Tonight’s Border TV… in 1969 

11 October 2014 tbs.pm/5387

F 19691011 Border

Border Television presentsFrom the TVTimes for Saturday 11 October 1969 comes this run down of what you could be watching. Things worth noting:

  • The TVTimes is going through a period where it lists the programmes briefly in a column and then expands on most – but not all – of them in the main text. It looks odd to modern eyes. It looked odd then too
  • ITV gives an hour and 25 minutes of time to covering the opposition Conservative Party’s conference in Brighton. Granada being Granada, they show an extra 15 minutes of the conference compared to Border
  • Granada deftly jumped into ABC’s shoes when ABC went off to become Thames, taking on the old ABC Armchair Theatre mantle and creating Saturday Night Theatre to make the same sort of one-off modern dramas the nation then enjoyed. Armchair Theatre continued under Thames, but on weekdays, obviously
  • In the opts-out, note that TTT and STV’s lunchtime closedowns have bought them extra time on air at the other end of the day, not going off until 12.30am. Granada and Border, having stayed on at lunchtime, disappear at 11.55pm

You Say

8 responses to this article

Arthur Nibble 11 October 2014 at 11:45 am

I guess Michael Miles moved hosting duties to Southern when Rediffusion (and “Take Your Pick”) bit the dust. To think when I watched “Wheel Of Fortune”, I suffered Nicky Campbell.

I seem to recall “Jokers Wild” as a midweek show, sometimes at lunchtime, in the Thames region. I assume the plethora of Northern comics in the show made it more natural for weekend evening viewing in the borders. I have no idea who Ken Earle is, but I hope Lenny Bennett went down better than when he hosted TSW’s famed first programme.

Ronnie MacLennan Baird 11 October 2014 at 12:23 pm

… and something else worth noting in passing: Dickie Davies was still Richard Davies at this point!

Darren Hayward 15 January 2015 at 11:57 pm

The Chepstow race meeting on World Of Sport was part of They’re off
However ITV did later lose Chepstow to the BBC where it stayed until 2012

Alan Keeling 25 April 2016 at 11:55 pm

Borders US import of the day was the TV version of “Tarzan” starring Ron Ely which had a 2 season run from 1966 to 1968. Among the series’ guest stars, were The Supremes & Chips Rafferty. This series was shown in most, if not all, ITV regions at various times.

Sheila Yalias 24 July 2021 at 3:53 am

Cock of the border. I need to know why I cannot find it. A show that had the had people from the border entertain such as
Betty Whitehead, The Penni Sisters

Sheila Yalias 24 July 2021 at 3:56 am

I am asking you to help find a record of a program called
Cock of the Border circa 1950’s and 1960’s.
I am searching for people who entertained us such as
Betty Whitehead and the Penni Sisters (dancers)

Russ J Graham 24 July 2021 at 2:25 pm

You are very unlikely to find footage of this programme. Sorry. See here for reasons why broadcasters didn’t keep such material, and next steps you can try if they did.

Julie McLaren 22 June 2023 at 9:50 am

Such a shame, my Dad played guitar and sang on that programme in the 60s. Jim Telfer. Would so love to be able to see that footage now.

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