That Was The Week That Was

Production
1963 Radio Times cover promotes the return of the programme for a second series.
Also known as	TW3
Genre	Satire
Presented by	David Frost
Theme music composer	Ron Grainer
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of series	2
Producer(s)	Ned Sherrin
Running time	approx 50 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC tv
Picture format	Black-and-white, 405-line
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	24 November 1962 (1962-11-24) – 28 December 1963 (1963-12-28)
Status	Ended
Chronology
Followed by	Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (1964–1965}

Description

That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963, devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost. It was first broadcast on Saturday 24 November 1962, and "nothing quite like it had ever been seen before on British television. Flouting the convention that television should not acknowledge that it is television, the show made no attempt to hide its cameras, allowed the microphone boom to intrude and often revealed other nuts and bolts of studio technology. The show also adopted a relaxed attitude to its running time: loosely-structured and open-ended, it seemed to last just as long as it wanted and needed to last, even if that meant going beyond the advertised time for the ending". But "the real controversy of course, was caused by the content." 1 The programme was groundbreaking in lampooning the establishment. Its broadcast coincided with coverage of the politically-charged Profumo affair, and John Profumo, the politician at the centre of the affair, became one of the targets for derision. "TW3...did its research,thought its arguments through and seemed unafraid of anything or anyone...Every hypocrisy was highlighted and each contradiction was held up for sardonic inspection. No target was deemed out of bounds: royalty was reviewed by republicans; rival religions were subjected to no-nonsense `consumer reports`; pompous priests were symbolically defrocked; corrupt businessment, closet bigots and chronic plagiarists were exposed; and topical ideologies were treated to swingeing critiques. No one was spared"2 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was initially supportive, chastising the Postmaster General Reginald Bevins for threatening to "do something about it".