Series exploring the stories behind the making of programmes which have become part of TV history

Welcome Aboard. Paul Jackson returns for a third series of the programme that explores television’s ability to affect and reflect society. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the programme that was revolutionary in its own right, aimed at an emerging species – the teenager.
The Six-Five Special steamed up the track each Saturday evening, bringing with it the acts that would become the foundation of British rock ‘n’ roll performing to an audience through the lens of a camera for the first time. Producer Marya Burgess

Shameless. Paul Jackson continues his exploration of the social and cultural context of cult TV programmes that have caught the mood of the nation with a look at Paul Abbott ‘s Shameless, an off-beat comedy drama centred on the adventures of an apparently highly dysfunctional family in a council estate in Manchester. No episode involving the Gallagher family would be complete without its share of sex, drugs, violence and pyromania, but the heart of the show is “family”. Joined by writer and creator Paul Abbott , stars David Threlfall , Maggie O’Neill and Gerard Kearns , as well as the producers, commissioners and directors who made it all happen, Paul Jackson asks whether this is just a programme with an amoral heart or a 21st-century version of The Waltons. producer Sara Jane Hall The last of the current series of Shame/ess can be seen on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 10pm

Kittens or Bananas. Paul Jackson concludes his exploration of the social and cultural context of cult TV programmes that have caught the mood of the nation with a look at the sitcom Rising Damp. The 1974-78 hit started life as a single play written by an auditor for the East Midlands Electricity Board and starred an actor who was new to television comedy. Writer and creator Eric Chappell , TV executive Paul Fox and actor Paul Jones help trace the origins of the ITV classic back to The Banana Box – a play that took its name from a comment made in a debate on the entitlement of non-British-born residents to refer to themselves as British: “If a cat has kittens in a banana box, what do you get – kittens or bananas?” producer Paul Kobrak Rising stars: page 29