BBC 's "WATCH" educational school programme 'The Nativity' clip 22 & 29th Nov 1977

[antichris78]

I was only five but I still fancied the tits off her

[se13lewisham]

I am trying to find a recording of this music and in particular a recording of the song "Follow the Star" that was used in the "Watch" nativity. The music was originally composed by Jim Parker and is from the stage musical / play "Follow the star"

Thanks in advance

[wayzotoichi]

@fenderred1 the olfactory sense = a time machine in your nose..

[bwlboy123]

Classic show from my childhood.

[weewees1]

I loved watching this as a kid :-)

[Reluctant6]

I cant help feeling the Joseph should have booked ahead. I mean, he knew she was pregnant. Why did he leave it so last minute? My wife would kill me if I did that.

[wayzotoichi]

@Reluctant6 to be frank, or indeed Joseph, higher standards nowadays, 1st century palestine man has died out, not metrosexual enough. Now, Jesus wasn't enough of a mug to get hitched.

[Reluctant6]

@wayzotoichi I remember watching this at the time when I was about 7 and thinking that it seemed odd that they hadnt set off a bit sooner to Bethlehem. First century Palestine or not, I always think that Mary would have given Joseph hell during the journey. Infact rumour is that Joseph was offered a really nice B&B when they got there (en-suite etc) but he chose a stable instead as he knew they were about to have a huge domestic and they needed a bit of room for the fight.

[helenrf3]

Oooh do you have the end of the episode?

[DaveyC95]

I watched the show at school in the 80's, and two episodes stick out. The story of Romulus and Remes and Pompeii, when Louise also read something in the dead sea, and saying how nobody could sink,i was only five so my memory is a bit vague.

[RobRobintv]

What's happen to childrens television..? it is so bland at best. Worthless. For yobs and the delusional....

[JFredUK]

@RobRobintv They don't treat children as children any more. They're merely probationary adults who are, 'streetwise', and are brought up with no element of patronage. Back when this programme was made, children were treated like children who were expected to listen and pay attention and be polite, etc. Not much evidence of that now. Most have a 5 second attention span and would find such programmes as this, 'boring', as there's not enough action going on.

[brucedanton]

I think in fact that this was broadcast sometime on BBC2 between 1983 and 1986 in Daytime On Two, given the 2 ident before the programme, although I guess that this edition of Watch was made well before that.

Many thanks for the posting though, and well done all the same!

[Tobycek]

I can't believe how posh Louise sounds here :-) I think I watched this 3 or 4 years running! Does anyone remember James Earl-Adair playing Joseph in the musical one year? Bath, was it???

[SuperBartles]

Yeah i was 5 or 6 and saw this several times.

This sort of thing was part of life. There does seem to be an anti-Christian feeling in the UK now. But we loved this stuff. when you're young the story is so real - you're willing that donkey to gt to Bethlehem. My girlfriend sings this to our (7 month old) son

Quite a powerful little set of songs - we don't get to hear "Clap your hands and be cheery" here which is a shame

[MurrayRiver1968]

What is the male presenter's full name?

[MurrayRiver1968]

This was when BBC Childrens programmes were sensible, well-presented and dignified. A programme about the Nativity of Jesus would probably not be broadcast today because of the ridiculous political correctness. Note how well the presenters spoke! Oh for those days again...

[Floobegusted]

Does anyone have the opening titles of this where it had lots of different things such as a dinosaur playing a guitar, a flower smiling when the butterfly flies away and all sorts of things like that? (bacially the 90's series).

[mazzab1970]

2.02 So that's what Bobby G from Bucks Fizz did before he was famous.! I suppose this story is where he got the inspiration for his performance of 'The Land of Make Believe'. Actually, he's a cross between Geoffrey off Rainbow and Bobby G.

Where's the People's front of Judea and the Judean's People's Front.? I hate only having part of a story. Ha ha. I would have been 7 when this was shown but I don't remember it!

[spectres00]

I have been looking for this for ages, couldn't remember what it was called!!

[MrTonyInchpractice]

"shortly"? misleading

[MelissaB1976]

Was this really 1977? I saw this edition in the 1980s at school. It must have been repeated for years!

[Nunsweepit421]

The theme tune to Watch was called "Prima Ballerina" by the Swing Bach Ensemble. It was available on CD called "Watch With Teacher", now out of production.

[cornishmaiden]

I remember watching this very episode - mainly because I managed to get at the front of the queue and got a chair to sit on instead of sitting on the floor in the "TV room"... happy days!!!

[Templar7832]

I remember her! from when I was 6 I can't believe people were so well spoken in the 70's!

[fudge987654321]

I was a month old when this came out

[1911marmonwasp]

According to a book I've got this story was a two episode story and was first broadcast on 22nd November 1977 and 29th November 1977.

[parsoncrosstv]

Got a full length Watch and a Capricorn Game.. And a Music Time to come!

[NAT4TONY]

Oh, please post the Capricorn game! All I remembered was a wizard and an umberella. It took me literally YEARS to find out what the programme was called!

[wayzotoichi]

it's already been put up on parsoncrosstv 's channel.

[NAT4TONY]

Thanks for the head's up!

[gtirlad08]

only have two things to say......fantastic stuff!!!!

[utrapzab]

the country of judea???????? id like to see that allowed now

[wayzotoichi]

I think Judea was a territory in history..there's nothing wrong with saying that. (circa 4th to 6th centuries BC? Babylonian and Persian invasion period..)

[fulcilover]

OMG I was only eight when i saw this, meomories.

[HitMeWithIt]

It's quite strange watching this when you're 35... last time I watched this I was picking my nose and eating it and wearing a v-neck jumper!

[bules72]

Great comment! Made me laugh out loud.

[HitMeWithIt]

Only difference now is the V neck come to think of it...sssshhh.

[mistofoles]

I still am!

[barttheanorak]

They used to have cool songs on Watch - have you got any you can upload?

[hermitageboy]

yes i remember a groovy one from the early 80's- i mix it up with zig zag but i think it was Watch lol

[FootSomeGuy]

so this is where u got ur creativity from? :)

[mistofoles]

At any moment, I expected a gang of crazed Palestinians to leap out of the bushes screaming "DEATH TO THE INFIDEL!" and blast Louise's head off!

[mickyhomer]

Fab! I remember seeing this episode as if it was yesterday. Thanks very much for uploading it. Hope to find more episodes on here!

[teaface1976]

I fancied the bloke....have no idea why now! I do remember one episode when he got flour over his head though???

[RevImhotep]

God, Nostalgiagazm!

They sat us in a large assembly hall and made us watch this watch on the big school telly one xmas period when I was in Infants school.

The 'lil donkey' song brought it all back! :O

[UncleFeedle]

Such a powerful blast from the past, this. I have hazy memories of a school nativity play when I was 5 which used the songs from this episode (I think I played a sheep!) Boney M were in the charts with Mary's Boy Child, Blake's 7 was the best thing on telly and Superman the Movie was packing them in at the cinemas. This would make this clip from 1978. Oh, and I fancied Louise Hall-Taylor too!

[wayzotoichi]

Yeah hazy memories are a running theme when it comes to these TV clips..wow lots of contemporary television memories in there, Superman I and Blake's 7, while for me I am sure I can even smell the classroom I watched this stuff in(! And the smell is somewhere between washing up liquid and certain evocative fabric conditioners..haha bring out the men in white coats :)

[matrags]

For a moment it was like I was 6 years old again

[benriggers]

what's the music playing over the slide?

[lavverlylad]

This warms my heart.

[mistofoles]

Strange, that looks like my house!

[Reluctant5]

Cant believe there was other 8 year olds out there who fancied the female presenter. Thought it was just me! Wonder where she is now?

[eocarcharia]

"I'm here in sunny Bethlehem... and James is back in the studio playing with some card." I bet James loved her that week. :D

[knicksfan89]

peter bolgar is on duty here

[timonline2000]

The music on the "Follows Shortly" slide, is very old fashioned, even for BBC2 in the 1980s!

They must have had a generous budget to send a schools' programme crew to Israel/West Bank!

[wayzotoichi]

welll, the bbc are a british tv corporation so they had enough money i suppose.

[timonline2000]

You would think so, but the schools programmes nearly always had to work to very tight budgets!

[ticktock08]

I remember having a crush on that woman presenter

[bobross95]

Her name was Louise Hall Taylor, she was damn sexy!! Even as an 8yr old I thought that!!!

[hubbardmediagroup]

I had a big crush on her too. She used to be a regular presenter on Hickory House which was on the other side. There's two complete episodes on here but only one with Louise. Amanda Barrie is in the episode about rain.

[fraserkatie]

OMG! I remember this clip too! We had to make a nativity scene in class!

[fraserkatie]

Great continuity slide before the programme there!