RSS
Only When I Laugh was an ITV sitcom that was set in an NHS hospital ward and ran from 1979 until 1982 over four series. It revolved around three inhabitants of the ward, their surgeon and a male orderly. I don’t know what was wrong with these three guys, but it couldn’t have been good if they were in hospital for four years – though none of them really seemed to suffer from much in the way of symptoms!
The first of the patients was Roy Figgis, played by James Bolam. Roy was the trouble maker on the ward. If there was something to complain about he would, and if there was a rule to be broken he would break it. Next was Archie Glover, a role that was just made for Peter Bowles. Archie tried to distance himself from Roy, thinking he was a better class of person. Finally there was Norman Binns (Christopher Strauli) who was the nervous, Mummy’s boy type character.
Their surgeon, Mr. Thorpe, was none other than Richard Wilson, better known as Victor Meldrew from One Foot In The Grave. He would come in and order the patients about, but given how long they were under his care he obviously wasn’t much of a surgeon.
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Reddit]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Sorry! was a BBC sitcom that starred Ronnie Corbett as a librarian called Timothy Lumsden who was in his forties but still lived at home with his mother and father, who still treated him somewhat as if he was a teenager.
There have been many drama TV programmes over the years which deal with the subject of murder. Quite why such a grizzly subject is watched and enjoyed by so many people I don’t know (surely we should all be turned off by the very idea, but it would seem not) but they always seem to do well in the rankings, which is probably why there are so many to choose from.
If you need proof that today’s TV schedules are getting more and more dumbed down then look no further than a complete absence of a replacement for Tomorrow’s World. I can’t think of any other shows which can present and explain scientific breakthroughs clearly yet still remain entertaining.
Brush Strokes was a BBC sitcom which first aired in 1986, and I personally remember enjoying watching it whilst doing my homework. Perhaps having the TV was the reason it always took me so long to write about Ox Bow Lakes or the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
If 
Treasure Hunt was one of my favourite shows from the early days of Channel Four. It first aired in the final week of 1982 and ran until 1989, and it was a rather more cerebral television game show. Each week a pair of contestants had to guide Skyrunner Anneka Rice and her helicopter crew around an area of the UK by solving cryptic clues.
Cheesey. Tacky. Inane. Stupid. Cheap. Brilliant. All words that could be used to describe TV game show Blankety Blank. First airing in 1979 and continuing throughout the whole of the 1980’s, this was a game show that not so much broke the mould, but was made with the mould after it had already been broken.
