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Red Nose Day

15th March 2019 (March 2019)

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HC
Hatton Cross
No. Comic Relief was originally always every two years. The Sport variant seems to have been invented to fill in the gaps.
:-(
A former member


Social Media. Very Happy
:-(
A former member
No. Comic Relief was originally always every two years. The Sport variant seems to have been invented to fill in the gaps.


Not really, the first one was in 1985, ( which also had single) the second one which become a Telethon was in 1988 and the third in 1989 then it become every two years.. hides under a rock.
JA
james-2001
The first Comic Relief was in 1986 actually (plenty of references to it on the BBC4 TOTP repeats last year), though it was just a pre-recorded stage show shown several weeks after it happened.

Wasn't called Red Nose Day in 86 though, that didn't begin till the first telethon in 88.
:-(
A former member
That's the confusion, it launched on Christmas Day 1985.
JK
JKDerry
The telethon event launched on Friday 5th February 1988. Originally the organisers had hoped to be like Children in Need and be an annual telethon, which is why they returned in 1989 for their 2nd Red Nose Day. However Richard Curtis and the organisers felt after the 1989 event, Red Nose Day should be a biennial event and that is why 1991 was the 3rd Red Nose Day telethon. Richard said the event was just too big to organise, and since money would be going to Africa as well as the UK, the one year break between telethons would be suitable, and that is how the every two year Red Nose Day started.

Comic Relief as a charity commenced in 1985.

44 days later

JE
Jenny Founding member
As good a time as any to post this, I’ve heard the Sport Relief telethon won’t be coming back, don’t know if they’ll be carrying on with the brand or indeed non-telethon Sport Relief programmes (I reckon they will).


Looks like the actual brand is staying, because they've just launched a new logo on their website and Facebook page. (It's blue instead of red, basically.)
JF
JetixFann450
I do wonder what could replace the gap year. Probably nothing. Children in Need would probably be the one to fill that gap, although that's in November and not in March.
JA
JAS84
CIN is also annual. If there's no Sport Relief, there'd be no March telethon at all on BBC One in those years. However, it looks like Gottago was wrong, considering the logo has been updated.
GO
gottago
JAS84 posted:
CIN is also annual. If there's no Sport Relief, there'd be no March telethon at all on BBC One in those years. However, it looks like Gottago was wrong, considering the logo has been updated.

A logo change doesn’t prove the telethon is coming back. If anything it shows them repositioning the brand in a post telethon era. As I said I doubt the BBC would drop the charity completely and I’m sure there’ll still be supporting programmes to raise money, a bit like how C4 has a week of Stand Up To Cancer specials in the years when they haven’t done a telethon. Until Sport Relief came along there was no March telethon every other year anyway so no issue there.
BR
Brekkie
Still no confirmation it's not coming back either. Personally felt Sport Relief was better when held in June and the weather more suitable for outdoor events to take place. I don't really see though why either the BBC or Comic Relief would want to axe it considering it raises around £50m or so - especially poor if the BBC can't spare one night per year. I'd have thought if the BBC had pulled the plug Comic Relief would be knocking on ITV's door.

And on the charity theme SU2C is going annual now with it's telethons, whilst Soccer Aid also takes place this year. I think usually it's only in World Cup/Euro years.
JK
JKDerry
Still no confirmation it's not coming back either. Personally felt Sport Relief was better when held in June and the weather more suitable for outdoor events to take place. I don't really see though why either the BBC or Comic Relief would want to axe it considering it raises around £50m or so - especially poor if the BBC can't spare one night per year. I'd have thought if the BBC had pulled the plug Comic Relief would be knocking on ITV's door.

And on the charity theme SU2C is going annual now with it's telethons, whilst Soccer Aid also takes place this year. I think usually it's only in World Cup/Euro years.

ITV did do a Telethon event in 1988, 1990 and 1992. There was then a long break until Text Santa launched in 2011. Even that was ended in 2015, so I do not see Comic Relief ever leaving the BBC and heading to ITV.


Remember Comic Relief is not an independent charity event airing on the BBC. It is part owned and created by the BBC with Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry.

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