Series 1

January 2nd - February 6th 1982 (TVS only) (10.30 - 11.45 am)

Ethel Davis Sandi Toksvig
Harry Stern Nick Staverson
Dawn Lodge Andrea Arnold
Percy Simmons Patrick Doyle

 

 
BEHIND THE SCENES
"From the outside No. 73 looks like a tumbledown house, but once inside it's a different world. The house, in the south of England, is rented by an eccentric old lady called Ethel Spoon, who is like a fairy godmother to the children in the area. Each week she opens her door and is visited by superstars and famous personalities who provide a madcap spectacle of music, competitions and fun. Ethel is assisted in looking after her guests by her nephew Harry and her boyfriend Percy Trotter."

TV Times, 16-22 January 1982.

Some of the names may have changed before transmission (to less self-consciously wacky alternatives), but this early description of the show sums it up quite nicely. In fact, with a few alterations, it can pretty much apply to the entire six-year run.
 
No. 73 was one of the first original programmes broadcast by TVS. It was filmed at the Southampton studios they had acquired from Southern television, and which had previously hosted the short-lived Saturday Banana (but that's another story...).
 
During its six-week run it replaced Tiswas, which, if memory serves, didn't go down well with all local viewers. On February 13th Tiswas returned to its rightful place - at least until the summer, when it finished for good (as did the BBC's Swap Shop).
SERIES 1 FACTS
  • In the first series the actors were not credited, in an attempt to create the impression that the presenters were real people!
  • This series featured a different title sequence (episodes 4-6 only) - a montage of shots of children running through a town, presumably towards No. 73. A chummy looking cartoon character beckons us along and occasionally joins in with the song, with some of the worst lip-synching ever seen outside a Ferrero Rocher advert.
  • The famous 73 logo did not feature in this series! The red door merely sported a couple of tatty brass numbers.
  • Future presenter Neil Buchanan first made an appearance halfway through this series, as a fan who had sent Ethel caricatures of her and her friends. Neil had attended the original audition, having met the show's producers when his band appeared on The Saturday Banana.
  • The storyline in the final episode concerned a proposed new road which would result in the demolition of No. 73... The plan was foiled, obviously.
  • Number 73's original postcode was SO9 7EU.
 
Designer Brian Motte
Director J Nigel Pickard
Producer John Dale
Executive producer Richard Leyland