The 8.15 from Manchester

THE 8.15 FROM MANCHESTER
Made by: BBC
Shown on: BBC1
Years shown: 1990-91

Here’s an opportunity to make a lot of cheap jokes about at least one train being on time every week - but I will resist. The 8.15 was the Saturday morning kids’ marathon shown when Going Live! was having its summer break, and it was broadcast, yes folks, from BBC Manchester. It had a theme by indie songsters The Inspiral Carpets, and was presented by a bargain-basement crew of Charlotte Hindle (veteran of the similar Get Fresh!), Ross King and Diane Oxberry. All the vital ingredients were present - competitions, guest pop/soap stars, cartoons - but there was nothing of the excitement created by switching on to Going Live!…and when they ran out of ‘fillers’, they had a tendency to raid the Rentaghostarchives. ‘Highlights’ included ‘It’s Tough at the Top’, a quiz with the requisite gunge and ‘fun’, 'The Wetter the Better', where kids threw water at their teachers, ‘Rapattack’, and the nausea-inducing ‘Photoromance’ - this was one train you’d be quite happy to be late.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 3/10

(Thanks to www.martinwhale.co.uk for the borrowed pic)