Saturday, November 17, 2007

It seems to be a long-standing BBC rule that great occasions can only be entrusted to a Dimbleby. However, between the untimely demise of Pa Richard in 1965 and the coming to maturity of the Boy David some years later, another broadcaster held the fort with great panache. When the Harold Wilson went to the country in 1966 and 1970, it was Cliff Michelmore, of Tonight and 24 Hours, who helmed the BBC's results coverage, and a fine job he made of it too. Here's an example of how superbly agreeable he was:



Now nearly 90, he's back on our screens for one night only this Sunday, linking six (count 'em) hours of archive material about the 1967 devaluation crisis. BBC Parliament is the channel, and, quite frankly, I believe the evening's programming justifies the cost of a Freeview box in its own right.

The running order is like this:

6pm - The Pound In Your Pocket - new intro material from Cliff Michelmore
6.10 - The Money Programme (original tx: 17/11/1967)
6.55 - Our Money (original tx: 19/11/1967)
8pm - Edward Heath's response (original tx: 19/11/1967)
8.15 - 24 Hours (original tx: 20/11/1967)
8.40 - Panorama (original tx: 20/11/1967)
9.15 - 24 Hours (original tx: 29/11/1967)
9.40 - Roy Jenkins outlines spending cuts (original tx: 16/1/1968)
9.55 - 24 Hours (original tx: 16/1/1968)
10.35 - Roy Jenkins' Budget broadcast (original tx: 19/3/1968)
10.45 - Iain MacLeod's response (original tx: 20/3/1968)
10.55 - Budget '68 (original tx: 19/3/1968)
11.15 - 24 Hours (original tx: 19/3/1968).

I appreciate that this isn't everyone's idea of a great night's viewing, but it'll do for me.

2 comments:

Tanya Jones said...

This was fabbo. I couldn't believe how boring Wilson was, though. And here's a sentence I thought I'd never write; Thank God for Ted Heath. The ex-PM, that is.

King of Scurf said...

A few years ago BBC Parliament repeated the whole of their 1970 election coverage - it was absolutely gripping.....and admittedly, terribly nostalgic as well.