More TV Memories – Auntie’s Sporting Bloomers.

Auntie’s Sporting Bloomers (BBC1, 1995-1999)

One show that was popular in the 90s was Auntie’s Bloomers, which was essentially the BBC’s equivalent of It’ll Be Alright On The Night, featuring some highly amusing outtakes, which were always shown as one-offs, that did well in the ratings. After the success of Oddballs on ITV (that I reviewed recently), it was decided to squeeze a spin-off series out of the format, taking a look at some of the more unusual moments that were in the BBC sport archive.

Again, the host was Terry Wogan. For some reason, the look of this show seemed to be based around Grandstand, but at the time of the launch in the late-50s, using the original theme, and the studio featured clocks and old-fashioned cameras, I don’t know if the teleprinter was there though. We soon discovered that there was never a good time to score an own goal.

And well, the problem with sportspeople making mistakes is that after years of preparation, when the big moment finally comes, not only can it all go wrong, but there could be millions of people watching. Oh, very disappointing. Terry observed all of this with his usual style, realising that unfortunately we all have our bad days, and it can all go wrong when you least expect it.

There were also some studio guests, who were mainly sportspeople like footballers and cricketers, along with commentators, who looked back at some of the moments that they’d rather forget. And as we all knew by this point, Terry was one of those people who could interview anybody really, and he would let them tell their anecdotes. I suppose you had to be there.

There were also a lot of comedians and impressionists who were keen to offer the view on things. This did remind you of all of those crazy “there’s nothing wrong with the car, except it’s on fire” moments. Somehow they managed to get several series out of Auntie’s Sporting Bloomers (and several repeat runs too), you wouldn’t think that there would be so many athletes who had fallen over the hurdles in the big races.