Through the Square Window

A podcast guiding you through the UK television we watched in decades gone by, presented by cultural journalist Samira Ahmed and TV journalist Graham Kibble-White.

EPISODE 4: Christmas special 2025 with Mark Gatiss

And so this is Christmas... In their first-ever feature-length festive spectacular, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White are joined by special guest Mark Gatiss, as all three nominate their favourite and least-favourite Christmas specials. They are... 6:58 - Samira's least-favourite: The Star Wars Holiday Special 13:31 - Samira's favourite: The Goodies: 'Earthanasia' 26: 38 - Graham's least-favourite: Russell Harty Goes... Upstairs, Downstairs 35:36 - Graham's favourite: Minder on the Orient Express 51:52 - Mark Gatiss joins us to talk about his A Ghost Story for Christmas for 2025, The Room in the Tower, which airs on BBC2 on Christmas Eve. And then... 55:57 - Mark's least-favourite: The 'wrong' film at Christmas 1:01:11 - Mark's favourite: The Ghosts of Motley Hall: 'The Christmas Spirit' Plus, listeners' emails, and a salute to the magic of Woolworth's Christmas adverts. And you can find Steve Berry's Woolies YouTube playlist here. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on email@squarewindow.co.uk Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

12-17
01:18:07

EPISODE 3: November 1984

Eyes down for episode three of Through the Square Window! In this instalment, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White investigate a selection of UK TV programmes that were airing 41 years ago, in November 1984: A blistering edition of BBC1 game show Bob's Full House; Ray Davies' Channel 4 TV film Return to Waterloo; we compare and contrast two female-led police dramas, both screening on Saturday nights, Juliet Bravo and The Gentle Touch; and we're joined by TV director, producer and former Blue Peter editor Richard Marson to discuss the final ever episode of Rentaghost. Richard's book, Box of Delights: The Story of BBC Children's Television: 1967-1997 is published on November 17 by Ten Acre Books. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on email@squarewindow.co.uk Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning

11-12
58:23

EPISODE 2: October 1990

Welcome, stranger, to episode two of Through the Square Window! In this instalment, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White investigate a selection of UK TV shows that were airing 35 years ago, in October 1990: The TV pilot of cult topical comedy The Mary Whitehouse Experience; an episode on BBC One's teatime consumer affairs programme Watchdog; Anglia Television's sword and sorcery game show for children, Knightmare; and the first ever episode of Twin Peaks. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on email@squarewindow.co.uk Our website is: www.squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

10-15
50:09

EPISODE 1: September 1975

In their first-ever episode, Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White investigate a selection of UK TV shows that were also launching this month, albeit 50 years ago: The BBC1 hospital drama, Angels; Thames Television's spooky anthology series for children, Shadows (plus a look at BBC2's similarly occult-themed Leap in the Dark); BBC2 comedies Fawlty Towers and The Growing Pains Of PC Penrose; Samira's favourite, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Space:1999; and Graham's favourite, Yorkshire Television's glam rock-infused Animal Kwackers. If you would like to contact the podcast, please drop us a line on email@squarewindow.co.uk This is a Square Window production, with music by Local Teenagers. Podcast logo by Stuart Manning.

09-17
52:06

Through the Square Window - teaser

The opening two minutes of episode one of Through the Square Window, a brand-new podcast hosted by Samira Ahmed and Graham Kibble-White, guiding you through the UK TV shows we watched in decades gone by. Episode one launches later in September. 

09-07
02:05

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