Looks Unfamiliar’s Box Of Delights: Richard Marson – I Suspect The Binmen Were Probably Not In That Year’s Review Of The Year

Blue Peter (BBC, 1958-) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

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 for a Special Assignment is writer Richard Marson, author of the definitive history of Children’s BBC Box Of Delights – not to mention Doctor Who Magazine veteran and former Blue Peter Editor – Richard Marson, We’ll be hearing some of the stories behind the making of Jackanory, Play School, Multicoloured Swap Shop, Grange Hill, John Craven’s Newsround and Blue Peter as well as our own memories of watching the shows as younger viewers – including which Kenneth Williams story was wiped before it could be repeated, the shocking truth about Hamble’s Cage, the betting odds on who would ‘win’ out of Giant Pandas and Giant Hogweed, and the uninspiring saga of The Caring Binmen.

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Jackanory (BBC1, 1965-96) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Play School (BBC, 1964-88) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Noel Edmonds' Multicoloured Swap Shop (BBC1, 1976-82) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

John Craven's Newsround (BBC1, 1972-) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

Grange Hill (BBC1, 1978-08) - listen to Richard Marson and Tim Worthington talking about it in Looks Unfamiliar.

About Richard

Richard Marson is a writer and the author of Box Of Delights: The Story Of BBC Children’s Television 1967-1997 which you can get from Ten Acre Books here. You can also find Richard’s biographies of John Nathan-Turner here, Biddy Baxter here and Verity Lambert here.

Buy A Book!

You can find lots more about Jackanory, Play School, Multicoloured Swap Shop, Grange Hill, John Craven’s Newsround, Blue Peter and tons of other BBC children’s shows from the audience’s point of view in Waterstones here, Amazon here, from the Kindle Store here and directly from Black And White Publishing here.

Alternately, if you’re just feeling generous, you can buy me a coffee here. Do not try throwing it over on a fork.

Further Listening

You can find more on The Golden Age Of Children’s TV with Jane Hill on Blue Peter here, Emma Burnell on Grange Hill here and John Rain on Grange Hill here, and plenty of Jackanory-related Looks Unfamiliar chat with Jacqueline Rayner on The Hobbit here, Joanne Sheppard on Spine Chillers here, Una McCormack on Tales From The Edge Of The World here and Tim Worthington on Starstormers here. There’s also more on Grange Hill with Mitch Benn on ‘evil’ teacher Mr. Hicks here, Anna Cale on when Ronnie Birtles got caught shoplifting here, Ben Baker on the 1986 Grange Hill Christmas Special here and Bob Fischer on the further adventures of Tucker Jenkins in Tucker’s Luck here.