IMDB 'I need to know'

[sivola]

IMDB, before they ditched their forums, used to have a brilliant message board called 'I need to know' which was for trivia questions about TV/films that you couldn't remember the name of, or the actor's name etc (recent Samantha Bond thread reminded me of it) etc.

I used to love it and to try and to sleuth the answer even if I had no clue.

Does anyone fancy replicating it? I miss the old IMDB forums!

If you have a burning question about an old tv programme from your childhood, please post it here

[RoomR0613]

Oh I had a great one that me and DP had been puzzling over for months years but we found out the answer last night by trawling our way through the radio times archives for the late 80s early 90s because it was driving DP mad.

I wish I had thought of posting here first because it was soooooo boring and I really had better things to -mumsnetting-- .

[sivola]

Oh a missed opportunity! What was it, out of interest?

[RoomR0613]

The Cat Who Came in From the Cold.

A BBC documentary about polecats on a welsh farm from 1991.

For years DP has been making me search for something called Sunnybank Farm. The farm is indeed called Sunnybank farm when you translate it from Welsh to English which is mentioned in the hour long programme once.

When I finally found it on YouTube after an extensive search of the bbc archives it turns out he only wanted to watch it because he really liked a 15 second piece of music near the start.

I might hate him a little bit right now.

[ElizaPancakes]

I remember those forums, they were so brilliant! I remember posting on there asking after a film (can’t remember what it was now either!) and within and hour I had my answer.

[sivola]

That is so random, Room. The searching and sleuthing is far more satisfying than the actual result! It's always a let down when you find out what is is and goes from being the most pressing thing on your mind to the most trivial in an instant

Does anyone need any sleuthing done for them?

[GrumbleBumble]

Sivola is there a music equivalent that you know of? I need to track down a 90s tune.

[Puppylucky]

Yes me! There's a piece of music by Henry Mancini called the March of the Baby Elephants - it's very funky
Anyway I am sure it was the theme tune of a 60's or 70's kids show but I can't find out which one it was. I thought it was Daktari for ages but apparently not. Drives me mad whenever I hear it!

[sivola]

Post it here, Grumble!!

[H2OH20Everywhere]

There are two films I've been trying to track down for years:

1. A man is murdered by a guy who wants the man's fiance. The man comes back to life as a dog, and has to somehow tell the fiance what happened. It's not animated (though the sequence in heaven, when the man learns that he can go back, may be).
   
   
2. Set in Austria or Switzerland, it's about a couple who live in the mountains. The first part of the film covers the birth of their many children - each time the man goes out into the mountains until it's all over, and the doctor tells him if it's a boy or a girl by use of a bell or a whistle. No idea what else happens in the film, but that opening section has stuck with me for about 30 years!

[GrumbleBumble]

OK - late 90's (maybe very early 00's) indie track of the "shoe gazing" variety. Male singer, the song was about him getting in touch with one (or more) ex girlfriend(s) to say sorry if he had treated her/them badly and that he hoped they (she) were happy and that life had been good to them/her. Can't remember if this was triggered by being dumped himself or if it was the reaction to a death/illness.
Sorry it's all a bit vague but I would recognise it if I heard it!

[MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours]

I was trying to find out the alter ego name of the Joan Collins character in Will&Grace, her character was Helena Barnes

like Karen is Anastasia Beaverhausen,....there's a bit right at the end when they cross paths in some terrible dive of a Mexican restaurant where they scoff tacos in secret.

[Be1atrix]

I miss those forums

[WeThreeKingsofOrientAre]

Oooh. Good thread!

There’s a programme I used to watch with a really unusual opening theme and I’d love to hear it and watch it again.

It’s in a fog of memory and I can’t recall much but I vaguely remember the visual image was flickering candlelight or flame in darkness and the audio accompanying it was a wind instrument of sone description, maybe flute, very low tones. It was all quite spooky to me, I’m thinking it was mid to late 80s at the earliest. Anyone with any clues as to what it was??

😳😊

[WeThreeKingsofOrientAre]

@GrumbleBumble was it Del Amitri’s 1992 ‘Always the last to know’?

[Kalim8]

Cool thread op!

Anybody recognise this, from really limited info?
A radio play, probably radio 4, heard some time between the late 80s and the mid to late 90s.
I think it was about a detective (the narrator) trying to get to the bottom of some mystery, a male suspect he's interviewing skips away laughing at the end.

The detective described the moon as looking like a toenail.

There was also this memorable moment:
Narrator: he put his hand in the dog's left
Dog: grrrrrrrr
Another character: Good heavens!

[BlackLetterDay]

I miss those forums too, you could always get good recommendations, like shitty algorithms today, but done by actual people with a brain.

Must have taken so much resources though

[hellsbells76]

H20H20Everwhere - I think the film is Fluke www.imdb.com/title/tt0113089/

[MissCharleyP]

WeThreeKingsofOrientAre

It wasn’t a kids show called CAB was it? On in the mid-80s about 2 kids who befriended an old lady who ran an Egyptian curio shop. They were sort of secret agents. The theme was very unusual (I’d recognise it 30-odd years later) and I’m sure was played on a wind instrument with the image you describe.

[Henlie]

It’s in a fog of memory and I can’t recall much but I vaguely remember the visual image was flickering candlelight or flame in darkness and the audio accompanying it was a wind instrument of sone description, maybe flute, very low tones. It was all quite spooky to me, I’m thinking it was mid to late 80s at the earliest. Anyone with any clues as to what it was??

Was it Tales of the Unexpected?

[SamsMumsCateracts]

Ooh I have one. I'm after the name of a tv programme that was on during the day in the nineties, i think mid nineties. I used to watch it with my mum when I was off sick from school. It was a travel show of sorts, with a dark haired guy travelling to different interesting places and talking about the history, interesting facts etc. He used to talk to the camera and the camera would nod or shake as if it was talking back. It was an adults programme, not children's! It must have been on one of the four main channels as we didn't have cable at that point (anyone remember ntl with the tiny remote with orange buttons.) Any clue?

[SamsMumsCateracts]

It’s in a fog of memory and I can’t recall much but I vaguely remember the visual image was flickering candlelight or flame in darkness and the audio accompanying it was a wind instrument of sone description, maybe flute, very low tones. It was all quite spooky to me, I’m thinking it was mid to late 80s at the earliest. Anyone with any clues as to what it was??

Was it about paranormal stories? It reminds me of a show that showed three paranormal recreations and you had to guess which was true.

[Omega369]

I was so gutted when they closed and deleted the IMDb forums! I always went straight to them after watching a film!

Does anyone remember something that had a scene of someone being dragged through some floorboards by killer socks? It may have been claymation? Early 90s? ... it may also have been a dream haha!

[Judashascomeintosomemoney]

puppy
That music was in Hatari, film with John Wayne, maybe why you had Daktari in your head.

[sivola]

Me too Omega! The comments were hilarious.

Wethreekings - I also thought Tales of the Unexpected.

[ShootTheRunner]

WeThreeKingsOfOrientAre I reckon it's Strange but True. On a Friday night with Michael Aspell. Used to scare myself silly!