Beadle's About
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| Beadle's About | |
|---|---|
| Format | Prank Show |
| Starring | Jeremy Beadle |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 95 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | LWT |
| Running time | 30mins (inc. commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3, PAL 576i |
| Original run | 22 November 1986 – 21 September 1996 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Game For A Laugh |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Beadle's About was a British television programme hosted by 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 21 September 1996.
Contents |
[edit] 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 on 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!".
[edit] Memorable Pranks
The most memorable prank that was ever seen on television was where a woman was convinced into believing that aliens had landed in her garden. Dave Hughes's Van Took An Early Bath At The Sailing Centre In Beadle's About
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. Jeremy once revealed in an interview that during editing they deliberately inserted "bleeps" where there were no profanities as this made it more funny.
[edit] Infamous Moments
One infamous prank targeted a woman who was at a wedding, and was then destroyed. 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".
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 and the ruse had to be abandoned (the footage was never broadcast).
In 1993, a man was arrested for trying to pull the beard off a policeman, thinking it was Jeremy Beadle in disguise.
[edit] Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 22 November 1986 | 27 December 1986 | 6 |
| Series 2 | 5 September 1987 | 24 October 1987 | 8 |
| Series 3 | 22 October 1988 | 17 December 1988 | 9 |
| Series 4 | 16 September 1989 | 2 December 1989 | 11 |
| Series 5 | 15 September 1990 | 24 November 1990 | 11 |
| Series 6 | 22 September 1991 | 1 December 1991 | 10 |
| Series 7 | 10 October 1992 | 26 December 1992 | 10 |
| Series 8 | 29 October 1993 | 12 February 1994 | 10 |
| Series 9 | 11 March 1995 | 13 May 1995 | 10 |
| Series 10 | 29 June 1996 | 21 September 1996 | 10 |
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