Looks Unfamiliar is a podcast in which writer and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington talks to a guest about some of the things that they remember that nobody else ever seems to.

Joining Tim this time is broadcaster Ben Baker, who’s hoping that nothing will him dismay in a handful of overlooked Christmas Specials of otherwise well-known television shows including The Goodies’ ITV debut Snow White 2, Roland Rat’s BBC debut Roland’s Yuletide Binge and Imelda Davies, Mr, Griffiths and Harriet The School Donkey’s debut in Grange Hill For Christmas. Along the way we’ll be debating whether it’s possible for anything to be more ‘ribald’ than Phil Cool’s rubber face, trying to make it past the first ad break of the first episode of Astronauts, leafing through The Official Steve Nallon Annual 1985 and trying not to dwell on what Rob Newman was doing lurking outside the School Furniture Shed.

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About Ben

Ben Baker is a writer and broadcaster. You can find his website here and follow him on Bluesky at @benbaker.bsky.social. You can find ALFsplaining, Ben’s podcast looking at every episode of eighties sitcom ALF in more detail than even Trevor Ochmonek asked for, here.

Buy A Book!

There’s lots more about Roland Rat – The Series, Grange Hill and tons of other mid-eighties Children’s BBC shows that did not necessarily feel like they really belong in the same schedules as each other in The Golden Age Of Children’s TV, available in all good bookshops and from Waterstones here, Amazon here and directly from Black And White Publishing here.

You can find an in-depth look at the early days of The Goodies, and in particular their first couple of BBC2 series, in Keep Left, Swipe Right, available in paperback here or from the Kindle Store here.

Alternately, if you’re just feeling generous, you can buy me a coffee here. Standing next to a BBC Vending Machine and going ‘NYEH-HEHH’ is very much optional.

Further Listening

If you’re looking for more Looks Unfamiliar with a Christmas twist, you can find Ben on Bernard And The Genie here, Mr T’s Christmas Dream, There’s Something Wrong In Paradise, God In The House, To Hell With The Devil, Highway, The Flint Street Nativity, the 1990 Bullseye Christmas Special, Adam And Joe’s Fourmative Years and TFI 1998 here and the quietly forgotten original iteration of Now – The Christmas Album here. You can also find Ben on The Golden Age Of Children’s TV talking about Round The Bend here.

Ben has also appeared on Tim’s Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast It’s Good, Except It Sucks talking about Ant-Man here, Cloak And Dagger here, Avengers: Endgame here and I Am Groot here.

Further Reading

It’s Not Hard To Find, You’ve Got It In Your Mind takes a look at the music from the early episodes of The Goodies and why its tantalising unavailability makes it all the more tantalising still; you can find it here.

© Tim Worthington.
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