Nothing reminds me of how bleak the TV and radio schedules were for a fan of the fantastical during the period. Summer, of course, was a particularly arid time when it came to the schedules. As Michael Palin notes in his The Python Years diaries, the season was, traditionally, a wasteland filled with repeats and little else. With families assumed to be away during the holidays, there was little incentive to premiere new shows. But for those who could access the radio at 6.40am on Friday morning, there was at least something of promise to come.
Saturday 22nd July 1972
Nothing. Naught. Nada. A day entirely free of the fantastical.
Sunday 23rd July 1972
12.45pm – LWT – Catweazle: The Black Wheels (repeat)
1.15pm – LWT – Stingray (repeat)
Monday 24th July 1972
BBC1 – 10.50am – Adventures Of Tin Tin: The Crab With The Golden Claw part 6 (repeat – shown every day until Friday at this time.)
BBC1 – 10.55am – Magic Roundabout (repeat – shown every day until Friday at this time.)
BBC1 – 9.20pm – Doomwatch: Enquiry
“The toxic particles are released in the form of an aerosol … It makes it possible to defeat an enemy army without inflicting any casualties on them or on the civilian population.” (RT)
Tuesday 25th July 1972
Nothing. Naught. Nada.
Wednesday 26th July 1972
Thames – 5.20pm – Ace Of Wands: The Meddlers Part 2
BBC1 – 7.25pm – Mission Impossible: The Crane
Thursday 27th July 1972
Thames – 11pm – The Avengers: Killer (repeat)
Friday 28th July 1972
Pick Of The Week – Radio 3 – 6.40am – The Horror Story
“Christopher Lee and Alex Hamilton talk with psychologist Dr Christopher Reeves about gruesome tales and two gothic characters: Frankenstein’s creature and Count Dracula. 20th-century Gothic is illustrated by H. P. Lovecraft’s story The Gable Window, read by Edward Bishop. (Next week: Johnathan Miller on Ghosts)
Thames – 4.45pm – Land Of The Giants (repeat)
And that was all, folks ….
The Almanac Of The Fantastical 