''Chock-A-Block'' is a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

programme, created by Michael Cole and Nick Wilson. It was first shown in 1981 and repeated through to 1989 and shown as part of the children's programme cycle ''

See-Saw A seesaw (also sometimes known as a teeter-totter in North America) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most comm ...

'' (the "new" name for the cycle originally known as ''

Watch with Mother ''Watch with Mother'' was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at tiny tots to pre-school childr ...

''). "Chock-A-Block" was an extremely large yellow

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

, modelled to resemble a

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

of the time; it filled the entire studio and provided the entire backdrop for the show. The presenter of the show played the part of a technician maintaining the computer. There were two presenters, Fred Harris ("Chock-A- Bloke") and Carol Leader ("Chock-A-Girl"), but only one appeared in each episode. At the start of the show, the presenter would drive around the studio towards the machine in a small yellow

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

, the chock a truck, before saying the catchphrase "Chock-A-Bloke (or Girl), checking in!"). The presenter would then use the machine to find out about a particular topic. The name "chock-a-block" was derived from the machine's ability to read data from "blocks" – which were just that, physical blocks painted different colours. A typical show would include dialogue from the presenter, a brief clip played on Chock-a-Block's video screen, and the presenter recording a song on Chock-a-Block's audio recorder (which resembled the

reel-to-reel tape Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

drives used on actual mainframes, but with a design below to cause the reels to resemble the eyes of a smiling face). In most episodes, Chock-a-Block would malfunction at least once by failing to respond to commands (a "Chock-a-Blockage") which had the presenter frantically pressing its buttons until it stopped. The presenter Fred Harris went on to present the serious computing programme ''

Micro Live ''Micro Live'' is a BBC2 TV series that was produced by David Allen as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, and followed on from earlier series such as '' The Computer Programme'', '' Computers in Control'', and '' Making the Most of th ...

'' and to become a personality strongly associated with computers in the public eye. According to the Kaleidoscope 'Lost Shows' database, eight out of thirteen episodes are no longer in the BBC archives, however all other episodes bar "Magpie" exist on domestic video recordings, with "Shoe" existing only partially.TV Archive – Chock-A-Block
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Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0236895, Chock-A-Block 1981 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings BBC children's television shows Lost BBC episodes Television series by BBC Studios 1980s British children's television series 1980s preschool education television series British preschool education television series British television shows featuring puppetry