The Big Smoke

LWT and Thames TV began broadcasting 40 years ago this week, overcoming industrial disputes, financial difficulties and a brush with Rupert Murdoch to produce some of the best British TV around, and Love Thy Neighbour. In this week's issue, Gabriel Tate discusses seminal moments with Melvyn Bragg, John Hurt and Michael Palin, which the Big Smoke blog can now bring to you courtesy of YouTube.

A South Bank Show from 1984 featuring Paul McCartney and a Melvyn Bragg introduction.

The credits for The Big Match, when men were men and football was crap.

The opening episode of the brilliant World At War.

Somebody out there loves Dempsey And Makepeace.

The programme that broke Thames – Death On The Rock.

Hurt hamming it up in a wonderful excerpt from The Naked Civil Servant.

Do Not Adjust Your Set , it's Michael Palin and David Jason.

An extract from Kevin Brownlow's superb Buster Keaton documentary.

The Sex Pistols v Bill Grundy.

The last day of Thames.

And farewell LWT.

The Lambeth Country Show is one of South London's annual highlights, offering a unique mix of jerk chicken, sheep shearing and inflatable slides.

One of the show's lesser known delights takes place in the middle-aged sanctity of the flower tent, where some of Lambeth's artiest gardeners demonstrate their creative skills by sculpting vegetables into mind-bending tableaux. This year, the entrants was particularly rich, but all the same we were astonished to see that this brilliant Magic Roundabout homage (check out the detail: the alfalfa coat for Dougal and Brian's mushroom hat) was beaten into the second place by the fine but not-exactly-life-changing Amy Winehouse sculpture.

Judge for yourself which is better, but Big Smoke feels that questions should be asked.

UPDATE: The excellent Onion Bag Blog has a longer round-up. 

Five more tremendous televisual treats for your enjoyment.

1 A Muppet Show classic, as Kermit conducts an interview about the London fog with an amphibious pearly king and a palace guard.

2 On a similar note, here's Mel Torme, the Velvet Fog, singing 'A Foggy Day In London Town' on the Nat King Cole Show in the 1950s.

4 Dan Cruickshank, very much an Englishman, rediscovers the Euston Arch in the River Lea.

5 And finally, Colin Campbell and Dudley Sutton let rip at north London's legendary Ace Cafe from 1963's 'The Leather Boys'.

Click here to see last week's films, featuring Peter Cook, ghosts and Bon Scott's lunchbox. And look out for a bonus LTAML featuring classics from Thames TV early next week.