THE FABULOUS RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION EPISODE GUIDE
VERSION 1.69
By Garrett Gilchrist [AmbushBug4@aol.com]
With contributions from Bonnie Rose, Laurie Stevens, Greg Duffell, and Yoichi Yamazaki
Special thanks to Tom Strickland, Robert Ross, Alley Ernst, Barb
Shapiro, rutlemania.org, Kim "Howard" Johnson, Dave Haber and all the
rest, and to Eric, Neil and all the RWT cast (for making our weekends
just that much more special)
Despite Idle's smash-hit success with Monty Python and Innes' cult
status with the Bonzo Dog (Doo-Dah) Band, and despite the quality of
the low-budget show, it got very little notice and after two seasons in
Britain, a soundtrack album and a tie-in book (neither of which sold
well), RWT disappeared into obscurity, to appear only as a footnote in
books about Monty Python.
The Rutles were a hit, and much has been said and written about them.
But this Rutlemania did not help Rutland Weekend Television, and in
this age of endless reruns of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty
Towers -- even Michael Palin and Terry Jones' "Ripping Yarns" -- Eric's
most memorable solo flight has crashed and been forgotten.
RWT's plot is hard to pin down but such as it is it's about a very
small television station. Rutland, at least as of this writing, is a
real place, the smallest county in England. Inspired by "London Weekend
Television" Idle set his show, which was to have a disgustingly small
budget (his backer was used to backing cheapo interview programs),
there. (Rutland was -- is -- so small in fact that a while back it was
absorbed completely by an adjoining county, and after residents
protested it was eventually upgraded to independent. Rutland is a very
proud place, and there is a nice town in Vermont named after it -- if
you're ever there do stop by the Rutland Ponderosa.) The show has a
real problem with its hosts, or "emcees" as I'll call them to lessen
confusion, and seems to get a new one every episode. The station shows
a baffling array of documentaries, interview programs, songs, sketches,
and other nonsense, 
all
in an endearingly daffy comedic style. The first series opening titles
are animated and feature fancy title graphics which crack and turn into
a field, which an cartoon farmer plows before stumbling and flying off.
The theme music, since you asked, combines parodies of Also Spake
Zarathrusta (aka the theme from "2001"), the London Weekend Television
theme (sorta), and, mostly now, a bouncy little fake-french tune by
Neil Innes. It is called "L'amour Perdu (Lost Love)" and the lyrics,
sung by Neil at the end of show 6, go as follows:
Opening
titles. As you can imagine, Eric Idle plays the emcee on his own first
episode. After all, as you can imagine, he's earned the right. And his
aged, confused, chuckling, champagne-seeking emcee gets things off to a
creepy, nonsensical start, as you can imagine. But then there's
"Gibberish," which is as meaningless as it is entertaining. Idle and
the disgusting but loveable Henry Woolf feature. The emcee's champagne
reappears and overflows all over him. We hear Neil Innes, though we
don't hear him yet, singing "He's the Star of the Sexy Movies," about
an unassuming-looking Rutlander with an apparently very interesting
night life. The host cleans off his wet sleeve, and as we've been
hearing a party behind him in the background this whole time he tries
to take us to it, but the film has caught fire. He quietly panics, then
takes us to a funny bit where a condemned man [Idle] plays a last game
of chess with two unhelpful jail wardens [Woolf and David Battley]. He
escapes underneath a priest, and the wardens give chase -- Warden Peel
[Battley] misses his luncheon appointment. Following is a lecture [from
Idle, who does most of the narrator bits] about others who've dared to
explore the catacombs of clergymen, and about Raymond Diet [Idle], an
odd little man first seen rescuing Neil [minus his usual hairpieces]
from underneath a Prevendary. He then tries to save fish from drowning,
forms
various silly societies, and introduces a Neil Innes song. "Stoop Solo"
[Innes], a potbellied, repulsive Gary Glitter lookalike with the body
of an aging gorilla, sings his song to no one in particular. We return
to the emcee, and the lights go out. The partgoers boo. Following is a
documentary on Bert Figgis [Innes], who is still fighting World War II.
Others of his admittedly rather stupid regiment are discussed, a
policeman [Idle] discusses carpets, and we learn how Figgis' regiment
mostly gave up and surrendered to whoever was around, including five to
Bob Dylan. A young soldier in Germany [Battley] tries to explain to an
old one that the war is over, unsuccessfully, and the old, dumb as a
post soldier is used as a minesweeper. (Four explosions there, not bad
for RWT.) 
Previews
roll for the 80th anniversary of the birth of Winston Churchill's cat,
along with other Churchill-related material, including a little
Churchill who dances to a short bit of Neil's tune "Frontloader." The
host laughs like an idiot, and the roof caves in. End credits. A
voiceover closes down RWT.
some
sort of princess. (Note: In this episode whenever the emcee announces a
program an entirely different program plays. It's comedy, deal with
it.) Eric delivers rambling, silly commentary on the unseen dancers,
including the lovely, nude Maureen. A fake Groucho Marx [Innes], in a
very fake painted jungle, sings "Say Sorry Again," accompanied by Chico
[Innes] on the piano and Harpo [Innes again!] on the unicycle. The
emcee returns, and seems to be mutating. "Philosophy Corner," hosted by
Idle, discusses Kung-Fucius, the aggressive philosopher, and Ray
Laycock [David Battley], expounds on the philosophy of the rich. Along
with Eric he attempts to sell a poor man [Innes] some very expensive
philosophy (some of this seems to be adapted from material cut from
Monty Python's Flying Circus series 2, show 11, "How Not to Be Seen"),
but are foiled as he has already sold his body to a department store.
Medical professionals get angry. I won't discuss it but it's in nicely
bad taste until a cop [Battley] pushes Idle off his set, saying "You
can't act here! This is a fire lane!" He goes to another set and helps
a moron [Battley] upgrade his status to cretin, until he's stopped by
another fire-safe policeman [Woolf]. Back to the emcee, who has
developed breasts and now sports a pink blouse and earrings. "Talk
About, with Russell Dean" [Idle] 
features
Keith Trapp [Innes], an apparently exceedingly witty man who can't come
up with anything to say, and leaves to use the restroom. Sally [Gwen
Taylor] demonstrates origami by folding a Japanese person. Rex [Woolf]
impersonates an encephalograph. Then it's "Cookery Time," with your
host, Lenin [Battley]. Karl Marx [Woolf] makes pudding. Josef Stalin
[Idle] prepares a dozen eggs, then shoots them, along with most of the
kitchen, and they all sing about "Communist Cooking." The emcee puts
his feet up, to introduce the art of aggressive eating, "Kung Suey,"
and when that's done he's wearing a dress, and introduces a musical,
"The Kung and I," and when that's done his shaved legs are showing, as
are his underwhatevers. A documentary follows the sad case of Arthur
Jones - er, Sutcliffe [Battley] - born to be normal. The newsman
[Innes] can't blame his looney parents [Idle and Woolf] so he blames a
little liquor-shop owner [Woolf] 
instead.
The little man from the off-license is put on trial for all the crimes
of humanity and is promptly hanged, for a happy ending. A very bad
mimer [Innes] sings the lovely, pessimistic "Lie Down and Be Counted,"
though with a set change his miming abilities vastly improve. Back to
dancing -- "Kung Dancing" -- and more Maureen, until the policeman
[Battley] kicks them all out -- it's a fire lane! Once everyone's
safely off the set, he begins to juggle. Roll end credits. The emcee,
now a full female with hair, closes down RWT.
offensive
material before it airs. This includes bad language, sex, violence,
religion, violent religion, nudity, football, nude football -- it goes
on like this. You think this summary job is easy?? Then
"Schizophrenia," with your hosts [Idle and Idle]. They attempt to talk
to a paranoid [Battley], but he storms off the set, and then their next
guest, a man who is habitually late, fails to show up. They try to pass
the time with a bit of film shot in Bognor, but that is unsuccessful -
the film is rather short - and it's a very awkward moment. Out of
nowhere, Ron Lennon [Innes] appears, and sings a song beginning with
the words "See how the good times roll ... away." (Later expanded as a
Rutles track.) That's rather short too. Lennon fades away, and the
hosts grab his piano, which was apparently very tiny (?!), and toss it
on the table. A documentary rolls [hosted by Idle] about Cramp Bottom,
the unpleasant home of poet Mungo Wright,
who never actually wrote a poem but was considering it for a while. The
"Schizophrenia" hosts sign off, the opening titles roll again briefly,
and we're warned of "Football," a song [with Idle, Innes, Battley, and
Woolf]. A warning of religion -- Corporal Collier [Battley] has tried
out various religions to little success and sets out to worship his
commanding officer [Idle]. Other popular gods in the army and elsewhere
are discussed, as is Yvonne Mitchell. The emcee introduces "Thrust,"
hosted by Splig Utherism [Woolf], who in a hardhitting, sexy style
describes bathtub theatre, and the entire cast has a wet time of it.
The bidet version of "Camelot" comes particularly to mind. Neil's pink
Batman is Safe Viewing, but his song is "Boring." Less safe is a bit in
which the boss [Idle] takes a liking to his employee[Battley]'s family,
and attempts to buy them. Back to "Schizophrenia" - the hosts try to
stall by reciting a poem, then run off the set, very fast. The emcee,
before closing down RWT, turns to Eric, who explains in weather terms
the forecast for tomorrow's television -- looks like more sex, violence
and football. Roll end credits. Tony Bilbow has the final word after
the show, and you think the show's over, that this is serious, until
you see he's in a bath, interviewing the same nameless old lady from
the beginning ...
Opening titles roll, but are quickly interrupted by titles for "The Old
Gay Whistle Test" (Bob Harris' late-60s-early-70s rock-music review
program).A cockeyed Bob Harris is played here by Eric Idle, who speaks
in a perpetually-stoned gee-whizper. Wow. He previews the trands and
introduces the studio group, "Toad the Wet Sprocket." (Back then Eric
wrote that name to be so ridiculous no band would use it! Ha!) They
resemble Fleetwood Mac and don't move a lot. Eventually they stop, and
Bob turns to Mantra Robinson [Battley], a rocker whose chief interests
include lengthy album titles and the destruction of private and public
property. He's dropped his bass violinist down a lift-shaft, and while
only five people came to his last tour the band manages to do over
seven million dollars worth of damage -- not a bad gig. Also aboard is
his guru, Siggy [Woolf], who isn't Indian but works in an Indian
restaurant, and gets deep spiritual insights from his landlady, 
Mrs.
Fletcher, then sells them. An awkward silence takes us to the Gerard's
Cross Pop Festival, with Splint, on the Abbatoir label, and their song
"Bandwagon." (You might be distracted by the comedically creepy
fashions but dig the lyrics - they're a clever music-biz parody. The
entire song can be heard on Neil's album "Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues.") Then
Stan Fitch, the first all-dead singer, performs a smashing number from
his album "Even Further Beyond the Grave." He doesn't really sing or
strum the guitar or move or anything, but there are groovy video
effects. Bob digs it. A bit more of the opening titles roll -- it's
back to RWT, yay! (or bleah - that Whistle Test bit was really very
funny, sad to see it go) Our latest emcee [Bridget Armstrong] is on the
standard set, with the standard complement of flowers. The rest of the
titles finally roll, the emcee returns, and the small flowerbasket is
now a large one. "Rutland Weekend Theatre" features a couple [Battley,
Armstrong] who are madly in love, but who have forgotten their own
names. Their son [Woolf], Virginia's lover 
[Idle],
and Henry's friend [Innes] aren't much help either. Eric introduces
"Amnesia," but keeps forgetting what he's supposed to be talking about.
The end credits make it clear that it's spreading, and the emcee
forgets too as sits among even more flowers. A documentary rolls -
Farmer Ron Granger [Idle] grows, trains, and fattens prize beauty
queens, feeding them hay and old copies of "Vogue," until they're taken
off to be judged, slaughtered, and eaten. A nasty old beauty show host
[Idle] asks a cow if she thinks she's being exploited, with various
rude remarks, and other show-biz people [including Neil] are killed and
shipped off to the butchers. (Geez, could you get ANY more distasteful,
Eric? Lol.) The emcee, with flowers, introduces "A Penny for Your
Warts," a medical quiz show. There are only two onscreen casualties, so
by this episode's standards it's a mild one. The emcee, now completely
surrounded by flowers, introduces the Fabulous Bingo Brothers [Zoot
Money and John Halsey], 
a
pair of low-key, black-and-white raincoated mongoloids in a lavatory
who mumble out a song about a donkey. Then -- this is the odd part --
Bob Harris, the REAL Bob Harris shows up, and introduces as a closer
Neil, in cap and shades and singing his old staple, the Protest Song
(parental control lyrics version). He gives a peace sign and exits
awkwardly. The emcee, with (goddamn it!) even MORE flowers, closes down
RWT. Roll end credits.
Harry Rirkin [Idle] announces the pairings, but the committee keeps
starting the swap early. Frank comes on with a weather flash - It is
raining in Hendon. Wanda compliments him on his reading. "Rutland
Weekend Documentary" looks at the harsh world out there for politicians
wanting a job in television. Agent Bo Robinson [Henry Woolf] watches a
desperate John [Battley] beg drunkenly, and turns him down anyway.
Watkins [Idle] fares little better, until he mentions he can juggle.
Jeff [Battley] has to say "Good evening," but waffles on the issue. He
then convinces the director [Idle] to waffle on the issue of how bad
his reading was, though it does him little good. The next applicant
[Innes] is dead, 
but
the director likes him anyway. No further news on the rain in Hendon.
The Prime Minister [Idle] is accused [by Battley] of being too
Americanized; he doesn't understand a word of it and thinks he's being
asked about a dead Jewish American ventriloquist named Nosher Ono.
Following is "A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Conservative
Party," in which Neil, dressed in a top hat and a suit with tails,
sings "I'm the Urban Spaceman" loudly and off-key as he bangs cymbals
on his feet and fiddles with a hand-keyboard which makes accordion
noises. Bit of a non-sequitur, really. In the background, a very
awkward-looking girl in a red pixie dress tapdances, never sure when
the song is actually supposed to end. It is still raining in Hendon.
Opening titles roll again, briefly. "Your Questions Answered" comes to
us from Cornwall and features an impressive panel with absolutely
nothing to say, 
despite
much prodding. Frank gives another report on the rain in Hendon, and
Wanda, curled up by his feet, introduces "Holiday '75." Eric reports
that the state of the economy is so bad that many people have decided
to take their vacations directly inside the Holiday '75 studio, which
is then toured at length. It is still raining in Hendon, but inside the
studio the weather is fine. The vacationers, now running the studio,
switch to "Top of the Pops," and a music video, "Frontloader," in which
a very cool fellow [Innes] confesses his love for a washing machine. In
Solihull, the wife-swapping is still going on. A serious anchorman
[Woolf] reports on the rain in Hendon and political reaction to same,
along with a static-y report by Christopher Serpent, in Washington.
Opening titles roll yet again, again briefly. Eric goes into the
electrical shop for a quick purchase, but can't help noticing that the
store clerk [Battley] looks quite a lot like the devil. He tries to
sell the clerk his soul in exchange for 24 years of power and
debauchery, but the clerk isn't interested, so he offers his car,
house, and life insurance, 
plus
his wife's body (in advance), and the rain in Hendon stops. The next
morning at breakfast, his wife is all smiles after a night with Satan.
However, something seems awry, and he begins to suspect he sold his
soul to Ron Badger from the electrical shop. The rain in Hendon starts
again, and 'Satan' takes his customer on a dubious holdiday, complete
with canned fish and Helen of Troy. A now-nude Frank stands up to take
us live to the rain in Hendon, Wanda pulls him down again, and all goes
down the drain as the credits roll. The happy couple, in voiceover,
closes down RWT.
The
emcee [Innes] introduces the show but can't help complaining about the
lack of money. RWT is closing down tonight. "Religion Today" with Paul
Yes [Battley] asks "Are people difficult bastards?" until a Really
Difficult Bastard [Idle] and the Bishop of Somerset [Woolf] hijack the
show. They've kidnapped tv personality Michael Aspel and want a
thousand pounds, but the bishop keeps asking for more. The emcee
complains about security and loses his flowers. Neil, against a
backdrop of stars, sings "Singing a Song is Easy." The emcee loses his
jacket, endtable and lamp. The bishop and bastard ask for more.
Security sleeps. "Incident at Bromsgrove" features a long and heated
discussion between a soldier [Battley] and a carrot [Idle]. In a
flashback they become Admiral Nelson and Hardy. The bishop and bastard
ask for more, Hardy gets lost, and Nelson asks for a kiss (he is
wearing pink lacey undergarments and becomes a casualty in voiceover).
"The Execution of Charles I" [Terence Bayler] begins.
The Michael Aspel fan club tries to answer the still-growing list of
demands, and Charles I has severe acting problems. An impressive
montage of people from this and previous shows giving the "cue" sign
follows -- Eric, at a urinal, is the last -- and a small parlor band
[including Woolf and Battley] plays "L'Amour Perdu," as the end credits
roll. Neil, in bizarre drag, sings "L'Amour Perdu," to recieve good
marks from a panel of judges. The bishop and bastard worry about where
they're going to put it all, and the RWT sign is taken away from the
emcee. "Man Alive" looks at suburban prisons -- many are nice places,
but Mrs. Harris has brought back hanging. At Mrs. Fletcher's, they have
Johnny Cash [Innes] come and sing. Eric, in the studio, has a cast of
thousands (six are seen -- hey, it's RWT!) watching the last sketch
with him, but there's no time to talk to any of them. The emcee, dumped
in the supply room, has lost his shirt, and quits. The bishop and
bastard take it all back, then take back the taking-back, until Paul
Yes wakes up just in time to close down "Religion Today." The final
shot is perhaps the most enigmatic in all of RWT -- having lost
everything, Eric and Neil, covered-up with borrowed towels, 
sit
on a bench in the supply toom and deadpan a song about the final state
of their budget. The lights are shut off, and there are three minutes
of dead air ...
then: The opening animation is new - I suppose a farmer wouldn't do at
Christmas. This one features a couple of silly snowmen on ice skates.
One sticks his tongue out as us, and another little one opens up an
umbrella, which begins to spew rain, and he sinks into the ice. At this
point two chorus girls rip through the paper logo and dance as they
warble, very much off-key, a few bars of "Christmas Time is Here
Today." Eric is heard congratulating them. In the other clip, Eric, in
a moustache, gold jacket and curly blonde wig, looking the very epitome
of parodic showbiz evil (as in several Python bits), introduces the
moment we've all been waiting for -- Mr. George Harrison Sings! The
former Beatle, the genuine article, walks out and begins to play. There
is a very long intro, 
and
the suspense builds. Then he begins to sing: "Ohhh I'd like to be a
pirate! A pirate's life for me! All my friends are pirates, they sail
on the BBSea ... I've got a jolly roger, it's a-black and white and
vast, so! Get out-a-ya skull and crossbones, I'll run it up your mast
..." And so on. Despite some effort to stop him (he has a crazed look
in his eyes throughout) eventually all is ok, and everyone joins in,
and the credits roll.
If
my information on the second series thus seems a bit lacking, I can
probably be forgiven. Judging from what I've seen, then: The second
series had a few problems in that Idle, still the writer of pretty much
everything but the songs, didn't have much more to prove. He'd done the
first series because he was still interested in that Python tradition
and had leftover material bubbling in his brain. This time it took a
running start. But the money was there - that old interview-show money,
just barely enough to keep Idle jokingly complaining for 7 episodes.
For the second series Neil's music was finally given second billing
behind Idle's writing, instead of being put behind the list of actors.
This had begun in the Christmas special. Also the old animated titles
(with the farmer) were tossed away in favor of a rotating space cow.
Yes, a space cow, with a globe on its sides, spinning about in a neat
mirror-ball effect which perfectly parodies the BBC spinning-globe logo
(seen often in Python). Indeed, RWT was a station to be reckoned with.
As the cow spins, the RWT "chimes" play briefly and the words "RWT --
Rutland Weekend Television" draw themselves in. And then our show
begins ...
a
Scotsman [Eric] does even worse. Then Neil, then someone's Swedish
girlfriend ... the directing team, John and Betty [David Battley and
Gwen Taylor] are not amused. Then a scary, nonverbal fellow [Terence
Bayler], and they're at their Rutland witend, so to speak. John asks
Betty to be the emcee ... she's worried that she's too plain, and she's
right, but she goes on anyway and introduces tonight's drama. Eric is a
lawyer/burglar who's just lost his case defending a
client/burglar/friend/likeable dope/Scotsman/fall guy [Battley]. He's
lost on purpose, and is keeping the money. But Bats finally catches on,
and justice is done, which is all part of life's rich pattern,
something the next emcee [Bayler again!] can't seem to say. Betty has
to fill in again.
A documentary follows on a hospital which sees love as an illness and
tries to cure it, with the help of Eric, Gwen, and Staff Nurse Sutton.
That singing sensation, the Rutles, Dirk [Eric], Nasty [Neil], Stig
[John Halsey -- yes I know he's supposed to be Barry], and Barry
[Battley], sing "I Must Be in Love." Eric attempts a documentary on the
group, but the camera runs away -- it is seen driving to the seaside.
"The Entire History of the World: Volume 3" honors the "backroom boys"
behind the creation of everything. Angels Robinson [Bunny], Nobby
[Neil], Eric and Bats concern themselves with fixing antlered wasps
with wheels, smelly fish with legs and pink zebras. Gabriel, the
supervisor [Bayler], keeps them at a 6-day deadline as they're
expecting another order, and Bats explains woman to an interested Eric.
Robinson makes a snake, thus dooming makind and introducing evil into
the world. 
SuperNeil
flies in, discussing in semi-musical form the "Age of Desperation," and
the camera is in bed with with Staff Nurse Sutton. RWT's "Classic
Season" previews an disturbingly low-budget production of "War and
Peace," and the studio camera runs away. Eric and Bats discuss the
ravages of inflation over lunch, and flash back to 1747, which is just
as bad. A further flashback shows Eric and a Queen smoking something
groovy, and Gwen scolds the camera. Then "That's My Mum," and a
voiceover [by Eric] closes down RWT. Credits roll over the standard
theme song and rotating cow.
The
Rutles bit here is "A Hard Day's Rut, directed by Dick Leicester which
is very near Rutland." Dick Lester, of course, directed "A Hard Day's
Night," among others (including, oddly, the second and best of the
Superman series). Besides that quip the entire monologue was pretty
much reprised in the tv movie "The Rutles: All You Need is Cash,"
financed by Lorne Michaels after positive viewer response to that and
another Rutles-on-SNL experiment (Nasty came on and sang "Cheese and
Onions"). In the movie Idle is able to catch up to that naughty camera
and tell us about the entire legend of the Rutles, who have their own
following and thus I shouldn't need to discuss them at length here. I
will say that Eric gets the names of Stig and Barry switched here, and
in the Rutland Dirty Weekend Book the drummer's name is given as
"Kevin!" Besides that things survived pretty much intact into the film,
where Rikki Fataar played Stig and Ollie Halsall played the
heretofore-unknown fifth Rutle, Leppo.
The Rutles movie is available on Rhino video. There is also the Rutles
CD, with music from the film plus two bonus tracks, "Blue Suede
Schubert" and "Baby Let Me Be." Dirk and Stig recorded a single, and in
1996 Ron Nasty, Stig O'Hara and Barry Wom reunited to record a new
album, the "Rutles Archaeology." The Japanese version had bonus tracks.
(So did the Japanese CD version of the Rutland Weekend Songbook, come
to think of it -- more on this later.) Bunny May appears in this
episode - an oddly-named, odd-looking, likeable kind of fellow. He
appears briefly in the Rutles movie, sniffling over "those little
girls, one of 'em screamed in me ear ..." "Age of Desperation" is on
Neil's "Re-cycled Vinyl Blues."
(the
name a triple play on cartoon characters Mutt n' Jeff, TV detectives
Starsky and Hutch, and stereotype Russians). Mutt [Eric] is giving a
suspect [Bunny May] the "treatment" - a head treatment - when Jeff
[Bats] breaks in. They act tough and take lots of commercial breaks. A
sketch artist [Neil] identifies Gwen's lost pearls. There are puns
about the Who and the Hope/Crosby "Road" movies, and everyone winds up
in wheelchairs following a particularly violent commercial break. A
Durante-ish judge [Bunny again] presides, Mutt cross-examines, Gwen
confesses, Jeff confesses, and a voiceover details Mutt's plans to
confess as the credits roll. This sketch contains some clever funny
business but is ruined by hopelessly confusing plotting and edits. The
fake credits says it's "Creatively Directed by Monty Baz-Baz," and it
rather seems to show it. The songs we don't have but "Godfrey Daniel"
was done in the Innes Book of Records episode "Now She's Left You," and
"Shoeshine Boy" might be "Topless a-Go-Go," a Neilsong we have heard
about a shoeshine boy.
We
had guessed it might be a fan effort, but the editing is a little too
good, and a fan wouldn't reuse the Christmas opening animation. Our
best guess is that even though the last episode, 207, aired on
Christmas eve 1976, the BBC wanted a day-after-Christmas show as
before. So this thing was cobbled together, maybe in one night, by some
BBC2 editor. If you're wondering, it's not that great. They could have
picked better clips, especially songwise. But this show becomes
important because our only information on some episodes comes from this
special. This is discussed elsewhere at length. Here is the list of
clips, and the episode they came from: