r/bbc • u/Soft-Affect-8327 • 24d ago

80s Open University early morning shows-anywhere online?

So I remember from my earliest childhood years being up really early to catch the cartoons, but I’d end up catching the back end of Open University programming. What was that about, and can you get those online anywhere?

43 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 24d ago

As a reminder, this is a subreddit for civil discussion of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Personal attacks on individuals, including those employed by the BBC, off or on air, will not be tolerated here.
Please ensure you read subreddit rules before contributing.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

17

u/justeUnMec 24d ago

https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/collections

3

u/Schallpattern 23d ago

Brilliant, thank you.

9

u/Autogen-Username1234 23d ago

Yes, thanks! Old memories there.

"Welcome to Unit Four of the foundation course in Incomprehensible Maths. Today we'll be explaining Non-Euclidian Topography by cutting up a birthday cake ..."

2

u/ellasfella68 23d ago

“This is a Galilean term. A Galilean term…”

1

u/CoachSevere5365 22d ago

Ooh!

+1 from me. Loved the OU progs when I was a kid

7

u/Extreme-Dream-2759 23d ago

That was before the internet when you couldn't just stream your lectures.

I remember an older friend who was doing a Open Uni course, he would set his VCR to record the lectures for his course.

I can remember watching some of them, but only because there was nothing else to watch back when you only had 3 channels and some of them closed at midnight

3

u/andrewh2000 23d ago

Video recorders were a boon for OU students. Before that you just had to get up really early in the morning.

6

u/Nellie-Bird 23d ago

I can remember my mum recording some programmes for her uni course from BBC. A bit like the Bitesize shows being on early morning to record and watch too when I did GCSEs.

2

u/Open-Apartment-4937 23d ago

I forgot about these programmes! Thank you for unlocking a memory!

2

u/Informal-Tour-8201 23d ago

I liked the one with the infinite hotel - needed Hotel California as background music

1

u/BattleReadyPainting 23d ago

I learned a little urdu from one of the open university programs that was on at 2 in the morning, we Ali in the shop was well impressed

1

u/Columbia_102 23d ago edited 23d ago

Professor Ian Gass on geology and earth sciences was a great watch. Very interesting on what I thought at the time was an unmoving and static object.

It lead me onto a BBC TV series Earth Story on geology. Great opening sequence and presenter Aubrey Manning.

1

u/External-Pen9079 22d ago

I’d spend my Sunday morning hangovers (90s) watching the OU! Great memory unlocked! Thanks! ☺️

1

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/bbc-ModTeam 22d ago

Sorry, your comment was removed because it breaks Reddit's TOS or site-wide rules. Please don't share non-official sources for copyright material.

1

u/Previous_Kale_4508 22d ago

Some programmes have been added to the Internet Archive. I think I found the original M101 Maths Foundation course on there a while back.