429 Armchair Critics

First  viewed :  12  April  1980

This  only  lasted  for  six  weeks  on  a  Saturday  night  on   BBC2   but  there  are  some  interesting  aspects  to  it.

It  was  a  TV  review  discussion  programme   in  which  three  critics  ( unfortunately  not   identified  by  Genome )  discussed  three  shows  broadcast  that  week, usually  one  each  from BBC1  , BBC2  and  ITV. That  in  itself  was  highly  unusual  at  the  time. Nowadays  we're  well used  to  the  channels  plundering  each  other's  archives  for  clips  but  this  was  the  first  show  I can  remember  where  the  BBC  acknowledged  ITV  even  existed.

The  host  was  Susan  Hill  who , I  recall, looked  like  a  librarian. On  the  balance  of  probabilities  I  think  she  was  the  same  person  as  the  successful  novelist  but  I  can't  find  any  definite  proof.

As  you  might  expect  I  only  tuned  in  when  they  were  discussing  something  I'd  watched  so  I only  saw  three  at  the  most  including  the  first  when  they  discussed  Yes  Minister  (  which  I hadn't  watched  at  that  point   but  this  encouraged  me  to  do  so ) , Rebecca  and  Death  of  A Princess. If  it  is  the  same  Susan  Hill,  it's  worth  noting  that  she  later  wrote  a  sequel  to Rebecca. I  also  definitely  saw  the  one  where  they  discussed  Not  The  Nine  O  Clock  News and Coronation  St  in  the  same  episode.

The  show  was  superseded  by  the  longer -running  , more  ambitious  Did  You  See  ?  later  that  year.