Ralph's Mum on TV Gardening Prog

A mysterious Betamax clip from God knows when...

Within the huge collection of Betamax tapes I recently picked up, there was a tape which caught my eye. It was a standard, early 1980s Sony tape, but scribbled on the label on the spine was “Ralph's Mum on TV Gardening Prog”. Even more intriguing was the additional info written on the label stuck to the front of the tape, a note which indicated this was a transfer from a Philips VCR tape (hence the fuzzy quality).

Therefore, this recording could be very old indeed. So, this week, I finally got round to taking a look at it and… well, I was able to identify the programme very easily as it starts with the Afternoon Plus titles. Afternoon Plus was a Thames Television programme which ran between 1971 - 84 and, as you can see on YouTube, it featured plenty of stars taking part in fantastically detailed interviews - see David Bowie.

This clip doesn’t feature any international megastars, being a much more down to earth affair looking at gardening advice. Also, aren’t those opening titles lovely? All calming woodwind before the lively brass section kicks in to soundtrack, uh, DIY pursuits.

Afternoon Plus was, of course, a magazine show and covered all manner of features, so it was very much an alternative to the BBC’s Pebble Mill at One. However, whilst it’s fairly easy to scour the Pebble Mill at One listings on BBC Genome, finding details on Afternoon Plus is much harder.

And, as a result, combined with the lack of surrounding footage to provide clues, I’ve been unable to date this clip which looks at advice on cheese plants, marvels at the sight of Dorrie’s monster of a Busy Lizzie and is helmed by presenter Kay Avila with expert advice coming from Jock Davidson.

I suspect, judging by the fashions and Kay Avila’s hairstyle, this is from the late 1970s. The original person who recorded this tape switched from Philips VCR to Betamax around 1980/81, but it’s impossible to be sure.

I’m also not sure whether Lillian, Joan or Dorrie is Ralph’s mum. And, to be honest, I don’t even know who Ralph is, aside from the obvious indicator that he was friends with the, now deceased, original owner of this tape. So, a lot of questions relating to this one, but, fingers crossed, someone will identify it one day.