Ideas for TV programmes

1) Second London: a “what if…” approach discovers how London (or another city) would look if rejected designs for the famous buildings/bridges/statues etc had been accepted. There could also be an interactive webpage where viewers can look at different possibilities, view places from different angles, see different skylines, focus on specific areas etc. The programme could also investigate how London would look if the blitz and great fire had not occurred.

2) Nearly Programme: a broader concept is taken from Second London to form a “Nearly programme”. This looks at things in the media that nearly happened. For example: rejected designs for characters (Teletubbies and cartoon characters etc) and famous roles that nearly went to other actors (the role of Captain Mainwaring nearly went to Jon Pertwee and the part of Lister in Red Dwarf nearly went to Alfred Molina).

3) The Human Antiques: the ‘antiques’ that are human body parts are profiled. For example, Einstein’s brain is in storage and large sums have been paid for Elvis’s toenail clippings.

4) The Travelling Museum: a number of historically interesting places (such as disused tube stations and the subway at the Crystal Palace site) that are not open to the public are profiled. The Travelling Museum profiles one place and its history per week, and then opens the place to the public for a temporary period (perhaps a week). The museum then moves on to the next site.

5) Remaking It - the forgeries: famous forgeries – such as the Piltdown Skull, the Hitler Diaries and The Turin Shroud – are investigated and remade using the same techniques as the forger. Then, the programme remakes them using all the modern technology available and compares the modern versions to the originals. There could also be investigations into genuine objects (such as the Stradivarius violins).

6) NOW Focus: ‘now’ (the time of broadcast) and its events and statistics are profiled. For example: how many people being born now, how many dying, how many emails being sent, how many people flying in planes, how many committing suicide etc.

7) Money Facts: the notes and coins in everyone’s pockets are profiled. For example: numbers of notes and coins in circulation, total value of notes in circulation, value of notes destroyed each year etc.

8) The Kids Are All Grown Up: a ‘Where are they now’ approach features people famous as children as they are now. For example: people who starred in soaps, films, news items and programmes (such as the Teletubby baby and the children from the Jim’ll Fix It rollercoaster stunt with the children eating lunch on a rollercoaster).

9) How Much Do You Eat? the amount an average person eats in a year is shown. This could be expanded to ask questions such as: how much air do you breathe in a lifetime? How much blood does your heart pump in a lifetime?

10) Ten Impressions Of Tony Blair: ten ‘versions’ of Tony Blair are found or commissioned. For example: waxwork models, ice sculpture portraits, lego model, photos as a baby and as a student, Spitting Image model, professional lookalike etc. Artists and sculptures and followed when producing their contribution. There could also be different subjects.

11) Ten Works Of Art To Mark An Occasion: artists and sculptures are asked to create ten works of art to mark an occasion, anniversary etc.

12) What They Could Have Looked Like: artists’ impressions and models of Jesus (based on the Turin Shroud), Shakespeare, ‘man in moon’ etc. are created.

13) The Best Ten Year Olds In The Country: the country’s most talented ten year olds are met. For example: A level success, MENSA member, signing for a premiership football team etc. There could also be a look into different age groups each week.

14) Top Ten Desert Island Disks: an ‘all time top ten’ of the choices from Desert Island Disks is compiled.

15) Desert Island Drags: a ‘Desert Island Disks in reverse’ is created. Celebrities are asked to choose their worst song, worst book, worst film and worst person to share their desert island etc.

16) Open audition: participants for shows such as "Have I Got News For You" or "They Think It's All Over" are chosen by open auditions. There would also be an episode featuring the most succesful contestants.

17) The Human Crash Test Dummies: humans are profiled who did dangerous tasks that crash test dummies now do.

18) The Nation Versus: the entire nation is invited to use the internet to compete against an individual good at a game etc. For example: Nigel Short at chess.

19) My Personal Holy Grail: scientists and pioneers are asked to comment on their ‘personal holy grails’ and the holy grails of their chosen vocation.

20) That Was The Show That Was: a programme from the past is profiled and its participants met. For example: people who featured on ‘Jim’ll fix it’.

21) The End Of The World: cults and individuals are met who have predicted ‘the end of the world’ in the forthcoming year (or in the next decade).

22) My Grievance: people with a cause or belief are given ten minutes per week to declare their grievance and ideals.

23) The Real ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ Winner: all the past participants of Stars In Their Eyes are analysed by computer to find an overall winner who most closely resembles the voice of their subject.

24) Bad Pop Idol: the very worst participants of music audition shows are invited to form the ‘worst group of all time’.

25) Cowboy Capers: members of the public who know next to nothing about DIY and have no training are invited to carry out renovation jobs, build houses etc.

26) Heckle Head To Head: two comedians are sat face to face and have the opportunity to heckle each other and use their best put-downs on each other.

27) Fifteen Minutes Fame Again: people who were ‘famous for fifteen minutes’ are met and interviewed. For example: Erika Roe, Shake ‘N’ Vac lady.

28) The Great Props Auction: famous props from television shows are collected and auctioned for Children In Need.

29) Lipreader: an experienced lipreader is asked to review the week’s news and sports and reveal what people were saying.

30) In The Path Of The Greats: members of the public follow the exact footsteps of famous explorers etc

31) Would Like To Meet – Internet Episode: an individual is asked to use only the internet and its dating resources to meet a partner.

32) Just Turns Up: a famous people pay surprise visits to help members of the public. For example: a football manager could help to coach a Sunday team.

33) In Other Worlds: celebrities are shown doing jobs other than their own. For example: newsreaders dancing, actors singing etc. Much like ‘Before They Were Famous’.

34) The Perfect Makeover: all the contributors to garden and home makeover shows collaborate to make ‘the perfect home’. This home is then winnable in a competition.

35) Funny/Clever For A Day: a team of comedians/clever people are connected to one person by earpiece. They instruct the person on what they should say/do.

36) The Best Possible: different projects are undertaken to make ‘the best possible’ . For example: The best football match possible (by compiling events from great games and making them into one game), the most commercial song possible, the perfect man/perfect woman etc.

37) Nation Troubleshooter: businesses are picked at random and the viewers are invited to contribute advice and ideas to the business via the internet. There could also be a business that is completely controlled by the viewers.

38) Champion Of Champions: a project is undertaken to find ‘the best of the best’. For example: an all-time Crufts winner.

39) Crufts Star: a future participant of Crufts is followed as they prepare for the event.

40) Next Week’s News: bookmakers, psychics, statisticians and viewers are invited to predict next week’s news. Their success is evaluated the next week.

41) Documentary Update: documentary stars such as ‘boy David’, the Marriage couple and the Making Babies people are met and given the chance to report developments since they featured in documentaries.

42) Meet The Prodigies: prodigies from the past such as Ruth Lawrence, Sonny Pike, young A level students and young football talents are met again to find out about their development and progress.

43) Strange Interview: a celebrity is interviewed by an interviewer while they are both doing something bizarre - while drunk, parachuting or on a rollercoaster etc.

44) Superschool: an elite school is made for group of students. Their progress will be followed.

45) ‘Miniature’ Gardens and Homes: ordinary gardens and homes are given makeovers based on famous gardens and homes. For example, the garden could feature the very best aspects of the Chelsea Flower Show.

46) Day In The Life Of Your Pet: a normal household pet is followed for 24 hours with expert commentary on its behaviour.

47) Children In Need Guestbook: all the participants in the Children In Need show would be asked to sign a ‘guestbook’ that would later be auctioned for the charity.

48) Instant Fame: a person is chosen at random and guaranteed they will be made famous within a year, regardless of talent.

49) Gallery: children are invited to participate their works of art and have them shown on TV. This would be in the style of Tony Hart’s gallery. Submissions could be made via the internet.

50) The Bognor Birdman: a participant in the ‘Birdman’ event (where flying machines are made and tested by jumping off the pier) is followed as he/she prepares for the event. A place in the event could be offered to viewers.

51) Antiques Roadshow Special 1: modern ‘antiques’ are studied and valuated. This would include props from movies and TV shows (such as the 'Emu' puppet and Mastermind chair etc).

52) Antiques Roadshow Special 2: missing antiques are put in the spotlight.. There are four copies of a Rupert annual (featuring a brown Rupert) that are missing and valuable. There are also a number of old pennies that are missing and valuable. The special highlights items such as this. (This would have more appeal if the items were items that anyone may have in their home somewhere.).

53) Antiques Roadshow Special 3: experts pay surprise visits to antique shops to discuss and valuate the items.

54) Antiques Roadshow Special 4: famous museums and art galleries are visited to discuss and valuate the exhibits. A visit to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels would be interesting.

55) 'Antique-making' for Children In Need: modern objects are made into the 'antiques of the future'. These objects could be auctioned off to raise money for Children In Need. For example: a first edition of a Harry Potter book could be signed by the author and all the stars of the films. The entire cast of a soap (or popular programme) could sign a script or photograph of all the cast. This idea could be applied to many different areas such as sport, politics, music etc.

Ideas for 'Passport to paradise'

56) First To Call Wins: a telephone is shown on a table and the number of the phone is suddenly displayed on screen. The first to call wins a prize

57) The Roving Camera: a 'secret' camera is planted on someone who walks around a public place. The viewers are shown the view from the camera and are told that the person wearing the camera is 'wearing a red hat' (or something else to make them distinctive). The first person to stop this person wins a prize.

58) Surprise Messages In Public Places: public message boards (such as those in stations, tube stations and airports) suddenly display a message such as "the first person to stop the man in the corner with the red hat wins a prize". Alternatively, the message could inform them to do something silly – and the red-hat man will approach them.

59) Lookalike Fights In Public: two professional lookalikes have a ‘fight’ in a public place. The fun is in seeing the response of the public. The two lookalikes could be rivals in real life.

60) Random Prize Winners: a winner is chosen completely at random (perhaps by calling a public telephone box). The prize could be a place as an extra in a top soap.