This BBC2 youth programme was devised by Jonathan King and presented via outside broadcasts from a different British town each week (much like his other show, Entertainment USA, but set in the UK).
The show included chart music, a Top 40 chart, and interviews with pop stars (the Radio Times called it “the world’s fastest rock show”), but it was just as much a travelogue in a cheesy, superficial, “let’s be wacky” sort of way.
King advertised in his column in The Sun for new young faces to audition as presenters.
From 3,000 hopefuls, 19-year-old unemployed computer consultant Jeremy Legg and 21-year-old actress Lisa Maxwell were chosen to host the first series, debuting on Tuesday 30 July 1985, with episodes broadcast from Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Aberdeen, Belfast, Sheffield, Bath, Bournemouth, Manchester and London.
Tony Baker and 17-year-old Essex girl Jenny Powell hosted the second series as the show toured the UK, including episodes broadcast from Birmingham, Brighton, Glasgow, Tunbridge Wells, Cardiff, York, Penzance, Norwich, Hull, Oxford, Scarborough, Torquay, Blackpool, Tenby, Hartlepool, the Isle of Man, Winchester, the Lake District, Bradford, Stoke, Portrush, Newquay, Great Yarmouth, Ross-on-Wye, Buxton, Cowes, St Andrews, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Nottingham, the Shetland Isles, and the US Air Force base at Mildenhall.
By 1987, they were helped by 17 regional co-hosts, chosen from each of the eight BBC regions, who were whittled down from thousands of applicants (again) and eventually from 124 finalists.
Jonathan King appeared from time to time but mainly contributed behind the scenes. The theme tune – Sex Appeal – was also written by King.
Presenters
Jeremy Legg (1985-1986)
Lisa Maxwell (1985-1986)
Jenny Powell (1986-1987)
Tony Baker (1986-1987) Regional co-presenters
Jools O’Ayoola
Tara Wills
Dianne Oxberry
Sophia Serina Mahmud
Linda Huntley
Terry Vaughan
Andy Laverty
Campbell Boyd
Sarah Brown
Angela Brown
Paul Little
Lorna Milne
Stewart Urquhart
Sandra Roberts
Emma Jones
Paul Jordan
Susan Williams
King advertised in his column in The Sun for new young faces to audition as presenters.
Jonathan King appeared from time to time but mainly contributed behind the scenes. The theme tune – Sex Appeal – was also written by King.
