Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
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Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, was a children's television programme that aired on Saturday mornings in the UK on BBC One. It ran from 1976 until 1982 and was thought by many to be a response to the growing success of ATV's Tiswas - although the latter had not yet aired outside the Midlands. Swap Shop was hugely popular with its target audience and used innovative ideas such as the phone-in to engage the audience.
The main presenters were Noel Edmonds, Keith Chegwin, John Craven and Maggie Philbin. The show's presenters formed a pop group called Brown Sauce in December 1981 before releasing a single called I Wanna Be A Winner. Soon after the groups formation, the song peaked at #15 in the UK Singles Chart and stayed in the Top 75 for a total of 3 months.
The content of the programme included music, competitions, interviews, children's news and issues. The cornerstone however was the Swaporama element where an outside broadcast unit would travel to different locations throughout the country where children could swap their belongings with others. This proved to be one of the most popular aspects of the show, often achieving gatherings of more than 2,000 children.
In many ways, nothing like Swap Shop had been seen prior in children's television and the BBC continued to use the successful format in many programmes, such as Saturday Superstore and Going Live!.
The programme ran for 146 episodes.
The telephone number for the first series of the show was 01 288 8055. This number was also used for many other BBC phone-in events, with the result that on one occasion a young caller trying to reach Swap Shop instead got through to a phone-in with the then Prime Minister James Callaghan.[1] From the second series onwards the programme had its own number - 01 811 8055.
[edit] It Started With Swap Shop
It has been announced that a television special celebrating BBC children's Saturday morning shows is being made. The show, called It Started With Swap Shop, is being made by Noel Edmonds' Unique TV company. Amongst the highlights of the programme, it will see the original presenting team be reunited.[2]
The 2 hour programme will be recorded in front of a studio audience at BBC Television Centre on 15 December and is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC Two on Thursday 28 December at 21:00 with a shortened repeat on Sunday 31 December at 18:10.
[edit] Annuals
Swap Shop was so popular that during its run 4 annuals were published.
The publishing date for the books were as follows:
- Book 1 - November 1978
- Book 2 - September 1979
- Book 3 - September 1980
- Book 4 - November 1981
The annuals are full of quizes, funny stories, pop group pictures, knitting patterns plus features on the shows stars.
Each book has presenter photos in which the hosts are seen separately as a comedy character, for example Book 4 features Noel Edmonds, then in his 30s, as traditional English schoolboy Harry Copter. The character of Harry Copter is referenced throughout the annual and was based on Noel's love of helicopters. This comedic picture of Noel has now made Book 4 extremely collectable.
| Preceded by none |
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop 1976–1982 |
Succeeded by Saturday Superstore |
