Christmas telly - was it really better in the old days?

[anth]

People still watch live tv I can't remember the last time my sky box was turned on.

 

[chriswallace85]

Used to love getting the Christmas telly mag n gannin' through it circling all the films n that I was gonna watch.

 

[Yankee Mackem]

Absolutely. But you had to like Jaws, Indiana Jones and The Empire Strikes Back or you were screwed.

Brilliant times

 

[Discopants91]

People still watch live tv I can't remember the last time my sky box was turned on.

I spent nearly 2 months without internet after moving in September...going back to normal tele was horrific.

 

[Vindaloo Man]

Watership Down used to always be on the goggle box Xmas morning iirc.

 

[Arkle]

Watership Down used to always be on the goggle box Xmas morning iirc.

There's a two parter of it on 22nd and 23rd December this year...

 

[vinegar hill]

Some fucker on here saying he couldn't stand Morecombe and Wise.
Fuckin hell.

 

[Deleted member 34491]

Watership Down used to always be on the goggle box Xmas morning iirc.

Still can't listen to Bright Eyes and I'm 42

 

[Deleted member 29601]

Imagine watching the TV over Christmas.

 

[becs]

Used to love getting the Christmas telly mag n gannin' through it circling all the films n that I was gonna watch.

My Dad used to highlight things in different colours depending on if he wanted to watch it live, tape it to watch later or tape it to keep. He sat there for ages planning it all out and making sure we had enough video tapes. Didn't seem to have any logic with taping though, so we'd end up with three completely different genre films on one extended play tape. Those were the days

 

[jayjaysafc]

Ahhh Sunday afternoons watching Harold Lloyd with me Grandar

 

[Pink Panther]

Clockwise was Christmas TV in it's heyday. Must have been on at least 5 Christmases in a row.

 

[stephen cartwright]

Just picked out 1982 as I was 13 then so thought it was fair representation...

BBC1: standard afternoon stuff, Top of the Pops, Queen, a film (International Velvet) but after the news there was a run of Jim'll Fix It, Paul Daniels and Last of the Summer Wine before a brief up with The Two Ronnies. The big film was Death On The Nile. Late evening, post-news, Perry Como.
BBC2: in the afternoon we had adocumentary about East Anglian sailors, some highbrow entertainment ( the schools prom and The Book Game), one part of a serialisation of A Christmas Carol and the Peter Sellers film I'm Alright Jack. The evening started with a Dr Who spinoff (K9 and Company) and a doc on the raising of the Mary Rose, followed by 2 hours about James Joyce, Richard Baker presenting some carols and the film Fedora.
ITV: from 2pm, half an hour of the King's Singers, the big film for the afternoon was Won Ton Ton: The Doh Who Saved Hollywood, then something called Stawberry Ice. Things improved With The Goodies' Christmas Special and after the news, Cartoon Time. We then got Punchlines (with Lennie Bennett), something called A Christmas Lantern (with a cast including Cliff Richard, Una Stubbs, Robert Hardy, Christopher Timothy, Wayne Sleep and Mike Reid), In Loving Memory (because nothing says Christmas like a Thora Hird undertaker based sitcom does), an hour of Stanley Baxter (probably quite funny TBH), rounded off with a 2 hour operatic version of A Christmas Carol
Channel 4: the newest channel didn't kick off until 4:45 with a Buster Keaton film, The Tube followed (it was a Friday) then the news and The Friday Alternative (spoof news thing maybe?), there was then an hour of gospel (repeated), a doc about the 60s narrated by James Bolam, then The Curious Case of Santa Claus (which blended comedy and history and co-starred Jon Pertwee). The evening rounded off with an hour of Norman Gunston.

All of the big films were made in 1978, in keeping with the only shown 4 years after release thing that used to happen.

Would do me this year that

 

[Stormo]

Canny little website that. Interesting to see what was on. Very much religious on Xmas day, nothing like that on now is there.

 

[PinzaC55]

Found this website while bored at work.

UK Christmas TV

I always looked back on the 70's as a golden age of family Christmases and everyone gathered round the telly. By god the truth is very different. Black and White minstrels every year, tv movies being shown instead of proper films. Other than classic Morecambe and Wise it was a sea of grim.

What is the difference between a movie and a proper film ?

 

[Captain Deltic]

Always been very much of a sameness to me to be fair, anyway its Christmas, you should be meeting the family and getting royally pissed rather than watching the gogglebox

 

[Tin Soldier]

The biggest misses now are the BBC ghost stories like 'the signalman' and of course the regular showing of laurel & hardy films

 

[Some Random Guy]

The best era will be the one you had you formative years in.

 

[anth]

I spent nearly 2 months without internet after moving in September...going back to normal tele was horrific.

We've got a three sim in a mifi for when we go away in the caravan, used it a few times at home recently too when the broadband has been broken. Unlimited netflix from it and 30gb of data for £20 a month

 

[njmackem]

Found this website while bored at work.

UK Christmas TV

I always looked back on the 70's as a golden age of family Christmases and everyone gathered round the telly. By god the truth is very different. Black and White minstrels every year, tv movies being shown instead of proper films. Other than classic Morecambe and Wise it was a sea of grim.

I think Christmas telly seemed better because you got decent movies and special shows and there was a lot less choice, so maybe a Noel Edmonds show seemed great compared to watching nothing.

I don't think TV on Christmas day is anywhere as decent these days, but only because there are so many channels I think the BBC and ITV just don't bother as much!!