Dramarama is the name of a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 children's' anthology series broadcast on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 between 1983

1983 in television

The year 1983 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1983.For the American TV schedule, see: 1983-84 United States network television schedule.-Events:...

 and 1989

1989 in television

For the American TV schedule, see: 1989–90 United States network television schedule.The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...

. It tended to feature drama of a science fiction or supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

 bent. The programme was administered by Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle, who had a track-record for organising cross-franchise series for the ITV network. The programme split production responsibilities amongst most of the regional ITV franchise holders. Thus, each episode was in practice a one-off production with its own cast and crew, up to and including the executive producer

Executive producer

An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

.

Dramarama was largely a place for new talent to prove themselves, but sometimes was a place that veteran artists could alight. The series was an early credit for writers Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Horowitz

Anthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...

, Paul Abbott

Paul Abbott

Paul Abbott is a BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain today, following his work on many popular series, including Coronation Street, Cracker and Shameless,...

, Kay Mellor

Kay Mellor

Kay Mellor, OBE is an English actress, scriptwriter, and director best known for her work on several successful television drama series.-Early life:...

, Janice Hally

Janice Hally

Janice Hally is a Scottish playwright and television screenwriter who has written more than 300 broadcast hours of prime-time British television drama serials and individual screenplays...

 and Ann Marie Di Mambro

Ann Marie Di Mambro

Ann Marie Di Mambro is a Scottish playwright and television screenwriter of Italian extraction. Her theatre plays have been performed widely; they are also published individually and in collections and are studied in schools for the Scottish curriculum's Higher Drama and English.- Biographical...

, but the last place Dennis Spooner

Dennis Spooner

Dennis Spooner was an English television screenwriter and story editor, known primarily for his programmes about fictional spies and his work in children's television in the 1960s...

 sold a script.

One of Dramarama's episodes, Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest

Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest

Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest was a television drama series which centered around the lives of Michael "Dodger" Dolan and his sister, Carol who were part of a large foster family in London. It was aired in the early evenings on the ITV channel's Children's ITV. There were two series of six episodes...

, gained so much popularity that it was turned in to its own series the following year. It starred Lee Ross

Lee Ross (actor)

Lee Ross is an English professional actor best known for his role as Dodger in Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest. He has also starred in, Press Gang, Secrets & Lies, The Catherine Tate Show and most recently as Owen Turner in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Career:His first acting role was as Fat Sam in...

 and was based around a large foster home. The episode Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night was developed into the TV series Children's Ward

Children's Ward

Children's Ward is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its Children's ITV strand on weekday afternoons...

.

Series One (1983)

1. Mighty Mum and the Petnappers (TVS)
2. Rip It Up (TVS)
3. Venchie (Tyne Tees)
4. Jack and the Computer (TVS)
5. Because I Say So (Central)
6. Bully for Cosmo (Central)
7. Messages (Tyne Tees)
8. The Young Person's Guide to Getting Their Ball Back (TVS)
9. Sweet Revenge (Central)

Series Two (1984)

1. Night of the Narrow Boats (Central)
2. Fowl Pest (TVS)
3. Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest (Thames)
4. Que Sera (TVS)
5. Stalemate (Central)
6. Snoop! (Thames)
7. Mr. Stabe (Thames)
8. Josephine Jo]] (Central)
9. The Purple People Eater (TVS)
10. On Your Tod (Thames)
11. The Old Firm: Two for Starters (Granada)
12. Rachel and Rosie (TVS)

Series Three (1985)

1. Easy (TVS)
2. The Coal Princess (Tyne Tees)
3. Look at Me (Central)
4. The Young Person's Guide to Going Backwards in the World (TVS)
5. The Audition (Tyne Tees)
6. The Universe Downstairs (TVS)
7. A Proper Little Nooryeff (Central)
8. Frog (TVS)
9. Private Eye (Scottish)
10. Emily (TVS)
11. Silver (Scottish)
12. The Golden Conch (HTV)
13. Purple Passion Video (HTV West)

Series Four (1986)

1. The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt (TVS)
2. A Couple of Charlies (Central)
3. Wayfarers (Scottish)
4. Play Acting (HTV)
5. Last Days at Black Bert's (TVS)
6. Maureen Reid, Where Are You? (Scottish)
7. Flashback (HTV West)
8. Direct Action (TVS)
9. Waiting for Elvis (Scottish)
10. Just a Game (TVS)
11. Flyaway Friend (Tyne Tees)
12. Pig Ignorance (Thames)
13. Jessie's Place (Thames)
14. Frankie's Hat (Thames)

Series Five (1987)

1. Cannondrum (TVS)
2. Snap (TVS)
3. The Horrible Story (Thames)
4. My Friend Julie (Thames)
5. The Creature Beyond Torches' End (TVS)
6. My Mum's a Courgette (Scottish)
7. Brainwaves (Scottish)
8. Undertow of the Armada (Ulster)
9. Stan's First Night (Scottish)
10. Living Doll (TVS)
11. Peter (Central)
12. The Halt (Central)
13. Mr Magus is Waiting for You (Thames)
14. Tam (HTV West)
15. A Spirited Performance (HTV Wales)
16. Badger on the Barge (Border)

Series Six (1988)

1. Forever Young (Granada)
2. The Macramé Man (Scottish)
3. The Wrong Button (Central)
4. Bubbles (Granada)
5. Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night (Granada)
6. Big T for Trouble (Tyne Tees)
7. Room for One More (Scottish)
8. Making Waves (TVS)
9. Just a Normal Girl (Husson Productions for Central)
10. Now You See Them (TVS)
11. Bogeymen (TVS)
12. The Alien (Border)
13. The Secret of Croftmore (Scottish)
14. The Bubblegum Brigade (HTV)
15. Playing for Wales (HTV Wales)
16. Snap Decision (Husson Productions for Central)

Series Seven (1989)

1. Codzmorf (TVS)
2. Ghost Story (Granada)
3. Badger (Granada)
4. Back to Front (Yorkshire)
5. Monstrous (HTV Wales)
6. The Pisces Connection (HTV West)
7. Rosie the Great (Teliesyn Productions for Thames)
8. Snakes and Loofahs (KPO Ltd/Border)
9. Just Wild About Harry (Tyne Tees)
10. Mitchin (TSW)
11. In the Pink (Husson Productions for Central)

Note: only four ITV companies did not contribue to the series - Anglia, Channel, Grampian and LWT.

Video

A videotape containing the episodes Big T for Trouble, Just Wild About Harry and Venchie (all Tyne Tees productions) was released by Video Gems, circa 1990. It is now out of print.