Beadle's About

Infobox Television
show_name = Beadle's About


caption =
format = Prank Show
picture_format = 4:3, PAL 576i
runtime = 30mins (inc. commercials)
creator =
starring = Jeremy Beadle
channel = ITV
first_aired = 22 November, 1986
last_aired = 21 September, 1996
num_series = 10
num_episodes = 95
country = UK
producer = LWT
related = Game For A Laugh
imdb_id = 0244897

"Beadle's About" also called "The Best of Beadle's About" was a British television programme hosted by Jeremy Beadle, where members of the public became victims of practical jokes behind hidden cameras. It was produced by LWT for ITV, and ran from 22 November, 1986 to 21 September, 1996.

Format

An example of one of the practical jokes would involve a person's car or van secretly being swapped for an identical one, and then having a disaster befall on it, such as it exploding, falling into the sea, 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 at the person. As the public were familiar with Beadle from the earlier show Game for a Laugh, they would then immediately realise they had been had, often with the words "I don't believe it!".

Memorable Pranks

The most memorable prank that was ever seen on television was where a woman was convinced into believing that aliens had landed in her garden. Dave Hughes's van was pushed into the water at The Sailing Centre.

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

Infamous Moments

One infamous prank targeted a woman who was at a wedding, and was then destroyed. After Beadle removed his disguise and pointed the microphone at her, the woman ignored him and asked him to leave her alone, until a friend explained it was "Jeremy Beadle off the television".

One of the pranks in the early 1990s when a woman returned from shopping to find her red Ford Fiesta in amongst a car park full of identical cars. She instantly guessed it was a "Beadle's About" prank and the ruse had to be abandoned (the footage was never broadcast).

In 1993, a man was arrested for trying to pull the beard off a policeman, thinking it was Jeremy Beadle in disguise.

Broadcasting

"Beadle's About" was first broadcast on ITV from 22 November, 1986 to 21 September, 1996.

Challenge TV then repeated the show from 1999 to 2007.

The show used to show on Virgin 1 The repeats were only shown from 1995.

Transmissions