April 1968 highlights  In the late 1960s, short news bulletins, and the lack of an early evening current affairs magazine (Tonight/ Nationwide) meant that there was plenty of room for programmes to be shown at time that we would now expect to find the news. So on this day, we had Quiz Time, Gentlemen, Please! (left - so Dave Lee Travis was not the first to put a darts quiz on the air then!) at 6.15pm; the same slot on other days saw the likes of Whicker's World, Going for a Song and The Monkees (whose crazy antics had just moved to Thursday from their usual Saturday slot).
There was plenty of current affairs later on, though, with Robin Day's Panorama and Cliff Michelmore's 24 Hours on BBC1, and the first colour news programme, Newsroom, on BBC2, which had recently moved to a mid-evening slot. But comedy was not forgotten on this day - The Dick Emery Show, which had been first shown on BBC2, was repeated on BBC1, while the anarchic comic Marty Feldman began his new colour series on BBC2. The fledgling Radio 1 had to suffer the two problems of lack of funds and needletime restrictions, meaning frequent join-ups with Radio 2, and various 'live' music progrmmes, such as Radio One O'Clock, featuring the likes of Johnny Howard and his Band at the Orchid Ballroom, Purley.
And in Radio Times 27 April-3 May 1968 Price 8d  This week's Radio Times featured a cover that could only come from the late 1960s - the girl in the spacesuit having at best a tenuous connection with Tomorrow's World. Not only that, RT readers were this week invited to 'choose the most attractive portraits of Lulu' from ten images being printed over four weeks (right). The prize was £1,000 in cash, awarded to the reader who, in the considered opinion of a panel of expert judges, had selected the six most pleasing portraits and ranked them in order of attractiveness. The mind boggles... Meanwhile Lulu herself was about to launch her own BBC television series, and would represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest the following year.
 The bulging-eyed comic genius Marty Feldman (below) was the subject of a colour feature in Radio Times, as he began his first series of sketch shows. Marty, who compared himself to the Court Jester, declared that it was 'marvellous' to be working for the BBC, because "everyone cares - they don't just want the old, safe stuff. They'll let me try all sorts of new things. I mean that seriously".
Also in colour - in Radio Times, if not on BBC1 - Cliff Michelmore, 24 Hours anchor, interviewed himself, and asked whether either his son or daughter had shown any interest in television - Cliff answered by saying that ten year-old Guy was "at that point where he is fascinated and interested in all things...even his father's job!" Prophetic words indeed, considering Guy Michelmore would go on to become a television presenter himself, presenting the likes of Breakfast Time, London Plus and is now a successful film and television composer. 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Radio Times Covers | 
