From swearing at 8pm to groundbreaking formats, Katie Puckrik, Phil Redmond, Leslie Ash, Paul Coia and others recall the glory days of the channel
would “give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the future”, some argue that it is a politically motivated retaliation against a channel long perceived as left-leaning, and which angered No 10 with stunts such as replacing the Boris Johnson with a melting ice sculpture afterto a climate change debate.
Phil Redmond in 1990: ‘Getting Brookside renewed for a second year was the hardest negotiation I’d ever been in.’The launch night, on 2 November 1982, was crazy. As episode one of Brookside What Channel 4 did was give new voices a space to express their creativity. Jeremy was a creative’s dream. He would buy into people’s visions and fight for their projects. But I think the channel started to lose its way at the end of the 90s. It began to think about itself as a media company, which it shouldn’t have done because it couldn’t compete with the bigger players. They commissioned the wrong type of programmes, like test cricket.
We did crazy stuff, like floating through a flooded Welsh village on a dinghy, bringing people joke supplies. Once, we tried to make [former professional boxer]cry, because he was known for crying easily. We surprised him with a male choir singing Danny Boy, and fireworks spelling out his name. It was actually incredibly moving; we weren’t just taking the mickey. I think that’s harder to come by now on TV because viewers know all the moves. They’re sophisticated and cynical.
They lent the show a group of lexicographers who would take turns to sit in Dictionary Corner. My boss asked me if I’d be one of them. I said no, twice. Eventually he brought me round to the idea, and I’ll always be grateful to him for that.
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