Presenting Techniques in the 80's

TV Presenting in the 80’s

Phillip Schofield was born on Lancashire in 1962 and at the age of 17 he began working for the BBC as a bookings clerk and tea boy for BBC radio in London where he was for a while the youngest employee. At 19 he moved with his family to New Zealand where he began working in television as the initial presenter of the youth music programme ‘Shazam!’. He spent 2 years there working for Radio Hauraki. He returned to Britain at 23 and became the first in vision continuity presenter for Children’s BBC on weekdays for 2 years from September 1985. This was when he was working as the Broom Cupboard presenter. While he was on this he was vastly different from the way he is now, which makes sense since he was presenting for a children’s show rather than a more adult show like he does now with This Morning. He was softer spoken and friendly, which was a common thing at the time of children’s presenters, compared to modern children’s presenters who are louder and more obnoxious, in my opinion. There were a great many people who did TV presenting in the 80’s, not just Phillip. Andy Crane took over after Phillip on Children’s BBC and he had the role of in-vision continuity. While he was doing this he was in the same pace that Phillip was, nicknamed the ‘Broom Cupboard’ because it was literally a broom cupboard filled with pictures and props. After this he went on to present many different shows and radios before ending up on ‘This Morning’ with co-host Holly Willoughby. One of the most important things to note with this evolution of character is how Phillip has changed wince his time in the broom cupboard. He has gone from being the funny calm and soft spoken children’s presenter to the more real and forward news presenter, while Holly fills in the role of the upbeat softer presenter now. This shows that Phillip has grown with his audience rather than staying the same as he was back in the 80’s and trying to reach the same audience in the modern day. He has grown and changed alongside his audience from that time and is still presenting to the same people, but they are now older as is he. This ability to change and adapt to a more grown up audience is one the main reason people like Phillip, because they have always seen him on TV presenting the things they want to see.

There were many different styles and shows that were used to present in the 80’s, and one of these is the Hart series, notably Take Hart and Hartbeat. These are where the clay character of Morph first came to be. Take Hart actually began in the late 70’s but ran on into the 80’s. The show featured Tony talking to the young audience and teaching them how to create artwork from everyday objects. It also began the idea of using a crane to look down on massive projects. The show was cancelled in 1983 and Tony Hart went on to make Hartbeat, which was much the same thing as Hartbeat but was more popular. The 2 shows featured a small comedy character made from modelling clay called Morph and was later accompanied by  a cream coloured version called Chas, who was badly behaved. The shows both featured the use of art as a way of teaching the children watching life lessons. After the shows both came to end the ideas used in each were picked up by the show Art Attack, which ran for a number of years using the same concept as both of these shows. One thing these shows had in common was a soft spoken presenter, Tony Hart was accompanied by a few other people who acted as either co-hosts or as a form of comedy character to make the children laugh. Another show that was aired later in the 80’s was The Joy of Painting. This was presented by the legendary Bob Ross. Before he was an artist he was a master sergeant in the US military and said that if he ever left he would never raise his voice again, one of the reasons he is so soft spoken in his shows. Bob has sort of become the face of calm and chill, painting ‘happy little trees’ and always being extra kind to any fan of the show he met. He died in 1995 but his legacy has outlived almost every other TV painter. The styles of these shows definitely tried to garner an air of calmness and relaxation, with the hosts being chilled out and calm, wearing casual clothing like shirts and jeans. This can be seen in Tony Hart and Bob Ross wearing this style of outfit, not really trying to wear the popular brands to look flashy or rich. Their tone of voice was calm and soft, again to evoke an air of calmness in the audience as they relax and watch the show, rather than trying to build up any hype or excitement over what they were watching. They sets they used were usually simple and easy to look at, with Bob Ross going as far as to just have his easel and canvas in front of a black background, while Hartbeat was set in what looked like Tony’s greenhouse.

Another type of show aired in the 80’s was Opportunity Knocks hosted initially by Hughie Green, before being taken over by Bob Monkhouse and later Les Dawson. The show was a talent show in which the winners were decided not by a panel of viewers but by a postal vote. The show featured a comical presenter and general feel. The show was targeted at a more adult audience and families. It was seen as one of the first talent shows on TV. There was also the show New Faces which was a similar idea. It was hosted by Derek Hobson, who was also a continuity presenter for ATV in Birmingham. New Faces was later revived for Central 1986 and 1988 and was hosted by the previous winner, Marti Caine. Her signature catchphrase was ‘Press your buttons... NOW!’ Her hosting was loud and in your face, she was a genuine talent show host always attempting to big everything up. The style of these video was largely the same as the style of modern talent shows like ‘X-Factor’ or ‘Americas Got Talent’ with the hoists wearing the flashy expensive suits and dresses, just with different brand names depending of the decade it was being filmed in. the outfits and sets used in these shows were designed to draw in the attention of the target audience, young adults and families.

Another big show during the 80’s was Top of the Pops, a music chart TV show made by the BBC. It showcased up and coming musical groups and was known for showing the full chart list of performers. It first came about in 1964 and formally ended in 2006 except for the yearly Christmas show. It has been hosted by many different people. In 1980 it was hosted by Michael Hurll who was said to have brought a more party atmosphere to the show. The show brought out some new ideas in the 80’s, such as a new section showing short clips of new tracks from the lower end of the top 40, and this continued until 1994. A new feature was introduced around this time, an American music scene hosted by Jonathon King, who helped create the band Genesis. The programme was broadcast live in early editions but was pre-recorded the day before for many years. Top of the Pops has been credited as popularising the music show genre, and with the help of MTV shows, cemented them in popular culture. Their where many different styles that each show had, but the entire purpose of the show was to showcase the popular music of the times, so each episode featured the host wearing an ‘in’ outfit, with many of the big brands of the times being worn. Compared to shows talked about earlier, such as ‘The Joy of Painting’ and ‘Hartbeat’, the sets used in Top of the Pops were far more flashy and loud and in your face. Since they were trying to build an exciting party atmosphere, they would have all kinds of background dancers and lights flashing like they were at a disco. All of these things where done to draw in their target audience of teens and young adult, people in their 20’s and 30’s, who would find all of these things appealing.

The 80’s featured many different kinds of presenting but the one I am looking at the most is the soft spoken, calm and relaxing children’s presenters such as Tony Hart and Bob Ross.