''Central Weekend'' (also called ''Central Weekend Live'') is a British television debate show which ran from 1986 to 2001. Known for the confrontational nature of its studio audience and topics, it was presented for many years by

Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell, OBE (born Nicholas Lackey, 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...

. It was broadcast late on a Friday night in the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

region, and debated various topics and current affairs issues - usually subjects that had been featured in the week's news. Though Campbell was the main host, there were a number of other presenters who joined him throughout the show's time on air. These included

Anna Soubry Anna Mary Soubry (; born 7 December 1956) is a British barrister, journalist and former politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe from 2010 to 2019. Known for her support of pro-European policies, she was originally elected as ...

Adrian Mills Adrian Mills (born 16 July 1956) is a British television presenter and actor. He appeared on ''That's Life!'' with Esther Rantzen for seven years until 1994. Since then, he has presented talk show ''Central Weekend Live'', reported for BBC view ...

Kaye Adams Kaye Adams (born 28 December 1962) is a Scottish television presenter and journalist. She was an anchor on ITV topical discussion show ''Loose Women'' from 1999 to 2006 and again from 2013 and was a regular panellist on Channel 5's daily mo ...

, Sue Jay, Gregg Upwards, Roger Cook,

Bibi Baskin Olive "Bibi" Baskin (born 19 May 1952) is an Irish radio presenter, hotelier and former television presenter for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She has been described as "RTÉ's legendary redhead". She has also worked as a magazine and ne ...

, Paul Ross, John Stapleton,

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Frankenstein'' (1931), '' The Old ...

Ed Doolan Edwin Myer Doolan MBE (20 July 1941 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian born naturalised British radio presenter who was a veteran of Birmingham's first commercial radio station BRMB, and subsequently the BBC. At the BBC he presented a wee ...

Victoria Derbyshire Victoria Antoinette Derbyshire is a British journalist, newsreader and broadcaster. Her eponymous current affairs and debate programme was broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 2015 until March 2020. She has also presented ''News ...

, Patricia Mitchell and

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

. The theme music was composed by

Andy Quin Andrew James Quin (born 12 August 1960) is a British composer and jazz pianist who works in TV and film. His music has appeared in Hollywood movies, advertising campaigns, and television programs. His work has appeared in British TV shows such ...

History

The show was broadcast live from the Central Television studios on Broad Street,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, although it was later moved to the

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

studios at Lenton Lane. It became a popular highlight of the week's television in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

region and enjoyed a 40% share of the viewing audience. Confrontational from the outset, debates could become quite heated and audience members sometimes had to be restrained by on-set bouncers. However, on at least one occasion, the show's floor manager was assaulted by one of the returning guests. In 1987, it became the first British television programme to examine seriously the AIDS virus. Central subsequently produced a drama series on the topic, called ''

Intimate Contact ''Intimate Contact'' is a 1987 British television drama starring Daniel Massey, Claire Bloom, David Phelan and Abigail Cruttenden, which deals with the issue of the HIV/AIDS virus. Written by Alma Cullen and directed by Waris Hussein, the series ...

''. During the 1992 General Election campaign,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (' Cohen; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two yea ...

poured a glass of

orange juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as var ...

over Labour's

Peter Snape Peter Charles Snape, Baron Snape (born 12 February 1942) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East from February 1974 until he stood down in the 2001 election. He is the ...

shortly after an edition of the show had finished airing. Speaking about the incident later, Currie said "I just looked at my orange juice, and looked at this man from which this stream of abuse was emanating, and thought 'I know how to shut you up.' ". On another occasion, during a debate on women's football in March 1998, an audience member got drunk and ran amok on set, forcing the show to be taken off the air. 44-year-old Robert Davy was later jailed for 12 months over the incident. In 2001, a complaint was made to the

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

after it emerged that an edition of the show had featured fake guests. A debate on the effects of soap operas on the lives of individuals had featured two patients of a "soap clinic", who it later emerged had been fakes.

Similar programmes

Due to the programme's popularity in the Midlands, similar shows were aired in other regions. For example,

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

aired a show called ''Up Front'', while Tyne Tees had ''Late and Live'', both of which used the same format. A national version of Central Weekend was also shown throughout the

ITV Network ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passi ...

for a time during the 1990s. ''Thursday Night Live'' went out in a similar late night slot on a Thursday evening, and featured much the same kind of debate as Central Weekend. It was also presented by Nicky Campbell.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0387727
Central Weekend
at BFI Index 1986 British television series debuts 2001 British television series endings 1990s British television series British non-fiction television series Television series by ITV Studios Debate television series Television shows produced by Central Independent Television English-language television shows