Chockablock - Crow - Part 1

BBC preschool programme from 1981, presented alternately by Carol Leader (as in this video - she looks rather a lot more manic than I remember) and Fred Harris (interestingly, before he became an actual schools IT programme presenter).
This one's about a crow, apparently. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wanted one of those yellow buggies.

[@jleadermaynard]

For all those people being rude about the presenter Carol Leader - she is my Mum! (cue predictable storm of offensive spam...). She's less mad in real life. A bit. Went on to have a successful acting career in the 1980s, and this was probably not her finest moment. Although given the number of people who used to come up to her in the street when I was a kid because they recognised her, this show (and the more famous Playschool) was inexplicably popular... Anyway, thanks for the upload.

[@byronmills5952]

jleadermaynard Your Mum was truly wonderful on this show. Many happy happy memories for myself and my sister watching and singing along. Your Mums infectious enthusiasm and ability to communicate to children through the television is still very much loved and appreciated.

[@gcooper642]

I loved this programme. Your Mum was awesome!

[@scottlahti1252]

Dorothy from Flambards! Loved her.

[@fozziebumble8361]

Your mum was my favourite tv presenter and this was my favourite show

[@VERMISIMILITUDE]

I loved your mum as a child! She made me feel so comfortable & warm after my Dad died when I was a Baba! She was a wonderful presenter!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@khaldrogo1000]

I used to want to work in a factory because of this, now i work in a factory :(

[@graham4006]

that is so funny. ...but I did love chockablock. ...!!!

[@lh1690]

chocabitch.

[@MephProduction]

why you sad then? your dream cam true.

[@heartwilson.8943]

Are you manufacturing big pink vibrators ?

[@liverush24]

You must absolutely LOVE Bertha, then.

[@jameshacking5604]

I remember in the early 1980s, this show seemed mind-blowingly futuristic!

[@Grithron2]

@Jack Brown surely tape-powered mainframe computers were already a thing of the Frank Spencer-ish past

[@originalyou4069]

🤣😂🤭

[@chindleymuffin]

Well the computer was designed to look like mainframe computers of the time, so they were fairly accurate apart from a couple of artistic design alterations.

[@davejohnson3376]

I broke several drawers at home due to this programme.

[@itsjemmabond]

Me too!

[@euchariaoconnor8201]

brilliant :p

[@armand011]

I was born here in 1980, from European parents. I never forgot this opening scene and the accompanying music. Now that I have the opportunity to view it again after several decades, I can comfortably say it reminds me of - England :-)

[@waynephatg]

I desperately wanted that car and I longed to press those buttons as a kid! I found it fascinating 😂

[@bennylush]

Me too!

[@bigcretin]

I REALLY REALLY wanted that little car!

[@kimifur]

I still do!!

[@wafermans3998]

Wow! I remember sitting on the floor in the school library watching this. As others have said, I always wanted one of the cars which they rode around on. The buttons are really vivid in my memory too. I recently taught in the very same school and wish I'd shown my year fives this video - they'd have found it hilarious for sure!

[@misplacedkiwi9498]

It’s so bloody weird because I can remember how I saw all the buttons and things as a baby! Sounds weird but they were so vivid!!!!

[@bobbynobrain]

I knew it was a crow, even before the picture came up. EASY. NEXT

[@TributeToThePast]

That's fantastic :) Simple though it seems today, I grew up with this programme and loved it at the time. I try to log in and prune the more appalling comments every so often, but it's a losing battle.

[@CBCJG]

#999

[@billybifocals]

This was the first thing I ever watched on TV, I was fascinated by it. Ended up studying IT as a result.

[@rhysperegrine5100]

This is what the 21st century looked like to us kids in the 80s - and it could have if only we'd had the nerve to bring it into being. Damn you, 2020, you had the future at your fingertips but you threw it all away!

[@salruss27]

I loved this when I was little .. We had fab tv!!!

[@TheImatube]

Remember thinking at that time that I wish I had that car she drove

[@Aljess]

I used to adore this programme! I also wanted a car and the goggles.

[@davarosmith1334]

I loved that when it was on! , sea saw it had a different program every day! The flumps , brick a brack , king what ever his name was , mr ben , ect.

[@arserobinson7118]

I remember watching this all the time in 1986, must have been reruns as there was only one season. i recreated the intro with all the cushions off the sofa place on a dolly to mimic the car

[@ShanHetty]

Loved this, everything is just so chunky chocka chickka chocka,graaa fakkin loved chockablock. I was 2 when this first aired,gotta be my first TV memory. I blame it for all the drugs i did in the late 90's. Chockafakkintastic

[@kkly27]

I used to LOVE this as a kid. Thanks for sharing it takes me right back. :)

[@simjaqs]

i seem to be the only one from my year at school who remembers chockablock...i loved it as a kid.....bring it back lol

[@pburr1973]

Carol Leader appears in ITV world-war one aviation drama 'Flambards' - first aired around 1981.

[@evilchunkycat]

Brilliant. I broke a drawer in my mum's sideboard trying to sit on it like a chair - all cos I saw it on chockablock. And they say the youth aren't influenced by what they see on TV.

[@jodievaughan4791]

I'm 11 and my dad got me into this stuff and I like it

[@TheRivetts]

I loved Carol Leader and Cloe Ashcroft, wonderful presenters fond memories from Playschool.

[@indiana1977]

When I was three watching this, I really really REALLY wanted that little yellow car!

[@VERMISIMILITUDE]

Omg! I wanted this computer in my front room!!!! & that buggy!!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Choca buggy!!!! CAWWWWWW!!! I loved those graphics!!!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@buzzybee77]

oh dear i remember watching this lol !

[@EveningT]

I, for one, have fond memories of those shows. A lot of the programming back then was a bit mad (mostly in a good way) and/ or psychedelic - who knows what the creators had been smoking - but presenters such as Fred Harris and Carol Leader were the bee's knees of our TV-watching childhood... Silly as a lot of these programmes were, they seemed to have an innocence and an earnestness that has long since disappeared.

[@themanmaschine]

I was also born in 1979 and remember this very,very well, I too wanted the wee car that carol had!

[@mondoburley]

Born in 1980 and remember this so well, one of my earliest memories of tv, must have been repeated in 83,84,85.... Can't remember tv from the age if 1???

[@Smoonelle]

the memories are flooding back! and no, tributetothepast, you weren't the only one who wanted one those buggies! lol!

[@grahampearson5670]

I recall watching Chock A Block on many occasions not just the first time round. Play School regulars Carol Leader and Fred Harris took it in turns to appear on Chock A Block during its run.

[@johnk1639]

going to work on mushrooms must be is like this 😂

[@ssandlan]

Think this could quite possibly be my earliest memory of television apart from Mr Ben. So happy i found the video of it! so people dont think i am mad explaining it to them

[@AliR369]

Oh how I LOVED this show. I wanted to press all the buttons so badly :)

[@Keithbarber]

We would have had the time of our lives playing on those computers back in the day

[@paulski1080]

I grew up thinking chock-a-block and chock-a-truck were actually silver and not yellow? Watching this really confused me!?... Then I remembered we only had a B&W TV in the early 80's. 😂

[@RichXbox360]

I used to watch this, bloomin' brilliant!

[@rlough1980]

Brings back so many great childhood memories from the 80s!

[@JackLongbridge]

If I wait, when this video ends will Bric-a-brac with Brian Cant be on next?

[@empanzee]

Wow this was my favourite programme as a very young kid, it was really spellbinding :) I haven't seen it since I was a toddler so I'm ridiculously excited to find it on here! It's amazing how much I remember of this. So many happy memories!

[@olivertaplin]

Used to watch this in the early eighties. Carol Leader Still Seems old to me, but in this video she's only a year older than I am now!

[@matthewgotts1]

Good grief - I had COMPLETELY forgotten about this - used to watch it all the time!!!

[@bruce5799]

Chockablock is better viewing than the news.

[@euchariaoconnor8201]

Primary school lol. Thanks for sharing.x

[@jimbobbalooba1]

I so wanted one of those trucks as well, can't believe that there is a comment about somebody else wanting one. I'm a 30 year IT consultant now, I wonder if this program spurred me on lol! Thanks for this, fantastic memories. ACE!!

[@ClareB78]

This is one of the first programmes I remember watching, I loved it!

[@MuddyTheFox]

I loved this show. :)

[@TheTurnipKing]

Oh my god, I've been vaguely remembering this show for years without being able to remember the name... And this particular episode, too. Thank you, RockPaperScissors!

[@mbvideoselection]

And to think the archive tapes of this show survived all the way from 1981 till 1993, at which point they were erased/skipped and only VHS copies now exist. BTW I believe Chock-A-Block was inspired not only by the Commodore VIC-20 but also the Akai X-8010 combo reel-to-reel/8-Track cartridge recorder!

[@RedFlapBag]

Weaned on this. No wonder I wound up listening to electro and fixing aircraft!

[@Martinfreekie]

"Choco girl checking in" ha ha this brings back memory's.

[@cheekymouse4]

I Loved the hamster and the crow in You and Me. Found the theme tune on here but wish someone found the voices of the hamster and the crow!

[@TPQ1980]

I used to watch this when I was but a small child. Is it me, or has British children's TV become a lot less British, a lot less educational and a lot less gentle since the 80s?

[@ajs41]

Yes.

[@unohoncho7727]

Blame Tony Blair for opening the floodgates for immigrants...

[@markwest269]

If you watch CBeebies it's still quite gentle and educational. It's all the other kids channels that are different now.

[@Levinous]

This is so cool. Chockagirl is like a sound engineer using a mixing console that dispenses plushies! :D

[@UncleFeedle]

Broadcast on 25th January 1983, according to the chockaclock.

[@fogzax]

This is blooming marvelous! :)

[@pintofGaddsplease]

Haha, this is such a trip, I wanna be 4 years old again.....

[@wobblegobdavid]

I loved this programme, i always wanted the little car lol.

[@TributeToThePast]

:) Yes, their size as shown here made carrying them around without a buggy difficult, for a start...

[@beggsyontour]

My favorite TV programme as a kid :) THANK U 4 SHARING THIS

[@mistofoles]

I'm sure Shelagh Gilby also presented this occasionally!

[@RobinJusteEmery]

I loved this programme when I was too young to remember. BBC Micro Computer graphics? Thanks for sharing!

[@stimpyx1]

I'm sure I remember having to sit through this at school back in the 80's

[@BUSNUT1]

I can just rember watching this. My only excuse was that there were only three TV stations then.

[@karenoconnor700]

Jesus what was this ha ha.Its weird.Used to watch it all the time😃

[@coecludd]

I remember this but I was 9 in 1981. Why was I watching a pre-school programme when I was 9?

[@ULYSSES-31]

Did you not see that great little car she drove in?

[@ajs41]

It was still being shown in 1985. They used to repeat shows like this a lot.

[@paulhunter123]

because it was 1981 -

[@High_Lord_Of_Terra]

That was some next level compuational shizzle back then.

[@BionicChango]

Same here, dude. This was my favorite show.. it seemed so futuristic and cool. I wanted the truck and I wanted a big yellow computer like that in my bedroom.

[@fraserkatie]

Oh cool! Carol Leader being your mum , shes a legend! Great to hear! Hope she is doing great things now , I haerd she was doing childrens TV for children of miltary fathers.

[@perfeconion]

Haha my friends call me Sack Chockablock because thats what auto correct changes my name to

[@38Highbury]

I always wanted the truck. It's like an older relative of Brum.

[@Brookes79]

I actually thought I'd imagined this show, for years nobody I knew had heard of it when I described it to them & I couldn't remember it's name

[@mrss525]

Same!

[@samheeley]

Nevermind the chocatruck - I want one of those computers!

[@BurstNibbler]

@billybifocals, Me too, you know what, I believe this is why I got into IT as well! I remember ALL of this but I've not seen it since I was 2 or 3. Fantastic!

[@DavidXNewton]

@davejacko Yes, the almighty Fred Harris also presented this - about half the episodes, if I remember right.

[@VideotapeFTW]

Great upload - thanks! I'm not sure why I'm disappointed computers never turned out like Chockablock, but I am...

[@TributeToThePast]

@billybifocals I love this comment, particularly as I think that Chockablock might have been originally responsible for my own career choice as well! And I think that most of our clients probably still think that we live down in basements somewhere plugging cables and... crows... into gigantic things with flashing lights.

[@billybifocals]

This was one of my very first memories, i must have only been 1 or 2, i remembered the tune more than anything and i didnt suss out what it was called until about 3 years ago, im now 29 lol, it used to drive me insane. So one day i googled all the little things i could remember and this popped up. I think Chockablock is the main reason why i got into computing. I was fascinated with the chockablock 9000 lol. Happy days

[@DavidXNewton]

@Vidnasty Well, at least under pressure you'll never be short of words that rhyme with 'crow'.

[@beingsshepherd]

To those who made programs such as this, I'd like for you to know, that they * taught * me (born 1979) nothing whatsoever. I'd just sip orange juice, passively observe series of familiar colourful phenomena, while my mother burnt lunch under the grill.

[@ajs41]

They taught me a lot, to take an interest in computers mainly. I taught myself computer programming for example, using textbooks from the library.

[@keijak1]

This reminds me of the summer of 1981, I recall it was shown during the lunch break of the cricket, and I couldn't wait for it to finish so we could get back to Headingley to see Ian Botham & Co trounce the Aussies, happy days!

[@U2QuoZepplin]

I used to LOVE this show back when i was little ! It would probably never get made nowa days cause technology's moved on so much. Perhaps they could repeat it on Cbeebies or something?

[@DeanGarnham]

@dragonfitter Love that...my mate told me he had Kit in his shed....made it himself....we never saw it!

[@Veniceredmask01]

My childhood right here xx

[@martin4578]

Chocatruck is awesome!!

[@armand011]

@Silky24 My thoughts exactly! Just the car practically never made me forget the entire thing!

[@drewbain1]

This is legendary

[@frogbatter]

The car is'nt the same as I remember it,..still ace to see it again

[@missmostess]

@kookimojo Oh my God I tried that too!! My mum went ballistic when I broke the chest of drawers trying to recreate the chock a block seat!!

[@mehhandle]

2:30 Mary looks like Queen Elizabeth 1st. Used to love this programme when I was little.

[@citibfs]

loved it when the presenter said something wrong it made a rather funny sound, quite rude sounding it was lol

[@mettainacan7813]

As a child you think this is real, that pressing the buttons would actually do something.... on my innocence!

[@TheWaterfallprincess]

aww I remember Carol from 'Playschool' too..happy days xx

[@MOCONKLIN]

fucking hell for years i always tried to remember the name of this show people taught i was making it up but here it is

[@antster1983]

Chockablock must have been put together with components of a BBC Micro :o)

[@KaiObelisk]

Oh god this came up randomly and I am having such a nostalgia attack. The thing is I don't remember the show at all, just images. The little car, the pulsing light pattern and that machine. It's like wisps of memory at the very edge of my mind. An intense experience.

[@bluebull399]

I'm exactly the same, I only remembered a few images and have been wracking my brain for years trying to remember the name of the show. The only reason I even remembered a few images is because we had a big reel to reel tape machine in our house and as a kid I was obsessed with it. It's strange when you watch something so old and then it all comes flooding back.

[@numberstation]

Look at the size of Chockablock,it's HUGE!!! Computers were massive back in them days.Mind you,Wagon Wheels were much bigger then,too.And you could wear a tank top without everyone laughing.And it was safe to walk the streets,and petrol was 5 pence a gallon,3 pence if you bought 2 star.And there was non of this rap music stuff,either.I can't even clean the snow off my roof in case I get sued by the postman,and I cant paint my front door white because its racist.The Luftwaffe blew my Nans house

[@Lukeydookee]

@epiphany55 Yeh me too. It's pretty abismal isn't it. And chocka-block can't tell the difference between a Crow and a blackbird! My younger brother used to have night mares about Carol Leader chasing him on roller saketes, in the splits position, trying to catch and eat him.

[@jayrage7448]

After watching every episode, I always asked my mum for a Chockablock car but, sadly, never got one :(