User reviews

'No 73' was the most original Saturday morning children's variety programme ever. Not only did it turn the tables on the usual Saturday morning concept, it spoofed all the conventions of sit-coms and soaps as well. Like most shows from the same time slot, 'No 73' featured cartoons, competitions, musical guests and interviews. But since this was supposed to be broadcast from a 'normal' house in Maidstone, Kent, the cartoons were shown on an old fashioned projector, the band had to perform in the basement, the competitions were 'made up on the spot' and interviews ended when the doorbell rang. Every guest, be they pop stars, roof thatchers to morris dancers, had to settle either in the kitchen, the lounge, the backyard, or the shed. Usually the plot revolved around one or more of the acts being wrongfully booked so they had to be kept secret from Ethel or someone else.

Landlady and owner of the house Ethel Davis was played by Sandi Toksvig. The other main characters were: gullible Harry (Nick Staverson), rollerskating Dawn (Andrea Arnold), artistic Neil (Neil Buchanan) and musical Kim (Kim Goody). Adding to the crazy situations were regulars like Fred the postman (Tony Aitken), local con-man Tony Deal (Nick Wilton) and of course the long suffering neighbours from # 75, Martin and Hazel Edwards (Richard Addison and Jeannie Crowther). In order to dispense disbelieve when promoting No 73 on other shows, all these actors usually appeared in character. In the early years, they even remained uncredited.

Around lunch time, just before the show ended, everybody would gather in the kitchen for the Sandwich Quiz. Here two of the guest would answer general knowledge questions, and whoever had the biggest sandwich at the end was the winner. Occasionally the presenters got to appear in 'home made' movies produced by 'Front Door Productions'. These serials would usually feature four of them playing up to 30 different parts, so they certainly could no longer complain about having to be the same character each week. Most seasons would end in a cliffhanger, such as the house being on the brink of demolition or that other soap opera cliché: Ethel having second thoughts on her wedding day.

When Ethel 'immigrated to Australia' during the 1986 summer break the Sandwich Quiz became the 'Duster Muster'. The other four main characters remained, but steadily all of the supporting castmembers were replaced by new, younger characters. Late 1986 the 'Sunday at 73' edition of the show was developed, featuring less guests and more programmes to introduce such as 'The Gummi Bears' and 'Black Beauty'. Instead of showing these on the projector, they would simply settle down in front of a TV. At the start of 1988, the show had to move out of the TVS studios and into a Wild West Theme park. '7T3' only lasted three months.

Watching 'No 73' always made me wonder how they managed to perform the whole show live while running around the different parts of the set and still remembering all the puns in the script. Not once did I spot a microphone or crewmember. Mind you I was very young and gullible when the show originally aired, and since the chance of it ever being repeated is next to nothing, 'No 73' will forever remain perfect in my mind. That may be the best place for it to stay, for if I had to see all those atrocious eighties hairstyles and fashions again now, I might change my mind about this high rating:

Rating : 10 out of 10

Number 73 provoked extreme reactions - I guess you either loved it or you hated it. I, for one, loved it, and was a regular viewer for most of its run.

It was disliked by many, simply because it was the show that replaced Tiswas, but as I'm slightly too young to remember Tiswas very well, this is the show that grabbed my attention on Saturday mornings. It was a very clever concept - a Saturday morning show set in a chaotic house full of larger-than-life characters - and it was very slick and well executed. Admittedly I was only eight years old at the time, but it was very easy to be taken in by it, and convince yourself it was all real.

The early seasons were the best - later on, things began to go downhill a bit as some of the cast left, and the winning formula was messed with. Unfortunately, the show was a victim of its own success. It was clearly much more complex to make than a traditional studio-based show, and required a large and very complex set. The production values were always high, and therefore expensive, and the show was forced to relocate, with the final season called "7T3" and set in a theme park. This was all a bit pants, but the early seasons were great - original and anarchic, and much better than the Beeb's offerings of the time.

I think it appealed because as well as all the usual guests, cartoons etc. from Saturday shows, it had a plot and a backstory, and the presenters were characters you could get to admire and follow. Dawn was always my favourite, she was hip 'n' trendy in an early-80s sort of a way, and was pretty nifty on a pair of rollerskates. In reality, Dawn was Andrea Arnold, who is now a film director of some repute. The show also launched the career of Neil Buchanan, who continues to present a lot of children's shows on ITV, especially art-based ones, and introduced Sandi Toksvig to a generation of kids.

What happened to the rest of them? Great, great stuff - I'll always remember The Sandwich Quiz, the bands in the basement, bizarre plot twists, and even stuff like the postal address and telephone number for the show (PO Box 73, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6RS - "mee fifteen six ares" - and 0622 600000).

Simply great. "No 73" was the best Saturday morning children's TV series I've ever seen - and having seen an episode recently, I'm struck by what fun the colourful 1980s fashions, so derided in the priggish 90s and 2000s, actually were.

Centre stage was Sandi Toksvig as Ethel. Ethel was a bit of a dithering dimwit of a landlady, kind as could be, but definitely not the brightest of people. This made Ms Toksvig's slides out of character into her own sharp minded and witty self all the more enjoyable.

The next door neighbours, Hazel and Martin Edwards, were a very 1980s TV couple. The ethos of that decade was to show that men shared many of the faults traditionally associated only with women, and Martin was the nag and sticky beak. Hazel was good natured and long-suffering.

Guest bands, originally in the lounge, later in the cellar, included the Red Skins and the Associates, not your usual Saturday morning pop idols.

The rest of the cast, Dawn, Harry, Neil, Kim and Fred the postman all added their own distinctive charms to the series and the brilliance of fictional comic chaos mixed with Saturday morning magazine style, was inspired.

The show was never the same after Sandi left in 1986. The house was finally demolished in 1988, to be replaced, briefly, by a Wild West theme park. Awful.

But from 1982 to 1986 No 73 was, in my humble opinion, simply the best!

Used to love watching this when I was yonger. Was amazing, was such a shock when it stopped airing it, the cartoons, the competitions it really did have it all. Worth waking up on a saturday to watch it. Ethel was such a great character & we all know that sandi toksvig is the actress.

The early seasons were better and when people started to leave the show it started to go downhil. It managed however to last the full 8 seasons ranging from 82' to '88 so bascically I gew up with the show. It managed however to last the full 8 seasons ranging from 82' to '88 so bascically I gew up with the show.