ITV Telethons

It barely cut it back then! The telethons, including Children in Need, aren't known for being great viewing

Yet for some reason I always end up watching them.
Comic Relief is most probably the best example due to the mixture of things that go on during the night from comedy sketches to music, to games, etc.

Yes they did. Eric Wallace presented for Border, and the evidence is there to see on the "round the regions" feature I recorded at the time.

They tried, it was called ITV PLAY, and it was crap!

Day of Promise? did STV even do anything for this?

also CiN is load of rubbish its just music! and only due to Queen margerts Drive mis=mash that we actually get any comedy

It is true that it's all music, and usually Eastenders and sometimes Corrie have a stab at something. The only problem is that there's nothing else.
Surely as its a BBC event they could drum up some of their comedies for a quick bit, and to advertise the upcoming programmes.

Get them to team up dramas with comedians and have spoof editions of spooks, hotel babylon, etc.

Get guests in the studio and play games or something with them.

The good thing about Comic Relief is that it has a variety of hosts and they put their own spin on their section, with CiN it's Mr Wogan all the way through. Will he be with Fearne on her own this year now the Miss Kaplinksky is off to five?

They could do so much more, but they don't seem to, and just have a quick route around for musicians and bits of musicals (which is all good, in doses). The outdoor concerts around the country were a good idea, and a good way for the other BBC Channels to join in, for example BBC Three & Radio 1 could host the outdoor gigs, and get quite a few big bands along.

I do think it's lost something since they lost the regions, it gave London a break, and it was nice to hear about local things and your local total!

Whatever happened to the other presenter Gabby - or something like that - the one that used help present ITV's Motormouth with Andy Crane?

Now she was a more natural side-kick than either Fern or Natasha!!!

According to the press release Terry "will be joined by a series of guest presenters, including Fearne Cotton"

Plus it sounds like the regions might be back.
The programme will also feature broadcasts from around the UK, as BBC presenters join their local communities to catch up with some energetic and creative fundraising exploits

If you're interested the "highlights" include...

The Spice Girls; Kylie; John Barrowman and Annie Lennox.

Exclusive BBC Children in Need themed scenes from Doctor Who and Hotel Babylon; plus a musical extravaganza from Albert Square with the cast of EastEnders.

Junior Dragon's Den and a Never Mind The Buzzcocks special – as Radio 1 take on Radio 2.

Lee Mead with the cast of Joseph and a performance from the West End stars of Dirty Dancing.

Sugababes, McFly, Westlife.

Appeal messages from a host of celebrities, including Take That.

And, of course a very special live performance by the BBC newsreaders. *yawns*

Apart from Junior Dragons Den & Buzzcocks it's all miss-able.

Axing the EastEnders and newsreaders segments would be a good place to start - or at least promising not to show them if they raise £50m by 7.30pm!


Chidren in Need though just feels like a repeat every year - same atuff, year in, year out.


Back on topic and regions or no regions, I'm sure if they get Ant and Dec to host bringing back the Telethon wouldn't be a problem.


What day did it run - was it around the May Bank Holiday IIRC?

Mayday Bank Holidays - Sunday (from about 6pm) through to Monday (to about midnight, I think) about 30 hours worth

what kind of programmes?

They did - An OB Unit was shipped from the mainland especially.

Channel did not have a permanent link into the network, and so their contribution was handled by TVS in Southampton.

This, I believe, is the only occasion that Channel have had facilities to feed directly into the old network transmission system, although something tells me that something similar was arranged when they did "The Time, The Place" for a week in the late 1980's. The studios in St Helier were not big enough, so the Somerville Hotel's conference room was converted for the week.