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The weirdest episodes of classic TV shows, from Friends to The Simpsons

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The weirdest episodes of classic TV shows, from Friends to The Simpsons


There is weird television, and then there’s weird television. When David Lynch makes a TV show, it’s the former. When an otherwise conventional programme takes a sharp left turn into the surreal and confusing – and then never mentions it again – it’s the latter.

The history of television is unusually full of episodes that in context make little sense, or seem to be the product of a slacking writing team.

Then there are episodes that attempt to do something radically different, but result in something alienating and strange. Admirable, yet TV you wish no one had bothered with.

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From confusing crossover episodes to the time a kids TV show introduced a religious cult, here are 12 episodes of classic TV shows that proved more weird than successful.

Friends, “The One with the Sharks”

In fairness to Friends, “The One with the Sharks” was the 198th episode of the classic sitcom, so we ought to cut its writers some slack. Then again, this was still too strange for words. The episode sees Monica walking in on Chandler masturbating, but having missed that he quickly switched the channel from pornography to a nature documentary, comes to a natural conclusion: Chandler was getting off on sharks. “Sweetie, it’s OK – let me be a part of this!” Monica says. “Do you want me to get into the tub and thrash?” It remains unfathomable television.

Casualty, “Holby Sin City”

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The crossover event absolutely no one called for, “Holby Sin City” saw the residents of BBC One soap Casualty become embroiled in a Frank Miller noir. It saw fussy doctor George Rainsford encounter a mysterious femme fatale done up like a 1940s Vargas girl, who may or may not have killed someone. Meanwhile, the show’s main locations suddenly transformed into a rain-soaked metropolis. Tellingly, Casualty has never done something this weird since.

Grey’s Anatomy, “Song Beneath the Song”

Maybe medical dramas just shouldn’t mess with what works? Like that Casualty noir, the Grey’s Anatomy musical was similarly baffling. A completely ordinary episode of the show only with characters very earnestly breaking into song as patients crash out in surgery, “Song Beneath the Song” couldn’t help but inspire giggles rather than tears.

Neighbours, “Episode 1254”

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An infamous edition of the Australian soap opera saw characters watching a wedding video, before turning their attention to the show’s resident dog, Bouncer. “I bet he wishes it was him and [fellow dog] Rosie getting married,” says Ben Geurens’ Toby. “All he does these days is sit around and dream about her!” The camera then closes in on Bouncer’s sleeping face and we are plunged into his canine subconscious. There, we see Bouncer and Rosie getting married, nuzzling one another and having a litter of puppies. It’s mortifying.

Jessie has a caffeine pill meltdown in ‘Saved by the Bell'

Jessie has a caffeine pill meltdown in ‘Saved by the Bell’ (NBC)

Saved by the Bell, “Jessie’s Song”

Every episode of the original Saved by the Bell is at least a little strange, but “Jessie’s Song” is easily the strangest. An “important life lesson” episode warning children of the dangers of drug use, the episode saw Elizabeth Berkley’s Jessie becoming addicted to… caffeine pills! In its most famous scene, Jessie breaks down while dramatically singing “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters. “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so –” she sobs – “scared!” It’s perplexing (not really) that this episode didn’t win all the Emmys in the world.

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Roseanne, “Into That Good Night”

The long-running Nineties sitcom came to a close in 1997, following a final season as terrible as it was surreal. We witnessed Roseanne Barr’s titular harried mum win the lottery, hang out with Absolutely Fabulous’s Patsy and Edina, fight terrorists with Steven Seagal and pose for Playboy. The weirdest was yet to come, though. In the final ever episode, it was revealed that the previous 24 episodes had all been a grief-induced fever dream after Roseanne’s husband Dan (John Goodman) died of a heart attack. By the time the show was revived in 2018 , this particular ending had been – thankfully – scrubbed from history.

One Foot in the Grave, “Things Aren’t So Simple Anymore”

The famously grumpy Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson) met his maker in one of the strangest finales to a comedy series in TV history. The show’s final episode pivoted between traditional sitcom hijinks and dark drama, with flashbacks revealing that Victor had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. The episode’s surreal apex is a dramatic monologue delivered by Annette Crosbie in extreme close-up, in which she declares to a priest that she wants to exact revenge on whoever killed her husband. Bit grim, ain’t it?

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The Simpsons, “Lisa Goes Gaga”

This season 23 episode of The Simpsons has a notoriously bad reputation, which feels a bit unfair. Instead of being bad, “Lisa Goes Gaga” is truthfully just really, really odd. Essentially a commercial for guest star Lady Gaga – who appears in practically every scene – it sees her arrive in Springfield with the express mission to cheer up the town. Zeroing in on a depressed Lisa, Gaga inspires her to embrace joy once again. The episode also ends with a terribly performed solo number by Lisa in which she sings about being a superstar. Hmm.

Lost, “Exposé”

For its third season, Lost attempted to introduce plane crash survivors who’d apparently been on the show – and its central island – all along, only we’d never met them. By the season’s midpoint, Lost’s writers had all but admitted they got it wrong. Unpopular newbies Nikki and Paolo (Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro) were then rapidly dispensed of, in a bizarre episode featuring a diamond heist and a Charlie’s Angels-esque TV show starring Billy Dee Williams – which Nikki once guest starred on. Just when the episode seemed to have hit peak weird, the pair ended up paralysed by a poisonous spider and then buried alive by the show’s unknowing main cast. It was certainly one way of getting rid of universally despised characters, I guess.

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Billy Dee Williams in ‘Lost'

Billy Dee Williams in ‘Lost’ (Disney/ABC)

Felicity, “Time Will Tell”

An unexpected precursor to JJ Abrams’ pivot to sci-fi and fantasy immediately after, his Nineties college drama Felicity seemed to bring all of its storylines to a close by the 17th episode of its final season. Unfortunately, they had five more hours to fill. What they did was suddenly switch the show’s genre. “Time Will Tell” saw Keri Russell’s Felicity thrust backwards in time and experiencing what would have happened if she’d picked a different romantic partner years earlier. For the remainder of the season, she was then seen attempting to fix her and her friends’ lives with the use of time travel. Huh?

Boy Meets World, “Cult Fiction”

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Remember the episode of the Disney sitcom Boy Meets World in which one of its main characters is seduced into a pseudo religious cult? This often forgotten episode revolves around The Centre, a strange cult of lost teenagers which briefly woos troubled teen Shawn (Rider Strong). While it’s undeniably weird, there’s also something impressive about the show managing to introduce a cult, convince a character to join the cult and have that same character have a laughter-free crisis of faith all within the space of 22 minutes. The Nineties, everyone.

Star Trek, “The Way to Eden”

The original Star Trek was wildly progressive at times – it memorably broadcast the first interracial kiss on US TV, after all – but also stumbled into conservatism, too. Take the bizarre “The Way of Eden”, in which space hippies take over the Starship Enterprise and are met with sneering and contempt by almost all of the regular cast. Only Spock seems open to the idea of peaceful, socialist hippiedom. It feels like an odd bit of finger-wagging, though, from a typically left-leaning programme.



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‘I know how men talk behind closed doors’: Howard Stern admits America isn’t ready for a female president

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‘I know how men talk behind closed doors’: Howard Stern admits America isn’t ready for a female president


Howard Stern has revealed he had concerns going into the recent US presidential election that the country would not vote for Kamala Harris to become the first female president because of “how men talk behind closed doors.”

The influential radio host, 70, was speaking on his SiriusXM show on Wednesday (November 6), the day after the election.

“I think Kamala was a fine candidate,” said Stern. “She’s a fine woman. The problem I had is that I thought [President] Biden was doing a really good job, actually. But I understand why people said they had to switch.”

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He added that he shared widespread concerns that the Democratic party did not spend enough time choosing a successor to President Biden, saying: “If I could go back in time and turn the time machine on, I think what would have been a better process would have been if Joe Biden said, ‘Hey, I did a good job and I’m ready to hand over the baton.’

“And then let people in the Democratic Party nominate someone through the process of voting, through the primaries — that would’ve been ideal.”

Instead, Biden’s decision to drop out in July, relatively late in the race, meant that Harris became the de-facto candidate.

Howard Stern and President-elect Donald Trump
Howard Stern and President-elect Donald Trump (Getty)

“At the time when Kamala was chosen by Joe Biden, I said, sadly — I hate to say this, because I was a big Hillary Clinton supporter — I don’t think America can vote for a woman,” Stern told co-host Robin Quivers.

“I say this because I know men. I know how men talk behind closed doors,” Stern continued, adding: “I don’t even want to say what I heard when she was selected.”

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He went on to say that he hoped to cheer up listeners saddened by Trump’s victory, explaining: “I’m not someone who believes in sour grapes. I love America. I hope America can thrive.”

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During a phone call with someone identifying as a Trump voter, Stern said, “I hope Donald Trump is successful. He is now going to be my next president.”

Harris had been a guest on Stern’s show in October, and had mocked Trump as a “sore loser” during her appearances.

Stern blasted Trump’s “delusional” framing of the then-upcoming election, saying: “‘If I win, it’s a fair election. If I lose, Kamala Harris and her buddies fixed it.’ That’s delusional.”

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“In America, we call that a sore loser,” Harris replied.



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Dancing On Ice pro speaks out after behind-the-scenes feud as Ferne McCann is hit by claims she’s ’too good’

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Dancing On Ice pro speaks out after behind-the-scenes feud as Ferne McCann is hit by claims she’s ’too good’


DANCING On Ice star Ferne McCann sparked a behind-the-scenes “rink rivalry” over her skating skills.

The Towie legend, 34, is already a frontrunner in the ITV competition after she revealed her unexpectedly dazzling moves.

Dancing On Ice has been engulfed in a new backstage feud over Ferne McCann being ‘too good’

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Dancing On Ice has been engulfed in a new backstage feud over Ferne McCann being ‘too good’Credit: instagram/@fernemccann
She's been paired with Brendyn Hatfield ahead of the show return

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She’s been paired with Brendyn Hatfield ahead of the show returnCredit: instagram/@fernemccann
Ferne is a natural on the ice

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Ferne is a natural on the iceCredit: instagram/@fernemccann

A fresh wave of competition has stirred up show tensions among the new line-up of celebs, with Ferne‘s impressive early strides raising some eyebrows in the cast.

The mum-of-two has been paired with pro skater Brendyn Hatfield ahead of the show’s return.

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He spoke to The Sun at the launch of festive ice rink Glide at Battersea Power Station where he performed for the crowds alongside fellow pro Tippy Packard.

Brendyn said that it is still early days, but Ferne has simply been committed to the competition and wants to do her best.

READ MROE ON DANCING ON ICE

He said: “Has she skated before? Well, what the celebrities do before we come in as pros, is they train with a coach, at whatever rink they’re based in.

“Then we come in after they’ve had roughly about 30 hours of basics.

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“Has she EVER skated before? I don’t think so, no formal training, whatever, for sure.

“But she’s got a good mindset, and focus for it. So I’m really excited.”

As the competition heats up, Brendyn and Tippy will be hoping to teach their celebrities bigger and bolder moves.

Tippy, who is paired with comedian Josh Jones, said: “Right now they’re just learning the basics, so to skate forwards and skate backwards.

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“Once we get more of the feel of what their style is, we can come up with good ideas.”

Ferne McCann reveals tears were rolling down her face after bad fall during Dancing On Ice training

Brendyn added: “And that is the fun part. We take those basics and they morph into choreography, things like crossovers and turns, start to become the choreography when you start adding hands and face, and costume and audience.”

The headbanger is one of the most daring moves which sees one partner held by the legs and spun around, with their head dangerously close to the ice, hence the name.

He said: “It’s so interesting because it’s such an optical illusion.

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“The only thing that would touch the ice is a shoulder, and that would be a graze or something.”

Other celebrity pairings for the popular show, which will hit screens in January 2025, include her Towie co-star Dan Edgar.

Vanessa has been paired with Love Island star Chris Taylor, with Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healy and Andy Buchanan put together.

Model Mollie Pearce and Colin Grafton will also skate together.

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And last but not least, TV star Michaela Strachan, who presents The Really Wild Show and Springwatch, will team up with Mark Hanretty.

Dame Sarah Storey is another sporting hero who will take to the Ice along with Sir Steve Redgrave and former footballer Anton Ferdinand.

Soap stars will also appear on the show, including EastEnders star Charlie Brooks and Sam Aston, who plays Chesney Brown in Coronation Street.

Ferne came third in I'm A Celeb and is now ready to tackle the ice show

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Ferne came third in I’m A Celeb and is now ready to tackle the ice showCredit: Splash
The Snowman and Penguin characters attend the launch of Glide At Battersea Power Station 2024

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The Snowman and Penguin characters attend the launch of Glide At Battersea Power Station 2024Credit: Getty

Dancing On Ice 2025 full line-up revealed



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Why isn’t Amy Dowden competing on Strictly Come Dancing and who is her replacement?

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Strictly Come Dancing staff call ambulance after Amy Dowden suffers ‘medical emergency’ backstage


Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden won’t feature in the remainder of the dancing competition due to injury.

The 34-year-old dancer was rushed to hospital as a “precaution” on 26 October, but it was later revealed she had sustained a stress fracture in her shin, which requires several weeks of rest.

Her replacement is professional dancer Lauren Oakley, who has stepped in to dance with Dowden’s celebrity partner, the JLS singer JB Gill.

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Oakley, who came eighth when partnered with Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the show’s previous season, did not have a partner this year. She joined the show in 2022.

“I’m absolutely gutted, I need to rest for a couple of weeks,” Dowden said on It Takes Two. “Hopefully I will be back dancing, hopefully in a group number by the end of the series. Fingers crossed.”

She and Gill had formed a strong friendship in their weeks working together, performing a number of routines including a Foxtrot to “Dancing In The Moonlight” and a Jive to Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”.

After getting through his first results show without Dowden on 3 November, Gill wrote on Instagram: “On behalf of both Amy Dowden and I, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for voting for us and wishing us well.

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“We absolutely loved our performance on Saturday night and are so grateful to be through to another week on Strictly. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support.”

Amy Dowden and JB Gill on ‘Strictly’

Amy Dowden and JB Gill on ‘Strictly’ (BBC/Guy Levy)

Dowden had returned to the series this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer in 2023, which meant she was too ill to compete in last year’s series.

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In May 2023, Dowden was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of stage three breast cancer finding a lump in her breast the day before her Maldives honeymoon with fellow professional dancer Ben Jones.

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She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment in those nine months and experienced a series of major setbacks in that time, including doctors finding a blood clot in her lung, getting sepsis and undergoing fertility treatment.

Amy Dowden’s ‘Strictly’ replacement Lauren Oakley

Amy Dowden’s ‘Strictly’ replacement Lauren Oakley (BBC/Ray Burmiston)

On 9 November 2023, Dowden celebrated after she had completed all eight rounds of chemotherapy. She was told she had “no evidence of disease” in February 2024. At the time, she told fans she couldn’t wait to get back on the dancefloor.

Reflecting on missing out on the rest of the 2024 series, Dowden told Lorraine Kelly it would be “tough” to watch Gill perform without her.

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Dowden said: “I am going to do my best not to cry,” as tears filled her eyes. “I am gutted it’s had to end this way,” she added. “I feel I have let JB down.”

JB Gill and Amy Dowden on ‘Strictly’

JB Gill and Amy Dowden on ‘Strictly’ (BBC)

Gill’s performance on Saturday, 9 November, will coincide with the one year anniversary of Dowden finishing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which kept her from the Strictly stage for a year.

“Saturday is going to be tough because I really wanted to be dancing on that floor to show myself how far I’ve come in one year,” she said. The professional dancer explained she had wanted to dance the samba with her celebrity partner because she felt the “joyful carnival happy dance” was perfect to mark the occasion.

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First look at Rebecca Hall in new BBC drama The Listeners alongside The Crown, Corrie and Peaky Blinders stars

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First look at Rebecca Hall in new BBC drama The Listeners alongside The Crown, Corrie and Peaky Blinders stars


THE BBC have given a first look at Rebecca Hall in their brand new drama The Listeners.

Bosses previously revealed the show will kick off on November 19th and now they’ve dropped a trailer.

Rebecca Hall leads the cast of the BBC's brand new drama The Listeners

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Rebecca Hall leads the cast of the BBC’s brand new drama The ListenersCredit: BBC
The series kicks off on November 19th

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The series kicks off on November 19thCredit: BBC

It gives a flavour of what fans can expect as Rebecca’s character Claire, a school teacher, begins to hear a low humming in her ears.

Nobody else can hear the noise, which starts becoming disruptive to her professional and private life.

The Beeb tease: “This seemingly innocuous noise gradually upsets the balance of her life, increasing tension between herself and her husband, Paul, and daughter, Ashley – and despite multiple doctors, no obvious source or medical cause can be found.

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“When a student of hers, Kyle, claims he can also hear the sound, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship.”

The series – which was filmed in Greater Manchester – also stars The Crown‘s Prasanna Puwanarajah and Coronation Street‘s Karen Henthorn.

Amr Waked, Gayle Rankin, Mia Tharia, Ollie West, Franc Ashman, Samuel Edward Cook and Ian Mercer complete the lineup.

Meanwhile, The Listeners isn’t the only new drama launching on the BBC this month.

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The broadcaster previously unveiled Moonflower Murders – a new gripping drama starring The Crown’s Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan.

The sequel to Magpie Murders will kick off on Saturday, November 16th on BBC One and iPlayer.

Meanwhile, on Friday November 22nd the highly anticipated launch of Return to Paradise air. The new Australian series is a spin-off to the smash hit Death in Paradise and set in the idyllic beachside hamlet of Dolphin Cove.

The gripping new BBC dramas you need to watch this autumn featuring Line of Duty and Ugly Betty stars

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Top Channel 5 dramas

Channel 5 has become a hub for gripping drama, these are some of the best My5 has to offer.

  • All Creatures Great and Small – Based on the best-selling novels by real-life vet Alf Wright, the show revolves around a trio of vets working in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s. Eccentric Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) hires James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) for his veterinary practice at Skeldale House alongside himself and his younger brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse). There James settles into his new life and even finds love with local farmer’s daughter Helen (Rachel Shenton).
  • The Ex-Wife – New parents Tasha (Céline Buckens) and Jack (Tom Misson) seem to have the perfect life, but the constant presence of Jack’s overly friendly but suspicious ex-wife Jen (Janet Montgomery) puts pressure on the couple. But as the series progresses it becomes less clear who the bad guy really is and how far everyone will go to get the life they think they deserve.
  • HeatEastEnders alum Danny Dyer leads this four-part action thriller, set in Australia, which sees two families holidaying together during bushfire season. But instead of rest and relaxation, secrets and lies start to unravel — and not everyone will make it out alive…
  • Lie With Me – Another soap legend jets off to Australia, this time its EastEnders alum Charlie Brooks who takes as a married woman trying to saving her marriage by moving halfway around the world after her husband had an affair. However it’s far from plain sailing, as a young and attractive live-in nanny comes to work with the Fallmont family, and tensions soon build and eventually, someone ends up dead.
  • The DrowningJill Halfpenny plays Jodie, a woman whose life is shattered following the disappearance of her beloved four-year-old son, Daniel. However, ten years later, the grieving mother thinks she’s finally found her missing child, and embarks on a journey to discover the truth about him. But has she really just found the son she has been missing for so long? 



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ScreenUK – Meet the UK Global Screen Fund – Co-producing with the UK

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ScreenUK - Meet the UK Global Screen Fund - Co-producing with the UK



The UK Global Screen Fund, financed by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport delivered by the BFI, is designed to help produce projects with international appeal, support worldwide distribution of UK content and encourage collaboration with international partners. Find out about opportunities to co-produce with the UK and hear from producers supported by the fund.

Moderator:
Denitsa Yordanova, Head of UK Global Screen Fund, BFI

Speakers:
Emily Morgan, Producer Quiddity Films (The Settlers)
Benjamin Domenech, Producer Rei Cine (The Settlers)
Andrew Baker, CEO Cantilever Media (Badjelly)
Carthew Neal, Producer, Badjelly NZ

For the latest updates follow ScreenUK on socials @WelcomeScreenUK:

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https://instagram.com/WelcomeScreenUK
https://facebook.com/WelcomeScreenUK

@welcomescreenuk

To explore more brilliant UK film, TV, animation and games visit https://screenuk.org

#ScreenUK .

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Kumon UK's TV advert circa 2010

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Kumon UK's TV advert circa 2010



Kumon maths and English learning programmes are for children of all ages and abilities.
For a brochure, or to find your local Kumon centre, please call 0800 854 714.
For more video content, please visit: http://www.kumon.co.uk/TV-Ad .

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