"Let's Just See That Again"

April Fool's Day - that pointless 12-hour period at the start of April, when people and media outlets come up with unfunny, easy-to-spot "jokes", "pranks" and fake stories, then have an embarrassing tantrum when nobody falls for it.

Alright, so it's obvious that most of the silly/outrageous stuff you encounter on April 1st is going to be an April Fool's "gag", but the lack of creativity often seen makes it extremely dull and annoying (as does the way some people react if their prank dies on its arse).

Very few April Fool's Day pranks have made me smile and only two have made me laugh. One was in Doctor Who Magazine a few years ago and involved a person by the name of Augustus J Honeybun and the article made some references to the South West of England. For those of you who don't know, Augustus J Honeybun was the full name for Gus Honeybun - the Children's Birthday mascot for ITV's South West companies Westward and TSW. Then again, for most of you reading this, you probably know that...

The other April Fool's incident to make me laugh is actually still doing its job 26 years after it was broadcast.


And now, we go over to Des Lynam in the Grandstand studio... in 1989...

Uploaded by You Tube-user "Jon".

Pure gold. Of course, as soon as the "fight" breaks out, it's clear that it's not exactly spontaneous, given that two of the people sitting behind Des remain calm and seated throughout and the Camera Operator and the Director make no attempt to cover it up. But it's still funny, because Des is clearly in on the joke and manages to pull off a cool, convincing performance. Even when he does the cliché touch of his earpiece (Des would have been getting constant instructions and advice through it for the duration of the show. There would be no need for him to touch it, unless it was hanging right out of his ear, about to fall off), it actually adds to the humour, as if it's a nod to Des' reputation as an unflappable, cool, calm broadcaster. He carries on with just a hint of hesitation, which is what would have happened, had it been genuine (And the show would have been swiftly faded to black and replaced by a programme slide and the BBC 1 announcer, of course). No over-the-top reactions. It doesn't need them.

When we return to the studio, Des keeps it going, with no hint of a cheeky smile, right up until "Let's just see that again". Of course, most people would have sussed it by now, but it doesn't matter - for Mr Lynam is still at it, using his professional reputation to farcical effect, as he commentates over the action replay.

At this point, credit also has to be given to the crew members who took part. Although it's obvious that it's more of a playground scuffle, than a full-on confrontation, they went along with it and gave Des what he needed to play off.

In many ways, it resembles one of the many parodies that often turned up on the old VT Christmas tapes, which at the time, were on their way out, thanks to certain people in suits who took things far too seriously. Perhaps that's why any on-air effort since then has fallen flat - the fact that the not-for-public-viewing/letting-off-steam part of broadcasting became heavily frowned upon, meaning that those involved possibly became fearful that an elaborate prank might get them into trouble, even if it is genuinely harmless.

It's a shame, but personally, I'm glad somebody had the bright idea of staging a fight in the Grandstand studio 26 years ago today and that Mr Smooth was more than happy to play along with it.