278 Mr and Mrs

First  watched : 23  February  1977

Ah  now  this  is  where  having  the  diary  is  going  to  be  very  useful. It's  revealed  that  this  was  the  time  John, the  lad  next  door  cut  his  knee  at  school  and  it  went  a  bit  nasty,  leaving  him  unable  to  walk  during  the  half  term. His  mum , never  usually  keen  on  having  other  kids  in  the  house , invited  me  in  to  keep  him  company  as  he  sat  on  the  sofa  with  his  leg  propped  up. So  I  spent  the  next  few  days  playing  board  games  and  watching  telly  ( ITV )  at  his  house  ( I  wonder  if  he  remembers  that ) .  And  I've  listed  what  we  watched.

So  we  begin  with  Mr  and  Mrs . This  long  running  quiz  show  was  noted  for   originally  being  made  separately  by  three  different  regions  which  seems  ruinously  wasteful. Granada  bought  the  Border  version  with  the  obsequious  Derek  Batey  ( who  was  actually  Assistant  Controller  of  Programmes  at  Border  as  host) . The  format  was  simple, test  how  much  couples  knew   each  other  by  asking  one  spouse  some  random  questions  when  the  other  couldn't  hear  and  then  see  how  closely  they  matched  when  he/she  was  brought  back. Cash  prizes  were  on  offer. It  was  slightly  smutty  at  times, usually  lightly  embarrassing  and  always  rather  naff  but  entertaining  enough  on  a  boring  afternoon. I  don't  think  I  ever  watched  it  much  afterwards.

The  show  originally  ended  in  1988  but  there  was  a  satellite  channel  revival  in  1995  which  ran  for  three  years  then  a  Julian  Clary-hosted  one  in  1999  which  lasted  a  year.  After  retiring  to  Florida  Batey  returned  to  the  UK  and  died in  2013  aged  84.