First watched : September 1973
I think it was on Not The Nine O Clock News that someone made a reference to this programme as "that boring crap that you only watch because it's on before Top of the Pops" and I remember thinking "got it in one !" With one exception to come in the eighties I don't recall viewing anything with more irritation and longing for the credits to run. You could probably count the number of full editions - as opposed to the last five minutes - I watched on one hand. I loathed the arrival of Eastenders and the consequent shoehorning of Top of the Pops but at least it meant I'd never have to watch this again and I didn't.
Nevertheless its longevity deserves some respect. Born in the mid-sixties with crusty old Raymond Baxter at the helm, it rode the wave of interest in Wilson's "white heat of technology" and managed to sustain itself long after that bubble of optimism in technological benefit had been pricked by regularly re-vamping itself with new presenters and titles. The demonstrations of dodgy new gadgets provided some amusing moments amid the drab explanations. As with Dragon's Den ( which owes something to Tomorrow's World ) ventures , many of the inventions were never heard of again or failed spectacularly; the Videodisc immediately springs to mind.
It was finally pulled in 2003 although as ever there is talk of reviving it.
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