UK Telly in the 80s

The Guardian looks back at 1980s TV:

Dynasty was originally called Oil
A not-so-subtle reference to the fact that the show was American network ABC's answer to CBS's Dallas. Dallas's own beginnings were equally muddled – the original pitch was a Romeo (Bobby) and Juliet (Pam) of the oilfields, with the JR character being "just the brother".

Roly in EastEnders was meant to be an Alsatian
Then the call went out for a German Shepherd called Prince, only for Dirty Den to end up with a poodle instead …

The part of Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses was originally offered to Jim Broadbent
He turned it down as he was appearing in a West End play. Another actor who was sounded out before David Jason agreed to the part was Enn Reitel, the voice of Lester Piggott in Spitting Image.

Blackadder was almost cancelled after series one
Which was sort of fair enough as it had cost a fortune to make and was a bit rubbish. Eventually, expensive outside broadcasts were swapped for jokes about thingy-shaped turnips and the rest is history-based comedy.

Spitting Image was nearly called Rubber News
Other working titles included the Acme Satire Company and – apologies if the following image is distressing – Hands Up Mrs Thatcher.

David Bowie and Mick Jagger were meant to have a Transatlantic duet at Live Aid
However, satellite delays scuppered the proposed Dancing In The Streets cover and Phil Collins was sent over on Concorde to perform.

Dirty Den was almost killed off first time around in EastEnders
Den met his original soap death when he was brutally gunned down by a bunch of daffodils. But a quick-thinking BBC1 controller ordered the dead body shots to be removed, thus allowing the actor to return to the series, just as soon as webcams had been invented. 

From All In The Best Possible Taste (Simon & Schuster)