Shows that people forget or get lost in time

Staying on the topic of snooker, I remember a snooker series on BBC1 in the afternoons, think it was 1991 or 1992. Only one series was made. It was called "Pot Black Timeframe".

The idea was two players would compete against each other, with the players having their own clock. When a player played a shot and missed, or finished a break, they would return to their corner, and press a button, which gave out a quiet bong. This was their clock stopping, and starting their opponents. A bit like what happens in chess.

Once a frame was over, the referee would rerack the balls. As this was happening, one players clock would count down two seconds, then the others. Once a player had ran out of time, their opponent had to then go on and compile a break. Their time on the table would end either when their clock went to zero, or their break came to an end. The winner was whoever made the highest score.

Only one series was made. It differs from the snooker shootout, in that it's one frame matches, with shot clocks, and the frame lasts a maximum of 20 minutes. Pot Black Timeframe could have more than one frame.

Dennis Taylor also presented a programme called Play Snooker on BBC2 around that time, where he would give tips and advice to beginners and amateur players. A compilation was released on VHS (and is on YouTube)

Here and Now ran for nearly five years on BBC1, yet could never decide what kind of current affairs show it really wanted to be.

Two decades on, it's so little remembered that it doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry.

Channel 4 used to have a Saturday morning show, I think early 1990s, called "World Tennis". I also believe they once showed some action from the long defunct LTA nationals.

Yes, this did run for a while, in the opposite Corrie death slot. I remember when it began it was sold as the new Nationwide, but Tom Mangold, who was the senior reporter, said if it resembled anything it was 60 Minutes - one of umpteen current affairs shows launched with that idea. I watched it quite a bit in the early days, I remember it always used to run reports on quangos, which was a big story at the time.

Initially it didn't have a main anchor but a number of regular reporters, and I remember for a while they all appeared in the opening titles turning around and looking stern into the camera. They included Mark Easton and Lynda Bryans, and John Walters who would do some and finally-type items. Later, though, it got a studio presenter in the shape of Juliet Morris.

It was a BBC Manchester production and followed on from a number of other current affairs shows from there including Brass Tacks and On The Line. And when it finished there were a couple more current affairs shows from Manchester in that same 7.30 slot - there was 4x4, so called because it would feature four reports of different aspects of one subject, and I remember watching the first one because Mark and Lard did a report about rudeness. And then there was Real Story with Fiona Bruce, which lasted for a few years before it was officially axed when The One Show began.

Around the same time as Here and Now, ITV did a similar current affairs show, 3D with Julia Somerville, which was also another attempt to make 60 Minutes in the UK. As was Tonight when it began, it's always seemingly been an ambition of UK TV to have a show like that. But I do know that a lot of 60 Minutes' success in America is because its place in primetime in enshrined in broadcasting regulations, so it gets a cushy slot and little competition, like when we used to have the God Slot.



And they also showed Real Tennis, the archaic little-played variant, for a couple of weeks in that Saturday morning sports slot, which got a bit of attention because the coverage was presented by Prince Edward.

Saturday mornings used to be a regular slot for sports programmes on Channel Four. I remember reading an interview with David Frost where he said he always watched Trans World Sport because it was about the only adult programme on a Saturday morning when he went on his rowing machine.

Canary Wharf. No, not the place, the soap opera on L!ve TV.

Mind you, who remembers L!ve TV?

Well if people don't remember L!VE TV then they won't remember 'Wire TV - the cable network'... (Early haunt of Georgie Spanswick, Femi Oke and which also featured Katherine Apanovich).

Dominik Diamond did a show called Swot or Wot, which was pretty much a schools based quiz for mostly Sixth Form students (most definitely not in the style of Blockbusters) but you'd only have known about it if you were in the Central or Anglia regions in 1993 as that's where the schools providing the teams came from. Whether it aired outside the Central or Anglia regions is anybody's guess.

Doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry nor any video on YouTube.

I previously mentioned the long-forgotten BBC Scotland comedy/drama Bad Boys.

Turns out all episodes were recently uploaded to Youtube, one set of poor quality off-air VHS copies (the pilot episode is missing the first few minutes and is jumping all over the place) and this single episode (the final one) which seems to have come from a broadcast tape.



Starring the late Freddie Boardley, Karl Howman, Alex Norton and Ashley Jensen amongst others (a few faces more familiar to Still Game fans also show up in the earlier episodes).

Not bad for a spinoff from a McEwans Export advert!

Also from BBC Scotland was Atheltico Partick, about a Glasgow soccer team. Initially, it was one of six comedy shows that were run in an evening slot, one each week, and the best received would get made into a series.

Athletico Partick actually got made into two series, but wasn't well received.

Staying in Scotland, this was a drama series made by STV, called "Bookie". I can't recall all of it, but I believe it centred around someone who ran his own bookmakers shop, as opposed to a person who was called that.

Does anyone remember BBC Scotland : Haywired: Television set in the year 2030/2031



STV made two drama called Bookie, in 83 and another 88.

I'm thinking of the 1988 version. Were they both about the same man?