Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»TV by Decade»TV Shows - 1950s
    TV Shows - 1950s Variety 3 Mins Read

    Do It Yourself

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 5 7 – 1 9 6 4 (UK)

    1957 saw the emergence of a programme that was to be the bane of British husbands for years to come.

    No longer could they lie in bed reading the Sunday Pictorial – they were expected to be dashing around the house putting shelves up with a minimal loss of blood.

    The culprit was Barry Bucknell, and his long-running programme Do It Yourself taught men everything they never wanted to know about doing jobs around the home.

    From the first edition – a festive show in which Bucknell demonstrated how to make a stand for a Christmas tree as well as giving some tips on tree lights – his popularity soared to the point where he received more mail than anybody else on British television, up to 35,000 letters a week (He needed to employ ten secretaries).

    Yet Bucknell only really became a television celebrity because of his wife. A former engineer in the car industry, he had done a few radio talks on housing and education, but it was his wife, Betty, noted for her cookery programmes on radio, who made the break into television.

    Bucknell casually chatted to her producer about the possibilities of doing some sort of practical programme but thought no more about it; then out of the blue, he got a call from the BBC to appear on the afternoon series About The Home – and Do It Yourself duly followed.

    “The show was very much a one-man effort”, said Bucknell. “I used to build all the shelves, tables, whatever we were using on the programme, in the basement of my own house and transport them en bloc to the studio. Even the rehearsals used to take place in my basement.”

    “The early editions were live, and I was dependent on the floor manager to ensure that things like screws were close at hand. The whole show could fall apart without a few screws, and it didn’t look very good if I had to search around for them. And it wasted valuable air-time”.

    Bucknell also presented Bucknell’s House in 1962 – a mammoth Do-It-Yourself project in which the BBC purchased a wreck of a terrace house (79, The Grove, Ealing) and gradually transformed it into a trim modern dwelling consisting of two flats.

    In 1966, Bucknell moved across to ABC to make a series of similar programmes for ITV called The ABC of Do-It-Yourself that aired until the end of 1968.

    Barry Bucknell died in February 2003, aged 91.

    Related Posts

    • Your Life In Their Hands
      Your Life In Their Hands
      1 9 5 8 - 1 9 6 4 (UK) 1…
    • Looking and Seeing
      Looking and Seeing
      1 9 5 7 (UK) 8 x 30 minute episodes Looking…
    • Arena
      Arena
      1 9 7 5 - Current (UK) This popular long-running arts…
    • Sandy Becker Show, The
      Sandy Becker Show, The
      1 9 5 3 - 1 9 6 8 (USA) One…
    • Panorama
      Panorama
      1 9 5 3 - Current (UK) Richard Dimbleby's previous career-high…
    • Bucknell's House
      Bucknell's House
      1 9 6 2 (UK) 39 x 25 minute episodes…
    • Aquarius
      Aquarius
      1 9 7 0 - 1 9 7 7 (UK) ITV…
    • About The Home
      About The Home
      1 9 5 1 - 1 9 5 8 (UK) About…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleDickie Valentine Show, The
    Next Article Don Lane Show, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Parkin’s Patch
      1 9 6 9 – 1 9 7 0 (UK) 26 x 30 minute episodes “501 […]
    • Man From Atlantis
      1 9 7 7 – 1 9 8 3 (USA) 1 x 75 minute episode 13 x 60 […]
    • Man Who Would Be King, The (1975)
      Veteran director John Huston had wanted to film this Rudyard […]
    • Fish Called Wanda, A (1988)
      From the Monty Python stable, an English caper-comedy with a […]
    • Barefoot in the Park
      1 9 7 0 – 1 9 7 1 (USA) 12 x 30 minute episodes This TV […]
    • Now and Then
      1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 4 (UK) 13 x 30 minute episodes This comedy […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.