THE SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES (Channel 4 1988-93)

Boffin Tim Hunkin presented this light-hearted, but very educational, filmed series in which he attempted to explain how various household appliances work, most memorably the vacuum cleaner, television and sewing machine, by use of various home-built machines and models, archive clips, and simple but humorous cartoons - and not a computer graphic in sight. Tim was assisted by the daredevil Rex Garrod.

The third series in 1993 was called The Secret Life of the Office.

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? Would Channel 4 show such an educational programme in primetime today?

LINK: Visit Tim Hunkin's Secret Life of Machines website

SCREEN TEST (BBC1 1972-84)

Presented by Michael Rodd in the 70s; Brian Trueman (right) took over in 1979. The quiz show where school-age contestants would be asked observation questions about various film clips. It also included the Young Film Maker of the Year Competition.

Severely dated by today's standards, although the show was revamped and modernised for its final 1984 series, with Mark Curry in charge.

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? No, too dated

STOPPIT AND TIDYUP (BBC1 1988-95)

Included mainly because I love the bizarre theme tune. The show itself was pretty surreal, set in the land of Do-As-You're-Told with gherkin-loving Tidyup with his neat house and garden, and Stoppit who lived on a rubbish dump. Most notable for being narrated by the great Terry Wogan.

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? Who knows?

TAKE HART (BBC1 1977-83)

Succeeding Vision On (1964-76), this was a more focused art programme (its predecessor's wacky sketches were reborn on Jigsaw). Particularly remembered for those huge paintings on the wall, that you never knew what it was meant to be until he had almost finished (not unlike Rolf Harris). The gallery continued from Vision On, albeit with new music.

Comedy came from the caretaker Mr Bennett, and the animated character Morph, who later won his own show into the bargain.

In 1984 Take Hart transmogrified into the jazzed up Hartbeat.

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? Not so long ago we had Smart Hart with Tony and CBBC's Kirsten O'Brien which included clips from Take Hart and Hartbeat. But that's all.

THAT WAS THE YEAR (BBC2 1983-84)

An original idea at the time, this series shown early evening on BBC2 presented historical events in the style of a modern day news bulletin. Each programme focused on a particular year in history - mainly those in which major events occured - and featured on-the-spot reports from the likes of John Craven in medieval dress, bringing us news of Columbus' discovery of America.

Some thought it odd to bring us historical news from a modern studio set, with main presenter Chris Serle dressed in a modern suit. But the very modern-sounding (for 1983) funky theme tune was the best bit!

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? No

THINK OF A NUMBER (BBC1 1977-84)/THINK AGAIN (BBC1 1981-85)

Johnny Ball - the TV legend who made maths and science fun.

The maths-based Think of a Number (right), which began
in 1977, had a studio audience, and some kind of mishap would befall Johnny at the end of each programme.

Think Again, the science-based show (below), followed a
few years later and was presented by Johnny from a
pseudo-office set. Both shows had excellent theme
synth-style tunes, especially the powerful electronic Think Again theme which is included here - 1 min 23 secs stereo version.

Later Johnny Ball 'Think' series included Think This Way in 1983 and Think It...Do It! circa 1987. He also co-presented the late 80s children's science series Knowhow.

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see them again? Johnny presented a 'best of' these series in about 1996; that's about the nearest we'll get. He was recently seen with Wogan on The Terry and Gaby Show on Channel 5.

TOMORROW'S WORLD (BBC1 1965-2002)

Along with Top of the Pops, this show was a stalwart of the BBC1 evening schedule for 37 years (particularly Thursdays).

Raymond Baxter, the jazzy theme tune and the 'toast' opening titles had all disappeared by the eighties. Now we had Maggie Philbin, Judith Hann, Peter McCann and, from 1985, Howard Stableford presenting from a set that had plain black and white backgrounds, and 'brain' opening titles.

In 1985 the show received another revamp - and a fantastic new theme tune!

Images: top line - the 1985-91 title seqence; Peter McCann with a BBC Micro; Kieran Prendeville with a home video camera
Bottom line - Judith Hann with a Sinclair C5; Howard Stableford with a microwave; Maggie Philbin with scary shoulder pads

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? No - a final series return to the old-style 'live' format could not save it, and it was axed as an ongoing series in 2002.

TOP OF THE POPS (BBC1 1964-2006)

Well you certainly won't have forgotten this one, but the early 1980s was a classic period for TOTP. The new decade, and the dawn of a new musical era, that of synthpop and the New Romantics, saw a new theme tune. No more Whole Lotta Love, we had Phil Lynott and Ultravox coming together for Yellow Pearl, used as the show's theme from July 1981 to March 1986. You can hear the shorter opening version by clicking on the above link.

The producers of the era tried to give the show a party atmosphere, with balloons and streamers all over the place and dancers behind the performers, while the likes of Duran Duran, Human League, Wham! and Nik Kershaw performed their hit records on the massive main stage - however thanks to Mike Read, Frankie Goes to Hollywood weren't allowed to.

Top of the Pops often broadcast live in the 1980s, which gave rise to some of the programme's most famous cock-ups, including the singer from All About Eve's amazing ability to sing 'Martha's Harbour' without moving her lips; and then there was the time when Dexy's Midnight Runners performed their hit 'Jackie Wilson Said' in front of a giant picture of darts player Jocky Wilson (right). But producer Michael Hurll maintains to this day that this was not a mistake, but in fact a jolly jape by the band. Dave Lee Travis is still in the dark over that one...

Radio 1 DJs remained the main presenters of the programme, and a masterstroke was made by employing John Peel as a regular. Normally paired with Kid Jensen, the two of them would usually indulge in dressing up in silly costumes (left) and Peel would have great fun with his deadpan introductions, in which he would gently mock groups he wouldn't be seen dead playing on his Radio 1 show; then on one occasion in 1986 he promised to break wind in our kitchen if Pete Wylie's song 'Sinful' didn't get to number one.

By the end of the 1980s, the charts were getting ever more kiddie-orientated with the proliferation of Stock Aitken and Waterman music, and in response to this TOTP employed children's presenters like Andy Crane, Anthea Turner and Simon Parkin. But this was nothing compared to the changes in 1991 - when, horror of horrors, everyone had to sing live!

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? After many years of having had the axe dangle above it, TOTP has finally become the latest sacred cow to be slaughtered by the BBC. The last show aired on 30th July, though the TOTP name will apparently live on in one-off specials - though they said that about Tomorrow's World...

VIDEO CLIP: Chart countdown from October 1981

TOTTIE - THE STORY OF A DOLL'S HOUSE (BBC1 1985?-86)

One of the last children's series from Smallfilms (Clangers/Bagpuss/Ivor the Engine etc), this mid-80s animation was an altogether much darker affair. Based on the books by Rumer Gooden, the initial set-up appears quite innocuous - central character Tottie was a little wooden Dutch doll, who shared her house with her 'family' - Mr Plantagenet, a man-doll with a china face; Apple, a boy-doll made of plush; and Birdie, the mother of the family, who was made of celluloid.

However the tone became rather too morbid when the villain of the piece, a porcelain doll named Marchpane, murdered Birdie by setting her on fire, and no doubt upsetting many small children in the process.

"Dolls can't choose. They can only be chosen" - Tottie Plantagenet

Nostalgia rating:

Will we see it again? A second series, simply named Tottie, was transmitted in 1986, but both series lacked the enduring appeal of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's earlier creations, and have not been seen since.

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