'Braden's Week' was a Saturday night consumer affairs programme, hosted by the late Bernard Braden, assisted by Esther Rantzen and John Pitman. I viewed a pair of episodes recently ( courtesy of the B.B.C.'s Archive Trial ), and could see how indebted 'That's Life!' was to the earlier show. When U.S. T.V. ripped off the 'That's Life' format ( even going so far as to hire a blonde female presenter ), Esther reacted with predictable fury. However, a viewer with a long memory pointed out in a newspaper letter that 'That's Life' was not an original idea to start with.
Following titles depicting the show's very '60's logo in various locations - accompanied by a jaunty Syd Dale theme - the urbane Braden introduced a vox pop sequence in which Esther pestered shoppers with inane questions such as 'What do you think of men with long hair?', giving disgruntled pensioners a chance for fleeting stardom. Then a lengthy ( and somewhat more serious ) consumer report got underway. In the 1969 edition I saw, it concerned a pools company that was raising money for Spina-Bifida but keeping as much as they could for itself. As the item came to a close, Braden could hardly keep the emotion out of his voice.
Humour was not forgotten though; the 1968 edition featured a witty song from the late Jake Thackray about 'Miss World'. Less successful though were the 'quickies' ( short comedy sketches ) featuring Chris Munds and the lovely ( and alas, also deceased ) Hilary Pritchard. A regular in the first series was Matthew Coady of 'The Daily Mirror'. His monologue calling for the retirement ages of Members of Parliament to be harmonised with those of everyone else was put across well, but spoilt by a final comment about Sir Winston Churchill. The studio audience withheld its applause.
Braden himself possessed a wry sense of humour, and certainly needed one when at the start of one edition he accidentally slipped while coming onto the set. To his credit - and ignoring the laughter of the audience and his co-presenters - he got on with the job. There was none of the boorishness that blighted Rantzen's show - no dogs saying 'sausages' or rudely-shaped vegetables - in fact the programme had far more in common with the much-later 'Watchdog'.
'Braden's Week' would have lasted longer had not its host committed a serious error of judgement by starring in an I.T.V. commercial for Campbell's soup. As he was also fronting a consumer affairs programme, the B.B.C. felt that there was a conflict of interests and so, they fired him. Nowadays a presenter getting the push from one channel is no big deal - he or she can simply sign up with another - but then it meant that Braden was out in the cold. He next appeared on I.T.V. in 1976 in a short-lived game show called 'The Sweepstakes Game', obviously modelled on 'Celebrity Squares'. It was beneath a man of his talents. A decade on, he fronted a new version of 'All Our Yesterdays' for daytime I.T.V. Though it did not last long either, it reminded viewers of how a good presenter he was.
Stanley Baxter sent up 'Braden's Week' on his 1972 I.T.V. show ( cheekily making fun of the star's sacking ) and the 1979 sketch show 'End Of Part One' parodied 'That's Life!' as 'That's Bernard Braden's Show Really'!
Following titles depicting the show's very '60's logo in various locations - accompanied by a jaunty Syd Dale theme - the urbane Braden introduced a vox pop sequence in which Esther pestered shoppers with inane questions such as 'What do you think of men with long hair?', giving disgruntled pensioners a chance for fleeting stardom. Then a lengthy ( and somewhat more serious ) consumer report got underway. In the 1969 edition I saw, it concerned a pools company that was raising money for Spina-Bifida but keeping as much as they could for itself. As the item came to a close, Braden could hardly keep the emotion out of his voice.
Humour was not forgotten though; the 1968 edition featured a witty song from the late Jake Thackray about 'Miss World'. Less successful though were the 'quickies' ( short comedy sketches ) featuring Chris Munds and the lovely ( and alas, also deceased ) Hilary Pritchard. A regular in the first series was Matthew Coady of 'The Daily Mirror'. His monologue calling for the retirement ages of Members of Parliament to be harmonised with those of everyone else was put across well, but spoilt by a final comment about Sir Winston Churchill. The studio audience withheld its applause.
Braden himself possessed a wry sense of humour, and certainly needed one when at the start of one edition he accidentally slipped while coming onto the set. To his credit - and ignoring the laughter of the audience and his co-presenters - he got on with the job. There was none of the boorishness that blighted Rantzen's show - no dogs saying 'sausages' or rudely-shaped vegetables - in fact the programme had far more in common with the much-later 'Watchdog'.
'Braden's Week' would have lasted longer had not its host committed a serious error of judgement by starring in an I.T.V. commercial for Campbell's soup. As he was also fronting a consumer affairs programme, the B.B.C. felt that there was a conflict of interests and so, they fired him. Nowadays a presenter getting the push from one channel is no big deal - he or she can simply sign up with another - but then it meant that Braden was out in the cold. He next appeared on I.T.V. in 1976 in a short-lived game show called 'The Sweepstakes Game', obviously modelled on 'Celebrity Squares'. It was beneath a man of his talents. A decade on, he fronted a new version of 'All Our Yesterdays' for daytime I.T.V. Though it did not last long either, it reminded viewers of how a good presenter he was.
Stanley Baxter sent up 'Braden's Week' on his 1972 I.T.V. show ( cheekily making fun of the star's sacking ) and the 1979 sketch show 'End Of Part One' parodied 'That's Life!' as 'That's Bernard Braden's Show Really'!
