''Saturday Superstore'' is a British

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

that aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including

Mike Read Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter. Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for musi ...

Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene (born 24 October 1957) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series '' Saturday Superstore'' and ''Going Live!''. E ...

Keith Chegwin Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017) was an English television presenter and actor, appearing in several children's entertainment shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' and ''Cheggers Plays Pop''. ...

, and

John Craven John Raymond Craven, (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', ''Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

. The show was very similar to its predecessor ''

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornin ...

'', which had ended the previous October–March season following its presenter

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

moving away from children's TV to present his prime-time ''

Late Late Breakfast Show ''The Late, Late Breakfast Show'' was a British variety show broadcast live on Saturday evenings from 4 September 1982 to 8 November 1986 on BBC1. It was presented by Noel Edmonds, initially with co-host Leni Harper, and also featured Mike Smith ...

''. A regular spot on the show was their children's talent show "Search for a Superstar". The winner of the 1986 search were Claire and Friends, spawning the top-20 hit "It's 'Orrible Being in Love (When You're 8½)". In 1987, the contest was won by Juvenile Jazz, which included future OMD and occasional

Stone Roses In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

keyboard-player

Nigel Ipinson Nigel Ipinson-Fleming (born 1970, Liverpool, England) is a British keyboardist. He has played, written and produced for several acts including Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), The Stone Roses and Ian Brown. Career Ipinson-Fleming start ...

. For much of its run, ''Saturday Superstore'' retained the same famous phone-in number, 01-811-8055, as its predecessor. Amongst its most memorable moments were the pop group

Matt Bianco Matt Bianco are a British band that were formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid-1980s and their jazz, Latin-flavoured music. The group's name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for th ...

being verbally abused by a phone-in caller"Cult: Reviews"
bbc.co.uk. and

The Flying Pickets The Flying Pickets is a British '' a cappella'' vocal group which had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 on the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Yazoo's track " Only You". History The band of six was founded by Brian Hibbard in 19 ...

offering as a competition prize a tea-towel bearing the face of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. Other notable guests included

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

, who answered questions about their lives to callers and read out competition answers and winners. The presenters released a single entitled "Two Left Feet", though it failed to chart. The theme tune, entitled "Down At The Superstore", was also released by The Assistants, consisting of

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

B. A. Robertson Brian Alexander Robertson (born 12 September 1956) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including " Knocked It ...

Cheryl Baker Rita Maria Stroud (''née'' Crudgington; born 8 March 1954), known professionally as Cheryl Baker, is an English singer and television presenter. She was a member of 1980s pop group Bucks Fizz, who won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and now p ...

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

. Then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

appeared in one show in 1987 leading up to that year's election campaign, making the newspaper headlines when she was repeatedly asked by a girl "In the event of a nuclear war, where will you be?".

''It Started With Swap Shop''

Saturday Superstore had its own section of the BBC's ''It Started With Swap Shop'' in 2006. It featured

chatting to

and Crow.

and

took part in the 'Now That's What I Call Saturday Mornings Quiz' for the ''Saturday Superstore'' part of the show and a selection of clips from the show were shown.

Transmissions

References

External links

*
British Film Institute Screen OnlineSaturday Superstore
at Saturday Mornings

on Paul Morris' SatKids {{British Saturday morning television BBC children's television shows 1980s British children's television series 1982 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings Lost BBC episodes Saturday mass media British television shows featuring puppetry