A Kick Up the Eighties A Kick Up the Eighties A Kick Up the Eighties was a 1981-1984 BBC 2 sketch show starring Robbie Coltrane, Tracey Ullman, Richard Stilgoe, Miriam Margolyes, Rik Mayall, Ron Bain and Roger Sloman. The series was created by Tom Gutteridge (producer/director) and Sean Hardie (executive producer). Colin Gilbert was script editor. The show was the first break into television for Rik Mayall, who played the anorak-wearing investigative reporter Kevin Turvey; it was also the start of Tracey Ullman's television comedy career. Peter Capaldi, a trained graphic artist from Scotland, contributed to designing the show's opening sequence prior to launching his
Kick Start (TV series) Kick Start (TV series) Kick Start was a motorcycle trials series on BBC television that aired between 1979 and 1988. The idea originated from Nick Brittan, the organiser of the 1978 Lombard RAC Rally, who thought top trials motorcyclists, competing over a hazardous track and obstacles, would make exciting television. It was produced by BBC Pebble Mill producer Derek Smith, who also created Top Gear. The first series, which was hosted by Dave Lee Travis, aired in August 1979 filling the slot vacated by "Nationwide". The course for these three shows was devised by trials rider Sammy Miller and constructed