What we Woked up to in the 1980s!

Storm in an Eggcup - documentary about TV-am part 1 of 5



This was a 1992 documentary made on the "TV-AM" breakfast TV franchise that became a massive success in the 1980s, after it's first few faltering steps, whoring us, at first of course, with an orgy of ageing but distinguished heavyweight line-up of David Frost, Michael Parkinson and Angela Rippon. Despite the show being resucitated by a rapping, snearing puppet, Roland Rat, and Anne Diamond (who must've been the most weepingly adored woman after Princess Diana, at the the time), the show seemed never far away from backroom squabbles and walk-outs. This is profiled in this brilliant documentary, presented by Lloyd "Now, wheeoooo wuuuld live in a house like thiiiis" Grossman. The title of the documentary refers to the classic icon of the show's blue/white striped eggcups, that adorned the actual studio building in Camden, London, (see this at the beginning of the clip) as well as at the end of programming, weirdly addressing the year it is at present. Just a style/fad thing?#

Nearly 10 years later, the programmes talk to the likes of Parkinson, Frost and Robert Kee about the failure of the first year. It's all good having high-calibre presnters, but if there is no chemistry, that's the issue. Many sackins ensued until Greg Dyke was enlisted as the director of programmes for ITV, and ratings gradually improved. He is mainly joked about as introducing us to Roland Rat, in an effort to appeal to younger viewers. It worked, plus another reason was the holy alliance and chemistry of new presenter Anne Diamond and Nick Owen. Even after that it still wasn't smooth sailing for the franchise. Much criticism was directed at it's news coverage. More trouble came in the light of Australian business tycoon Kerry Packer, which led to a 24 hour strike in 1987, over reduction in staff, after much winded bloatings from his new TV executive Bruce Gyngell about the superiority of camera lighting and modern video recording defended this. It ended with bad blood, Gyngell firing the strikers, and bringing in overseas workers who didn't have these rights, not affiliated with any unions.

Just when TV-AM was pounding a re-formatted BBC in the early 90s, thanks to a reform law made by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, another budding morning franchise could snatch TV-AM's slot out of the blue, despite TV-AM having a strong reputation as a popular show. So GM-TV, then known as Sunrise Television, outbidded TV-AM to become the next franchise to run morning TV after 1992.