Kellyvision

1 9 8 8 (UK)
9 x 20 minute episodes

Former Clapperboard host Chris Kelly and Gaz Top (born Gareth Jones) – formerly of Get Fresh – went behind the cameras in this short Tyne Tees series to find out how television programmes were made.

Each episode of Kellyvision examined a specific production technique: In the debut episode, they found out how the weekly pop show The Roxy was produced; the magic of bluescreen technology was highlighted by the cutting-edge graphics of Knightmare; the mammoth team (and endless equipment) involved in outside broadcasts was put under the microscope at ITV Sports, and time was even allocated to finding out what it was like to work with the PG Tips chimps on commercials.

Another edition had Chris and Gaz Top join the Spitting Image team to show how the scenery was built, the voice work recorded and, finally, how the programme was transmitted to the nation.

One episode of the show – dealing with the use of guns and explosions in film and television – was never aired.

While the episode was being edited in August 1987, a gunman shot and killed 16 people in Hungerford, Berkshire, before turning his gun on himself.

ITV rightly took the decision that the content of this episode of Kellyvision was now too sensitive and so the edition was never transmitted.

Episodes

The Roxy | It’s Live and It’s Outside | Spitting Image | A Day in the Life of ITN | Special Effects | Commercials | The Return of the Antelope | Graphics on TV | Stunts

Video