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IT’S the show that helped launch the TV careers of people like Simon Cowell, Paul Hollywood, Jamie Oliver and Charlotte Church.
And yet, despite that, it’s still on air.
I’m talking, of course, about This Morning, hosted these days by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby but originally presented, when it began 30 years ago this week, by the now-legendary husband-and-wife team of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
That landmark anniversary is the subject tonight – and quite right, too – of a 90-minute ITV special, THIS MORNING
– 30 UNFORGETTABLE YEARS (7.30pm).
Narrated by Joanna Lumley, and with contributions from pretty much every This Morning host, past and present, it takes us back to the very start, when the then-groundbreaking programme was broadcast each weekday morning from Liverpool’s Albert Dock. It then goes on to recall key moments from the next three decades – top guests, funniest moments and most headline-grabbing incidents (poor Kerry Katona’s slurred interview, for example, and male strippers the Chippendales going way further than they were meant to). It also looks at some of the many serious items This Morning has covered over the years, including medical awareness features that have helped save goodness knows how many lives. TURNING the clock back just a decade, meanwhile, is BBC2’s documentary THE BANK THAT ALMOST BROKE BRITAIN (9pm). It’s sobering stuff, recalling how on October 7, 2008, the Royal Bank Of Scotland ran out of money and nearly brought our whole economy crashing down with it.