TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999


Home Shows A to Z Diary 1950s to 1990s Articles Credits & Links


I must have missed that…

Unseen pilots / Un-commissioned shows

A December 1966 report in The Times claimed that at that time British television spent £250,000 a year on projects and programmes that never get shown.

1950s

GETTING SENTIMENTAL OVER YOU Associated Rediffusion January 1956. Singer Denny Dennis will be accompanied by a quartet. The first series of six might be extended with an option on a further seven. Each show would be fifteen minutes and broadcast late at night.

SATURDAY HOP ATV 1958. On March 23rd 1958 ATV recorded a pilot for this new show, featuring three comperes, Jack Jackson, Teddy Johnson and David Jacobs. The King Brothers, Marty Wilde and The Most Brothers participate. A tele-recording was made for executives at ATV to make a decision. The decision was "no".

ENTERTAINMENT QUIZ BBC 1958 On July 6th the BBC were to broadcast the first edition of this quiz which featured musical acts on the panel. Producer Arthur Lane talking to Disc magazine in May said "will be a marriage of a variety programme and a quiz show". Bill Owen and Barbara Roscoe were to be the hosts and Shirley Eaton, Marion Keene and Teddy Johnson as panel members.

SAM COSTA AND PETE MURRAY ABC September 1958. A series Sam and Pete was due to debut the same day as Oh Boy! both to be produced by Jack Good. However the two DJs were not entirely aware of the show's existence. Having given a start date of 13th September by the ABC press office, they backtracked the following week and stated in another press release "Sam and Pete has been deferred until the beginning of next month when it will reappear with the same format. Mr Murray, however, will not be participating." Disc magazine quoted a representative of Pete Murray saying "Mr Murray states that he at no time agreed to do a series under the title 'Sam and Pete'."

GUITAR CLUB BBC January 1959. A pilot edition of the popular Light Programme radio show was filmed, featuring Steve Benbow, The Diz Disley String Quartet, Bob Cort, Dorita and Pepe and classical guitarist Heather Larson.

MALCOLM VAUGHAN 1959. In March 1959 the comedy/singing duo of Vaughan and Earle record a pilot show.

JAZZ BRITAIN ABC March 1959. It was announced in Melody Maker in late January 1959 that a Dick Lester produced series will begin, although Jazz Britain was just a tentative title. A spokesman for ABC said "We plan to feature the top jazz attractions in the country. It will be just jazz - no pop stars." It would be a late night show, broadcast fortnightly. The first show would have had Johnny Dankworth, Alex Welsh, The Jazz Couriers, Dizzy Reece and guest Ella Fitzgerald. It wasn't broadcast due to studio space demands according to an ABC spokesman who also said "We definitely plan such a show. We have no further comment." Dick Lester also spoke to MM "I trust the show will go ahead. The studio is the only stumbling block. I was delighted to find ABC-TV so whole heartedly behind the idea." Sam Wannamaker was to be the show's MC.

The above is probably the same as…

CRESCENDO ABC 1959. Richard Lester was to produce a jazz show once a month from September at 11.15 pm. Despite the American talent the show tried to book like Ella Fitzgerald and June Christy they would have UK backing musicians. The show was originally planned for March 1959 with Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Dankworth, Alex Welsh and The Jazz Couriers, with Sam Wannamaker acting as host. Lack of studio space was given as the reason for its cancellation then. Talking about the autumn 1959 version of the show Ron Rowson of ABC told Melody Maker said "We shall be using all types of British jazz groups - traditional, mainstream and progressive."

UNTITLED PLAY ATV 1959. A play specially written for Adam Faith by Ian Dallas was due for broadcast before Christmas 1959, but later delayed until March 1960.

UNKNOWN BBC 1959. It had been the idea of Juke Box Jury producer Russell Turner to have a show present an LP with accompanying visuals. The show would debut in the autumn of 1959. Juke Box Jury had been launched in the summer and it was producer Turner's idea to present something similar for albums, using the album's "visual image", akin to Disney's Fantasia. This certainly pre-dates Disco 2 / The Old Grey Whistle Test's visual accompaniment to album tracks concept.

PAUL ROBESON ATV October 5th 1959 onwards. A series of shows featuring the singer. For the first he will be backed by Johnny Dankworth and his orchestra. Robeson and Dankworth will discuss jazz and will round off the show with When The Saints Go Marching In.

1960s

HAVE JAZZ WILL TRAVEL Associated Rediffusion 1960. Dick Lester would direct a series of 26 or 39 episodes, each thirty minute show will feature two bands, one traditional and one modern. The show was due to go into production in June 1960, visiting major European cities shooting in Copenhagen, two shows in Paris, two shows in London, Moscow, two shows in Stockholm, two in Rome and one in Warsaw. Steve Race would be the musical director. The first session featured Chris Barber and Joe Harriott, both live at The Marquee Club in London. Each programme would also shoot film in the local area. The series was an independent production for Ron Rowan Associates.

DAD YOU’RE A SQUARE ATV, 1960. This father versus child Juke Box Jury style show was made as a pilot, featuring actor Bill Owen (later to star in The Last of the Summer Wine) as the host. The pilot still exists and probably served as a template for a later show made by Southern.

TRIBUTE TO LIONEL BART c.June or July 1960. Bart will be starring in his own TV special. Cliff Richard will perform ‘Livin' Doll’, Frankie Vaughan ‘Heart of a Man’, Max Bygraves ‘Fings Ain't What They Used To Be’.

THE TEEN AND TWENTY CLUB BBC late 1961. The show, named after Jimmy Savile's Teen and Twenties Disc Club on Radio Luxembourg, was produced by Barney Colehan and hosted by Savile. A pilot was recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience of 250 in Manchester and was considered successful, but in order for to be commissioned it was shown to BBC executives in London on 12th January 1962. The pilot had no musical guests, just Savile playing the latest releases with emphasis on the Twist, but if the show was to be commissioned then a guest star would appear each week and make a record especially for a competition winner.

THE BIG CHANCE ATV October 1961. A talent show produced by Jack Good and directed by Rita Gillespie. Good will choose his favourite act that week and they will return two weeks' later after they've been through talent training by Good. The Aberdeen Evening Express announced that a new Good series, potentially titled The Big Chance was to be considered by ITV. Pilot shows had been made with Good working alongside his old director Rita Gillespie, choreographer Leslie Copper and scriptwriter Trevor Peacock. Talking to the paper Good said "For 'The Big Chance' I'll have to travel. You can't be happy about either people sifting the wheat from the chaff. There must be personal assessment of any youngster because you alone may detect the vital spark. Once we found talent in coffee bars, but it is everywhere for the earnest seeker." He also claimed that he wouldn't act as an agent "My 'discoveries' will be free to pick their own. Certainly I shan't 'represent' them. Nobody could be more un-business-like."

TOMMY STEELE ATV Christmas 1961. A projected Christmas TV special had been cancelled due to a dispute between the station and Equity.

QUILLOW AND THE GIANT BBC Christmas 1961. According to a Melody Maker report American songwriter Ralph Blaine will be writing a Christmas special for BBC TV, starring Jeannie Carson and Bill McGuire. It will contain ten songs.

THE GRAM GAME BBC January 1962. Barney Colehan produces the pilot for this Pop Quiz type game devised by DJ and guitarist Ken Skyora, who will also act as question master. The teams consisted of Jimmy Savile, Brian Mathew and Neal Arden versus Carole Carr, Steve Race and Jimmy Young. It will be played to BBC executives in London who will make the decision as to whether it will be commissioned.

BEAT THE RECORD ABC, c.March 1962. The show to be hosted by Jimmy Savile would see a panel of celebrities phone contestants at the their homes and challenge them to identify a hit song.

POP WORLD Associated-Rediffusion, May 1962. The NME reports on a pilot for a new show, Pop World, produced by Daphne Shadwell, to be recorded 25th May 1962. Hosted by Wally Whyton and Paddy Roberts they will interview pop stars and feature new discs.

DOROTHY PROVINE ATV June 1962. The Hollywood star was due to record an ATV special, but an attack of laryngitis meant that she had to cancel. The Kaye Sisters, Joe Henderson and Pete Murray who were due to guest on the show would now be given their own special.

THE SECRET KEEPERS Rediffusion, September 1962. Alma Cogan and Jess Conrad record the pilot episode of The Secret Keepers, a comedy about a lazy detective. There would be no singing for either of them in the show. The show was produced by Kenneth Hume, husband and manager of Shirley Bassey and the show would feature other guests comedians including Frankie Howerd. Shirley Bassey also appeared in the pilot as a street singer performing As Long As He Needs Me. Hume told the NME in October 1962 "We are, as yet undecided as to whether The Secret Keepers will be released to cinemas through the country or to be the first of a television series."

UNKNOWN TITLE Possibly BBC, November 1962. A pilot for a new Saturday evening pop show was recorded 1st November 1962 with guest Bobby Vee.

UNKNOWN TITLE Late 1962. A series of thirty minute shows featuring cartoon characters miming to pop hits was being developed in mid-1962 in London, according to the NME. A pilot version was shown to TV executives at the Granville Theatre in London in June 1962.

MEL, MATT & ROSIE ITV April 1963. While in the UK for cabaret and other appearances Mel Torme will co-star in a show with Matt Monro and Rosemary Squires.

STEP LIGHTLY Associated-Rediffusion May 1963. A pilot for a new dance show starring Theresa Confrey and Patrick Kerr was shot.

RUSS CONWAY ABC, Summer 1963. It was announced in March 1963 that pianist Conway was to star and host his own pop show for ABC-TV in the summer. However, due to live commitments the series was cancelled.

THE ROLLING STONES BBC, Cops And Robbers. December 1963.This play would have featured The Rolling Stones, reportedly in acting roles.

ALIENATION OF THE YOUNG BBC January 1964. A forty-five minute sequel to BBC's Mersey Sound documentary covering the rest of the country was planned. Filming of Dave Berry at The Esquire Club, Sheffield took place on 26th November 1963.

KATHY KIRBY Associated Rediffusion 1964. The series would begin recording on her return from holiday, late February. Her series actually gets made for the BBC.

CHUCK BERRY Granada 1964. Due to record a TV special for Granada on June 1st. It was mentioned in the NME in early 1965, but again it was cancelled.

CLUB CARIBBEAN BBC1 July 1964. It was the idea by the BBC to promote Blue Beat and Ska with a weekly show.

BRENDA LEE Granada August 1964. Johnny Hamp was to produce a 45 minute special, starring Lee for showing in November.

THE HOLLIES BBC1 Muffin The Mule, January 1965. A report in Melody Maker in October 1964 "THE HOLLIES have been booked to accompany BBC TV’s “Muffin the Mule” programme for five weeks after their Christmas show with Gerry and the Pacemakers, They start sometime in January and will be the first modern group to be featured in the show, for which Eric Haydock has written a special number called “Clippity Clap”."

BRIAN EPSTEIN BBC, Ten Years Of Pop (1955 - 1965) 1965.The Beatles' manager was to host the three part history of pop.

MATT MONRO March 1965. Singer Monro and Roy Castle film a pilot TV show in colour according to Alley Cat in the NME.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE BBC1, April 1965. Allegedly Ringo Starr was lined up to be the target of one show, but his mother refused to appear on it, so the idea was scrapped.

UNCLE CHARLES Rediffusion April 1965. The Man And The Machine, an episode of this drama, recorded, but un-transmitted at the time, featured a mock pop group, The Humans, actually made up of robots.

BOB DYLAN Granada, 13th May 1965. Johnny Hamp was due to record a concert special, but the job eventually went to the BBC. The next report in Disc mentioned that he invited John Mayall's Bluesbreakers onto the show, possibly as a result of seeing them on Five O'Clock Club as seen in the movie Don't Look Back. In the movie Don't Look Back Albert Grossman's UK representative Tito Burns is asking for £1200 to £1300 for each of two shows.

DISCOTEC ITV, September 1965. A pilot for this weekly thirty minute pop show was made and is widely in circulation. Hosted by Radio Caroline DJ Simon Dee who introduces the musical acts and New Musical Express’ Andy Gray who discuses the current pop scene with Gene Pitney and Manfred Mann in the studio. Newly shot performance clips of P J Proby, The Kinks (See My Friends), The Walker Brothers (Make It Easy On Yourself), and Sandie Shaw (Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself) are included.

FRANCOISE HARDY Rediffusion late 1965. An independently made thirty minute documentary about the French singer was was due be shown by Rediffusion. Also appearing in the show were Eric Burdon, Georgie Fame and Cathy McGowan. Shot shot in France and at her shows at the Savoy in London the show was produced by John Endcrombe and directed by Georges Robin.

THE BARON ATV, October 1965. Apparently The Rolling Stones and Cilla Black had agreed to appear in the show.

UNKNOWN TITLE Rediffusion October 1965. Rediffusion announce tentative plans to present a Desert Island Discs style show in which celebrities choose their favourite music, while appropriate graphics are shown on a background screen.

UNKNOWN TITLE Granada 31st December 1965. Following their Burt Bacharach special Granada prepare another two shows dedicated to songwriters. The Music of Lennon and McCartney will be broadcast, while another show about songwriters and their songs will feature performances from Sonny & Cher, The Ivy League, Burt Bacharach and Graham Gouldman. The songwriters would introduce their songs one sung themselves and another sung by someone else. Johnny Hamp envisaged that the show would be broadcast from 9.30 pm on New Year's Eve before the Ready Steady Go special. Invites had also gone out to Lennon & McCartney, Bob Dylan, Chris Andrews, Tony Hatch among others.

BEATWAVE Border January 1966. The one-off show in September might become a six-part series with The Marionettes (featuring Katie Kissoon) booked.

TONY HATCH Granada February 1966. Granada producer Johnny Hamp announces that the next songwriter special after the Burt Bacharach and Lennon & McCartney shows is likely to by Tony Hatch.

UNIT 4 + 2 Southern 1966. A six part pop show to be made with Unit 4+2 as resident group with guests. In a Record Mirror report in May 1966 the show now looked to be a eight to ten week run with female singers guesting each week, with the show beginning its run in August 1966. Tommy Moeller of Unit Four + Two would go on to write the theme for Southern's A Tale Of Two Rivers series in 1966 for showing in 1967/8.

KATHY KIRBY SINGS Rediffusion 1966. Kathy Kirby had signed on to make a series of thirteen half-hour shows, with David Jacobs as the host. However, a Rediffusion spokesman said in August 1966 that the show had been suspended because of a disagreement over the format. Kirby's manager Bert Ambrose claimed that Kirby had "a certain image with the families" and that this format might not suit that image. Instead, the time slot is given to a David Jacobs show, Words and Music.

LULU Rediffusion July 1966. According to a report in Disc Lulu will travel to London to participate in a show about four successful women.

THE CREATION July 1966. Melody Maker announces that the band are to play background music for an upcoming documentary about British painters, to be shown later in the year, probably on Monitor. However the series had finished some time before in 1965.

FOUR TOPS BBC1 August 1966. A film of the Four Tops' Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever is made for inclusion in Top Of The Pops, but is not used as it wasn't a big hit.

SIMON & GARFUNKEL BBC September 1966. The duo were due to arrive in the UK 15th September 1966 "primarily to record two BBC-TV specials" according to the NME.

THE SMALL FACES Granada, 28th September 1966. The band were to star in their own thirty minute special. Producer Rod Taylor told Disc Weekly "It is the most exciting spectacular we have made since the one featuring Little Richard." It was filmed mid-August in front of an invited audience.

THE WHO BBC1, Sound And Picture City. 1966. A music and comedy sketch show. The promo film for Happy Jack was shot as a demo for this proposed series. By April 1967 the idea had been dropped. Kit Lambert told Disc "Really, the production costs did not warrant such a series." However, the idea had reappeared in Spring 1968 for showing autumn 1968. The band will perform a new song each week with an album of all the new songs to appear at the end of the series.

TOM JONES & JERRY LEE LEWIS October 1966. The NME reported that Jerry Lee Lewis would fly into Britain on October 14th 1966 to record a TV special with Tom Jones to be called Tom & Jerry.

EXIT - WAY OUT IN LONDON Rediffusion, October 1966. Rediffusion TV and Subafilms intend to make a half-hour pilot with Cathy McGowan, to be filmed in colour. The series was created by McGowan who collaborated on the script with the shows’ director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. There was talk of a thirteen part show for McCowan in 1967 to be broadcast on Fridays at 10.00 pm. 'Exit' would have featured pop, comedy, beauty and fashion was was tentatively set for a February 1967 transmission date. A scene featuring McGowan with Dave Clark was filmed at the Thomas A Beckett pub, on the Old Kent Road, London in January 1967, while Marianne Faithfull was filmed in offices in Victoria the same day according to Disc. By February 1967 the show was given a subtitle, Cathy In Wonderland and was scheduled to be shown the USA in May 1967 by CBS before a UK transmission date had been arranged. Paul Jones, The Who, Julie Felix, Rita Pavone and The Dave Clark Five were to be filmed for the show at Woburn Abbey 17th to 19th February 1967.

ALBERT AYLER BBC2, November 1966. A live show starring Albert Ayler recorded at the London School of Economics for Jazz Goes To College was recorded but never broadcast.

THE ACTION BBC late 1966. A two part documentary Twentieth Century Happening, devised by BBC producer Liz Kustow. Shooting began mid October 1966.

DONOVAN BBC, 1967. According to Melody Maker in late 1966 "Negotiations are also far advanced for Donovan to do six children's shows for BBC-TV. The shows will be 30 minutes each and it is hoped to start them in the spring."

BOBBY DARIN Rediffusion, 1967. Darin was to direct his own TV special for British TV.

OTIS REDDING BBC, 1967. The BBC sent a film crew over to Otis Redding’s ranch home The Big O to film him for a potential documentary.

MAMAS & PAPAS February 1967. The group were due to appear on Top of the Pops, The Rolf Harris Show and The London Palladium show.

SANDY POSEY BBC2 February 1967. The singer was due to record BBC2's International Cabaret on 25th February 1967 for later broadcast.

THE MOVE BBC1 Morning Service 26th February 1967. The Move had been invited to appear on the regular Sunday morning worship show, this time broadcast from the Cathedral in Birmingham. They asked producer Barry Edge if they could cut up an effigy of the devil in church, but were refused.

THE MOVE Granada 6th or 7th March 1967. The Rave was to be transmitted live in the Granada region, but to be played elsewhere later in the month. The Pink Floyd were to appear as guests. According to Record Mirror 4th March 1967 "The Move have their own half hour 'live' TV show on Granada this Saturday entitled "The Rave"". Except that Granada wasn't broadcasting on Saturdays at that time. From Disc music weekly 18th March 1967 "After Move's Manchester TV spot last week their road manager was trapped beneath the stage in the middle of of a riot of thunderflashes and smoke bombs. Stage had to be destroyed to get him out quickly..." Melody Maker have the transmission date as Monday 6th March 1967 shown live, with a showing in the south later in the month.

THE MOVE BBC March 1967. According to Record Mirror 4th March 1967 "The BBC are currently filming a 30 minute pilot show on The Move with a projected series in mind." Melody Maker also mentioned the same week "a mystery thing for a new series the BBC are scheduling for the autumn." They give a recording date of 16th March 1967. Melody Maker went for the "Move considered for a 'Monkee' type show" which the media would retreat to time and time again, including Madness and Haircut 100 in the early eighties.

THE PINK FLOYD ITV March 1967. According to weekly music paper Disc "They will make a half hour pilot film for showing to EMI who will then decide whether to sponsor a series on ITV." On 24th April they were due to start filming "The True Life Story of Percy The Rat Catcher", the first of a full-length TV series, according to a later edition of Disc.

THE BEATLES March 1967. There were numerous reports about a TV special tie-in for their forthcoming as yet untitled LP. A clip of A Day In The Life had been filmed at the recording session for inclusion.

ROY ORBISON ATV March 1967. Roy was due to begin filming a TV special at ATV's Elstree studios on 28th March 1967 to be shown in colour for the USA market with a black and white showing in the UK. The show was cancelled as Roy wanted to get back home to the USA.

SANDIE SHAW March 1967. To make a 45 minute special in colour to be produced by Mike Mansfield with guest Adam Faith and Chris Andrews. The show would be independently produced by Evelyn Taylor, manager of both Shaw and Faith. The show would be taped at Wembley. This story would re-appear in September 1967 and again in March 1968, which by this time was now a six part series for BBC1 to be produced and directed by Mike Mansfield whose contract with Southern TV is due to expire.

LULU and ADAM FAITH Southern TV 1967. Both stars were linked with potentially hosting their own series for Southern TV, both produced by Mike Mansfield. The Lulu show would be a straight music show, while Faith's would involve comedy and acting. Each would star in their own six part series for summer 1967.

UNKNOWN TITLE Southern Spring 1967. Southern TV were preparing their own national song contest to be broadcast Spring 1967 and produced by Mike Mansfield. It would have been held in Brighton or Southampton.

AROUND WITH ALLEN ABC March 1967. Having been given the job of hosting The London Palladium Show comedian Dave Allen was probably the hottest property in the UK, so ABC decided to give him a pilot to host, recorded 5th March 1967. It would have been the usual chat show style, with musical guests, and on the pilot Marion Montgomery was the guest singer. How or why this would have been so different to The Eamonn Andrews Show, broadcast by ABC late night Sundays is unknown.

PRESENTING THE TREMELOES April 1967. In a May 1967 interview with the Record Mirror the band explain their proposed TV series. "They talked it over and got the scripts written and everything. The offers we've had from America for the series have been ridiculous." The pilot for the series has the band walking the length of Britain to test the strength of boots for the army. The baddies who sold cheap boots to the army are called Sole and Heel. Their manager Peter Walsh told Disc in April 1969 "The Trems made a film about 18 months ago which never got shown. But the film company were so impressed that they decided to do more pilot films with The Trems and the American deal is the result of them." Shooting for the show was due to begin with a scene to be shot outside of Buckingham Palace, but the producers failed to get permission to do so and got moved away by police. Filming on the 1967 series actually got underway and a photo of the band wearing army boots made the back page on the NME in April 1967. Talking to Rave magazine in July 1967 singer Dave Munden claimed "Next on our list is to get this TV series together, it is definitely due to be shown in America, but the televising date has yet to be fixed. We’ve already shot one piece. The style has been compared to the Monkees' show. We did act before, if you can call it that, in ‘A Touch Of Blarney', which we made in Ireland. On the strength of that comedy film we were picked for this series. The man who's doing these films is an English fellow who was responsible for that great series, the Telegoons! Just look at our faces and you'll see why he picked us! Seriously though, the film is about a firm who will undertake to do anything. We have to test boots for the Army by marching from Land's End to John o’Groats! Only in the film that is. Ricky here, plays a young girl and an old woman, apart from himself! It was very difficult filming all day and playing in the evenings. That's why It took two weeks to get that one in the can. But it will be planned much better in future."

SOUND AND PICTURE CITY May 1967. Jonathan King and BBC DJ's Chris Denning and Kenny Everett appear in the pilot edition. Denning described the show as a "satirical pop psychedelic freak-out magazine programme for the younger generation." Cream played in the pilot show. The weekly, early evening show would be pre-recorded. As Denning explained to Disc "The programme would be taped, as with so much happening at one time, chaos could easily break out. The pilot came off really well." The Who had also been involved in a show with the same name.

THE BEACH BOYS BBC2 May 1967. According to Disc magazine BBC2 will screen a special hour-long documentary of the group's UK tour.

VINCE HILL ITV May 1967. In a report about Dave Dee etc it was mentioned that they were taping a spot for The Vince Hill Show on 15th May 1967. There was however a radio series with the same name, so was probably a mistake.

RAY DAVIES June 1967. It was announced in the New Musical Express that Davies would, as a result of wanting to pursue solo projects, finance, set up and produce a fifty-five minute pilot TV show. Filming will begin at Granville Studios in Fulham, London and will feature live bands and a twenty piece orchestra. Davies himself was not quoted in the story. Kinks' manager Robert Wace went further in a piece in Melody Maker claiming "Ray has lots of ideas he wants to put into a TV series built about The Kinks and we hope the networks will be interested. Ray would write original music for the shows as well as short sketches. In addition to The Kinks he would like to present people who normally get the right kind of plugging - the more unusual type of artists and acts."

DONOVAN BBC, June 1967. To make a 14 part series for BBC TV where he would set famous poets work to music as well as singing his own songs.

THE SPECTRUM June 1967. Century 21's Gerry and Sylvia Anderson sign the group for a 32 week series for ATV and a full length feature film. Music publisher Cyril Black had recommended them. Talking to Disc Black claimed "This contract almost guarantees these boys international stardom. Several of the films will be seen around the world - and The Spectrum will be Britain's answer to The Monkees." It later transpires that the group have only recorded the closing theme for the forthcoming Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons series. However, the title of the series given to Disc was "Captain Scarlet and The Spectrum versus The Mysterons." Talking to Disc Cyril Black (now credited as their co-manager) said "Some months back the Andersons had the idea for a new TV puppet series - based quite by coincidence on a group known as The Spectrum. Later, their daughter had bought 'Samantha's Mine' (their single) and Gerry heard it so often that he decided to meet the group. He was so impressed that he signed the boys immediately to a 32 week series - and changed the ideas for the puppets." The show will tell of the adventures of the group in outer space. The NME have the title of the TV show as 'Captain Scarlet and The Spectrum' and have the band's singer Colin Forsey in the lead role.

UNKNOWN TITLE June 1967. DJ Rick Dane makes a pilot for a proposed 13 week series for Tyne Tees. The pilot featured Marianne Faithfull.

THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP BBC2 Autumn 1967. According to a report in the NME "A colour documentary about the re-organisation of the group has already been filmed, and may by screened by BBC-2 in the autumn."

ANITA HARRIS ATV September 1967. ATV to make a six part half hour series with the actress/singer to be shown in early 1968.

THE BEE GEES Southern, October 1967. Cucumber Castle was announced as an hour long show made in colour for Southern Television with filming due to start on 4th December 1967 at Leeds Castle in Kent. Colin Peterson was a still member of the group when it was finally completed in spring/summer 1969, but was edited out of the show after he was asked to leave. Vincent Price and Sammy Davis Jr's name were attached to the project in summer 1969. One portion of the show would be a re-creation of The Beatles' All You Need Is Love recording session with The Bee Gees taking the place of The Beatles. The story was loosely based on Camelot. See the Articles section for more information.

ROY WOOD BBC1 Autumn 1967. Melody Maker report that Roy Wood would be writing the music for a forthcoming Wednesday Play.

AMEN CORNER October 1967. The band are to participate in a documentary about fan worship. The film is to be made by Peter Madge for Inca Films and sees the band perform live at the Wykeham Hall, Romford, Essex where they are to record live for a forthcoming EP.

PAUL ANKA Tyne Tees, November 1967. While on a promotional visit to the UK he was to record The Paul Anka Show for Tyne Tees.

LONG JOHN BALDRY November 1967. A spokesman for Baldry tells Disc of his plans to form his own TV production company "It's always been his ambition to do something like this. He wants to be in complete control of the project himself. The shows would be on the lines of the old 'Ready Steady Go', snappy, happy, fast-moving. Idea is to have more music than actual interviews - but artists will get a chance to to air their views."

THE BEE GEES Southern, November 1967. Recorded in October for broadcast the following month this TV special also featured Lulu, Julie Rogers, Esther and Abi Ofarim. Produced by Mike Mansfield. The show might have been based around songs from their debut album. There was also an idea where they would write a song on the spot and record it immediately in front of the cameras. "I see The Bee Gees as the best songwriting talent in Britain after The Beatles. They are the biggest influence on the pop scene at the moment" Mike Mansfield tells Disc in September 1967.

OPEN SPACE November 1967. Ken Howard and Alan Blaikeley, managers of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich and The Herd explained their TV series to Disc "The plan is to take a theme and let the different acts treat it in their own way. It would incorporate things like poetry, drama and straight comedy - with a good percentage of original music. It wouldn't be a vehicle to promote their current release." They wanted an independent company to produce the shows in colour and to be sold in packages of five or ten shows at a time. They would later tell Disc that both Tyne Tees and the incoming Thames Television have expressed interest. Ken Howard explained "Our idea - we'd like to call it 'Open Space' - would show what pop stars can really do, other than just sing and play guitars. Every major artist with acting and general versatility would be invited to take part."

BEAT PARTY late 1967. A new label Rutland Records are planning a new TV show featuring Tony's Jynx, The Renaissance, The Fruit Pudding and Gary Scott. They would also play a clip of The Beach Boys on their spring 1967 British tour. It was to be hosted by ex-pirate DJ Mike Barron. The company was negotiating with an ITV station and it was expected to be shown Christmas 1967.

PINK FLOYD BBC late 1967. According to Melody Maker "Pink Floyd recording with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop soundtrack for forthcoming BBC colour TV series."

ANITA HARRIS Southern December 1967. Southern were considering a pop flavoured panto starring Anita Harris.

CHRISTMAS ON EARTH CONTINUED December 1967. From the NME 9th December 1967 "The marathon pop party being staged throughout the night of December 22 at London's Kensington Olympia will be filmed for television. All the groups appearing - including the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Eric Burdon and the Animals, the Move and the Pink Floyd - have agreed to being televised. The organisers are deciding between bids for the TV rights from an ITV company and two U.S. film companies. The event is titled "Christmas On Earth, Continued". All three of the halls which make make up Olympia will be used. The groups will play non-stop in the Grand Hall until 6 a.m. In other areas, attractions will include a light show employing 96 projectors, a miniature fun fair, a cinema showing vintage films and a bazaar with over 100 stalls."

LONG JOHN BALDRY 1968. A thirteen show series, to be shot in colour, starring Baldry. He would be in an acting role, but would perform one song a week. There would also be guests each show. The songs for the show would be written by Tony Macaulay and John Macloed, while Simon Napier Bell would write the theme. Baldry would play a "Sinatra-like show business tycoon" according to the NME. He told the paper "The show was the idea of my business manager, Stephen Kolomsky. The basic situation of me running a showbiz empire is a wonderful opportunity for bringing in guests within the context of the plot. We have already had preliminary discussions with a principal TV company both in Britain and America - with a view to the series being screened from May (1968) onwards. We shall go wherever the action takes us in order to get authentic settings."

PAUL JONES Southern 1968. There was a possibility of Paul Jones starring in his own Mike Mansfield produced series for Southern, according to Disc in late 1967.

AL MARTINO Granada, January 1968. To make a TV special for Granada with a soundtrack to be released by Capitol.

DAVE CLARK 1968. It was announced in January 1968 that Clark's Big Five production company would make six TV specials, with Hold On It's The Dave Clark Five being the first. That was the only one made.

MANFRED MANN 1968 To appear in thirty minute dramatisation of Tom McGuinness' novel Jester Versus Art.

BEE GEES 1968. Johnny Speight's play 'If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have To Invent Them' was to feature the Bee Gees. Speight's Associated London Films had a connection with Robert Stigwood which would also result in an offer for the band to appear in the movie 'Lord Kitchener's Little Drummer Boys' which was also unrealised.

DAVE DEE, DOZY, BEAKY, MICK AND TICH Southern February 1968. It is announced that the band will make a full length TV show based on their song The Legend of Xanadu, with all the songs written by Howard and Blaikley. They had already made a promo film of the track.

THE WHO BBC1 March 1968. Along with the announcement of the re-emergence of Sound and Picture City the band will also appear in a series of three minute shows in the autumn.

I WANNA KNOW March 1968. Jimmy Savile is to host a new quiz show starting 3rd March 1968 for eighteen weeks. Tuesday's Children will be the resident group, playing two songs each week. The show was sold to ABC in America.

THE PAPER DOLLS March 1968. The trio are to have their thirteen part own series made by Playhouse Productions. It would be shown in colour in the US and shown by Southern in the UK. The plot centred around three young women sharing a flat and would have three songs each week. A spokesman told the NME "The girls have strong comedy acting roles, but they have all been to drama school and appeared in repertory."

THE SEEKERS BBC1 April 1968. The Australian stars were to be given their own six-part series for the BBC, starting on 2nd April 1968. Despite their success, they would split up within six months. It was also seen as an eight-part series, but the group had committed to an American tour at about the time of recording, however their manager Eddie Jarrett told the NME "The BBC-1 series must obviously take precedence."

DON KIRSCHNER April 1968 Announces a new cartoon TV show similar to The Monkees featuring two British and two American boys. All the songs for the sixteen part, thirty minute show would be written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod. He made The Archies instead.

THE PAPER DOLLS April 1968. Despite having only one hit the girls have signed to ATV for a six-part series called The Paper Dolls House.

SEE MY MUSIC TALKING c.May 1968. An intended series which began with The Jimi Hendrix Experience featuring interviews, live footage and the artist(s) discussing the creative process. After the Hendrix edition was shown on BBC2's Late Night Line Up (and at the Montreux Television festival) further shows would have featured The Rolling Stones, Donovan, Traffic, The Incredible String Band, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Country Joe & The Fish, The Doors and Love.

MY GENERATION BBC1 May 1968. A Tony Palmer directed series for which The Who would be the resident group.

ANITA HARRIS May 1968. It was announced that Harris would be starring in six, hour-long colour shows to be directed by Mike Mansfield. Each show would be a "potted musical" with a story line and guests. Shooting would start in June with guest star Jimmy Tarbuck. Due to summer season commitments in Great Yarmouth each show would be filmed in or around East Anglia. A £125,000 budget for the series was allocated, with the show being independently produced by her managers Brian Lane and Mike Margolis together with Mike Mansfield who they also represent. The story re-emerged in November 1968 claiming that filming had taken place in Brazil. In spring 1968 Rediffusion were in talks for a series starring singer Anita Harris, but the schedule may clash with her filming plans.

SAMMY DAVIS JR BBC1 June 1968. A proposed live series of thirteen shows was cancelled as the Musicians Union objected to him bringing his own musicians over from the USA. The shows would have been broadcast live from 10.45 pm on Sundays and would be open ended regarding the finishing time.

BLIND FAITH June 1968. Mike Mansfield will film their live set at Hyde Park, London, supporting the Rolling Stones. Five cameras and a helicopter will be used, as will an eight track recorder for the audio. The hour long show will possibly be shown by BBC2.

AMEN CORNER BBC Wales June 30th 1968 onwards. The band were given their own six part TV series, Amen Corner Spectacular. Each hour long show would have had a supporting cast of local Welsh talent.

MIREILLE MATHIEU ATV June 1968. The French singing star was due to begin filming a six-part series for ATV on June 8th, but she was involved in a car crash which meant its cancellation. The series was due to start after Dusty Springfield's series It Must be Dusty had ended.

DON PARTRIDGE June 1968. Partridge had been approached by independent television producer Barry Langford for a series of thirty-minute shows where he would go on location, talking to other buskers etc. Talking to Disc his manager Colin Berlin said "The shows will be very offbeat and will prove to the business particularly that Don is not just a gimmick singer but really talented and humorous." The series can only be made after Partridge has fulfilled his summer season in Blackpool.

THE BYRDS BBC2 Colour Me Pop, July 1968. The band flew into London 5th July 1968 and according to Disc "...will pre-record an appearance on BBC-2's 'Colour Me Pop'."

DONOVAN July 1968. Donovan was apparently offered a six part series on BBC2. Each thirty minute show would have guests like Ray Davies, John Sebastian, Graham Nash and one of The Beatles. The show would follow on from BBC2's Bobbie Gentry which finished its run on 17th August 1968. He told Melody Maker in July 1968 "Then there is a TV idea either one or three shows with BBC-2 producer Stanley Dorfmann. There'd be singing and some other niceties. The main thing is to do a good television show, not just hang bits of plastic behind the cameras."

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN July 1968. The band had been due to record an edition of Colour Me Pop for broadcast on either the 9th or 16th August.

SOLOMON KING August 1968. The singer was due to record his own ATV special on 11th August 1968.

JACK GOOD August 1968. An concert was to be recorded at Hatchett's Club in London as for broadcast as a part of his deal with Yorkshire TV. The show was to feature Eclection, Vanity Fare, Strawberry Jam, The Flirtations and Dr Marigold's Prescription. Thames TV were also said to be interested in the show.

ESTHER & ABI OFARIM Southern Autumn 1968. Mike Mansfield announces a six part series for autumn screening, after Time For Blackburn was originally due to end. Talking to Disc Mansfield defended the decision to make the show "One-hit wonders? Nonsense. Esther and Abi have tremendous quality and very wide appeal." Talking to the NME Mansfield claimed "We want the Ofarim TV series to be completely new in every way. Both Esther and Abi have said they would like each edition to have a story format, and we are working on this idea."

SOUND AND PICTURE CITY BBC1 Autumn 1968. The re-vamped Sound and Picture City will be co-hosted by Kenny Everett and Chris Denning and the pilot show was due for screening 11th April 1968 to BBC commissioners, although a report in music paper NME has this date as the start of filming. Everett, talking to Disc said "It is to be the new pop show to replace Simon Dee", but this was disputed by Bill Cotton Jnr. The series was devised and produced by Tony Palmer, who would also go on to work on All My Loving and How It Is for the BBC. Caroline Coon, founder of 'Release' would also co-host the show which was expected to begin transmission in October. Everett leaves the project in March 1968 to work on Nice Time for Granada telling Disc "I prefer the idea of slight comedy to serious pop." The Who's name is still attached to the show as they are due to start rehearsing for the show after completion of their American tour in early April 1968. However, the band's manager Chris Stamp tells Beat Instrumental magazine in April 1968 "Part of this series will be done in America - while the boys are in Texas. There's a camera crew there ready for them." Also, "But what IS coming is an LP comprising the new material being set for the BBCTV series - out sometime in the autumn." According to a February 1968 report in the NME The Who would be involved in a weekly three minute cops and robbers serial. The same article also confirms that The Who will release an album of songs recorded for the show, also to be titled Sound and Picture City.

BATLEY VARIETY CLUB 1968. With the London Palladium Show coming to an end, Yorkshire TV suggest an alternative replacement recorded at Batley Variety Club in Leeds. It would be broadcast every three weeks. The pilot was shown due to a lack of programming on account of the ITV strike.

THE BEE GEES August 1968. After the success of the Frankie Howard special another show with a different comedian was proposed for Christmas 1968.

KATHY KIRBY August 1968. The NME announce that the singing star will have her own series for ITV towards the end of the year.

LONG JOHN BALDRY Southern August 1968. He was apparently approached by Southern TV to read a series of late night horror stories.

THE ROLLING STONES etc BBC2 September 1968. Melody Maker announced that The Rolling Stones, The Nice, Eclection, Alan Bown and Spooky Tooth would be appearing at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon on 29th September as a fund-raiser for the British Olympic team. Doubts about the Stones' appearance was almost immediate with Mick Jagger saying that he was too busy. The Nice's live set was later shown on Colour Me Pop.

MASON LINE Yorkshire September 1968. Songwriter and Radio One DJ Barry Mason recorded a pilot show for a proposed thirteen part series. Each show would be forty minutes and, according to an interview with Disc, "I have no definite ideas on the show's format yet although there will be plenty of pop names as guests. I want to try and get far greater audience participation - the studio audience for the programme will be (the) largest of any pop show so far."

CLIFF RICHARD September 1968. To record a special, Cliff Sings Scots, for Scottish TV, filmed in colour with consideration for entry to the 1969 Montreux TV Festival. Directed by Ian Dalgleish the thirty minute show was to feature Cliff on location at the Forth Bridge and Queen's View. The plot concerned Cliff falling asleep in a Mediaeval Scottish castle and in his dreams he is transported through a variety of Scottish historical scenarios, singing as he goes. When he awakes he is on the Forth Bridge and gets into battle of songs with the Black Watch. A Scottish themed special was eventually made for ATV in 1969.

TONY HATCH AND JACKIE TRENT BBC 1968. A proposed series planned for late 1968 with two music guests each week came to nothing.

THE BEATLES September 1968. Their press spokesman Tony Barrow tells Melody Maker that "They have realised that they could easily do a show for TV like the live clips of 'Hey Jude' and 'Revolution' - only featuring perhaps 10 or 12 numbers."

THE BEE GEES The Year of the Joker 1968. A special featuring The Bee Gees.

CUPID'S INSPIRATION October 1968 The Birds and The Bees. The band were to record the theme and appear in a few episodes of this independently produced show, which was to have been broadcast in the UK and USA.

LEAPY LEE October 1968. The singer was to shoot a pilot chat show for London Weekend, based on The Johnny Carson Show format with Lee involved in stunts and gimmicks.

TIME FOR BLACKBURN Southern late 1968. A special filmed in Tangiers to co-inside with the premier of the movie of Oliver! The reasoning behind the location is unknown but the producer Mike Mansfield was hoping to get The Small Faces, Georgia Brown, Julie Driscoll and Long John Baldry on board.

PENTANGLE Granada 1968. A Pentangle concert was filmed and a thirty minute version would be shown 4th November 1968. but wasn't. A part of their Royal Albert Hall show was filmed for the John Cassavetes movie The Husbands.

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION Granada October/November 1968. The band were lined up to appear in a Granada made TV special during their UK tour.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE 16th November 1968. The San Francisco band were due to appear in The Doors' Granada documentary.

THE BEATLES ITV November 17th 1968. A ninety second commercial was made for The Beatles (aka The White Album) which might have featured Ringo and was due for transmission at 9.20 pm. The idea was later dropped as the £16,000 cost was considered too much.

GRANADA Late 1968. After The Doors Are Open special is broadcast Granada aims to record similar shows with The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, The Mothers Of Invention and Bob Dylan. Only the Johnny Cash project become reality. The Kinks show Arthur would eventually be released as an album.

THE ROCK N ROLL CIRCUS London Weekend or Granada, December 1968. Filmed 11th/12th December 1968 at Stonebridge Park, Wembley, featuring hosts The Rolling Stones, plus guests Taj Mahal, The Who, John and Yoko and Jethro Tull with guest guitarist Tony Iommi. It was also due to include Traffic and Dr John. Stones' publicist David Sandison said in regards to the intended inclusion of Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen "There will be a lot of sexual interest in the spectacular. Hence the choice of leading ladies. I shouldn't be surprised if the whole thing didn't come as a great shock to most viewers." Although some of The Who footage surfaced in The Kids Are Alright documentary in the late seventies, the whole show was finally released on home video in the mid nineties, while extras in the shape of out-takes were added to the DVD.

ROGER COOK. Harlech 1968. Singer and songwriter Roger Cook to record a pilot show on December 2nd and 3rd. It will feature national and local talent from Wales and the west country.

UNKNOWN TITLE Harlech December 1968. Top Pop magazine reports that Harlech TV will transmit a show on 30th December 1968 featuring Mary Hopkin, Amen Corner who will likely perform their hits Bend Me Shape Me and High In The Sky, and popular Welsh singing duo Tony and Aloma.

GRAHAM NASH BBC2 December 1968. Nash's Save Rave charity show at the London Palladium to be broadcast by BBC2. It would have included The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Small Faces, The Nice, The Easybeats, Cass Elliott, Status Quo, Deep Purple and The Hollies.

ALAN PRICE ITV late 1968. He was approached to host a Top Of The Form youth club type show for ITV.

PETULA CLARK, SANDIE SHAW ETC BBC1 1968. BBC1's new years eve special would have been hosted by Morecambe and Wise with guests including Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw and Val Doonican. However Petula Clark couldn't make the show recording in London so a closed circuit link between London and Geneva was made so the orchestra could play in London and she could sing live in Geneva with her image shown on a large screen in the London studio. Her section had been pre-recorded for inclusion in the show.

TONY MACAULAY BBC2 January 1969. It was announced in July 1968 that Macaulay will host his own series for BBC featuring many styles of music.

MOBY GRAPE BBC2 January 1969 Due to record Colour Me Pop while on a promotional tour of the UK.

STATUS QUO February 1969. They announce that they are to make a "rock musical" for TV with Ayshea as the female lead. The show will be shot in America in April.

THE LOVE AFFAIR February 1969. They announce that they are to make a self-financed forty minute TV special in conjunction with Eyemark Films. Other artists will also appear in it. Filming in Cornwall and London begins March 1969. By March the NME reports that the series was six, thirty minute shows, but still vague about the show's format and guests. Melody Maker in May announce that 18 Rank Ballrooms will play the "film originally intended for TV plugs."

THE BONZO DOG-DOO-DAH BAND February 1969. The band film an independently shot fifty minute TV special on location at Aston Somerville, Worcestershire with the hope of selling it to TV.

STATUS QUO February 1969. The NME announce that they are to record their own thirty minute edition of Colour Me Pop for BBC2.

THE CHAMBER BROTHERS BBC2 March 1969. The band had recorded an edition of Colour Me Pop on 29th March 1969, but remained unbroadcast. The NME reported that a special for London Weekend was also on the cards.

THE HOLLIES March 1969. Reports in the NME suggest that the band were due to record their own TV special.

JOHN PEEL Granada March 1969. Peel records a pilot for a potential TV series in Manchester. Granada TV producer Johnny Hamp told the Melody Maker "This was really a trial show to see how John shaped up on TV. He was excellent. But it was a very loose format, and might be a quite different show if we were able to do a series." The guests were Tyrannosaurus Rex, Blodwyn Pig, Harvey Matuso's Jews Harp Band, an Indian dancer and poetry. Peel later recalled that a dog wandered on stage during the Tyrannosaurus Rex set.

THE RASCALS Granada March 1969. Sid Bernstein, rock promoter to talk to Granada's Sidney Bernstein about a series for the American group.

NINA SIMONE BBC2 c.April 1969. A concert from the London's Talk Of The Town was due to be recorded 13th April.

OTIS REDDING / SAM & DAVE April 1969. The NME report that the BBC have secure a fifty minute film of Otis Redding and Sam & Dave which was currently being used to promote the Atco label in the UK. Sweet Soul Music had been shown daily at Harrod's Way-In boutique from the 15th to 26th April 1969. The film was shot at the Finsbury Park Astoria, the Roundhouse and Alexandra Park on his last UK visit in 1967.

JEFFERSON / SIGHT AND SOUND BBC2 Colour Me Pop April 1969. The two bands were scheduled to appear on 26th April 1969.

FLEETWOOD MAC BBC2 Colour Me Pop May 1969. The band would have come back for a second time, having previously appeared on the show in 1968, for broadcast on 9th May 1969.

GLEN CAMPBELL BBC2 May 1969. Campbell's UK visit would see him record a concert show at the Talk Of The Town and a BBCTV studio special.

THE MARMALADE BBC Scotland May 1969. The band were to have their own hour-long special to be broadcast 14th May 1969.

RONNIE SCOTT'S JAZZ CLUB BBC2/BBC1 May 1969. It was announced that a weekly Jazz From Ronnie Scott's series is to run for at least 26 weeks, with a possibility of extending it to 39 weeks. The show will be broadcast in colour on BBC2, but possibly transferring to BBC1 when the colour service begins in November 1969. A pilot show was to be recorded on June 8th with Ronnie Scott's Band and an un-named singer. The BBC will spend a week at the club in August to record British acts, while American artists coming over for Expo '69 in October are likely to be approached for the show. The show will be produced by Terry Henebery. The series of shows was meant to co-inside with the tenth anniversary of the club's opening. The American Federation of Musicians imposed a ban of British acts appearing in America, so the British Musicians Union responded with a similar ban, leading to the show's cancellation. A dozen 25 minute shows were announced for the series now called Jazz Scene. It included Ronnie Scott and his own band, The Ronnie Ross Group, Salena Jones, The Mike Westbook Concert Band, John Surman Quartet, The Alan Skidmore - Kenny Wheeler Quintet, The Graham Collier Sextet, The Peter King - Tony Coe Quintet, Johnny Dankworth orchestra with Cleo Laine, The Tubby Hayes Big Band, The Alex Welsh Band, The George Chisholm - Kenny Baker All Stars. BBC2 played a few editions in 1970 as Jazz Scene at Ronnie Scott’s.

THE PENTANGLE / JULIE DRISCOL WITH BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY. Early 1969. Jo Lustig, manager of The Pentangle and Giorgio Gomelsky who manages Brian Auger suggested the idea for a TV show in which the groups swap singers.

BILLY COTTON BBC1 June 1969. The band leader was due to host another ten week series with singer Vince Hill guesting in each show, but Cotton died in late March 1969. A series starring Roy Castle may have been a replacement.

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD London Weekend, June 1969. Melody Maker spoke of a proposed Dusty Springfield special which may feature The Beach Boys who were on tour in the UK at the time.

GROOVE London Weekend autumn 1969. On 15th July 1969 a pilot recorded for a new underground music show. According to an NME article the idea was proposed by Cephus Howard, from the Temperance Seven, who was now a set designer at London Weekend. Blodwyn Pig were to be approached to appear in the pilot.

THE BEATLES July 1969 A TV special built around recording sessions earlier in the year is set to co inside with a new LP in September. It's thought that the two hour show will be edited down from a three hour movie. An album from those sessions, 'Get Back, Don't Let Me Down and 9 Other Titles" would see a release soon.

UNKNOWN TITLE September 1969. Mike Mansfield is to make a pilot show for a new series, possibly to be broadcast on ITV which it begins colour transmissions in November. Talking to the NME in June 1969 Mansfield claimed "It will be an all-action non-stop pop show, without a compere, and will include a lot of pre-filmed location sequences." He left Southern TV in February for Associated London Scripts, a part of the Robert Stigwood Organisation.

TINY TIM BBC1 1969. His Royal Albert Hall show on 30th October with support from Joe Cocker, Peter Sarstedt and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band was to be recorded for a fifty minute BBC1 special. Another report in Record Mirror has Thames Television negotiating to show it.

JACK GOOD Yorkshire 1969. Jack Good to produce a thirteen week series, similar to the Master of Pop special broadcast in October 1969.

COLOUR ME POP BBC2 October 1969. Some more shows were recorded or due to be recorded featuring Gulliver's People, The Golden Earring, The Sands, Jefferson and Sight & Sound. Talking to Melody Maker in October 1969 Turner said "Whether this will be the thin edge of the wedge for further Colour Me Pop shows I can't say at present." It appears that Golden Earring actually recorded a session for the show, but was never broadcast, with photos from the session appearing on British and French album covers and some of the BBC studio recording appearing in their Eight Miles High documentary.

THE KINKS Granada c.October 1969. Arthur - Or The Rise And Fall Of The British Empire. A play written by Ray Davies and Julian Mitchell with new songs written by Ray Davies to be performed by The Kinks. Davies told Record Mirror in September 1969 "I'm very happy with the music for 'Arthur' and the script for a Granada TV spectacular has been done. I co-wrote it with Julian Mitchell, and Jo-Bergman Smith of Granada is setting the wheels in motion for the TV production. It will probably be shown in late October. And I believe Granada are thinking of putting out a souvenir book to coincide with the screening. "On the show, actual actors will be used and the music will be in the background. The album should have been out at the end of the month, but Granada want it held back to coincide with their production." The Kinks themselves will not be appearing in the TV production. Talking to Disc in August 1969 Davies said that it would be shot in colour, which suggests that it was possibly considered for showing sometime mid-November onwards. He said "..after we finished our 'Village Green Preservation Society' LP I managed to get working on the opera. At that time Granada asked me to do something for them, so I suggested 'Arthur' and they seemed to be quite pleased with the idea. They'll be using proper actors with The Kinks playing the music." A radio play of Arthur was eventually broadcast fifty years later.

THE BEE GEES October 1969. It is announced that Cucumber Castle will become a thirteen week series.

TINY TIM London Weekend November 1969. Tim was to have recorded a TV special on 15th November.

DELANEY & BONNIE 1st December 1969. Their Royal Albert Hall, London concert with Eric Clapton to be filmed for future TV showing, possibly by Granada. It is to be directed by Jo Durden-Smith, who directed The (Rolling) Stones In The Park.

1970s

THE WHO Granada, January 1970. After Sound and Picture City failed to find any takers Manchester's Granada offered them another chance. The show would be a fifty minute colour special, co-produced with European partners. Jo Durden-Smith was assigned as the producer and the documentary would see the group touring around the UK. A later report suggests that the film will be shown by BBC2 and would be an independent production made by Durden-Smith and Allan King Associates. Further films on Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker's Airforce would also be made by the same team.

WRITING ON THE WALL Unknown. According to Record Mirror, 31st January 1970 "Writer On The Wall writing song for a TV play by Middle Earth's PR, John Marshall." Presumably they mean Writing On The Wall.

DONOVAN ATV series early 1970. Talking to Disc in May 1969 Donovan announces that he was putting together a series for ATV. In August 1969 Donovan's agency Vic Lewis confirms that it was being discussed with Sir Lew Grade. There would be an introductory special at the end of 1969, followed by a series around February 1970. It would be a six part series with Donovan choosing the guests.

THE NICE February 1970. A TV special, introduced by Andy Williams was due to start rehearsals in Los Angeles in Mid-February 1970. The Jack Good produced show would have the band supported by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mahte.

LEGS LARRY SMITH interviewed for the 14th February 1970 edition of Record Mirror he claims that he will make a half hour TV show. "What I have in mind is a half-hour show with mock commercials. Something like the Cadbury's Flake ad. Only the person's nose would get bigger and bigger - something really strange would happen."

SCREAMING LORD SUTCH BBC April 1970. A BBC camera crew will film a concert in support of the Lord Sutch and His Heavy Friends album. The show at Hampstead Country Club on April 12th will feature also Pete Townshend, Vivian Stanshall and Matthew Fisher.

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL April 1970. Independent production company TVR Ltd are to film the American band in concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 14th April and at Pinewood film studios two days' later. The thirty minute special will be shown worldwide, but not in the UK.

LEONARD COHEN BBC 1970. While in the UK for his Royal Albert Hall performance Cohen would go into the BBC TV studios on 15th May 1970 to record an In Concert show for producer Stanley Dorfman.

THE BEACH BOYS DOWN UNDER Channel 7 (Australia) May 1970. A concert at the Beachcomber Tiki Village Motel, Surfers' Paradise, Queensland, Australia was recorded for a potential TV special. A 45 minute version, produced by Steve Turner still survives and was shown publicly in June 2024. The BBC partly financed the show, according to Keith Badman's book 'The Beach Boys' (Backbeat Books, 2004).

IVOR NOVELLO AWARDS ITV 10th May 1970. The annual songwriting awards were due to be broadcast in colour by ITV. It however did get shown in other countries. Participants included David Bowie, Roger Whittiker and Dusty Springfield. The show was made by TVR Ltd, who also proposed a Creedence Clearwater Revival special.

SCOTT WALKER May 1970. Talks were underway for Scott to host a second TV series of his own.

KITCH'S CLUB Scottish 4th June 1970. A pilot show was recorded at the Gateway The Theatre studios in Edinburgh. Hosted by Chic Murray and Vivian Stanshall the guests were The Tremeloes, Arrival, Clodagh Rodgers, Sandy Brown and The Rhada Krishna Temple. The script was supplied by veteran writer Dick Vosburgh and according to The Stage saw the hosts "taking a light-hearted tilt at the pop world, in the setting of a 1930's style night club". The was a co-production with the London based Ivory Gate pop productions.

MIKE WESTBOOK'S BAND Southern June 1970. The Westbook Band along with Edgar Broughton, Jelybread, Trader Horne, Pete Brown's Piblokto were to play the Grand Benefit Festival at the University of Sussex on 6th an 7th June and according to Melody Maker "Southern TV may film the event."

LED ZEPPELIN June 1970. A report in Disc claimed an hour-long documentary would be shown on British TV later in the year. The £25,000 film would show some of their Royal Albert hall show, live clips from America, as well as personality pieces on the group members. Peter Grant told Disc "I haven't seen the Beatles' Let It Be' film, but from what I've heard it'll be nothing like that. Zeppelin had the idea of doing this before last Christmas; and shooting started, in January. A camera team will be travelling with them to Iceland on June 22 and the whole thing should be tied up within a couple of months. I've already had offers for the film from America; and I expect it to be shown in Britain by December."

STEVIE WONDER BBC, July 1970.The BBC had offered Stevie Wonder his own special, but his insistence of using his own backing musicians led to conflict with the Musicians Union. His agent Larry Kurzon told Disc music paper “Because Stevie’s blind we appealed to Ihe MU to make an exception, ft would be too much of a strain for him to have to rehearse the programme with British musicians. But they wouldn’t relent—so the ‘special’ has been scrapped."

TELEVISION CAROLINE Due to launch 1st July 1970. To broadcast between 6.00 pm to midnight week days, extended to 2.00 am at the weekend. The evening will start with two hours of pop music with psychedelic lighting and effects, followed by a ninety minute chat show, called Out Of Your Mind. Ronan O'Rahilly had tried to persuade his old Radio Caroline DJ Simon Dee to join after his London Weekend show was dropped. Deals with American movie companies had been done, so movies would also be shown. All the shows would have been pre-recorded, but there would be a live announcer link between each show to allow for news bulletins, but the idea of news was dropped before the launch date. The station was due to broadcast on one of nine available UHF channels in colour from 6 pm to midnight Monday to Friday and 6 pm to 2 am at the weekend. A station representative claimed that £850,000 worth of advertising had already been taken and expected a lot more soon, but it was suspected that this had come from America. The station would broadcast from two Constellation aircraft beaming the signal over the UK, although no channel number had been assigned, so the public wouldn't know how to receive it. The 1st of July came and went with no sign of the station or its signal. Delays were blamed on industrial problems in Spain, where the planes were due to take off from. Thursday 9th July was the next debut date given by O'Rahilly. The project was never technically possible, and the Caroline people knew it, despite occasional quotes from its boss. Talking to Disc in June 1970 O'Rahilly said "It's still looking good, as they say at Cape Kennedy! And we're still planning to have our test-card on the screen by July 1." Ronan O'Rahilly was taping interviews with stars of the Isle of Wight festival for the station in late August.

BOB DARIN The former Bobby Darin was in the UK to promote his two Major Minor releases of his US independently made albums. He was scheduled to appear on the Morecambe and Wise Show to be broadcast 9th July 1970.

RALPH McTELL July 1970. Granada to record a thirty minute documentary about the singer songwriter. Filming him in concert and in the recording studio.

GENESIS 1970. Jackson, a documentary about the painter Michael Jackson which had been made, but not shown. Genesis provided four pieces of music.

MADELINE BELL A Touch of Music, September 1970. A Mike Mansfield produced series of six shows, featuring singer Bell with classical pianist Clive Lythgoe for Philip J Fox Television.

UNKNOWN London Weekend, October 1970. It was announced to the music press that a series of concert shows was to be made by LWT in conjunction with the RAF recorded on location at various British service bases around the world. Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen and The Settlers were names announced at the time, with production expected to beigin in early 1971.

STRAWBS announced December 1970 in Record Mirror "The Strawbs have landed their own London Weekend Television special. Titled "Nothing As Fundamental As Folk", it is a half-hour programme which will probably feature the debut of the group's new "Pilgrim Suite", previously planned to be premiered at their Queen Elizabeth Hall Concert". A Melody Maker report claims the show is to be filmed at the Cockpit Theatre in London. There would also be a ten minute question and answer section in which members of the audience could ask the band about the music.

THE BIGGEST AND THE BESTEST Southern, 1970. Singer / Writer Kenny Lynch and co-star Harry Fowler had approached Southern TV with the idea of doing a show based on record books and general knowledge. The BBC would make a similar show a few years’ later with Roy Castle, The Record Breakers.

JOHN PEEL IN CONCERT Granada, 1970. A pilot show featuring T Rex was produced by Johnny Hamp.

CLODAGH RODGERS January 1971. Disc and Music Echo announced that the singer was "almost certain" to get her own series. She told Disc "We've got lots of ideas in mind; away from the usual run-of-the-mill stuff. TV's my favourite medium and I'm looking forward to a series of my own." Other Eurovision competitors Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Cliff Richard and Mary Hopkin had been given their own series, likely as a "thank you" by the BBC, or savvy negotiating by agents.

THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT February 1971. An independently made show involving the pop writing and producing team Ken Howard Alan Blaikley. The half hour show would be shot on video tape and was the idea of ex-BBC cameraman Mark Edwards. Talking to Record Mirror he claimed "I want to film several acts, but not using the typical camera angles and the usual approach - this will be something different. I hope to introduce it as a pilot film in the hope of making a series." He had already shot a fifteen minute special with Curved Air.

TAKE ONE PLUS ONE 1971. An independently produced show featuring Yes and Stephen Stills. The production credit goes to Stephen T Clive, allegedly Steve Turner.

D’ABO BBC1, 1971 A pilot was made featuring the host Mike D’Abo (ex-Manfred Mann).

SLAM HEFTY 1971. An independently produced series made by record producers Alan Blaikely and Ken Howard - the pilot show had McGuinness Flint, Stephen Stills, Iain Matthews, Curved Air, Southern Comfort. A report in Disc, January 1972 suggested "Apologies to Howard and Blaikley. Their 'Slam Hefty' TV series which we listed as a non-starter a couple of weeks ago, is apparently live and well. So where IS the proposed series, Ken?"

THE ROLLING STONES Live at the Marquee Club, London, 26th March 1971.The Rolling Stones record two live shows in one night at The Marquee, London, before an invited audience. They tape a 28 minute set and a 52 minute set. Financed by Sagewise Ltd, to be distributed by British Lion. Directed by Bruce Gower, while Chip Monck handled lighting production management.

FACES July 1971. The band's set at the Weeley Festival was filmed and will be shown in January 1972 by the BBC.

THE KINKS BBC February 1972 Disc announce "Exciting format for Kinks pilot being finalised for new BBC -TV series by Mel Cornish."

EUROPOP March 1972 An independent co-production, made by Crown International Productions and Video Supplements, it was a thirty minute show directed by Mark Edwards featuring Lindisfarne, Mott The Hoople, Slade, The Electric Light Orchestra and John Kongos. It was available to stations individually as clips or complete on 16mm film.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY Summer 1972. According to Record Mirror 'records for OGWT on June 6th and the Dave Cash Show on June 9th'

BOBBY DARIN Summer 1972. According to Record Mirror the star “will star in a 13 week series for BBC-TV to be screened in the autumn. Shows will be called "Variety of Variety Shows".”

QUINTESSENCE Summer 1972. According to Record Mirror, "Man Alive" programme built around the group Quintessence will be shown on either May 24th or 31st.

FATS WALLER July 1973. The BBC uses its new studio facilities at Pebble Mill in Birmingham to record a tribute to Fats Waller, due for transmission in December. George Chisholm who had recorded with Waller in London took part as did singer Salena Jones. It appears not to have been broadcast.

GALA POP ROCK CONCERT 25th June 1973. A charity concert in aid of a children's charity was due to be broadcast by ATV later in the year. It featured John Denver, The Bee Gees, Jose Feliciano, The Guess Who and Nina Simone and recorded at the Royal Festival Hall.

MOSTLY COUNTRY BBC 1973. Steeleye Span were due to record an appearance on the show 18th September 1973.

UNKNOWN. ITV c.January 1974. Trentdale Enterprises who promoted the London Music Festival at Alexander Palace in 1973 were to record a series of concerts which would be shown on Friday nights on London Weekend.

GILBERT O’SULLIVAN BBC, January 1974. Bill Cotton Jr announces that the BBC has acquired the services of Gilbert O’Sullivan for six, one-hour shows, starting in March.

PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS One Hand Clapping. MPL 1974. The band are caught on video, rehearsing at Abbey Road recording studios for an upcoming tour, but no tour materialised at the time. Poor video copies started circulating years' later, sometimes including Paul's 'Backyard' solo set recorded in the Abbey Road garden. A 2024 vinyl/CD release included a poster which gave details about a potential TV special based on the rehearsals. Video of the show was released, albeit in pieces over the Band On The Run and Venus and Mars deluxe CD/DVD editions.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BBC2 Old Grey Whistle Test 1975. A Springsteen concert special was filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in October 1975 but not shown as the lighting was too dark for the cameras to do anything with. According to David Hepworth the audio then went back to the USA. It was eventually re-mastered and released as a part of the Born To Run box set in 2005.

CARPENTERS ITV, November 1975. It was announced by TV Times in September 1975 that their Birmingham Hippodrome show in November was to be recorded for a Christmas broadcast.

OUR KID BBC Summer 1976. The BBC had planned to make a documentary about teen one hit wonders Our Kid, subject to approval of the local education authorities as the group were still school age.

OUR KID. Early 1977. A thirteen week series was planned, but since they only had one hit in mid 1976 the idea was dropped.

BLUE JEAN SET Granada Autumn 1977. Described by Music Week in March 1977 as a "straight pop show", it never materialised.

QUEEN Old Grey Whistle Test. 1977. A documentary about the making of Queen's News Of The World was shot in the UK and in America, but was never edited in to a completed programme. Some of the footage was damaged but was restored and shown in BBC documentaries in the 2010s.

BLAST OFF Southern 1977. A pilot show, produced by Mike Mansfield, featuring The Damned, Sandie Shaw and Liverpool Express was shown without any publicity in August 1977. According to Music Week in October 1977 "Mansfield's Blast-Off show, which was piloted on Southern TV earlier this summer, has been accepted by the network but will not begin a 13-week run until next summer. The programme features new singles releases and the artists talking about their own and others' efforts. "The critics will hate it but the public will love it,' 'he comments cheerfully."

IMPACT Mike Mansfield Enterprises, December 1977. A pilot for a punk show featuring The Damned, The Rich Kids, Generation X and The Adverts all playing live in front of an audience.

THE RECORD BREAKERS Scottish 1978. It's possible that Scottish TV had intended to show two programmes under this title, despite the fact that it was already being used by the BBC. Shows for 11th April 1978 featuring Lena Zavaroni and 14th April 1978 featuring Linda Lewis recording her Woman Overboard might have been prepared. A series called The Record Makers was broadcast by Scottish TV in June 1978.

ELTON JOHN Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. Thames, 1978. An Alan Aldridge directed special cartoon special based on his artwork for Elton’s autobiographical 1975 album.

THE STRANGLERS Rock Goes To College. BBC2, October 1978. Recorded at Guildford University. The band walked off after fifteen minutes accusing the student audience of being elitist. One song was subsequently shown on Sounds Of The 70s.

DANCE CRAZY Southern late 1978. A show which would cover dance crazes from Ragtime to disco, according to a Music Week report in late 1978. Produced and devised by Britt Allcroft.

KATE BUSH Granada On The Road 1979. A documentary about her UK tour, but not transmitted. Recorded at the Manchester Apollo on 10th April 1979.

1980s

JOHN LENNON Thomas The Tank Engine, March 1980. In a diary entry he claimed HTV had approached him to narrate the stories of the famous steam engine, but his reaction was "A Beatle? I told them to fuck off."

GALAXY 1980. A pilot, directed by Mike Mansfield and hosted by Kenny Everett was shot featuring the Average White Band, Electric Light Orchestra. Hot Chocolate, Catherine Howe, Grace Jones, Peter Straker and Sweet plus promo clips of ABBA and David Bowie. From Music Week: 5th July 1980 Mike Mansfield, Kenny Everett, former Miss World Mary Stavin — add a sci-fi setting and you have the ingredients for new TV rock series. Galaxy, where sci-fi collides with rock and roll, is described by producer Mansfield as "a galactic pop show". The pilot is to be shot later this month and Mansfield is looking for world-wide TV distribution such as he achieved with his Supersonic series. "We see the show as a shot in the arm for the industry," Mansfield told MW. "It's important for the business to believe in the show. Obviously we want to put together a dynamite pilot. Like with the pilot for Supersonic where we had the Bay City Rollers, Status Quo, Rod Stewart and Alvin Stardust. "We will not be looking to feature five or six acts per half-hour show, but we will not be locked into a Top Of The Pops format. The acts don't have to be established in the charts. "Sure, we'll accept videos if they fit into the show's format, after all this is the Eighties, the video age. But we will be careful that the show does not become just a string of promotional videos. There will always be room for new talent." The show is directed by Mansfield and produced by Mansfield in association with Peter Frohlich, Barbara Lodge and Laurie Jay. Andy Scott from Sweet has written the title music and the show is to be written by Barry Cryer and Ray Cameron. About the show's format, Mansfield explains: "Kenny is marooned in space looked into a fixed orbit around the earth. Mary Stavin Is his beautiful navigator. As they travel through time and space, they materialise the pop stars of the world into their video craft. We also have access to a lot of old Stones/Beatles material, so they will also be locking into the occasional time warp." And as Mansfield points out: "The business and the networks desperately need a new rock series."

BULLET Granada 1982. A half-hour pilot was made in 1982 as an intended replacement for the recently departed Get It Together. Pauline Black talked to Mike Score from A Flock Of Seagulls, Toyah and Mari Wilson about their hair, there was a filmed report featuring Yazoo on tour and in the studio, astrologer Russel Grant talked about the stars of the stars, Mari Wilson & The Wilsations performed Beware Boyfriend, Blue Rondo A La Turk, and Wah! performing The Story Of The Blues. Dave Jensen hosted from the studio while Timmy Mallet handled the location report. The pilot was produced by Trish Kinane and directed by Ian Hamilton. Despite the non-commission Jensen would stick with tea-time, moving northwards to Tyne Tees to host Razzamatazz.

MADNESS BBC c.1982 Madness The Pilot, a twelve minute demo for what would never have been a series. The group now find themselves ruling the country from a cafe in Camden Town, however, they've lost the country's only bomb. Hardly a House of Fun. It was written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, produced by and directed by Geoff Posner, so the pedigree was there. Their videos were the best there were, but it just didn't work when re-created in sit-com fashion.

UNKNOWN TITLE. February 1984. Legendary radio DJ Dave Cash intends top produce a rival for Top Of The Pops with a show based on a version of the rival ILR chart. This chart will combine the ILR chart with listener voting hit-lines and local sales. Ex-TOTP director Phil Bishop will direct the show which will be produced by Cash's Buzz production company. DJ Gary Crowley will host the show, but each week the show will feature other local radio DJs. The pilot was recorded at the Zenon nightclub in Piccadilly, London in February 1984. Talking to Music Week Cash said "There are lots of other ways to present pop music on television other than the TOTP way and I would like to think we are going to be very different. We will put together the chart ourselves from ILR stations around the country. Often the ILR hit-line charts are a few weeks ahead of the Gallup chart — they are getting a more street level view of what's going on "We will be talking to anyone who wants to buy the programme, but naturally we would like to see it used on the ITV network."

THE FIRST SIGHT SHOW. BBC1. 1986. In April 1986 two producers from the BBC's Pebble Mill studios were due to meet BBC1 chief Michael Grade with the idea for a five days a week pop video show, to be broadcast between 5.30 and 6.00 pm. The idea is very similar the Channel Four's The Chart Show.

INDEPENDENTS DAY Greendow 1987. Record producer Martin Hannett had the idea to put together a show based on the indie music scene for sale to channels worldwide.

PHEW! ROCK N ROLL c.1989. Hosted by Danny Baker.

POP ADDICTS late 1980s. BBC1. Mike Read was to host this update of Pop Quiz, but this time with members of the public rather than pop stars, similar to BBC1's Telly Addicts.

1990s

EMOTION Granada 1990. A pilot, subtitled Rave On, hosted by Tony Wilson and Jane Parker. It appears not to have any new content, so was probably just a filler documentary on the then Manchester scene, featuring Mike Pickering, footage of the Stone Roses gig at Spike Island etc.

THE BEACH BOYS The Making Of Pet Sounds. London Weekend, 1995. A South Bank Show special, similar to the Sgt Pepper special. A version would eventually be made by the Classic Albums series years' later.

MUSIC FOR PLEASURE LWT, 1996. Another Pop Quiz style show, hosted by Phill Jupitus. The panel for the pilot show was Vic Reeves, Trevor and Simon, Graeme Le Saux.

CLASSIC ALBUMS BBC1 (Isis Prods / Daniel T / BBC-1 / VH-1 / NCRV / Castle Music Pictures), 1997. Among the eight sixty minute shows (The Grateful Dead - Jimi Hendrix - Stevie Wonder - Fleetwood Mac - Paul Simon - The Band) were (to be confirmed as of October 1996) Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti, and Queen - A Night At The Opera. The second series announced in Autumn 1999 didn’t feature either of these.

ELTON JOHN January 1998 A chat show hosted by Elton, produced by Ginger Television.

CILLA BLACK 1990s Led Astray. A sitcom with co-star Paul O'Grady which got to the plot stage, but Black kept forgetting her lines according to an audience member at the time.

CILLA BLACK 1990s Little Cilla. The animated adventures of young Cilla in Liverpool only got as far as a five minute test reel. John Peel played the voice of her dog.