The Strangest Regional Programmes

But branding a game show as an offshoot of the regional news programme is strange. Or did Granada Reports Krypton Factor and Lookaround Mr & Mrs pass me by?

Did Thames/Carlton/LWT ever have any odd ones.

Suggs' "Dissapearing London" is the oddest I suppose as you wouldn't expect the lead singer to Madness to turn up & talk to you about London's past

Well it was only a pilot and at that time Richard was doing both Calendar News and Countdown, i think thats why they called him Twice Knightly or sommat like that. But they was other YTV programmes using the name like Calendar Goes Pop - a music show with Richard Madely and Calendar People - A chat show.

There was another reason for that apparently

Sir Richard?!

Although as he often joked in his later life: "It's more like once nearly yearly!". His missus said on the Keith Barret Show that the "twice nightly" came about because "he is a martyr to his bladder", to which Richard gamely agreed

Grampian thought it would reinforce another Scottish stereotype with a series called " Pennywise ". I'm not sure if this was networked but I'm sure other ITV regions did show it, because Victoria Wood's sketch McOnomy is definitely based on it ( making lampshades out of bricks lol )

And don't forget Britain's first breakfast TV programme, Good Morning Calendar.

For a time, particularly during the late 70s and early 80s, Calendar was very much more than just a regional news programme, it was more of a brand for a whole strand of YTV's regional programming.

I'm pretty certain it was networked (although maybe not to all regions), helping more than just the north of Scotland to protect those pennies and pile up those pounds.

(Ooh, I just spat on my cardigan.)

Border used to show a trivia quiz called "Bet You Didn't Know", presented by Christian Dymond. (No, I've never heard of him either!) There were two series, and the first one was notable as it was recorded without a studio audience.

Perhaps, knowing Border's legendary limited cashflow, it couldn't afford to have an audience for the first series... the hospitality costs would have sent the show's production budget through the roof.

Yep. The fact he did Calendar as well as Countdown in YTV land is why he was known as "Twice Nightly Whitley."

Or as he called it, "Once Yearly, Nearly."

To quote the late Mr Whiteley from a Countdown Documentary back in 2001, he said that Calendar had gained many spin-off's in the 1970's and 1980's and he did quite alot of them, and to him Calendar Countdown was no different.

It was just the idea was picked up by Channel 4, whilst the rest of Calendar stayed on Yorkshire Television only.

Dotaman

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/aboutus/wirelesstoweb/decades/clip_display.shtml?decade=80s&clip_name=dotaman&size=v&media_type=video