''Freetime'' was a

children's television 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 ...

programme shown on ITV between 1981 and 1988. Its premiere episode debuted on 8 December 1980 and was listed as "Free Time" in the TV Times. But the series did not properly start until 17 April 1981. Produced by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, it was a magazine format show devoted to hobbies and interests, and was designed to encourage viewers to get out and about rather than staying at home and watching television. It was hosted by the former

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is on ...

presenter

Mick Robertson Michael Robertson (born February 14, 1946 in Petworth, Sussex) is a former presenter of the ITV children's television magazine programme ''Magpie''. Early career He attended Midhurst Grammar School and trained as a teacher before working in ...

. Robertson was initially joined on set by Trudi Dance, but she was soon replaced by Kim Goody, who co-presented the show with Robertson until it was axed by the network in 1985, at which time the show was being broadcast bi-weekly. The object of the show was to shed light on the manifold hobbies and interests that viewers might wish to pursue. However, not all of these were really possible. One famous show from the final season featured two teams of dogs playing football, with Robertson providing commentary, while Goody attempted to act as referee. Following the show's finale, Robertson went on to help launch

The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat ...

, and was briefly reunited with Goody a few years later when she joined him as a presenter on his show, Roustabout. However, after a year or so, she left to pursue a career in music. On 16 September 1988, Thames Television briefly re-launched Freetime, this time fronted by

Andi Peters Andi Eleazu Peters (born 29 July 1970) is a British television presenter, producer, journalist and voice actor, currently employed by ITV and known for presenting Children's BBC, roles on breakfast TV shows ''Live & Kicking'', ''GMTV'', '' Goo ...

, but the series was cancelled after its fifteenth and final edition on 23 December 1988

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freetime (TV Series) 1981 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows produced by Thames Television