My 70's TV Childhood

Hello, you lovely lot, and welcome to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz, the trivia quiz from the classic British TV podcast that looks back at growing up in 1970s Britain. This time we open with the animals of our childhood telly: cartoon heroes, farmyard favourites and studio pets we all felt were partly ours. Grab a pen, some paper and a brew, and let's see how you get on. What to Expect Round...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood, the classic British TV podcast about growing up in 1970s Britain and the part television played in our lives.  This week we're looking back at Beasts, Nigel Kneale's six-part ITV anthology from 1976. There were no castles or alien planets, just a supermarket, a suburban home, an empty dolphinarium, a country cottage, a pet shop and a film studio. It w...

Hello, you lovely lot, and welcome to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz, the fun trivia quiz from the classic British TV podcast that looks back at growing up in 1970s Britain. This time we start with the scarier side of the schedules. Looking back, I'm surprised we all turned out so normal, or relatively so, given some of the things we were shown at teatime. Grab a pen and paper and your favourit...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood, the classic British TV podcast about growing up in 1970s Britain and the part television played in our lives. So many of you asked about it after our Wonder Woman episode that this week we're looking back at The Incredible Hulk, the programme that gave British children in the late 1970s a rather alarming lesson in anger management. From Bill Bixby's g...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us into the world of the one-hit wonders of television: shows that had everything going for them, except a second series. Some were cancelled. Some ran out of road. One was pulled after just three episodes. We will give you a description of the show and you have to tell us the name. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week we are marking the sad passing of Richard O'Sullivan, who died peacefully at Brinsworth House in Twickenham on 4 September 2026, aged 82. In his time, Richard was one of the most popular and best-known actors on British television, and for millions of viewers he was, quite simply, Robin Tripp. This week Oliver looks back at a career that spanned...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One marks a rather special occasion: the fiftieth anniversary of The Muppet Show, which first aired in September 1976. Five questions about Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Dr Bunsen Honeydew and the rest of the gang. And here is something that often surprises people: the show was actually made here in the UK. After that, we have our re...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week I am heading back to a Saturday afternoon in 1978, when a spectacular American import arrived on BBC One and stopped children in their tracks across the country. The theme music would begin, you would recognise it immediately and then, suddenly, there she was spinning around. One moment a smart businesswoman in a pair of spectacles and the next, Wonde...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One is dedicated to one of the longest-running and most beloved programmes in the history of British children's television: Blue Peter. Five questions covering Shep, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton, Lesley Judd and one very famous appeal. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1971 for...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm looking back at what many people reckon is one of the greatest British sitcoms ever made. A sitcom that lasted just 12 episodes, and yet more than 50 years later remains part of the British cultural furniture. We're going to Fawlty Towers. What to Expect: The Real Basil Fawlty: I trace the origins of the show back to 1970, when the Mont...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week marks a rather satisfying milestone: our 75th quiz, three quarters of a century of questions about growing up with British television in the 1970s. To celebrate, Round One takes us back to one of the most cherished slots in the history of British children's television: Watch With Mother. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm looking back at one of the biggest stars of Saturday night television, a man who entertained millions with a remarkable gallery of comic characters. Dick Emery was a fixture on BBC One for over a decade, and his catchphrases entered everyday conversation across the country. From the unforgettable Mandy to the Toothy Vicar, the Bovver Boy to...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One is all about the summer variety show Seaside Special, a fixture of Saturday night television throughout the mid to late 1970s, plus a few other seaside-related questions. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1975 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish. Wh...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to the golden age of 1970s television advertising. I will give you some information from a famous advert and you have to tell me the product or brand it was for. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1971 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finis...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm delighted to welcome a very special guest, a man I can only describe as a legend of children's television. He's the puppeteer behind Zippy on Rainbow, he was Sweep alongside Harry Corbett, he worked with Jim Henson on Labyrinth, he performed on the Muppet films, and he even became a rave star in the 1990s touring university discos...

Welcome to the 72nd edition of the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to those glorious school holiday mornings in front of the television, with five questions about the shows that filled our summers throughout the 1970s.  A quick note before we start: some of the shows mentioned were made before the 70s but were endlessly repeated and very much part of our 70s TV childhoo...

Welcome back to My 70’s TV Childhood, a British nostalgia podcast about growing up with classic television in 1970s Britain. This week, I’m heading back to 1974 and one of the most talked-about and controversial programmes in the history of British television. The Family was a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary series that followed the everyday lives of an ordinary working-class family from Reading,...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week Round One takes us back to some of the most watched moments in 1970s television, the great Royal events that brought the nation together around the TV set. After that, we have our regular Marathon/Fil Rouge round, the Wheel of Fate landing on 1970 for Name That Tune, and the TV Times general trivia round to finish. What to Expect: Round 1: Ro...

Welcome back to My 70’s TV Childhood, a British nostalgia podcast about growing up with classic television in 1970s Britain. This week, with the World Cup just around the corner, I’m heading back to Argentina 1978, the tournament that made me a lifelong football fan and one of the most dramatic World Cups in history. But first, a quick reminder that our My 70’s TV Childhood Theme Tune Game is comi...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz. This week we have a bit of a milestone: it is our 70th quiz, which I think gives a very pleasing bit of synergy to our whole 1970s theme. To mark the occasion, Round One is dedicated to the wonderful world of Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I will give you a catchphrase and you have to tell me which character said it. After that, we have our regular Marathon/F...

Welcome back to My 70's TV Childhood, a British nostalgia podcast about growing up with classic television in 1970s Britain. This week, I'm paying tribute to the much-loved TV presenter Judith Chalmers, who passed away this week aged 90. Judith was synonymous with one thing for millions of us who grew up in 1970s Britain, and that was holidays. As one of the original hosts of ITV's...

Welcome back to the My 70s TV Childhood Quiz, or if you're joining me for the first time, a very warm welcome to you. This week I'm casting my mind back to the golden age of television talent shows, specifically the two great ones of the 1970s: Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. Whether it was Hughie Green's legendary sincerity or the famously sharp panel on New Faces, both shows lau...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm celebrating the 100th birthday of a broadcasting icon, a true national treasure, and seemingly a wonderful man. Sir David Attenborough turns 100, and I'm looking back at his extraordinary life, his career, and in particular, the landmark 1979 series that changed television and changed our relationship with the natural world: Life on Ear...

This week we’re packing our bags. Round One is all about 1970s TV shows set in foreign countries. Can you name where each one was set? Summer holidays start here. What to Expect: Round 1: Viva España! – Five 1970s TV shows, all set abroad. Can you name the country? Round 2: Marathon/Fil Rouge – Questions drawn from our back catalogue of over 200 episodes. Have you been paying attention? Round 3: N...

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! In this episode, I celebrate one of the most beloved characters in British television history, Basil Brush. He was a fox, a puppet, a national treasure, and a firm Saturday teatime favourite for millions of families throughout the 1970s. But first, I have some exciting news about our My 70s TV Childhood quiz game, which is now in pre-production. If you'd l...