My memories of summer 1972 are, in terms of its fantastical TV and radio, of a dulling drought of anything that was particularly interesting. Yet looking at the terrestrial listings for this current week in 2025 has put my memories into context. Yes, the summer of 1972 was mostly about fantastical repeats, and yes, those repeats were mostly programmes aimed at children. But they were often highly enjoyable and smart shows which, regardless of their intended audience, repaid a second or third watch. Today, even the children’s repeats are absent from our screens. What seemed like shortage in 1972 now looks almost like plenty.
Saturday 29th 1972
BBC2 – 11.50pm – The Abominable Snowman (1957)
“A British scientist and an American adventurer set off on a perilous journey to discover the Abominable Snowman.”
“”All goes well in this Hammer Horror yarn based on the Nigel Kneale TV opus, until we actually see a yeti, and then rampant disbelief sets in. All hail then, to the incomparably conscientious Peter Cushing who refuses to let improbability affect his dedication to the proceedings.” (Philip Jenkinson, RT)
“High-altitude fantasy story set in the Himalayas, scripted with an eye and ear for atmosphere by Nigel Keale … It tails away climactically but, until we see the best, there are quite a few hang-ups (?) of suspense.” (Evening Standard)
Sunday 30th 1972
LWT – 12.45 – Catweazle: The Familiar Spirit (repeat)
LWT – 13.15 – Stingray (repeat)
BBC2 – 9.00 – Music On 2 – “Parade, an impression of Erik Satie”.
“This entertainment for TV is more about Satie’s mental landscape and less about dates and places. His life was an elaborate expression of surrealism … The dialogues, based on Satie’s own words have been written by Basil Deane and present an inner portrait of this complex personality.” (RT)
“Quite an innovation this is, for a music programme … There’s a conversation between (Satie) and his avowed idol Socrates and, via electronic wizardry, the programme tries to be as artistically shocking as Satie was himself.” (Evening Standard)
Monday 31st 1972
Radio 4 – 8.45 – John Ebdon Taken By Fairies
“Investigating manifestations of the little people.” (Radio Times)
BBC1 – 10.50am – Adventures Of Tin Tin: The Crab With The Golden Claw part 11 (repeat – shown every day until Friday at this time.)
BBC1 – 10.55am – Magic Roundabout (repeat – on every day including Friday at this time.)
Radio 4 – 11.30am – Alan Garner’s Elidor, abridged in five parts by David Mahlowe & by Geoffrey Banks, on every day including Friday at this time.)
“The best kind of magic appears when it’s least suspected…. when an ordinary day suddenly becomes strange, wonderful, terrible, just as it does for Roland, Helen, Nicholas and David as they go exploring the back streets of Manchester.” (Radio Times)
BBC1 – 4.40pm – Jackanory: Greek Legends – The War With The Titans
BBC1 – 9.20pm – Doomwatch: Flood
“One more inch! A mere inch! And we would have had a full-scale disaster in the very heart of London.” (RT)
“The Thames is about to overflow and London prepares for evacuation. But have no fear, Dr Quist is here …” (Standard)
Tuesday 1st August
Radio 4 – 11.30pm – Alan Garner’s Elidor 2/5
“Alan Garner first wrote Elidor as a radio play for Children’s Hour ten years ago .. After Elidor, he says, he went away and had a nervous breakdown and then wrote The Owl Service, which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and then a Carnegie medal, rescuing his family from a diet of nettles. But Elidor wouldn’t go away. ‘My brain kept returning to it,’ he says. What if there had been an apparent change in the symbols, but they had kept their power and went on working? So the radio play grew into the book being read this week. And Elidor still won’t go away. It’s now going to be made into a full-length film.” (Uncredited, Radio Times)
BBC1 – 4.40pm – Jackanory: Greek Legends – The Dark King Of The Underworld
Wednesday 2nd August
Radio 4 – 11.30pm – Alan Garner’s Elidor 3/5
BBC1 – 4.40pm – Jackanory: Greek Legends – Perseus and the Gorgon’s Head
ITV – 5.20 – Ace Of Wands
BBC1 – 7.25pm – Mission Impossible: The Freeze
(It gets the cold-shoulder from me because the heroes’ con-tricks get no come-uppance: it’s assumed they’re right and proper. This week they twist an escape crook into revealing where he’s cached stolen money.) (Tom Hutchinson in The Daily Standard)
Thursday 3rd August
Radio 4 – 11.30pm – Alan Garner’s Elidor 4/5
BBC1 – 4.40pm – Jackanory: Greek Legends – The Golden Touch
Thames – 11.00 – The Avengers: My Wildest Dream (repeat)
Friday 4th August
Radio 4 – 11.30pm – Alan Garner’s Elidor 5/5
BBC1 – 4.40pm – Jackanory: Greek Legends – Jason and the Golden Fleece
ITV – 4.55pm – Land Of The Giants (repeat)
PICK OF THE WEEK – Radio 3 – 6.30pm – Study On Three
“Jonathan Miller talks With Dr Christopher Evans and explains why ghosts are frightening and how story writers succeed in making fictional ghosts horrific. Also, “Lost Hearts” by M. R. James is read by Bernard Cribbins.” (RT)
The Almanac Of The Fantastical will return tomorrow …
The Almanac Of The Fantastical 