Barry Took was the first presenter of Points of View that I remember. Maybe he was the first EVER one, I really don't know.
But anyway, P.O.V. was a programme that featured nothing but the views of the TV viewers. People who watched telly a lot would write in to P.O.V. and say whether they thought what they had seen was good or not.
The letters were read out by actors in the studio, who attempted to adopt the accent of the person who had sent in the letter, simply by looking at which region the letter had been sent from.
So if a letter was read out from someone called Eric in Cornwall, the actor reading it out would adopt a stereotypical farmers accent, and add an "Oooh Arr" to the end of the text.
It mattered not that Eric may well have only recently moved there from Italy, and didn't actually sound like the stereotypical regional accent.
The people writing in were usually disgusted at seeing something on TV, like a heart bypass operation, and just wanted to voice their disgust.
"I tuned in the the usually respectable BBC1 last night, after my evening meal, to be faced with a screen filled with nothing but blood and gore. I'm amazed at the BBC for allowing this sort of thing to be shown for public viewing. Oooh, Arr."
To which Barry might have replied, "Well, Sandra, what you were actually seeing was a life saving operation, something the BBC believes was beneficial to society."
That told YOU, Sandra. You and your haystack-making kids.
Do You Remember Points Of View?
Do You Remember Points Of View?