Saturday Stayback

Saturday Stayback
Presented byChris Tarrant
Helen Atkinson-Wood
Bob Carolgees
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Production companyCentral (1982)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release22 January (1983-01-22) –
26 February 1983 (1983-02-26)
Related
Tiswas
O.T.T.

Saturday Stayback (titled Stayback within the programme itself) was a late-night comedy show that was aired for six episodes from 22 January until 26 February 1983 on the UK ITV network. It starred Chris Tarrant and was made by Central Television.

Saturday Stayback was a follow-up to the short-lived O.T.T., itself a spin-off from Tiswas. From these previous shows were regulars Bob Carolgees and Helen Atkinson-Wood, as well as newcomer to television Tony Slattery. Guest appearances included Frank Carson and, making his TV debut, impressionist Phil Cool.

Each episode was filmed on location in a different pub in the English midlands with regular patrons taking part in proceedings.

History

O.T.T. had been a critical disaster for Central, and had angered the Independent Broadcasting Authority (the commercial television watchdog), so instead of automatically granting a second series, they decided to slash the budget and insisted on pre-recording instead of the show going out live. This decision so enraged producer/presenter Chris Tarrant, who had been largely responsible for the success of Central's Tiswas, that after the meeting with management, he slammed the door so hard that the glass shattered.[citation needed]

Due to the low budget circumstances and keen to keep a laddish air about the format, the decision was made to film from a local pub, and portray it as though they were in an illegal after-hours drinking session. This gave the show the name 'Stayback', which was included in the opening titles and break bumpers, but by the time Central were ready to transmit it, it was decided to be referred to as 'Saturday Stayback', despite this name never being used in the programme.

Tarrant's friend from Tiswas and O.T.T., John Gorman, was used on this show for writing, keeping himself off-screen. Ex-Tiswas presenter Sally James (another friend of Tarrant) was a guest in one show. Kevin Seisay wrote and performed some of the comedy songs.

Musical guests included Roy Wood, who also contributed the theme tune, heavy rockers Gillan and two appearances by Thin Lizzy.

Saturday Stayback was not a major ratings success and was heavily outperformed by Jasper Carrott's then-current show. Similarly to O.T.T., which had run for one series only, Saturday Stayback ended after its initial run of six episodes.

Episode guide

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Saturday Stayback". TV Ark. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Each programme was recorded in a different midlands pub with the regulars partaking in the precedings [sic] [..] Unfortunately this was pasted by Jasper Carrott's series in the ratings and it didn't return
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kibble-White, Jack; Williams, Steve. "THE GLORY GAME: Part Five: Send Them to Bed Happy". Off the Telly. Archived from the original on 19 September 2004. There was no chance of a second series [of OTT], although OTT did return in a sense just one year later, when Tarrant launched Saturday Stayback [..] Similar in format to OTT, Saturday Stayback also [retained] Tarrant, Atkinson-Wood, Carolgees [..new talent..] Tony Slattery and Phil Cool [..] Saturday Stayback lasted for only six episodes.
  3. 1 2 Hesford, Andrew (3 September 2005). "From Small Time to big time". Transdiffusion. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Tarrant and most of the [Tiswas] team went to a late-night show, "OTT", which was heavily pilloried and criticised, later leading to a rethink on format and title ("Saturday Stayback"), which couldn't save it from oblivion.