A Galaxy Of Continuity

Here’s a little bit of news, adverts, and continuity from Galaxy on BSB, circa 10th November 1990, care of The TV Museum.

There’s a lot to talk about here, which is why these snippets are always such fun to watch.

I’ve no idea what the show that begins the clip is, but the credits are fun, and that high angle is a bit 90s. I’m sure there’s a reason for Scottish dancing and a robot though. It could be The Happening with Jools Holland, but I dunno.

Next up is an advert for Space Crusade, which is a board game with production quality to die for. It looks amazing on the table, even surrounded by annoying kids. According to BoardGameGeek it’s based on the Heroquest engine.

A few adverts later, we get a glimpse of Big Ron from Eastenders, and a reminder that Norman Lovett used to proved the voice over.

Into the news, with a rather 90s besuited Jonathan Izard, and the Government claiming Margaret Thatcher was unfazed by the challenge to her premiership. She would resign 18 days later, while BSB itself, and Galaxy in particular, would cease broadcasting before the year’s end.

What always strikes me now, and was true at the time, was just how empty these early satellite presentations seemed. I’m not sure how to articulate what I mean, but in spite of the graphics and whatnot, it always felt like one person in a tiny room putting it all on somehow.

The menu is a reminder of the high-minded programming that BSB endeavoured to produce, before we see the start of an episode of the flagship sci-fi soap opera Jupiter Moon.

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