It's because people who were younger back then didn't see that stuff. Now with the internet and the violent realisation that the world stretches outside the front door, they get exposed to the idea that only just now people get upset when they're offended. It's amazing how myopic people and how susceptable they are to propaganda because of it. The moment a white man above the age of sixty learnt what the word "woke" means, our society was doomed.
I remember having quite nasty arguments online a couple of decades ago with people who were utterly adamant that the Rainbow clip had been aired for real and they'd seen it as a child. Sure whatever.
When I was at secondary school in the 80s, the local youth club held a disco every Friday night, and the DJ - who knew someone who worked in TV - had got hold of a copy of the Rainbow sketch, which he used to show at the end of the night. Quite likely similar things were happening elsewhere around the country, which is where the false memories come from.
The Christmas Party tapes and films go back much earlier than the 1970s. A BBC Alexandra Palace Christmas party film from the late 1950s was circulating online a few years ago. It's one of the few surviving vision recordings of Wallace Greenslade of Goons fame.
The Christmas party films started as exactly that - keepsake films of the annual Christmas party held for the families of staff at Alexandra Palace in the 1950s, shot on film by BBC staffers with their own personal cameras. As time went on, they started to make comedy films especially for showing AT the parties, which is where the tradition of famous faces appearing out-of-character in sketches came from. Of course, at first they weren't rude as they were intended for showing in front of families.
I like the idea of the workplace making fun of itself every christmas. Bosses and underlings and shareholders laugh at each other as equals once a year.
Yes those bits were from Kentucky Fried movie. (Remember "The popcorn you are eating has been pissed on - news at 11"). Also it has been said that the white powder was a defect in a certain batch of Memorex 2" video tape that as, it aged, shed a white powder.
The term 'white powder' refers to the white waxy residue that contaminated the 2 inch quadruplex tape path after playing a Memorex tape. This was why the tape path had to be cleaned with colclene and a kimwipe before playing every tape. Any other reference is purely coincidental. BTW the VT editor at 11:16 is Chris Wadsworth, whose name me appears on the end credits of many BBC comedies from mid 70s to present.
I used to get a copy of the X mass VT from a mate at the Doughnut, not many had VCRs so it was fairly safe to put whatever they could get away with. So me being a dutiful son passed the tape to dad who showed it to his Chum. On viewing the tape in full I discovered 'Electric Blue' and 'Linda Lovelace' I cringe at my dads embarrassment .......... Unfortunately like the Princess Ann re edit several other persons were featured in less than flattering light and then the tape got copied at the local Video shops and VT dept were told to stop. The Play School edit was very well done filth, Pan's People didn't get off free and some big name news readers showed their true colours as we could see from Parky. The original tape was on U-matic so no chance of it going out to the public it was the later tapes that were on VHS but they were toned down a bit. What a surprise to see this again you made my day and triggered many snowflakes in the PC brigade.
somr of the outtakes did appear in the Wogan presented "Auntie's Bloomers" TV programme - and later let into Dennis Norden;s It Ill be alright on the night on ITV
Yes you are right, Aunties Bloomers came about in part because the BBC wanted to control the inevitable leaking of VT cock-ups and allow the crews to 'get one back' on the 'talent', who soon learnt they could spoil the recording by immediately saying " Thats one for the "Christmas VT " ITV did the same with IWBAOTN.
The clip with the Thames announcer announcing "a rotten old BBC programme" is from the start of the final episode of the third series of Monty Python's Flying Circus
I worked in local radio during the 80's and the greatest moment in any year was the chance to view 'Merry Christmas VT'. It was a copy of the much anticipated annual collection of bloopers and incredibly entertaining 'in jokes and out-takes', which the public would never see. The tapes were distributed like a secretive and sackable entity. They were definitely not approved by BBC management. One had the feeling that it was illicit to watch one, let alone possess one. Even watching them was sometimes like an operation of the secret service, being broadcast secretly down the line to other BBC radio and tv stations, but mainly distributed on video tapes which somehow made their way to the eager recipients, from persons unknown, in unknown locations within the BBC. One always imagined that the BBC management would say it was a complete misuse of licence payers money, considering the production time spent on these, and the hidden cost of distribution. Moreover it could be seen as sneering at the BBC, in the eyes of the pompous management, which would definitely be seen as a subversive act. Despite all this, Merry Christmas VT was a legend in the world of television broadcasting loved by many 'in the business'.
Looking back at the segment from Playschool, it reminds me of an interview with Brian Can't l believe where he revealed the large doll, 'Humpty' would often be volleyed across the studio like a rugby ball or American football in frustration. Of course, the best of these Christmas tapes has to be the classic Rainbow one!
Love your content bro. You should make a video on the 1991 ITV franchise auction. I've only seen news footage of it but it seems to be full of controversy. Would love to hear about the companies who lost their bids due to "lack of quality". Would be great to see some terrible 80s tv I was too young to experience! Also about how Thames dealt with the situation (no spoilers) All the best!
That whole thing is such a hot mess ... I hope Adam doesn't mind me reccomending another YT TV pres person here but I think Bob the Fish Productions does a very good job of covering the all the ITV regions and how they had to deal with ITV trying to that had to deal with the 1991 franchise auction with their "ITV in the Face" series - but it's def a time investment - because it covers ALL their histories. I think a shorter video on it that isn't several hours long would be good too tho lol I think I recall it was primarilly judged on how much you bid, if you could provide quality programming and another criteria - but unfortunately this led to consortiums that grossly outbid the current franchise holder and ITC went with highest bidder in almost all cases irregardless of how big that region's previous holder was or what they were bringing to the table prior.
We Aussies have some rippers of these all on TH-cam. Example...HSV7 Videotape communicating with GTV9 Videotape and appearing on Hey Hey Its Saturday's Media Watch Press giving a critique on that years Channel 9 promo video. Others include Channel 9 having newsreader Sir Eric Pearce sweeping the floor...Channel 7 sending up Apple Computers at the end of 1987 (and winning an industry award for it!)
14:14 was that Patricia Routledge? I love her! This was great! I'm American and am unfamiliar with some of the people here, but humor is humor, and I found this very funny.😂
Not seen this one, I had a mate that worked at ITN and he gave me several VHS tapes of mainly the ITV regions Xmas entries with just a few BBC sketches. My favourite is possibly the Jim Davidson & Nookie Bear rehearsal or the Richard Wilson's VT Doctor which I have since transferred onto DVD.
"Kentucky fried movie" - you know, the one that preceded one of the most famous comedy movies of all time by the same team, Airplane (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker)
I miss those innocent T.V. and radio days. Now all we have is 24/7 porn, violence, cruelty, blatant lies and obnoxious filth on the interweb. Jimmy Savile was the exception... and maybe Frank Bough, Huw Edwards, Russel Brand, Jonathan Ross, Martin Bashir, Rolf Harris, Chris Denning, Tim Westwood...
Ah, end of year/wrap party tapes are things of legends, scragg ends and cringe. Years ago (as in last century), I had a friend who's mother said she worked for the production crew of Captain Pugwash, according to her they has a silent reel and live reading of a spoof script at the wrap party, it seems some of the infamous names came from that. Though it was the entire voice cast crowded round a couple of hand typed scripts which considering tech of the era, that lack of evidence is hardly surprising. But I'm still not sure if she was just leaning into the already existing rumors or not...
The "infamous names" were made up by Victor Lewis Smith. And the "entire voice cast" of Pugwash was just one man - Peter Hawkins. If your friend's mother had actually worked on the show, you'd think she'd know that...
I preferred Good King Memorex with the song parodies like Rip, Scratch ... He's A Sports PA ... and of course Nice Legs, Shame About The Chroma-phase. All available on TH-cam (unless they've taken it down!)
So what? Aren't people allowed to have a bit of fun whether it be 1978 or 2024? I've seen a few of these over the years. Remember the dirty version of Rainbow by Thames Television? I think ITV or C4 (made by Yorkshire Television but broadcast on C4) was Countdown where Carol Vorderman chose letters and the word "CUNTFLAPS" came out. There's nothing wrong with it. If it was for their eyes only then how did these original clips get into the public domain. Obviously they were leaked by a member of staff which is easier now with everything digitalised including these spoof Christmas videotapes. I myself thought some were absolutely hilarious. Keep calm and have a bit of fun. 😉
I don't watch T.V. I have no T.V. license, no aerial and no interest in any crap that is shown on T.V. I will stick to watching what i want on TH-cam. BBC should be Boycotted
You know it'll be great when the video starts with "BooBC-1"
XD
lol
Where did that come from anyway? Lol.
It's funny today when the usual idiots complain "people are offended easily today", then you see front page news for that harmless princess Anne skit!
It's because people who were younger back then didn't see that stuff. Now with the internet and the violent realisation that the world stretches outside the front door, they get exposed to the idea that only just now people get upset when they're offended. It's amazing how myopic people and how susceptable they are to propaganda because of it. The moment a white man above the age of sixty learnt what the word "woke" means, our society was doomed.
Barely remembered comedy film? That is a claim of extraordinary magnitude!
I remember having quite nasty arguments online a couple of decades ago with people who were utterly adamant that the Rainbow clip had been aired for real and they'd seen it as a child. Sure whatever.
Yeah I had a mate who insisted that was transmitted
Came here to mention that. It was covered on Screenwipe
When I was at secondary school in the 80s, the local youth club held a disco every Friday night, and the DJ - who knew someone who worked in TV - had got hold of a copy of the Rainbow sketch, which he used to show at the end of the night. Quite likely similar things were happening elsewhere around the country, which is where the false memories come from.
This is more entertaining than anything they produce these days!
The Christmas Party tapes and films go back much earlier than the 1970s. A BBC Alexandra Palace Christmas party film from the late 1950s was circulating online a few years ago. It's one of the few surviving vision recordings of Wallace Greenslade of Goons fame.
The Christmas party films started as exactly that - keepsake films of the annual Christmas party held for the families of staff at Alexandra Palace in the 1950s, shot on film by BBC staffers with their own personal cameras. As time went on, they started to make comedy films especially for showing AT the parties, which is where the tradition of famous faces appearing out-of-character in sketches came from. Of course, at first they weren't rude as they were intended for showing in front of families.
Excellent stuff,as always!!
I like the idea of the workplace making fun of itself every christmas. Bosses and underlings and shareholders laugh at each other as equals once a year.
The idea of any fun being allowed in the workplace at all is a novelty now! I'm so glad to have grown up in that era.
It's almost like the Christmas armistice of WW1
Yes those bits were from Kentucky Fried movie. (Remember "The popcorn you are eating has been pissed on - news at 11"). Also it has been said that the white powder was a defect in a certain batch of Memorex 2" video tape that as, it aged, shed a white powder.
The term 'white powder' refers to the white waxy residue that contaminated the 2 inch quadruplex tape path after playing a Memorex tape. This was why the tape path had to be cleaned with colclene and a kimwipe before playing every tape. Any other reference is purely coincidental.
BTW the VT editor at 11:16 is Chris Wadsworth, whose name me appears on the end credits of many BBC comedies from mid 70s to present.
17:22 Frank Bough delivers a hearty farewell while on screen it says WHITE POWDER CHRISTMAS 😂
"WHERE THE HELL'S FRANK?!"
I used to get a copy of the X mass VT from a mate at the Doughnut, not many had VCRs so it was fairly safe to put whatever they could get away with. So me being a dutiful son passed the tape to dad who showed it to his Chum. On viewing the tape in full I discovered 'Electric Blue' and 'Linda Lovelace' I cringe at my dads embarrassment .......... Unfortunately like the Princess Ann re edit several other persons were featured in less than flattering light and then the tape got copied at the local Video shops and VT dept were told to stop.
The Play School edit was very well done filth, Pan's People didn't get off free and some big name news readers showed their true colours as we could see from Parky. The original tape was on U-matic so no chance of it going out to the public it was the later tapes that were on VHS but they were toned down a bit. What a surprise to see this again you made my day and triggered many snowflakes in the PC brigade.
"Yeah, You Never F**king Know The Answer When It's Important."
Man, Tom Baker Really Hated That Robot Dog, Didn't He?
somr of the outtakes did appear in the Wogan presented "Auntie's Bloomers" TV programme - and later let into Dennis Norden;s It Ill be alright on the night on ITV
Yes you are right, Aunties Bloomers came about in part because the BBC wanted to control the inevitable leaking of VT cock-ups and allow the crews to 'get one back' on the 'talent', who soon learnt they could spoil the recording by immediately saying " Thats one for the "Christmas VT " ITV did the same with IWBAOTN.
The clip with the Thames announcer announcing "a rotten old BBC programme" is from the start of the final episode of the third series of Monty Python's Flying Circus
I worked in local radio during the 80's and the greatest moment in any year was the chance to view 'Merry Christmas VT'. It was a copy of the much anticipated annual collection of bloopers and incredibly entertaining 'in jokes and out-takes', which the public would never see. The tapes were distributed like a secretive and sackable entity. They were definitely not approved by BBC management. One had the feeling that it was illicit to watch one, let alone possess one. Even watching them was sometimes like an operation of the secret service, being broadcast secretly down the line to other BBC radio and tv stations, but mainly distributed on video tapes which somehow made their way to the eager recipients, from persons unknown, in unknown locations within the BBC. One always imagined that the BBC management would say it was a complete misuse of licence payers money, considering the production time spent on these, and the hidden cost of distribution. Moreover it could be seen as sneering at the BBC, in the eyes of the pompous management, which would definitely be seen as a subversive act. Despite all this, Merry Christmas VT was a legend in the world of television broadcasting loved by many 'in the business'.
Looking back at the segment from Playschool, it reminds me of an interview with Brian Can't l believe where he revealed the large doll, 'Humpty' would often be volleyed across the studio like a rugby ball or American football in frustration.
Of course, the best of these Christmas tapes has to be the classic Rainbow one!
I remember watching some of these in the Wood Norton Training Centre lecture theatre via Sony U-matic tape and Barco projector.
Love your content bro. You should make a video on the 1991 ITV franchise auction.
I've only seen news footage of it but it seems to be full of controversy.
Would love to hear about the companies who lost their bids due to "lack of quality". Would be great to see some terrible 80s tv I was too young to experience!
Also about how Thames dealt with the situation (no spoilers)
All the best!
That whole thing is such a hot mess ... I hope Adam doesn't mind me reccomending another YT TV pres person here but I think Bob the Fish Productions does a very good job of covering the all the ITV regions and how they had to deal with ITV trying to that had to deal with the 1991 franchise auction with their "ITV in the Face" series - but it's def a time investment - because it covers ALL their histories.
I think a shorter video on it that isn't several hours long would be good too tho lol
I think I recall it was primarilly judged on how much you bid, if you could provide quality programming and another criteria - but unfortunately this led to consortiums that grossly outbid the current franchise holder and ITC went with highest bidder in almost all cases irregardless of how big that region's previous holder was or what they were bringing to the table prior.
In tears over that Goodies clip 🤣
In the tape there's several takes of it and it just gets funnier and funnier 😂😂
I had a feeling that there was something going on between The Doctor and Romana mk1...
We Aussies have some rippers of these all on TH-cam.
Example...HSV7 Videotape communicating with GTV9 Videotape and appearing on Hey Hey Its Saturday's Media Watch Press giving a critique on that years Channel 9 promo video.
Others include Channel 9 having newsreader Sir Eric Pearce sweeping the floor...Channel 7 sending up Apple Computers at the end of 1987 (and winning an industry award for it!)
The 2 main broadcasters in the UK in the 70's, don't you mean the only 2 broadcasters?
There was only BBC1, BBC2 and ITV.
Where's Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis and Stuart Hall? All BBC employees in the 1970s. Maybe they where busy with 'other things'.
Been Randy pervs that’s what they were doing at the time
Euheuheuh I was on these tapes as it happens!
@SirJimmySavileOBEKCSG Jim Fixed it for me!
Now you mention those low lives I don't recall any of them being included in the 1970's X-mass VT.
Here in the U.S., local television stations do these types of videos frequently, not so risqué, but with hard hitting barbs at area political leaders.
Okay, *now* Christmas season can begin.
Let's gooooo! ✨🌲
I wish TV companies would still do silly stuff like this, it's just my kind of humour. 😆
Hilarious clips - if the UK had its own version of Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show this would be it! 🤣
So basically, it was "the Smeg-ups" before the "the Smeg-ups"
14:14 was that Patricia Routledge? I love her!
This was great! I'm American and am unfamiliar with some of the people here, but humor is humor, and I found this very funny.😂
Not seen this one, I had a mate that worked at ITN and he gave me several VHS tapes of mainly the ITV regions Xmas entries with just a few BBC sketches. My favourite is possibly the Jim Davidson & Nookie Bear rehearsal or the Richard Wilson's VT Doctor which I have since transferred onto DVD.
Yes! The infamous Christmas tapes!!!!
10:52 invented the YTP 30 years before youtube even existed lol
"Kentucky fried movie" - you know, the one that preceded one of the most famous comedy movies of all time by the same team, Airplane (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker)
You should put in the description a link to the documentaries you got the interview footage from.
I’ve been around for a good start.
The weather map with nothing on it due to industrial action 😆😆😆👍
Peak comedy 👌
Is there anywhere the entire thing can be found? It would be interesting to watch
Like the ITV one with the cast of Rainbow acting pervy for a Christmas tape lol
The UK is like a person who has been locked away in a mental asylum, and the '70s are when their friends started to notice something was wrong.
So was this broadcast to the general public or just for the staff?
Meant just for staff but got leaked to the public often via bootleg tapes being made and distributed
You weren't really paying attention to the video, were you?
I had a ITV one introduced by Malcolm Brown
Crappy “analog horror” channels would have a field day with this
I've had the 78 and 79 tapes downloaded from UKNova for about 20 years, absolutely classic.
James Bond actor George Lazenby at 4:18. Yes The Kentucky Fried Movie
This isn't scandalous. This is better than much if the stuff on at the time.
Oh, yes the BBC.
I vaguely remember them from a distant past before we had any choice.
Where is the legendary Carol Smillie tape? That's what we want to see!!!
Where’s the clip of a frustrated Sue Lawley turning the air blue, or a dalek saying “Bollocks”?
I believe they are present in different editions! This video mainly covers the first one from 1978
@ I just found the clip of Michael Aspel, the technician and the lurking Daleks!
Bloopers? That’s all a bit cell phones and candy bars… “Outtakes”
These are my kind of BBC Tapes!
I remember you starring in a few Jim!
Did Ricky Gervais model his dance in The Office on the Memorex Cloggers?
channel 9 in australia had great xmas tapes.
Princess Anne wasnt bad looking in her day.
Do you have cataracts?
Didnt Frank Bough leave (TV-AM?) under a white powder cloud
He left both the BBC and later ITV under a cloud, for reasons of reputation relating to young ladies and drugs, both times.
Those clips are, indeed, from the Kentucky Fried Movie. Film at 11.
I just watched carry on camping it was hilarious .
I miss those innocent T.V. and radio days. Now all we have is 24/7 porn, violence, cruelty, blatant lies and obnoxious filth on the interweb. Jimmy Savile was the exception... and maybe Frank Bough, Huw Edwards, Russel Brand, Jonathan Ross, Martin Bashir, Rolf Harris, Chris Denning, Tim Westwood...
Ah yes, The Kentucky Fried Movie. A film featuring the one-time James Bond actor, George Lazenby.
'this building is not safe!'
@@AdamMartyn *proceeds to hit his desk, resulting in debris falling on him*
It never happened to the other fella.
Absolutely brilliant. Such a better, more naive, less cynical. more fun era... We had feck all materially but then materialism wasn't as big a thing.
Check out the TV AM Christmas tapes between 1983-85 Adam.
Nice to see Keir Starmer at 1.55
😂😂😂
Ah, end of year/wrap party tapes are things of legends, scragg ends and cringe. Years ago (as in last century), I had a friend who's mother said she worked for the production crew of Captain Pugwash, according to her they has a silent reel and live reading of a spoof script at the wrap party, it seems some of the infamous names came from that. Though it was the entire voice cast crowded round a couple of hand typed scripts which considering tech of the era, that lack of evidence is hardly surprising. But I'm still not sure if she was just leaning into the already existing rumors or not...
The "infamous names" were made up by Victor Lewis Smith. And the "entire voice cast" of Pugwash was just one man - Peter Hawkins. If your friend's mother had actually worked on the show, you'd think she'd know that...
@@dunebasher1971 Thanks for the pointers, been trying to find the truth in this for decades!
Do you mind not saying nearly 50 years on so casually - I dont need reminding im getting old.
My favorite BBC Xmas tape is "Legs & Co - Nice Legs Shame About The Face - Good King Memorex 12/1979" Classic 😆 (it's on TH-cam under that name)
Because were human it would always happen
But?
Say no more
Just the good news no programs will be shown LMAO and LOL
I preferred Good King Memorex with the song parodies like Rip, Scratch ... He's A Sports PA ... and of course Nice Legs, Shame About The Chroma-phase. All available on TH-cam (unless they've taken it down!)
So what? Aren't people allowed to have a bit of fun whether it be 1978 or 2024? I've seen a few of these over the years. Remember the dirty version of Rainbow by Thames Television? I think ITV or C4 (made by Yorkshire Television but broadcast on C4) was Countdown where Carol Vorderman chose letters and the word "CUNTFLAPS" came out. There's nothing wrong with it. If it was for their eyes only then how did these original clips get into the public domain. Obviously they were leaked by a member of staff which is easier now with everything digitalised including these spoof Christmas videotapes. I myself thought some were absolutely hilarious. Keep calm and have a bit of fun. 😉
BBC
"Good evening. We've got an action-packed evening for you tonight on Thames. But right now, here's a rotten ol' BBC programme." XDDDDDDDDDD
That was actually the cold open for an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which is how the BBC had it on hand.
11:48 Frank Bough's white powder Christmas? Who'd'a thought it. Still, probably much worse could have been shown.
Good King Memorex!
We'll hopefully cover that one soon!
I prefer it to White Powder, a better balance and the songs are amusing too!@@AdamMartyn
When the BBC used to be fun. 😆
Hope Xmas panto season’s going well for you. What panto will you do next year? Aladdin or Cinderella perhaps?
Well the Doncaster one is Cinderella next year! But I'll have to wait for auditions to see if they want me back!
It was never a scandal
My aunts father owned the Nationwide program though he apparently spent 6 months a year in Hong Kong 😁🇬🇧
Hi adam! I have been enjoying your old ident reviews recently
Thanks so much! New one on the way soon 👀
@AdamMartyn can't wait to see it
Best early Christmas present ever.
ehat im i doin here
ITN & Central made some good ones
There should be an AMTV Christmas Tape, I reckon. Who knows what... interesting content is stored in the folders of this channel's hard drive.
I was a young kid in the late 70's TV sucked.
I don't watch T.V. I have no T.V. license, no aerial and no interest in any crap that is shown on T.V. I will stick to watching what i want on TH-cam. BBC should be Boycotted
have a couple of these tapes on betamax from 1980 to 1982 from the bbc and lwt haha
And where did you obtain those? 👀😂
There were a huge number of copies floating around on Sony U-Matic in the corporation as it was the usual format for general viewing.
you should upload them onto the internet archive if you want
Boobie c one 😂
Merry Christmas V T😊
I have all the tapes on DVD-r that I put together in 2004.
never been this early! wowza
I remember watching one confiscated by the regional crime squad many years ago , my mates dad was in it and brought them home after a raid lol
1984 Kevins new job is my favourite of the tapes.
bbc on cocaine?
😂😂😂
I imagine they still go skiing once in a while...❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Its an idea that's not to be sniffed at....
yes Central TV ITV xmas vt has a good one of jim bowens Bullseye
Bullseye's Christmas tape had me laughing a lot.
2024 wallace and gromit christmas i think was good but last year gruffalo ident christmas was better
First.....
ADAM MARTYN PARECE O FAUSTÃO KKKKKKKKkkkkkkkk
wtf?
BACON BONCE CENTRAL