Multi-Coloured Swap Shop facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Multi-Coloured Swap Shop |
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| Genre | Children's |
| Presented by | Noel Edmonds Keith Chegwin John Craven Maggie Philbin (series 3–6) |
| Theme music composer | Mike Batt (series 1–5) BA Robertson (series 6) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 146 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 150–180 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 2 October 1976 – 27 March 1982 |
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, often called just Swap Shop, was a super popular British TV show for kids. It was shown on BBC1 every Saturday morning from October 1976 to March 1982. This show was really special because it was one of the first live Saturday morning shows. It lasted for almost three hours, and it let kids call in to talk on TV!
It was a bit like a friendly competition with another TV show called Tiswas from ITV.
Contents
What was Swap Shop About?
The main host of Swap Shop was Noel Edmonds. He was joined by Keith Chegwin, John Craven, and later, from 1978, Maggie Philbin.
There was also a fun stuffed toy dinosaur named Posh Paws. Noel Edmonds once shared that his name was actually spelled "Pohs Paws." A 5-year-old viewer called in and suggested it because it's "Swap Shop" spelled backwards!
Another person often talked about was "Eric" (Ilett). He was a technician who worked behind the scenes. You never saw him, but his job was to lower a plastic globe filled with postcards from viewers who sent in answers to competitions.
The show had lots of different parts. There was music, famous people visiting, fun competitions, and cartoons. John Craven also presented news and important topics for kids, just like he did on John Craven's Newsround.
Swaporama: The Big Swap Event
The most exciting part of the show was "Swaporama." This was hosted by Keith Chegwin, who was usually out of the studio. A special TV crew would travel to different places across the UK. Kids could bring their belongings and swap them with other children. This part of the show was incredibly popular, with often more than 2,000 kids showing up!
The BBC often used the same TV crew that was already at a location to broadcast a sports event later that day. This helped Swap Shop save money on production costs.
In December 1981, Noel Edmonds, Keith Chegwin, and Maggie Philbin even formed a pop group called Brown Sauce. They released a song called "I Wanna be a Winner." It reached number 15 on the UK music charts!
The Famous Phone Number
From the second series onwards, the show's phone number was 01 811 8055. This number became very well known and was easy for kids to remember. It was a big deal for the BBC because before Swap Shop, they mostly got feedback from viewers through letters.
It Started With Swap Shop Special
In December 2006, a special TV show was made to celebrate 30 years of BBC children's Saturday morning shows. It was called It Started With Swap Shop. Noel Edmonds' company made the show.
The special program brought back the original Swap Shop team. Other presenters from later Saturday morning shows like Saturday Superstore, Going Live!, and Live & Kicking also appeared. Even some celebrity fans came along to "make a swap" themselves!
The show was recorded in front of a live audience at BBC Television Centre. It was first shown on BBC Two on December 28, 2006. Many famous people were part of the show, including Mike Read, Andi Peters, Emma Forbes, Trevor Neal, and Simon Hickson. Some celebrities like Delia Smith, Dame Edna Everage, and Sir Cliff Richard even called in!
Swap Shop Books
Because Swap Shop was so popular, four special annual books were published during its time on TV.
The books came out on these dates:
- Book 1 – November 1978
- Book 2 – September 1979
- Book 3 – September 1980
- Book 4 – November 1981
These annuals were packed with quizzes, funny stories, pictures of pop groups, knitting patterns, and features about the show's stars.
Each book had funny pictures of the presenters dressed up as different characters. For example, in Book 4, Noel Edmonds (who was in his 30s then) dressed up as a traditional English schoolboy named Harry Copter. This character was mentioned throughout the book. Harry Copter's name was a funny play on words because Noel loved helicopters! This funny picture of Noel has made Book 4 very popular with collectors.
Show Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 October 1976 | 26 February 1977 | 21 |
| 2 | 8 October 1977 | 25 March 1978 | 24 |
| 3 | 30 September 1978 | 24 March 1979 | 26 |
| 4 | 29 September 1979 | 22 March 1980 | 26 |
| 5 | 27 September 1980 | 28 March 1981 | 27 |
| 6 | 3 October 1981 | 27 March 1982 | 25 |
Out of the 146 episodes made, 41 still exist today.
One episode, planned for December 23, 1978, was not shown. This was because of a strike by a union at the BBC. The strike ended too late on Friday, December 22, for the live Swap Shop to be ready for its 9:30 AM start the next day. The show finally returned on Saturday, December 30, 1978.
