a criminal offence, Michael Fagan was not charged for trespassing in the Queen's bedroom. He was charged with theft (of the half bottle of wine), but the charges were dropped when he was committed for psychiatric evaluation. He spent the next six months in a mental hospital before being released on 21 January 1983. It was not until 2007, when the Palace became a "designated site" for the purposes of section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, that what he did became illegal. Fagan's mother later said, "He thinks so much of the Queen. I can imagine him just wanting to simply talk and say hello and discuss his problems." Altogether now, Arrhhh!

Singles Chart For Week Up To 03/01/1970

Yes folks, it's time to look at the UK Top 10 for the week up to, 03/01/1970. Just see how the acts of yesteryear compare with the Cowell induced dross that we get today!

No 1.

Rolf Harris - 2 Little Boys

First appeared in chart (at position): 22/11/1969 (32)
Last seen in chart (at position): 20/06/1970 (50)
Length of time in chart: 25 weeks
Highest position in chart: 1

No 2.

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town

First appeared in chart (at position): 18/10/1969 (48)
Last seen in chart (at position): 21/03/1970 (46)
Length of time in chart: 23 weeks
Highest position in chart: 2

No 3.

The Archies - Sugar, Sugar.

First appeared in chart (at position): 11/10/1969 (43)
Last seen in chart (at position): 04/04/1970 (45)
Length of time in chart: 26 weeks
Highest position in chart: 1

No 4.

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds.

First appeared in chart (at position): 29/11/1969 (39)
Last seen in chart (at position): 15/09/2007 (72)
Length of time in chart: 18 weeks
Highest position in chart: 2

No 5.

Blue Mink - Melting Pot.

First appeared in chart (at position): 15/11/1969 (50)
Last seen in chart (at position): 21/02/1970 (41)
Length of time in chart: 15 weeks
Highest position in chart: 3

No 6.

Steveie Wonder - Yester Me - Yester You Yesterday.

First appeared in chart (at position): 15/11/1969 (31)
Last seen in chart (at position): 07/02/1970 (39)
Length of time in chart: 13 weeks
Highest position in chart: 2

No 7.

Bobbie Gentry & Glenn Campbell - All I Have To Do Is Dream.

First appeared in chart (at position): 06/12/1969 (27)
Last seen in chart (at position): 07/03/1970 (27)
Length of time in chart: 14 weeks
Highest position in chart: 3

No 8.

Englebert Humperdinck - Winter World Of Love.

First appeared in chart (at position): 15/11/1969 (46)
Last seen in chart (at position): 07/02/1970 (38)
Length of time in chart: 13 weeks
Highest position in chart: 7

No 9.

The Cuff Links - Tracy.

First appeared in chart (at position): 29/11/1969 (40)
Last seen in chart (at position): 14/03/1970 (42)
Length of time in chart: 16 weeks
Highest position in chart: 4

No 10.

Tom Jones - Without Love (There Is Nothing)

First appeared in chart (at position): 13/12/1969 (21)
Last seen in chart (at position): 14/03/1970 (49)
Length of time in chart: 12 weeks
Highest position in chart: 10

Look-In - Brian Moore's On The Ball

Those of you from the 1970s who regularly took possession of the classic magazine, Look-in will remember the page, Brian Moore's On The Ball. On The Ball was the regular feature for, yes, you've guessed it, footie fans! Named after a section of ITV's World of Sport. The feature was headed by Brian Moore who also introduced, On The Ball on TV. Look-in already had from the beginning a football feature, prior to On The Ball. It was called, Young Footballers Club. As well as giving a bit of information on a team or a player, the feature also gave interesting tips and information on improving your game, a feature mirrored in On The Ball later as 'Star Tip' in which a tip was given to improve your skills, sometimes highlighting a player who used this tip in real life.

On The Ball was usually in two parts, a text page which was full of information about a team, player or Football event. This page was always dressed in an array of brilliant drawings by Sheridon Davies who also wrote the page. The second part was a colour poster (as shown above) featuring the team the article was about or more often, one of their star players, these were obviously popular as later Football had as many heartthrobs as Pop Music! The feature ran until early 1979 and a few weeks after finishing Brian Moore reappeared in a new feature called, 'Sports Spotlight' which covered a more varied selection of sports and still included Sheridon Davies' masterful drawings.

Crossplot (1969)

Crossplot was a 1969 film that starred Roger Moore. Italian actress Claudia Lange was also featured in her largest English-speaking role. Bernard Lee, famous for his role as M in the James Bond films, also appeared.

The film is essentially a thriller. Roger Moore is Gary Fenn, a London advertising executive, who is trying to select a model for a promotional campaign. A series of events means that only one girl will be good enough for his bosses, a Hungarian Marla Kugasg (Lange). He finds her among the anti-war movement in the bohemian depths of swinging London. She is in the company of a young man, Tarquin, who is extremely protective of her and overtly aggressive to Fenn.

The young Hungarian, an illegal refugee from her native homeland, accompanies Fenn to a photoshoot. However she admits she is in fear of her life, and seems disturbed by the presence of her aunt. When she is nearly killed, the girl drops out of sight and Fenn has to go on the run himself, suspected of a separate murder. He locates her to a country house, which turns out to be the home of Tarquin, an aristocrat in spite of his anti-war sentiments.

It is revealed that Marla's aunt is part of a shadowy organisation trying to destabilise the existing world order so they can take over themselves. They will go to any length to try and shut Fenn and Marla up, including sending a helicopter after them. Fenn and his friend manage to escape to London, where they realise that the shadowy movement are planning to assassinate a visiting African Head of State in Hyde Park. They manage to foil the plot.

The film is not particularly well regarded by critics. One suggested that the film quickly became "tedious" in spite of the numerous action sequences, and the plot was far too "convoluted" and "confusing". Another critic called it "dull", "unsuccessfully trying to emulate the feel of a Bond film" and it was also compared to feeling like an extended episode of The Saint. It is now seen largely as a dry-run for the Bond role Roger Moore would take on four years later.

Crossplot
Directed by	Alvin Rakoff
Produced by	Robert S. Baker
Written by	Leigh Vance John Kruse
Starring	Roger Moore Claudie Lange Alexis Kanner
Music by	Stanley Black
Cinematography	Brendan J. Stafford
Editing by	Burt Rule
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	25 November 1969
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Corrie - the 1960s.

Arguably the 1960s saw the best of Coronation Street, with terrific characters, snappy dialogue and plots mirroring real working-class life. In a tradition it was to continue, it was dominated by powerful female characters, most memorably Ena Sharples, caretaker of the church hall and a no-nonsense upholder of traditional values. Often to be found over a milk stout in the snug of the Rovers Return, the hair-netted Ena would hold court with her friends and confidants, the mousy Minnie Caldwell and the gossipy Martha Longhurst. The pub was run by another tyrannical female, the snobby Annie Walker who - many thought - had ideas above her station. She was married to Jack, an easy-going sort easily over-run by his domineering wife..

Then there was Elsie Tanner, the Street's good-time girl. A brassy divorcee with two grown-up children, she became a national sexpot as she careered from affair to affair and from crisis to crisis. Quick-tempered and fearsome in an argument, she nonetheless displayed vulnerability behind the make-up. Elsie and Ena were chalk and cheese: Ena considered Elsie a flashy harlot with the morals of an alley cat; Elsie thought Ena was a mean-tempered, interfering old battle-axe. Their clashes produced some of the most memorable scenes of the '60s. There were plenty of other women but these were the ringleaders, joined in 1964 by Hilda Ogden, a nosy cleaning-woman whose gauche ways brought a new strain of humour to the series.

The men were less memorable, though the Street's academic - and later teacher - Ken Barlow had his moments, clashing with his father over class and social changes in the sort of arguments subsequently explored in Dennis Potter's early works. Builder Len Fairclough was often at the centre of events and always seemed on the verge of committing to a relationship with Elsie. Ancient Albert Tatlock was a sour-faced pensioner who liked nothing better than to reminisce about the war, and Leonard Swindley was a pompous, by-the-book sort who ran the local branch of clothes shop chain Gamma Garments. (The character proved popular enough to spin-off into his own series, Pardon the Expression, 1965-66.)

All human life was on offer in that first decade; marriages (Elsie Tanner to old flame Steve Tanner), births (the Barlow twins) and deaths (Martha Longhurst for one) made for milestone episodes but it was the everyday consistency of the writing and performances that made it the nation's favourite programme.

Dr Who & The Talking Daleks (1965)

This Infra red Talking Dalek originates from the 1965 movie which starred Peter Cushing as the good Doctor.

Look-in No 40 (1972)

These pages originate from the classic magazine Look-in dated 30th September 1972.

Radio Times - Z Cars (1971)

Yes guys, those Radio Times covers keep on coming! This particular cover dates back to 1971 and gracing the cover are two of the stars from the classic cops series, Z Cars.

Radio Times - The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1966)

Another front cover of the Radio Times from days long since gone! This particular cover dates back to 1966 and features, Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and Leo G Carroll from the classic sixties spy series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

John Barry: Midnight Cowboy was the classic 1969 UK 12-track stereo vinyl LP soundtrack to the motion picture starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, including 'Everybody's Talkin' sung by Nilsson.

1. Everybody's Talkin' - Sung by Nilsson
2. Joe Buck Rides Again
3. Famous Myth
4. Fun City
5. He Quit Me Man
6. Jungle Gym At The Zoo
7. Midnight Cowboy
8. Old Man Willow
9. Florida Fantasy
10. Tears And Joys
11. Science Fiction
12. Everybody's Talkin' - Sung by Nilsson

Remembering, Six - Five Special!

It was the BBC's first attempt at a rock and roll programme, an innovation and much imitated, even today. It was called Six-Five Special because of the time it was broadcast - it went out live at five past six on Saturday evening. It began immediately after the abolition of the Toddler's Truce, which had seen television close between 6 and 7pm so children could be put to bed.

Jack Good was the original producer. Josephine Douglas and (initially) disc jockey Pete Murray were its presenters, with Murray using the catchphrase "Time to jive on the old six five". Its resident band was Don Lang & his Frantic Five. The show opened with film of a steam train accompanied by the programme's theme song, played and sung by the Frantic Five, which began with the words "The Six-Five Special's comin' down the line, The Six-Five Special's right on time..."

BBC executives originally wanted a magazine format; however, Good wanted a show with music and lots of movement. The original sets were dispensed with and the empty studio space filled with the milling audience and performers. Television at that time was completely live as recording technology was limited, so once the programme started everything ran in an impromptu way. The running order was sketched out on Friday morning, and then only one complete run-through happened immediately before transmission on Saturday evening.

The show was originally scheduled to last just six weeks but, as a result of its popularity, the series became open-ended. The BBC interfered with Good's vision of the show by including educational and information elements, which Good wanted to drop, as they diluted the music. The relationship between Good and the BBC became strained, and he resigned in early 1958.

Good joined the ITV company ABC to create Oh Boy!, the show he'd wanted to make. It featured non-stop music and lost the public-service-inspired elements as part of its more frenzied pace, trouncing Six-Five Special in the ratings. The BBC, never keen on the show, took this as vindication and pulled it from the schedules. It was to be half a decade before Top of the Pops restored BBC coverage of contemporary popular music in general and "pop" in particular.

Among the artists on the show were Bobby & Rudy, Petula Clerk, Jim Dale, Johnny Dankworth, Terry Dene, Lonnie Donegan, Russ Hamilton, Cleo Laine, Joan Regan, Winnipeg native Paddy Stone, Leigh Madison, Finlay Currie, Freddie Mills, Jimmy Lloyd, Laurie Gold and his pieces of Eight, Eden street skittle group, Marty Wilde and Tommy Steele.

Comedy performers included Trevor Peacock, who was also a script writer for the show, Spike Milligan and Bernie Winters.