EPISODE 11: The Beatles on TV

In this episode, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are looking at programmes from November 1989. And they are... 10:06 The Doctor Who story Survival, starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. This three-parter brought the curtain down on the programme's 26-year original run on BBC television. 27:37: The first episode of Dennis Potter's controversial, sexually explicit drama, Blackeyes. 41:36: And the first episode of Tony Robinson's children's comedy, Maid Marian and her Merry Men. 51:25: Plus, an epochal moment in the lives of those Antipodean Neighbours. Oh, and here's that The Great Debate parody Stuart Clary told us about (thanks again, Stuart!). As mentioned in our episode, on 23 November, we're releasing a special video interview with TV design legend Bernard Lodge. Find out more on our Patreon page, which is www.patreon.com/squarewindowpod.  You can also find us on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@squarewindowpod, where we've put together a playlist for this episode.  If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

In a very special episode, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White travel to  Rebellion Publishing in Oxford, the home of the mighty 2000 AD comic. But Rebellion also holds the archive for all of the comics that were published by the International Publishing Company – better known as IPC – through the 20th century. And it's that archive they're exploring, to look at the very many times British comics crossed over with British TV, including School Fun's Coronation Street School humour strip, The Goodies appearing in Cor! and, of course, the ever-changing jamboree of ITV-owned properties that were featured in the mighty Look-in magazine! Our thanks go to Ben Smith and Charlene Taylor for being such warm and wise hosts on the day. A video version of this episode is available on our YouTube channel. What'll you hear in this instalment of Samira and Graham's tour around the Rebellion archive is only really a tiny snippet. So we've put together a special, much more comics-focussed edition specifically for the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast, in which Charleen and Ben share  the stories behind titles and characters such as Roy of the Rovers, Buster, the infamous Action comic and, of course 2000 AD. That will be available on their podcast feed on Wednesday 28 October. Find out more about the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast at 2000AD.com.  Remember, we're now on Patreon at www.patreon.com/squarewindowpod. Please do consider signing up to our 'Round Window' tier for additional episodes and newsletters from Through the Square Window. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

This time, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are looking at programmes from October 1971, namely... 08:18: The bizarre US children's programme, HR Pufnstuf. 20:29: The very first episode of the BBC's seafaring saga, The Onedin Line. 36:09: The Great Debate - an ambitious and ultimately calamitous live debate chaired by Robin Day about whether or not Britain should join the Common Market. 52:30: The Star Trek episode For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. Remember, we're now on Patreon at www.patreon.com/squarewindowpod. Please do consider signing up to our 'Round Window' tier for additional episodes and newsletters from Through the Square Window. You can also find us on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@squarewindowpod, where we've put together a playlist for this episode.  If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

This month Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are looking at programmes from September 1992... But first, an announcement! We're now on Patreon and you can find us at www.patreon.com/squarewindowpod. Please do consider signing up to our 'Round Window' tier for additional episodes and newsletters from Through the Square Window. Now to this month's viewing choices... 07:13: Benjamin Zephaniah's Dread Poets Society, a 30-minute drama for BBC2's ScreenPlay strand. 22:22: Bob Holness' big board quizzer, Blockbusters. 38:24: Broke, an episode from BBC2's excellent Present Imperfect documentary series, following two men attempting to stave off bankruptcy. 47:31: The debut of Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, hosted by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin. You can also find us on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@squarewindowpod, where we've put together a playlist for this episode.  And finally, here's that link to Diane Morgan and Maxine Peake taking speech elocution lessons. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

In March 2026,  Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White visited the home of Joy Whitby to talk about her 60-plus years making children's television.  Starting in BBC Radio as a studio manager in the 1950s, Joy moved into television in 1962, where she would go on to create Play School in 1964, devising the series and casting the presenting line-up. The following year, she launched Jackanory. She moved to London Weekend Television in 1967, where she produced The Growing Summer (1969) and Catweazle (1969). In 1970, she set up her own freelance company, Grasshopper Productions, and created the drama Grasshopper Island. Moving to Yorkshire Television in 1975, she oversaw a range of children's programmes - including The Book Tower, Behind the Bike Sheds and The Giddy Game Show, as well as A Pattern of Roses, which featured Helena Bonham Carter in her first screen appearance. Our conversation covers all of these programmes, plus Joy also talks about her difficult relationship with the BBC following her departure, facing down sexism in her career, and working with Tom Baker.  For more on Joy's work, visit her website, www.grasshopper.co.uk. If you would like to contact us, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

This month Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are looking at programmes from July 1996... 05:26: The satirical show The Friday Night Armistice, hosted by Armando Iannucci with Peter Baynham and David Schneider. 20:40: The Carol Vorderman-presented delve into the occult, Out of this World. 32:44: An episode from the fifth series of the sitcom Men Behaving Badly. 42:29: The opening instalment of drama Takin' Over the Asylum. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

To (belatedly) mark the publication of Samira Ahmed's BFI Film Classics book on A Hard Day's Night, she and Graham Kibble-White look at a quartet of Beatles TV shows... 05:22: Around the Beatles from May 1964 - Rediffusion's racuous and stomping studio celebration. 21:41: James Paul McCartney from 1973 - an hour-long special with Macca and Wings, made to settle a dispute with ATV's Lew Grade. 39:18: The Music of Lennon and McCartney from 1965 - a Granada showcase of the songwriting duo's compositions. 50:49: Magical Mystery Tour from 1967 - the surreal Beatles-helmed film that aired on Boxing Day. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

This month Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are looking at programmes from May 1987... 05:56: A season three episode - 'Blonde on Blonde' - of US romance Moonlighting. 20:42: Paul Daniels' BBC1 chrono-obsessed quizzer, Every Second Counts. 37:26: John Godber's idiosyncratic BBC2 nightclub comedy-drama, The Ritz. 49:04: Network 7, Jane Street-Porter and Jane Hewland's Channel 4, youth-orientated current affairs show, which believed "news is entertainment, entertainment is news". And huge thanks to Network 7's theme music composer, Steve Levine for his contribution to our discussion. You can find Steve on social media, @mrstevelevine If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

In January 2026, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White visited the home of comedian, actor, author, artist, television presenter, writer, master of panel shows, medical doctor and - of course - Goodie, Graeme Garden to look back at his life in television. Our conversation covers the full gamut of his TV career, from Twice a Fortnight through to Star Turn, Bananaman, Bodymatters, The Adventure Game and If I Ruled the World, and via oddities such as the panel show about concepts The Very Idea, Graeme sharing teatime trivia with Nanette Newman on Tell Me More, and appearing on Barry Norman's proto-HIGNFY quiz, Scoop. Running through all of that is The Goodies; Graeme telling us about the trio's appearances on Top of the Pops, how a strike impacted upon one of their greatest-ever series, why they ended up working with Engelbert Humperdinck, salary discrepancies between the threesome and why the BBC fell out of love with the show. We really hope you enjoy this episode, and if you would like to contact us, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White present a special extra episode for March 2026. Our previous instalment looked at shows from March 1979, including Thames TV's The Kenny Everett Video Show. Writer, comedian and actor Barry Cryer, who passed away in 2022, was a key contributor to that series and in 2019, Samira visited Barry at his home to record an interview with him about the programme, intended to run in a future edition of TV Years magazine. That future edition never transpired, and so we're presenting their conversation for the very first time. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on [email protected] Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.