Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right was the highlight of the Christmas Day schedule 40 years ago.
We have been digging through the TV Times archives and came across the 1983 Christmas issue. At the time, TV Times just had the TV listings for ITV and the then very new Channel 4 (don't forget to pick up your copy of this year's TV Times Christmas issue, on sale now!).
Having woken up with Christmas TV-am, the kids then would be able to enjoy Roland Rat in Roland's Winter Wonderland at 9 am. Later in the morning, they could watch a spot of Fraggle Rock. The Queen’s Speech was at 3 pm before the big Christmas movie which was Christopher Reeve in Superman. No Netflix then, and this would have been the first time many people would have watched the film.
And then what an afternoon line-up! At 5.40 pm it was time for the Bullseye Christmas special! And it was a celebrity edition with the stars including Ann Diamond. "Tony (Mr 180) keeps the scores," pointed out TV Times. At 6.35 pm it was A Royal Concert of Carols in the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
Onto 7.15 pm and time for Brucie. "Couples test their knowledge of public opinion and card game skills," said TV Times, making Play Your Cards Right sound quite serious.
At 7.45 pm Jimmy Tarbuck’s Christmas All Stars aired as "ITV’s stars gather for a special Christmas Day celebration to entertain all the family". We especially like the fact that David Hasselhoff joined in "from America by Satellite". The height of technology!
And finally, after a glass or three of wine and 400 mince pies, you could enjoy Peter Sellers in Revenge of the Pink Panther at 9.10 pm
Notably, there was no Christmas Day trip to Weatherfield. However, flicking the page over to Boxing Day and you can see a nice picture of Betty Turpin (played by Betty Driver) in the Rovers. Yep, Boxing Day saw half an hour of Corrie at 6.00 pm. TV Times helpfully gave the cast list which included Pat Phoenix as Elsie Tanner, Kevin Kennedy as Curly Watts, Elizabeth Dawn as Vera Duckworth, Jean Alexander as Hilda Ogden and Bryan Mosley as Alf Roberts. It really was classic Corrie.
The big Boxing Day movie was The Spy Who Loved Me. Of course! And that was followed at 8.45 pm by Eric and Ernie’s Christmas Show. "A feast of entertainment with Eric, Ernie and a galaxy of stars," as TV Times put it. Other Boxing Day highlights included The Sooty Show and Give Us a Clue with Michael Aspel, Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair.
Here's our Christmas TV guide to all the top shows this year!
