Morecambe has big night in telly spotlight

Morecambe became the centre of the nation’s TV viewing for one night thanks to a super-sized family and a pensioner who got into trouble for feeding pigeons.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Dec 2015, 13:06 BST
The Radford family at the wedding of Sophie. Picture from Channel 4's '18 Kids and Counting'The Radford family at the wedding of Sophie. Picture from Channel 4's '18 Kids and Counting'
The Radford family at the wedding of Sophie. Picture from Channel 4's '18 Kids and Counting'

The Radford family and ‘Morecambe Birdman’ John Wilkinson starred in different television programmes on two of the country’s most-watched channels at the same time.

The continuing adventures of Noel and Sue Radford and their brood, known as ‘Britain’s Biggest Family’, took centre stage on Channel 4 in ‘18 Kids and Counting’.

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Meanwhile viewers of ‘Britain’s Oldest Crooks’ on ITV1 watched the tale of Mr Wilkinson, dubbed the Morecambe Birdman, who was sentenced to six weeks in prison last year for breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) by excessively feeding pigeons in the town.

John Wilkinson 'The Morecambe Birdman' interviewed on ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks' on Thursday night.John Wilkinson 'The Morecambe Birdman' interviewed on ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks' on Thursday night.
John Wilkinson 'The Morecambe Birdman' interviewed on ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks' on Thursday night.

Both shows aired at 9pm on Thursday night.

‘18 Kids and Counting’ carried on where three previous Channel 4 documentaries about the Radford clan left off.

Narrated by actor Kris Marshall, the fly-on-the-wall show followed the family, who live in a former care home in central Morecambe, as they celebrated news of mum Sue’s pregnancy at the age of 40 with baby number 18.

Then cameras then shared in their delight as baby Hallie was born in June.

John Wilkinson feeds pigeons on Morecambe seafront with his friend Robyn Holtham. Picture from ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks'.John Wilkinson feeds pigeons on Morecambe seafront with his friend Robyn Holtham. Picture from ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks'.
John Wilkinson feeds pigeons on Morecambe seafront with his friend Robyn Holtham. Picture from ITV1's 'Britain's Oldest Crooks'.
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The Radfords, who run Faradays pie shop on Heysham Road, also launched their own online pie company and prepared for daughter Sophie’s wedding as the cameras rolled.

Meanwhile on ITV1, John Wilkinson, 66, was interviewed as he walked from his house in the West End of Morecambe with his trolley of bird feed across to The Battery to feed a flock of pigeons.

“Here you are birds, daddy’s come!” he said.

His friend Robyn Holtham and Tracy Kohl from Christian charity West End Impact, also appeared on the show.

Britain’s Oldest Crooks examined the rise in criminality among the UK’s elderly and also featured an 81-year-old who spent more than four years in prison for breaching ASBOs for chasing sheep.

Related topics:MorecambeAnti-Social Behaviour OrderBritain