Curry and Chips is a British sitcom broadcast in 1969 which was produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network.
Set on a factory floor of 'Lillicrap Ltd', it starred a blacked up Spike Milligan as an Asian immigrant who went by the name of Kevin O'Grady. It also featured Eric Sykes as the foreman, Norman Rossington as the shop steward, and other regulars were Kenny Lynch, and Sam Kydd. The series was written by Till Death Us Do Part writer Johnny Speight, but based on idea by Milligan.
It was the first LWT sitcom to be made in colour, and all episodes still exist.
Comedy drama set during World War Two following the misadventures of two very different bandsmen - one an ex-air force pilot, the other a draft dodging, scheming private detective - as they get caught up with gangsters and romance in blitz torn London.
Food Glorious Food is a British television culinary programme which started on 27 February 2013 and ended on 24 April 2013. The show is a joint Optomen and Syco TV production. The competition, in which anyone of any age can enter, searches the country looking for the best home cooked dish, with the winner receiving £20,000 and their dish made and sold by Marks & Spencer. Carol Vorderman presents the show on ITV, STV & UTV The show's judging panel consists of Tom Parker Bowles, Loyd Grossman, Anne Harrison, Stacie Stewart and Andi Oliver who was a guest judge for the Harrogate heats.
A serial bigamist, Julie Harding (Michelle Collins) is a compulsive flirt with a wicked sense of humour. She loves a good wedding - especially her own - but Julie is a perfectionist, and the reality of married life doesn't always mirror the magic of the big day.
Bat Out of Hell is a British thriller television serial created by Francis Durbridge and originally aired on BBC Two from 26 November to 24 December 1966. The series followed two lovers, Diana Stewart and Mark Paxton, who are haunted by the voice of Diana's husband over the telephone after he is murdered by the couple. Inspector Clay, played by Dudley Foster, was the detective inspector who headed the police investigation.
Ten Mile Menu is a daytime cookery programme first broadcast in 2010 for ITV narrated by Caroline Quentin. The show features celebrities and chefs going head to head in front of a panel of judges. Each pair of celebrities is sent to a location, and must cook up a meal, consisting only of ingredients within a ten mile radius. The fist series contained five episodes and the second contained fifteen episodes.
Shillingbury Tales was a British television sitcom comedy-drama series made by ATV for ITV and broadcast 1980-81.
Comprising a single feature length pilot and six one-hour episodes, the series deals with life in an idealised fictional English village and stars Robin Nedwell, Diane Keen, Nigel Lambert, Jack Douglas, John Le Mesurier, Bernard Cribbins and Trevor Howard.
It was preceded by a feature length pilot episode The Shillingbury Blowers starring Trevor Howard, broadcast 6 January 1980
The series was written by Francis Essex and directed by Val Guest. Unusually for a British situation-comedy at that time it was recorded entirely on location on 16mm film and consequently there was no laughter track. Much of the filming took place in the village of Aldbury in Hertfordshire.
The show ended when ATV lost their licence to broadcast and their replacement Central declined to continue production of the series. The series was broadcast in a number of countries around Europe.
Believe Nothing is a British ITV sitcom starring Rik Mayall as Quadruple Professor Adonis Cnut, the cleverest man in Britain, and Oxford's leading moral philosopher. He is paid huge amounts of money for his views consulted by the government but he's bored and wants adventure so he joins the shadowy organization The Council which controls everything going on in the world. Starring alongside Mayall is Michael Maloney as Brian Albumen, Cnut's faithful servant, and Emily Bruni as Dr. Hannah Awkward who becomes professor of pedantics.
The series was written by Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks, who give a twist to many of today's global issues.
Although much hyped by ITV, who were hoping to repeat the success of Gran and Marks' previous project with Mayall, the successful The New Statesman, the series failed to catch on, and was dropped after one series.
The Impressionable Jon Culshaw is a satire sketch show, starring the impressionist Jon Culshaw. A deal with ITV enabled Culshaw to make this while simultaneously starring in BBC Two's Dead Ringers. He also starred in another show, Alter Ego, which is also shown on ITV. The show ran for six episodes in just one series from 25 February to 31 March 2004.
The show has been criticised for having too many impressions, and as a result it was felt by some that Culshaw did not do some of the characters justice. This is unsurprising, as Culshaw's repertoire of impressions numbers over 350. Culshaw used most of the impressions that featured on Dead Ringers, but there were some new ones too. Some of the more notable impressions are those of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, George W. Bush and Trevor McDonald.
Some of the characters impersonated also featured in person on the show, where they meet Culshaw, who is impersonating them, and they interview themselves. This idea first featured in Alter Ego.
The first sitcom written both for and starring black actors, The Fosters showcased the early work of Lenny Henry (riding high on a recent win in talent series New Faces) as the budding artist son of easy going family man Samuel Foster (Norman Beaton, who would go on to gain fame in ‘90s comedy Desmond’s). The series follows the day-to-day trials of Samuel and his lively wife Pearl (both immigrants from Guyana) and their three children on a South London housing estate.
It was created and developed by Jon Watkins, who adapted the American sitcom, Good Times, developed by Norman Lear, and created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans. It was the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast. It was the predecessor to many future British television programmes that featured a predominantly black cast:.
Spin Star was a British television game show that was broadcast on ITV, and was hosted by Bradley Walsh. It was based around a five-reel slot machine called the Moneyspinner. The reels displayed question subjects, the names of the five contestants who will answer the questions, and cash amounts that are won if the questions are answered correctly.
The five contestants do not win the money for themselves however; instead, they are winning it for the Spin Star, the contestant who has been there the longest. Therefore, each contestant will be on the show for six episodes, five answering questions for someone else, then one where they are in charge of the Moneyspinner.
The first reel has a range of categories of questions on it, each given a star rating of up to three stars. One star means the questions are of easy difficulty, two stars mean the questions are of medium difficulty and three stars mean the questions are of hard difficulty. After a category has been used, it is replaced by a new category, with any unuse
Six players sit in a row of seats one behind another. Where they sit makes all the difference as only the player in the front gets the chance to answer questions, stay in the game and have the chance of winning the jackpot.
Actor Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis tell the story of their daughter Maudie - who died of sepsis aged just two and a half - to raise awareness of the condition and child bereavement.
Malice Aforethought is a 2005 ITV drama based on Anthony Berkeley Cox’s 1931 novel of the same name, made by Granada Television. There was an earlier BBC television adaptation of this novel in 1979.
Dr. Edmund Bickleigh is married to a particularly overbearing woman who reminds him at every turn that he is living in her house. But the good doctor has outside interests to help him cope.
Daybreak is a national British breakfast programme, broadcast weekdays on ITV. It is presented live from The London Studios and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, and entertainment items. The programme was originally presented by Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles until their departure on 5 December 2011. They were replaced by Kate Garraway and Dan Lobb, who presented the show on an interim basis, however since 2012, Daybreak has been presented by Lorraine Kelly and Aled Jones, with Ranvir Singh and Matt Barbet hosting the first hour of the programme. Laura Tobin acts as the weather presenter with Richard Arnold presenting the showbiz slot on the show. Helen Fospero, Louisa James and John Stapleton act as stand-in presenters of the main show.