Obscure, But Good Programmes That could be Revived for TV
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Apologies if there is another thread covering this subject. But I was thinking. Since TV companies are busy reviving stuff from the past, e.g. “To the Manor Born at Christmas, Come Dancing, Dr Who is re-booted and even Mr and Mrs is supposed to be coming back with a celebrity version. I wonder what really good series from the past could be revived. Not just the obvious ones, but more obscure ones too.
Any thoughts. I had a quick look on the internet and came up with some ideas. Of course, they would have to be brought up to date. But I think the basic ideas were so good they would still be of interest to viewers today.
These are the ones I think could make a come back (details from IMDB)
Quizzes
1 “Whodunit” (1974 - 1978) – With Jon Pertwee. The prog had a little play where a murder occurred. Then a celebrity panel guessed who done it by asking questions. Just right for celebrity TV.
2. The Golden Shot – (1967 – 1974) Bob Monkhouse, Norman Vaughn and Charlie Williams. – Hosts. Quiz prog famous for its awful prizes.
Dramas
1. The Gold Robbers – (1969) A sophisticated gang steal a load of gold bullion from a plane. Each week during the opening credits, you got to see a bit more of the Robbery. Till you saw how the whole robbery takes place. Story is shown in “24” style. Would make an excellent similar type thriller.
2. Callan – (1968 – 1972) The cold-blooded killer spy with a conscience. Starred Edward Woodward)
3. Private Eye - (1965 – 1975) Down at heel private eye who works in the seedy side of the profession but who retains his dignity. Starred Alfred Burke
4. The Power Game (1965 – 1969) – The political intrigues in corporate big business. Starred Patrick Wymark.
5. Budgie (1971 – 1972) Starred Adam Faith and Iain Cuthbertson. Budgie (Faith) was a small time crook trying to make his way in life despite being constantly harassed by the police, a big time crook, Charlie Endell (Cuthbertson) and his girl friend Hazell.
6. The Sweeney – (1975 – 1978) Ok not obscure I know but in the light of the success and popularity of DI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes perhaps it’s time for the return of a really non PC crime prog with a “dinosaur” as it’s lead.
Comedy/ Family
1. The Good Life. (1975 – 1978). What ever happened to Tom and Barbara. Did she stay with him, Did they make a go of their self-sufficiency. How did they cope with getting older. Plus what about Margo. As Paul Eddington is gone, perhaps she married again or turned into Miss Mountshaft.
Plus, Father, Dear Father, Bless This House, Doctor in the House etc.
These are just a few ideas. Any more ?????
Any thoughts. I had a quick look on the internet and came up with some ideas. Of course, they would have to be brought up to date. But I think the basic ideas were so good they would still be of interest to viewers today.
These are the ones I think could make a come back (details from IMDB)
Quizzes
1 “Whodunit” (1974 - 1978) – With Jon Pertwee. The prog had a little play where a murder occurred. Then a celebrity panel guessed who done it by asking questions. Just right for celebrity TV.
2. The Golden Shot – (1967 – 1974) Bob Monkhouse, Norman Vaughn and Charlie Williams. – Hosts. Quiz prog famous for its awful prizes.
Dramas
1. The Gold Robbers – (1969) A sophisticated gang steal a load of gold bullion from a plane. Each week during the opening credits, you got to see a bit more of the Robbery. Till you saw how the whole robbery takes place. Story is shown in “24” style. Would make an excellent similar type thriller.
2. Callan – (1968 – 1972) The cold-blooded killer spy with a conscience. Starred Edward Woodward)
3. Private Eye - (1965 – 1975) Down at heel private eye who works in the seedy side of the profession but who retains his dignity. Starred Alfred Burke
4. The Power Game (1965 – 1969) – The political intrigues in corporate big business. Starred Patrick Wymark.
5. Budgie (1971 – 1972) Starred Adam Faith and Iain Cuthbertson. Budgie (Faith) was a small time crook trying to make his way in life despite being constantly harassed by the police, a big time crook, Charlie Endell (Cuthbertson) and his girl friend Hazell.
6. The Sweeney – (1975 – 1978) Ok not obscure I know but in the light of the success and popularity of DI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes perhaps it’s time for the return of a really non PC crime prog with a “dinosaur” as it’s lead.
Comedy/ Family
1. The Good Life. (1975 – 1978). What ever happened to Tom and Barbara. Did she stay with him, Did they make a go of their self-sufficiency. How did they cope with getting older. Plus what about Margo. As Paul Eddington is gone, perhaps she married again or turned into Miss Mountshaft.
Plus, Father, Dear Father, Bless This House, Doctor in the House etc.
These are just a few ideas. Any more ?????
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Comments
Ultra-violet. (before blade)
Krypton Factor, any day. before modern reality-tv.
North Square.
All Contemporary, enough age, but not needing re-imagining.
Yours Kindly,
MN
Bless This House,FDF are firmly of there time in comedy and story.
Whodunnit would probably be ok
The Sweeney is being turned into a big screen movie and it's maverick style of policing is very much something of the past and would be quite unrealistic in the modern police.
Also like Callan,The Sweeney was made in a way and budget that BBC (and certainly ITV) would more then likely not finance thesedays.
Gold Robber's plot is firmly from the sixties era also and would not really be believable enough in this era,as is Budgie's.
Private Eyes and Power Game could go down well though.
It's not from the distant past, but hey.
"Stop the clock"
End of thread!
I remember bunking off School and watching Crown Court, it's got to be a pretty cheap format, there must be Court room sets sitting in storage somewhere, add a good script actors and away you go.
Any chance of reviving Emerdale, the way it used to be, you know 'normal' relationships farming and the like, I liked it then.
No?
Didn't think so...
THE POWER GAME was great, Patrick Wymark was just so intense in it... actually, there used to be lots of these "boardroom intrigue" dramas around - HADLEIGH, THE BROTHERS etc., but not so much now...
I loved BUDGIE at the time, but aren't convinced it could be updated successfully. Does anyone else remember the sequel/spin-off CHARLES ENDELL ESQUIRE? Iain Cuthbertson was great in that, as was Annie Ross... not ripe for rebooting though...
Wasn't CROWN COURT resurrected last year or maybe the year before? I didn't see it myself but am sure I read reviews of it at the time, though it disappeared quickly enough so I presume it didn't do that well...
My candidate would be Gerry Anderson's UFO - the original's look and feel has dated horribly (though many of the SFX are still stunning) but the stories are sound enough, and the overall concept of a secret organisation dealing with aliens whilst haggling with the government over budgets, personnel etc. could be done really well, though the central notion of the aliens kidnapping humans one at a time for transplant surgery was always a bit iffy...
Bring it forward to 2008 with Steve and Dora married, now in their late fifties, and their youngest daughter centre stage as the new central character.
A lot of the show's original storylines still stand up today, so the show could remain true to its original ethos of finding one's feet in the world and doing one's bit to counter all the evil and cruelty that surrounds us.
There were a handful of 90 min long episodes produced in the early 90s or so and there was a similar style programme on Channel 4 a few years ago
Sale of the Century
Yea, but wouldn't the lightning tree be long gone by now ?
Follyfoot was made on the Harewood estate, currently home to Emmerdale, and the mansion which doubled as the Colonel's residence was also re-used as Oakwell Hall in Emmerdale (internally it's still the same).
They could do a very good version of Knightmare these days, with VR cameras and the like.
And I think in these days where people are a lot more savvy with the idea of interactive reality TV, that old Ray Cokes show Wanted could do really well now.
Also, videogames are a lot more popular now then ever before, so it's about time a decent show like GamesMaster was back on mainstream TV.
As for drama, following on from This Life +10, how about Press Gang +20?
No, you're right, they've been off our screens (as a double act) for far too long!
The Crystal Maze.
North Square was great.
It would be good to see some of the other suggestions again - Callan and Public Eye for instance - because my recollection is that they were good, gritty dramas with strong, quite dislikeable characters.
Another series that had that feel was Gangsters, about the rise of black and Asian criminals in Birmingham. The critics weren't keen at the time but I think it could be worth another look.
Richard Littlejohn the host.
Animal Magic with Bill Oddie would be good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time..._Man - was an excellent cartoon series for kids (but adults would enjoy it too).
Treasure Hunt again would be lovely. The revamped version, a few years back, didn't pack the punch that the origianl had. No need for exotic locations every episode, when the original thrived on landing in village fetes and steam fairs.
I am watching DVDs of a 70s crime-thriller called The XYY Man. It's really made me think there's no "proper" crime series happening now. It's all police (generally sleeping with each other). A series from the criminal's view, full of seedy pubs, ponces, toms, etc. Lots of dialogue about "shooter", "bird", etc.
chuff.x.
Bring it back.
My old faves were TJ Hooker, Nightrider, Quincy, Hill Street Blues.