Graham's Gang

Graham's Gang is a popular British children's comedy first broadcast by the BBC in 1977 and 1979. Its iconic credits - the gang running towards the camera, then being captured in mid frame as they jump in the air - is remembered well, alongside its catchy signature tune.

The gang consisted of five boys - Graham, William, Lux, Robert and Keith - and one girl, Mildred. Plots often revolved around the boys trying to exclude Mildred, who would often use her influential family to try to force herself back into the gang. Graham's leadership of the gang was constantly threatened by William, whereas Robert and Keith were always on the verge of fighting. Lux tended to be slow on the uptake, usually a couple of steps behind the rest of the gang's plans. In the second series the gang were joined by a new character, Denise, who was Lux's girlfriend. A novelisation of the first series was written by John Challen and published in 1978. The plots were a sharp mixture of comedy, slapstick and adventure. The show was filmed at Leigh Park and Havant, Hampshire.

The gang featured on an episode of "Blue Peter" just prior to transmission of the first series. The programme was nominated for a Best Children's TV Series Bafta in 1979. Despite its popularity, and its fond place in the memories of a generation of children, no DVDs of either series have yet been released. "Mildred's Party", from Series Two, is available to watch at British Film Institute Mediatheques.

Cast

Crew

Transmission Details

SERIES ONE

Saturday

Supporting cast:

The gang meet up for an ordinary Saturday together, making sure that Mildred is unsuccessful in her ongoing attempts to be accepted as a member of their group. Keith is saddled with pushing the pram of his baby brother. Coincidentally, some villains are planning a jewellery heist in the town, using a pram in which to hide their stash. A pram that looks exactly the same as the one Keith is pushing.....


The Great Outdoors

Supporting cast:

The gang go camping. Mildred, with the help of her uncle and a much better tent than theirs, joins them. A group of local kids try to disrupt the gang's break, with hilarious results.

William's Week
Supporting cast:

An eventful and accident strewn week in the life of William, whose fortunes at school go from bad to worse. He recounts his misadventures to the gang, which are then shown in flashback.

Kidnap!
Supporting cast:

Keith and Robert bump into Andrew, a fellow fan at a football match. Andrew is the same look and build as Keith, and the subject of an attempted kidnap attempt. Inevitably, the kidnappers go on to grab Keith instead of Andrew, and the gang join forces to rescue their friend from the kidnappers' clutches.

Cameraderie
Supporting cast:

The gang enter a go kart competition. They pair up - Keith with Robert, Graham with Lux, and William, to his horror, with Mildred. The gangs from earlier episodes return and unite to try to sabotage our heroes' chances of victory.


SERIES TWO

Action!
Main cast only'
 The opening moments of series two focus on the mysterious movements of Lux, who dodges the attempts of his friends to join them in their latest adventure. William spies Lux calling at the house of Denise - his secret girlfriend! Denise then joins the gang to make a film with Graham's birthday present - a cine camera. They enter their film - a tense thriller - into a movie competition, where it wins a commendation for its Monty Python-style humour.

Remember, Remember
Supporting cast:

It's fireworks night, and the gang get mixed up in a spy adventure involving a guy, a scarecrow and a lot of fireworks.

Mildred's Party
Supporting cast:

Mildred's birthday celebrations are complicated by a criminal conspiracy, and a punk band booked for her party. Lux comes disguised as a Dalek. The episode and the party end in a chaotic slapstick fight.

Only Fooling
Supporting cast:

The episode focusses on the gang's attempts to play the ultimate April Fool's joke on each other, with deeply confusing results.

Cordial Intent
Supporting cast:

It's the last day of term, and a group of French students join the gang for a Treasure Hunt. Robert falls for Annabel, one of the French students, although their romance ends when she returns to France. The treasure hunt is filmed by the BBC. The series ends with the gang looking back on their misadventures, and looking forward to more taking place over their summer holidays. The final shot is of the gang sitting by an expanse of water and then, Mildred and Denise included, jumping into the water.

    External links

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