TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

Hosted by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart, the host of Radio One's Junior Choice, and an occasional host for Top Of The Pops in the late sixties before becoming more of a regular in the seventies.

He began his TV career as host of Rediffusion's quiz show Exit - It’s The Way Out Show in September 1967, before moving onto another quiz show, setting pop questions for BBC1's The Moon Clue Game in 1968. It was about this time that he and four other Radio One DJ's (Kenny Everett - Tony Brandon - Jimmy Young and Tony Blackburn) signed to the newly created (and short lived) UK branch of MGM Records, releasing a cover of The Idle Race's I Like My Toys. He then hosted ITV's kid's talent show Anything You Can Do from April 1969, before turning his hand to football commentating for a one-off appearance on Sportsnight with Coleman in May 1969.

Trading on his nickname 'Stewpot' he signed with London Weekend in the summer of 1970 to host a tea time show for kids which would run for seven months, albeit with a break after the first series to host Ed And Zed for the BBC. London Weekend claimed “It’s obviously orientated towards children. And Ed will visit youth clubs and hospitals collecting record requests and favourite film clips."

Bands would appear live, playing to an audience of young kids. There was also a Blue Peter aspect to the show where the host would get involved in stunts which was odd for a weekend show, but it proved successful enough to run into the new year, despite TV Times claiming it would be a ten week run. The 1971 shows seemed to have replaced Kenny Everett's show Ev, possibly at short notice. The show was never given much attention by TV Times, nor was it completely networked by ITV. Maybe if the show had run on a Saturday morning it would have been better received. Over its run it played host to The Tremeloes, Edison Lighthouse, Julie Felix, Magna Carta, Joe Brown and many others.

A complete 2 inch black and white VT copy of the 19th September 1970 show with The Tremeloes was given to TV archivists Kaleidoscope by BBC TV producer Steve Turner in late 2020.

STEWPOT

London Weekend

11th July 1970 - 3rd October 1970

26th December 1970 - 20th February 1971