Schedule:Spring 1984
BBC Radio
BBC Radio 4 VHF
MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |||||||||||||
09:00 | |||||||||||||||||
9:05 A Service for Schools | |||||||||||||||||
09:15 | |||||||||||||||||
9:25 Secondary English 11-14Growing Up in the City / Introducing Dickens | |||||||||||||||||
09:30 | |||||||||||||||||
09:45 | |||||||||||||||||
9:55 Movement and Drama 1Theseus / It Could Happen to Us, etc | |||||||||||||||||
10:00 | |||||||||||||||||
10:15 | 10:15 History: Long Ago | 10:15 Women in the 20th Century | |||||||||||||||
10:30 | |||||||||||||||||
10:35 In Your Own Time(Peter Clayton) | |||||||||||||||||
10:45 | 10:45 Hallo! Wie Geht's? | 10:45 The Song Tree(Albert Chatterley) | 10:45 Radio History 14-16Working Class Movements of the 19th Century | 10:45 Radio History 11-14The American West | 10:45 Microtechnology | ||||||||||||
10:55 Something to Think About | |||||||||||||||||
11:00 | 11:00 Music MakersCrossed Circuits | 11:00 Time and TuneRamu and the 100,000 Monkeys | |||||||||||||||
11:05 Singing Together(Blain Fairman) | 11:05 In the News(John Hedges) | 11:05 Music WorkshopWill Wanderers Win? | |||||||||||||||
11:15 | |||||||||||||||||
11:20 Let's Move(Sheelagh Gilbey) | 11:20 Time to Move(Tim Munro) | ||||||||||||||||
11:25 Movement and Drama 2 | |||||||||||||||||
11:30 | 11:30 Wavelength(Andy Peebles) | ||||||||||||||||
11:35 Playtime(Sheelagh Gilbey & Iain Lauchlan) (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
11:40 Johnny Ball's Maths Games | 11:40 Listen and ReadRadio Thin King | ||||||||||||||||
11:45 | 11:45 Contact | ||||||||||||||||
11:50 Poetry Corner | 11:50 See For Yourself | ||||||||||||||||
11:55 Reading Music | |||||||||||||||||
12:00 | |||||||||||||||||
14:00 | 14:00 Playtime(Sheelagh Gilbey & Iain Lauchlan) | 14:00 History: Not So Long AgoThe Twenties & Thirties / Homefront / The Fifties & Sixties | 14:00 The Music Box(Michael Burnett & Sandra Kerr) | 14:00 Living Language(George Layton) | 14:00 NoticeboardPrimary | ||||||||||||
14:05 Let's Join In | |||||||||||||||||
14:15 | 14:15 Introducing ScienceSpace and the Stars / Frameworks and Bridges / Human Biology | 14:15 Introducing Geography | |||||||||||||||
14:20 Technology 10-13The Bicycle Programmes | 14:20 Introducing Science ExtraJunior | 14:20 Radio GeographyOur Changing World | |||||||||||||||
14:25 Sounds, Words and MovementThe Story of Nor'wester / Adventures in Outer Space, etc | |||||||||||||||||
14:30 | |||||||||||||||||
14:35 NoticeboardSecondary | 14:35 Pictures in Your MindPoetry/Music | ||||||||||||||||
14:40 Listening to MusicMusic Projects | 14:40 Pictures in Your MindStories | 14:40 Quest | 14:40 Religious Education | ||||||||||||||
14:45 | 14:45 Nature | ||||||||||||||||
15:00 |
BBC Radio Ulster VHF
Explorations II: Secondary English was broadcast at 10:20-10:40am on Thursdays. I don't know the details of any other transmissions this term. Today and Yesterday in Northern Ireland must have been shown at some point.
BBC Radio Cymru VHF
I don't know very many details of the programmes shown this term, but I do know when they were broadcast:
DYDD LLUN
11:10-11:30 13:30-15:25 |
DYDD MAWRTH
10:55-11:30 13:30-16:00, including: 15:05-15:25 Anglo-Welsh Writing |
DYDD MERCHER
11:10-11:30 13:30-15:47 |
DYDD IAU
10:50-11:00 13:30-13:40 |
DYDD GWENER
11:10-11:30 |
BBC Radio Scotland VHF
The following list of variations may not be complete...
DILUAIN
as England except: 11:40 a Gaelic-language programme in north & north-west Scotland. |
DIMÀIRT
as England except: 14:20-14:40 Chapbook 14:00-14:20 Scottish Projects |
DICAIDAIN
as England except: 11:45-12:00 a Gaelic-language programme in north & north-west Scotland. |
DIARDAOIN
as England except: 10:15-10:35 some programme 9:05-9:25 A Scottish Religious Service |
DIHAOINE
as England? |
Schools Night-time Broadcasting
Programmes for secondary schools broadcast at 12:30-1:10am each weeknight (so on the night of Monday to Tuesday, up to the night of Friday to Saturday) on Radio 4, Radio Ulster, Radio Scotland and Radio Cymru. According to newspaper listings Radio Cymru had a extra hour of schools night-time broadcasting on Thursdays at 11:30pm-12:30am, presumably for Welsh-language programmes. This slot was specially designed for recording, it was 40 minutes long as this was felt to be the longest time that could "safely" be recorded on one side of a C90 (90 minute) audio cassette.
WEEK 1w/c 16 Jan '84 | WEEK 2w/c 23 Jan '84 | WEEK 3w/c 30 Jan '84 | WEEK 4w/c 6 Feb '84 | WEEK 5w/c 13 Feb '84 | |||||||||||||
00:30 | 00:30 Books, Plays, PoemsHenry IV Part 1 / Contemporary Poetry | 00:30 Books, Plays, PoemsHenry IV Part 1 / Contemporary Poetry | 00:30 Books, Plays, PoemsContemporary Poetry / The Plays of Tom Stoppard | 00:30 Voix de France | 00:30 Deutsch für die Oberstufe | ||||||||||||
00:45 | 00:45 Business Matters | ||||||||||||||||
00:55 English For Examinations: CommunicationAre You Receiving Me? | 00:55 English For Examinations: CommunicationAre You Receiving Me? | ||||||||||||||||
01:00 | |||||||||||||||||
01:15 |
WEEK 6w/c 27 Feb '84 | WEEK 7w/c 5 Mar '84 | WEEK 8w/c 12 Mar '84 | WEEK 9w/c 19 Mar '84 | WEEK 10w/c 26 Mar '84 | |||||||||||||
00:30 | 00:30 General Studies: RadioYou and the Law | 00:30 Choices | 00:30 Lifetime | 00:30 Teenage Plays | 00:30 Electronics and Microelectronics | 00:30 Business Matters | 00:30 (various programmes)"Programmes affected by transmitter breakdown earlier in the term may be re-broadcast if necessary" | ||||||||||
00:45 | |||||||||||||||||
01:00 | |||||||||||||||||
01:15 |
BBC Radio Scotland broadcast two different series - Talking Points and It's Hard Work in week 6, instead of the programmes from England.
Notes & New Programmes
Programmes ran from Monday 16th January to Friday 30th March 1984. Most series were repeated for half-term in the week beginning 20th February, including night-time broadcasting which had Deutsch für die Oberstufe in those weeks. However there was a new episode of Wavelength that week, the teenage magazine programme presented by Andy Peebles, and of the topical series In the News.
There were two brand new radio series this term: Choices, about choice of courses in secondary schools and colleges, and English for Examinations: Communication - both part of the night-time broadcasting schedule.
According to BBC (1983) Technology 10-13: The Bicycle Programmes had been intended for transmission in the autumn and Technology 9-12: Ideas Into Action had been intended for the spring. Evidently they swapped term for actual broadcast.
The children's programme Listening Corner was broadcast at 1:55-2:00pm on weekdays on Radio 4 VHF. Later in the 1980s (for example in autumn 1988) it would be extended to 10 minutes during the school term, but for this term it was the same 5-minute children's programme as was broadcast throughout the year on Radio 4VHF, so it is not included in the grids.
BBC Television
BBC2 England
Educational programmes in England billed as "Daytime on Two".
MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |||||||||||||
08:45 | |||||||||||||||||
8:55 Orchestra | |||||||||||||||||
09:00 | |||||||||||||||||
9:10 A Good Job with Prospects | 9:09 Unter Uns | 9:10 Technical Studies | 9:08 Science Topics (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
09:15 | 9:15 Encounter: Spain | 9:15 Encounter: Germany | |||||||||||||||
9:26 Maths Counts | 9:26 Twentieth Century History (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
09:30 | |||||||||||||||||
9:33 Descubra España | 9:33 Treffpunkt: Deutschland | 9:35 Maths-in-a-Box | 9:35 Everyday Science (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
9:38 Going to Work | 9:38 Science Workshop | ||||||||||||||||
09:45 | |||||||||||||||||
9:48 Mathscore One | 9:48 Mathscore Two (rpt) | 9:52 Talkabout (rpt) | 9:52 Look and ReadThe Boy From Space (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
10:00 | 10:00 You and MeCosmo & Dibs | 10:00 You and MeCosmo & Dibs | |||||||||||||||
10:10 Look and ReadThe Boy From Space | 10:12 Science Workshop (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
10:15 | 10:15 Music TimeThe Sleeping Beauty | 10:15 Maths File | 10:15 Maths Counts (rpt) | 10:15 Mathscore Two | 10:15 Mathscore One (rpt) | ||||||||||||
10:30 | |||||||||||||||||
10:35 Japan: The Crowded Islands | 10:35 Geography CasebookBritain | 10:34 Scene | |||||||||||||||
10:38 Twentieth Century History | 10:38 British Social HistoryThe Cholera's Coming / (rpt) | 10:38 Maths Topics | 10:38 Home Economics | 10:38 Exploring Science | |||||||||||||
10:45 | |||||||||||||||||
11:00 | 11:00 Zig ZagSpace, etc | 11:00 WatchThe Body / Homes, etc | 11:00 Words and PicturesVicky Ireland (rpt) | 11:00 Look, Look and Look Again | 11:00 The History Trail (rpt) | ||||||||||||
11:05 Near and Far | 11:05 Maths-in-a-Box (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
11:15 | 11:17 WalrusWhat's It Gonna Be? | 11:17 Brazil | 11:17 The Music Arcade (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
11:22 Geography 11-13 | 11:22 Religious and Moral Education 11-13 | ||||||||||||||||
11:23 Talkabout | |||||||||||||||||
11:30 | 11:30 Home GroundCountry Crafts of Wales | 11:30 OutlookGreat Archaeological Mysteries | |||||||||||||||
11:42 General StudiesThe EEC / Genetics & Society / Music | 11:40 English 11-13 | 11:40 History 11-13The Middle Ages (rpt) | 11:39 General StudiesThe EEC / Genetics & Society / Music (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
11:45 | 11:44 Going to Work (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
11:55 Better Badminton | 11:55 Play Tennis | ||||||||||||||||
12:00 | 12:00 The Effective Manager | ||||||||||||||||
12:03 Bellamy's New World | 12:05 Buongiorno Italia! | 12:05 The Computer ProgrammeMaking the Most of the Micro (rpt) | |||||||||||||||
12:10 Hold Down a Chord | |||||||||||||||||
12:15 | |||||||||||||||||
12:20 Visions of Change | 12:20 Inside Women's Magazines | ||||||||||||||||
12:25 Plants in Action | |||||||||||||||||
12:30 | 12:30 Mathematical Thinking | 12:30 Honourable Members | 12:30 Micros in the Classroom | 12:30 Computers in Control | |||||||||||||
12:35 Inside Japan | |||||||||||||||||
12:45 | 12:45 Write Away | ||||||||||||||||
12:50 The Unemployment Industry (rpt of BBC1) | 12:50 Inside YTS | ||||||||||||||||
12:55 Thinking in Action | 12:55 Languages for Life | 12:55 Speak For Yourself | |||||||||||||||
13:00 | |||||||||||||||||
13:05 Maths Help | |||||||||||||||||
13:10 A Good Job with Prospects (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
13:15 | |||||||||||||||||
13:20 Encounter France | 13:20 Encounter Italy | 13:19 Science Topics | 13:21 Rendez-vous France | 13:21 Appuntamento in Italia | |||||||||||||
13:30 | |||||||||||||||||
13:36 Let's SeeWeather / The Sea (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
13:38 Politics in Action | 13:38 Scotland This Century | 13:40 Let's SeeWeather / The Sea | 13:38 Around ScotlandThe River Tay / Forestry, etc | 13:38 Around ScotlandThe River Tay / Forestry, etc (rpt) | |||||||||||||
13:45 | |||||||||||||||||
14:00 | 14:01 Words and PicturesVicky Ireland | 14:00 You and MeCosmo & Dibs | 14:01 WatchThe Body / Homes, etc (rpt) | 14:00 You and MeCosmo & Dibs | 14:01 Scene (rpt) | ||||||||||||
14:15 | 14:15 British Social HistoryThe Cholera's Coming / | 14:15 Near and Far (rpt) | 14:15 Music TimeThe Sleeping Beauty (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
14:18 The History Trail | 14:18 Exploring Science (rpt) | 14:18 History 11-13The Middle Ages | 14:18 English 11-13 (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
14:30 | 14:30 English FileDrama Skills / Media Studies / Language in Action | ||||||||||||||||
14:40 The Music Arcade | 14:40 Look, Look and Look Again (rpt) | 14:40 Zig ZagSpace, etc (rpt) | 14:40 Everyday Science | 14:40 WalrusWhat's It Gonna Be? (rpt) | |||||||||||||
14:45 | |||||||||||||||||
15:00 |
BBC2 Northern Ireland
MONDAY
as England. |
TUESDAY
as England except: 10:35-10:55 Ulster in Focus (rpt) (fortnightly) |
WEDNESDAY
as England. |
THURSDAY
as England except: 11:30-11:50 Ulster in Focus (fortnightly) |
FRIDAY
as England. |
BBC2 Scotland
Around Scotland on Thursdays and Fridays, and Scotland This Century on Mondays were intended to be transmitted only in Scotland, but "for technical reasons" they were available "on some network transmitters" and they are included in the grid above[1].
BBC2 Wales
MONDAY
as England. |
TUESDAY
as England except: 14:15-14:35 Outlook (fortnightly) |
WEDNESDAY
as England. |
THURSDAY
as England. (but excluding Around Scotland. Outlook is a repeat) |
FRIDAY
as England except: 9:30-9:50 Home Ground (rpt) (fortnightly) (and excluding Around Scotland) |
Notes & New Programmes
Programmes ran from Monday 16th January to Friday 30th March 1984. Programmes from the previous week were repeated for half term in the week beginning 20th February 1984, including all the continuing / adult education programmes at lunchtimes, but as usual not including the young children's series You and Me.
On Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd April many schools programmes were repeated "for viewers who were unable to receive them when the Mendip transmitter was closed between 6-9 March"[2].
Exploring Science and Look, Look and Look Again were both fortnightly series, but in their timeslots on Fridays at 10:38am and Tuesdays at 2:40pm respectively they did not alternate with any other programmes. So every other week, when the programmes were not on, the BBC broadcast Pages from Ceefax in those timeslots instead.
New series this term included English 11-13 for secondary schools, and Bellamy's New World (originally billed as Bellamy's America) & Computers in Control (originally billed as Computers for Control) for continuing education. English File, Maths Counts and Outlook all began in the autumn term 1983 and continued this term.
Independent Television
Thames Television
MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |||||||||||||
09:30 | 9:30 Picture Box | 9:30 1.. 2.. 3.. Go! | 9:30 Middle English | 9:30 Stop Look ListenChris Tarrant, Series B (rpt) | 9:30 Your Living Body (rpt) | ||||||||||||
9:42 Starting Science (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
09:45 | 9:45 Let's Read with Basil Brush | 9:45 InsightVictoria Wood | 9:47 Alive and Kicking | 9:47 How We Used to Live1936-1953 (rpt) | |||||||||||||
10:00 | 9:59 Stop Look ListenChris Tarrant, Series A | 9:59 1.. 2.. 3.. Go! (rpt) | |||||||||||||||
10:04 My World | 10:04 Seeing and Doing (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
10:11 Basic Maths | 10:11 Alive and Kicking (rpt) | 10:09 Good Health | 10:09 Ways with Words | ||||||||||||||
10:15 | |||||||||||||||||
10:21 The German ProgrammeWie Sagt Man...? / Partner | 10:21 The English ProgrammeNew TV Dramas / Language 2 (rpt) | ||||||||||||||||
10:26 InsightVictoria Wood & Worm-word (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
10:30 | 10:31 The English ProgrammeNew TV Dramas / Language 2 | 10:28 People and Politics | |||||||||||||||
10:45 | 10:43 Evolution | 10:43 Making a LivingUnderstanding the Economy / Out of Work | |||||||||||||||
10:48 History in Action | 10:50 Your Living Body | ||||||||||||||||
11:00 | 11:00 Documentary Re-run | ||||||||||||||||
11:05 Middle English (rpt) | |||||||||||||||||
11:08 Good Health | 11:08 Ways with Words | 11:10 Stop Look ListenChris Tarrant, Series A (rpt) | 11:08 Let's Read with Basil Brush (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
11:15 | |||||||||||||||||
11:22 Starting Science | 11:22 Basic Maths (rpt) | 11:22 My World (rpt) | 11:22 Picture Box (rpt) | ||||||||||||||
11:25 Stop Look ListenChris Tarrant, Series B | |||||||||||||||||
11:30 | |||||||||||||||||
11:41 Seeing and Doing | 11:38 1984 | 11:38 The French ProgrammeAction-télé! Year 3 | 11:39 How We Used to Live1936-1953 | 11:39 The German ProgrammeWie Sagt Man...? / Partner (rpt) | 11:39 History in Action (rpt) | ||||||||||||
11:45 | |||||||||||||||||
12:00 |
Regional Variations
The schedule for Central Television in the Midlands was identical to the Thames schedule shown above. In fact most of the schedule was common to all regions, only Thames's The English Programme, Middle English & Seeing and Doing, and Granada's History in Action, were replaced entirely in some areas (repeats of other programmes may also have been replaced, but they were all shown at least once throughout the country).
The following are the programmes which replaced them, but I don't know on which days & times these programmes were shown...
- About Wales, on HTV only, fortnightly.
- Here and Now, on Grampian Television only.
- Hop, Skip and Jump, on Ulster Television only.
- Living and Growing, on Grampian Television and some other stations.
- Pieces of Eight, on Ulster Television only.
- Survival, on Anglia Television only.
- Time to Think, on Scottish Television only.
- Ulster Landscapes, on Ulster Television only.
If you have any more details about these programmes please get in touch by email.
Hop, Skip and Jump - the Ulster Television topics series for 6- and 7-year olds which began in 1978 - was unrelated to the BBC schools radio series of the same name - a movement series for 5- to 7-year-olds produced in Scotland - which began in 1994.
S4C
All Welsh-language programmes produced by the BBC and ITV were screened on the Welsh fourth channel.
MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | |||||||||||||
14:00 | 14:00 Ffenestri | 14:00 Hwnt ac Yma | 14:00 Beth, Sut, Pam, Pryd a Ble? | 14:00 Hwnt ac Yma (rpt) | 14:00 Ffenestri (rpt) | ||||||||||||
14:15 | |||||||||||||||||
14:30 | |||||||||||||||||
14:35 Daearyddiaeth | 14:35 Y Ganrif Hom | 14:35 Hyn o Fyd | 14:35 Beth, Sut, Pam, Pryd a Ble? (rpt) | 14:35 Hyn o Fyd (rpt) | |||||||||||||
14:45 | |||||||||||||||||
15:00 |
Young children's programmes were shown at 2:20pm between the schools programmes, including Nodi (Noddy), Stori Sbri and the long-running Ffalabalam.
Sources & References
- BBC (1983) BBC TV & Radio for Schools and Colleges for Age 11-19 Annual Programme 1983-84. London: BBC
- IBA (1984) Independent Broadcasting Authority Annual Report and Accounts 1983-84. London: IBA
- The Guardian television & radio listings, 1984
- Radio Times television & radio listings, 1984
- The Times television listings, 1984 via The Times Digital Archive
- TV Times (Central Edition) TV listings, 1984
- TV Times (Thames Edition) TV listings, 1984, via TV Times Project database
- ↑ "For technical reasons this series will also be available on some network transmitters," according to BBC (1983) p.24, regarding Around Scotland. There was no such note for Scotland This Century which was identified as "Scotland only", but both Around Scotland and Scotland This Century were included in Radio Times and newspaper listings for England.
- ↑ "The following schools programmes are being transmitted for viewers who were unable to receive them when the Mendip transmitter was closed between 6-9 March" according to Radio Times listings.
Subjects key
Different colours indicate different school subjects.