London Weekend Television

We go.

We run back to London Weekend Television on the other side of the bridge.

change go on.

I'm interviewing these kids cut to VT videotape what we say the first bit comes on I cut to VT again and second bit cut to VT there's nothing there at the end of the show I'm taken to the head of the channel and he says you do that again you're fired right and then I realized that I had something

They get security to throw me out, and we run back.

to the channel it's called London Weekend Television I change into the clothes go on air you know I'm talking with those teenagers I go we used to say cut to VT a videotape a pre-existing and this guy is editing these are the days of pneumatic you know you are pressing buttons and rewinding and you know we show the first thing and the kids are like wow that's crazy and then you know I do another little segment with the kids cut to the second bit it's on again it's going great you know they love it and then I cut the third bit there's nothing there The end of the show, the one hour live shows, I get a message that the head of the channel wants to see me.

I go into his office.

He said, you do that again and you're fired.

Yeah, you know, I always think, is it

sort of London Weekend Television? You know, when I think of, or was it Thames Television? Thames Television, yeah.

Sorry, Thames Television, you know, that's my...

That's my memory of Tower Bridge before I was allowed to go down to the Old Smoke.

our front? Not much news this month.

The big one is that ITV's London Weekend Television says it's considering the future of one of its entertainers, Michael Barrymore.

He

was cautioned by

I knew that that was my next pathway as well.

And I think it was a 70s, 80s mania that we did at London Weekend Television.

And it was Lulu.

And he said to me the morning of, as I walked into work, he said, okay, you need to come in.

Playing in UK cinemas was Love Story, the 1970 film by Arthur Hiller with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal, the Vincent Price-starring British horror comedy The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and The Go-Between, directed by Joseph Losey, adapted by Harold Pinter, and starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates.

But the biggest grossing film in Britain that year, well, it was On the Buses, released in August, directed by Harry Booth, and starring the cast from the LWT TV comedy.

There's something about this period, Graham, which just horrifies me, and the On the Buses success is part of that.

Anyway, 1971 predates the compilation of a book sales chart in the UK, but notable releases included, now these are really interesting titles, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, Wheels by Arthur Hailey, and Not After Midnight by Daphne du Maurier.

Um, so at the time, the big hitters were all on ITV, with ATV's adventure series The Persuaders getting 8.45 million homes, Granada's Family At War attracting 8.3 million.

For the Love of Ada with 7.95 million.

LWT's Police Sir spin-off, The Fenn Street Gang, with 7.35 million, and BBC One's Up Pompeii with 6.2 million.

And that was the only BBC show actually regularly in the top 20 this month.

[upbeat music] My special guest today is Nick Phillips, a prolific television director who, as well as 20 hard-hitting episodes of The Bill, his many directing credits include Brookside, Casualty, Coronation Street, EastEnders, and the sitcoms Barbara, Birds of a Feather, Desmond's, Goodnight Sweetheart, and My Family.

[upbeat music] Working in the screen trade since 1968, Nick got his drama directing debut on LWT's The Gentle Touch, the first police procedural with a leading female detective, DI Maggie Forbes, played by the late great Jill Gascoine.

I interviewed Nick last year to capture his memories of working on The Gentle Touch for Best of British Magazine.

Nick shared so much great material that I couldn't squeeze it all into the article, but he very kindly gave his blessing for this extended podcast in which he shares some astonishing stories from his television career as a whole and I hope gives you a real flavor of the role of the director, especially working in multi-camera television alongside some fellow Sun Hill luminaries.

But this was, you, you were watching microsurgery, and it was just amazing.

This was what television could do, or can do.

I don't think LWT gets enough credit for its drama output.

And, and-