The recent, tragic death of John Noakes saddened those fortunate enough to remember him ( myself included ) from his 1960's/'70's heyday, and brought home a rather depressing conclusion - if he were still alive and 31 years old ( the age he was when he joined 'Blue Peter' ), he would not now be allowed anywhere near children's television.
Things were very different in 1976 - 81, the years 'Star Turn' was on air. It was a game-show, featuring two teams of celebrities either from children's programmes - such as Noel Edmonds, Peter Purves, Susan King, and Johnny Morris - or from adult programmes that were popular with children - such as Donald Hewlett, Wendy Richard, June Whitfield, Jan Chappell, and Ruth Madoc. These teams competed against one another in acting games; charades, improvisation, mime, singing and so on. There was an audience of children. One round had the teams acting out a comic detective saga called 'Ivor Notion'. The children would then be asked to spot the differences in the script between one performance and another. Host Bernard Cribbins sat with the kids and wore a deerstalker, which he would then reverse whenever he came to the line "Ivor Notion had a notion!".
It was a fun show, and the teams looked as if they were having a whale of a time. After three years, Cribbins left and was replaced by Graeme Garden of 'Goodies' fame. The show's title changed to 'Star Turn Challenge'. Nothing else changed though, other than the teams featured casts of shows, such as 'Angels' and 'Hi-De-Hi!' pitted against one another.
'Star Turn' was at one time paired with the animated version of the U.S. show 'Star Trek' on Wednesday afternoons, which made things rather confusing for continuity announcers ( no idiots in broom cupboards linking the programmes in those days, thankfully ).
It is a great pity that ageism is so rife on television these days that a programme such as this just would not be possible now. Thank goodness we have our memories.
Things were very different in 1976 - 81, the years 'Star Turn' was on air. It was a game-show, featuring two teams of celebrities either from children's programmes - such as Noel Edmonds, Peter Purves, Susan King, and Johnny Morris - or from adult programmes that were popular with children - such as Donald Hewlett, Wendy Richard, June Whitfield, Jan Chappell, and Ruth Madoc. These teams competed against one another in acting games; charades, improvisation, mime, singing and so on. There was an audience of children. One round had the teams acting out a comic detective saga called 'Ivor Notion'. The children would then be asked to spot the differences in the script between one performance and another. Host Bernard Cribbins sat with the kids and wore a deerstalker, which he would then reverse whenever he came to the line "Ivor Notion had a notion!".
It was a fun show, and the teams looked as if they were having a whale of a time. After three years, Cribbins left and was replaced by Graeme Garden of 'Goodies' fame. The show's title changed to 'Star Turn Challenge'. Nothing else changed though, other than the teams featured casts of shows, such as 'Angels' and 'Hi-De-Hi!' pitted against one another.
'Star Turn' was at one time paired with the animated version of the U.S. show 'Star Trek' on Wednesday afternoons, which made things rather confusing for continuity announcers ( no idiots in broom cupboards linking the programmes in those days, thankfully ).
It is a great pity that ageism is so rife on television these days that a programme such as this just would not be possible now. Thank goodness we have our memories.
