Beadle's About was a British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 programme hosted by the late Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...

, where members of the public became victims of practical joke

Practical joke

A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...

s behind hidden camera

Hidden camera

A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...

s. It was produced by LWT

London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

 for ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, and ran on Saturday nights from 22 November 1986 to 31 October 1996.

Format

An example of one of the practical jokes would involve a person's car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 or van

Van

A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...

 secretly being swapped for an identical one, and then having a disaster befall it, such as it exploding

Explosion

An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...

, falling into the sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

, or being dropped from a great height, as the owner of the vehicle looked on in horror. After a few minutes Beadle would appear in disguise (typically as a policeman or some other figure of authority, and often wearing a fake beard on top of his natural beard), and interact with the shell-shocked and/or irate victim. He would subtly drop more and more hints and would remove his disguise and point a stick microphone

Microphone

A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...

 at the person. As the public were familiar with Beadle from the earlier show Game for a Laugh

Game for a Laugh

Game For A Laugh was a popular British TV light entertainment show which ran for 56 editions and 4 specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network.- Origins :...

, they would then immediately realise they had been had, often with the words "I don't believe it!". A follow up series was entitled 'It's Beadle' which followed a similar format.

Memorable Pranks

One of the most notable pranks was where Dorset resident Janet Elford was convinced into believing that aliens had landed in her garden. Members of the public were set up by a resident team of 'Beadles About' actors including: Tony McHale, Nicholas Young, Pam Cole & Ricky Diamond.

Popularity

At its peak, the show attracted approximately 15 million viewers, making it one of ITV's most popular Saturday night programmes during that period.

Profanity Bubble

The "Bleep" or "Oops" bubble used to block out offensive language was a well known feature from the show. The bubbles were simply clouds with either "Bleep" or "Oops" in them, the text being set in a font looking similar to the 'Balloon' typeface. These were also used to cover up offensive hand gestures as well.

Jeremy once revealed in an interview that during editing they deliberately inserted "bleeps" where there were no profanities as this made it funnier.

DVD release

Network DVD

Network DVD

Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...

released the complete first series of Beadle's About on 28 March 2011.