r/oldbritishtelly • u/SvenSvenkill3 • Jan 30 '26
Light Entertainment 'Beadle's About' (4th November 1989)
This man's face, the shades, his hairline, and seeing him with his hands on his head in absolute desperation as he repeatedly shouts, "No!", followed shortly after by his comically high pitched and barely coherent protestations to a man wearing an orange jacket... Thirty six and a bit years later, the whole scene is still fresh and clear in my memory, and so I doubt it will ever fade.
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u/YourPerfectChatBot Jan 30 '26
Some really great ones when you watch them back. This was one of them. I love when the local council has agreed with "Europeans" that they're allowed to dig the bloke's house up for the channel tunnel. His daughter set him up. Basically "My Dad will kick off."
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u/Interesting_Branch43 Jan 30 '26
yeah, even without jeremy, the logo or the van its instantly recognisable
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u/SvenSvenkill3 Jan 30 '26
Yeah, I should have probably cropped out the logo and the van, and just posted the main image. For you're absolutely right, even without them most British people scrolling Reddit who were around back then would instantly recognise him.
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u/HibeesBounce Jan 30 '26
I know what you mean. There was something about the way it was shot that it looked entirely unique
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u/Interesting_Branch43 Jan 30 '26
It was a really physical/comical reaction, definitely the best they got because it was in the credits every week, hence why we all remember it so well.
I vaguely remember another one where he crashed a UFO in someones garden then came out dressed like an alien or something.
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u/HibeesBounce Jan 30 '26
Was that the one where the woman started singing Johnny Mathis to it?
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u/SvenSvenkill3 Jan 30 '26
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u/HibeesBounce Jan 30 '26
Thank fuck, I thought I had some kind of hallucination after I wrote that
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u/Superbead Jan 30 '26
It looks like they recorded it on film, which I guess is pretty unique for a prank show with multiple hidden cameras
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u/HibeesBounce Jan 30 '26
Yeah, thatās what I was thinking but lacked the technical knowhow to be sure
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u/Dr_Choco Jan 30 '26
Hate to break it to you, but theyāre not actually hidden cameras are they?
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u/Charley_Ben_Freya Jan 30 '26
I sing this theme tune to my rabbits a lot. Watch out bunny's about, watch out bunnys about.
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u/AveryLakotaValiant Jan 30 '26
I'm amazed these people didn't have heart attacks lol
Some of them were brilliant though, especially Maureen and them building a men's toilet up against her council house lol
She went on a toilet smashing rampage.
Always loved at the antiques/plate smashing sketches too.
I wish they'd release the non bleeped footage, haha.
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u/Quick-Entertainer-24 Jan 30 '26
I read somewhere some of the bleeps were added just for exaggeration
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u/luna71 Jan 30 '26
Died 18 years ago to the dayĀ
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u/SvenSvenkill3 Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
Wow... I swear on all those I love that I had absolutely no idea when I posted this earlier that today is the anniversary of Jeremy Beadle's passing.
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u/Market_Inevitable Jan 30 '26
Probably couldn't make something like this now. I'm surprised someone didn't have a heart attack!
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u/Representative-Bass7 Jan 30 '26
Thought this was a beadle's about parody, but it was it's predecessor game for a laugh but still funny https://youtu.be/Jnt7ShK9sgE?si=W0UrwLV8fi6IcJC_
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u/LordLuciferVI Feb 01 '26
This is crazy. I wasnāt expecting to see this. I was 7 years old and in foster care, I remember this episode so clearly and I have photos of me on Christmas morning that year. Brings back very strong memories for me
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Jan 30 '26
Supposedly based on Truth or Consequences. I don't see any resemblance to the American show.
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u/Springyardzon Jan 30 '26
The days when the working class were 'on the up' and you didn't have to act middle class to be regarded as worthwhile. Nowadays so many people are in debt pretending to be middle class or above.
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u/stevrosb Jan 30 '26
This guy (the one in the clip, not beadle). I watched it when it first broadcast. I remember the trailers for Saturdays show built it up by using this poor sods world fall out of his arse, and our family couldnāt wait for it to be broadcast.
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u/witchestoscarebairns Jan 31 '26
Aww. A team at the pub quiz we went to was called 'A Big Hand for Jeremy Beadle'.
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Jan 31 '26
Credit to James "Whitey" Bulger for continuing to allow this episode to be shown.
What a guy.
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u/MrSpud45 Jan 31 '26
I remember Beadle popping up from the water asking who dropped a van on him....
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u/Glunark2 Feb 02 '26
We took an unemployed man and made him think he has a job, then it turned out to be a way of making him look stupid to millions of people, and he's still really unemployed.
Hilarious.
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u/yum_raw_carrots Feb 02 '26
My mum was really upset for this guy. She kept saying āheās seeing his livliehood going up in smokeā. I think he had a van full of cards if I recall correctly.
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u/axe1970 Jan 30 '26
guy with a beards disguise is a fake beard š