Reviews

Now we are talking. A classic Tyne Tees kids programme set in my home town of Gateshead. I even remember a scene for this being filmed next to my primary school and the programme makers cutting out we scruffy urchins sticking our Vs up when we thought the camera was looking. The Paper Lads centred around the trials and tribulations of working as a person delivering papers in the North East of England. The Newsagent shop was unfeasibly owned by Dave the Winchester Barman from Minder who has the most un Geordie accent going and the paper Lads and Lasses were the usual stage school types from all over the North East of England (See Byker Grove!!) so I always used to laugh my head off at someone from Middlesbrough 80 miles away and with a completely different accent pretending to be local and delivering newspapers!! Tyne Tees Television and the North East as a whole must have been very proud of this programme as whenever there was a technical fault Tyne Tees would play the Paper Lads theme until the fault was sorted, Plus Tudor crisps used a Paper Lads themed one for their Nationally acclaimed avert " Hey Jock deliva these an a'll give yu a canny bag a' Tuda oot me wages!" "Whey aye man fo Tuda a'd climb a moontin" "Pity that lifts oot ov orda!" Jaunty version of the Blaydon Races!!

Vaugely remembered TV programme from the early 1970s which Tyne Tees television put in the after kids TV slot just before the news.The series centred around Toomai and the love of his life his elephant and was filmed in amazingly garish colour. As I was only 4/5 years old when it was shown the only real part of the programme which sticks in my mind is the ending with Toomai smiling away at the camera as the credits rolled on his painted elephant in a Hindu procession with from what I can remember a cracking Indopop theme tune. Hopefully the complete series remains in a TV archive somewhere so we can have the DVD release with plenty of extras.

I can remember this especially Jon Pertwee's style, panache and use of many safari suits when presenting this panel show. From what I can remember this was one of Jon Pertwee's best roles (His turn at being the Doctor being his best role) and I can remember his in jokes with the panel about his time as the doctor or "a past life of his" as he used to describe it. The program had the same format every week, in both half's a set murder performed by bit part actors leaving lots of clues the Jon would quiz the panel of the famous, did they pick up on the clues and of course who was the person who done the crime. Classic 1970's TV which I remember was shown early evening on a Monday plus I remember it on an afternoon during primary school holidays.

Well remembered 6 week holiday TV for kids during the morning on mid1970s TyneTees in the UK. The main things I remember of the series are Platonius' side kicks were two glass heads who lit up when in conversation.Plus Space, Platonius' Base, which looked suspiciously like a studio cave on a planet of stock film of the Australian desert, and the Pheonix spaceship itself were amazingly dark either to create a menacing feel or it was so low budget that the creators of the show could only afford one light in the studio! If Mark is correct and the whole series remains in Australia, where is the DVD box set with extras!!