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'''''Beadle's About''''' (also called ''The Best of Beadle's About'') |
'''''Beadle's About''''' (also called ''The Best of Beadle's About'') was a [[British television]] programme hosted by the late [[Jeremy Beadle]], where members of the public became victims of [[practical joke]]s behind [[hidden camera]]s. It was produced by [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] for [[ITV]], and ran from 22 November 1986 to 31 October 1996. |
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==Format== |
==Format== |
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Revision as of 21:42, 1 June 2010
| Beadle's About | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Jeremy Beadle |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Trevor Hopkins, Richard Hearsey for LWT |
| Running time | 30mins (inc. commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 22 November 1986 – 31 October 1996 |
| Related | |
| Game For A Laugh | |
Beadle's About (also called The Best of Beadle's About) was a British television programme hosted by the late Jeremy Beadle, where members of the public became victims of practical jokes behind hidden cameras. It was produced by LWT for ITV, and ran from 22 November 1986 to 31 October 1996.
Format
An example of one of the practical jokes would involve a person's car or van secretly being swapped for an identical one, and then having a disaster befall it, such as it exploding, falling into the sea, or being dropped from a great height, as the owner of the vehicle looked on in horror. After a few minutes Beadle would appear in disguise (typically as a policeman or some other figure of authority, and often wearing a fake beard on top of his natural beard), and interact with the shell-shocked and/or irate victim. He would subtly drop more and more hints and would remove his disguise and point a stick microphone at the person. As the public were familiar with Beadle from the earlier show Game for a Laugh, they would then immediately realise they had been had, often with the words "I don't believe it!".
Memorable Pranks
One of the most notable pranks was where a woman was convinced into believing that aliens had landed in her garden.
Another was when Dave Hughes's van was pushed into the water at The Sailing Centre.
Popularity
At its peak, the show attracted approximately 15 million viewers, making it one of ITV's most popular Saturday night programmes during that period.
Profanity Bubble
The "Bleep" or "Oops" bubble used to block out offensive language was a well known feature from the show. The bubbles were simply clouds with either "Bleep" or "Oops" in them, the text being set in a font looking similar to the 'Balloon' typeface. These were also used to cover up offensive hand gestures as well.
Jeremy once revealed in an interview that during editing they deliberately inserted "bleeps" where there were no profanities as this made it funnier.
Infamous Moments
One infamous prank targeted a woman who was at a wedding. After Beadle removed his disguise and pointed the microphone at her, the woman ignored him and asked him to leave her alone, until a friend explained it was "Jeremy Beadle off the television".[citation needed]
One of the pranks in the early 1990s when a woman returned from shopping to find her red Ford Fiesta in amongst a car park full of identical cars. She instantly guessed it was a Beadle's About prank.[citation needed]
In 1993, a man was arrested for trying to pull the beard off a policeman, thinking it was Jeremy Beadle in disguise.[citation needed]
Broadcasting
Beadle's About was first broadcast on ITV from 22 November 1986 to 31 October 1996.
Challenge TV then repeated the show from 1999 to 2007.
Repeat runs from 1995 were also shown on Virgin 1.
It is currently not being repeated on British television.
Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|