Bring Back...

Bring Back Grange Hill

Collins looks back at the successful television series Grange Hill and particular its anti-drugs campaign in 1986 which led to the production of the pop record "Just Say No". Justin Lee Collins tries to track down the original actors in the show at the time and reunite them for a one-off performance of the song. Justin has a problem in that he has just 10 days to trace them, but many have abandoned their acting careers altogether and are reluctant to relive their brush with adolescent stardom. However, he did manage to track down and interview: * Alison Bettles - Fay Lucas * George Christopher - Ziggy Greaves * Mmoloki Chrystie - Kevin Baylon * Lee MacDonald - Zammo Maguire * Erkan Mustafa - Roland Browning Only Bettles, MacDonald, Christopher and Mustafa arrived to sing their 80s hit at the Hammersmith Palais, but they were joined on stage by other former cast members who were not interviewed, among them was Mark Savage who played 'Gripper' Stebson. Despite the title, Grange Hill was still airing at the time the show aired. On September 15, 2008 Grange Hill finally came to an end after 30 years.

May 10, 2005

Bring Back the Christmas Number One

Justin attempts to make a Christmas-themed song to the Christmas number one single slot - a feat not accomplished since Cliff Richard's Saviour's Day in 1990, excluding the re-recorded version of the 1984 song Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid 20 in 2004. In the end, they produced the song "I'm Goin' Home", featuring the following musicians: * David Essex (vocals) * Mud's Rob Davis (guitar) * Slade's Dave Hill (guitar) * Slade's Don Powell (drums) * Jona Lewie (piano) * Dave Mount (drums) * Showaddywaddy (backing vocals) * Justin Lee Collins (backing vocals and sleigh bells) Liz Mitchell of Boney M and Aled Jones expressed interest in the project, but were ultimately unable to attend. The song was to be released so it could compete to be Christmas number 1 but the record company axed the release. However it was available for download for the Channel 4 website and where it reached number 1 in the site's download chart.

Dec 10, 2005

Bring Back The A Team

Justin attempts to re-unite the cast of his favourite show as a child, The A-Team. Justin has to secure interviews and appearances with the stars of the show who have not spoken to each other for some time. Justin met with the below people to discuss the show and asked them to attend a reunion. All of them bar Mr. T made it to the meeting, which took place at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills. * Dirk Benedict - Templeton "Faceman" Peck * Dwight Schultz - H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock * Marla Heasley - Tawnia Baker * Jack Ging - General Harlan "Bull" Fullbright * Mr. T - B.A. Baracus * Stephen Cannell - series co-creator The below people although not being interviewed by Justin appeared at the meeting. * William Lucking - Colonel Lynch * Lance LeGault - Colonel Roderick Decker * Christian Peppard - Representing his late father George Peppard Justin often used very unorthodox methods, such as ambushing the actors in their homes, hotel rooms, or even while out shopping, without any prior warning and, for Mr. T, attempting to gatecrash his way into the Latin Grammy Awards. During every interview, Collins would inquire about the rumored tension between Peppard and Mr T. Although Peppard was an established star of Hollywood movies, Mr. T was relatively new to on-screen acting yet, in a short time, he was generally regarded as the main star of the show. It was suggested that tension did indeed exist between the two and was most probably due to Peppard's bitterness of Mr. T's status in the show. During the interview with Mr. T, the trademark gold chains worn by his character were discussed. Mr. T stated that they were symbolic of the iron chains of his African slave-ancestors but made from gold because he thinks of himself as being a 'slave' except with a higher price now. As a lighthearted joke for the show, a medium attempted to contact the deceased George Peppard via seance. The program never touched upon the fifth season of the series in any way, with no mention of Eddie Velez and Robert Vaughn's characters, and neither actor appearing at the reunion itself. Additionally, the episode in which Jack Ging's character General Fullbright is shot and killed is specifically described as the series' final episode (it was in fact, the final episode of season four).

May 18, 2006

Bring Back The One-Hit Wonders

JLC attempts to reunite former pop artists from past decades who have only had one big, well known hit, to play at a one off gig. He interviewed: * Joe Dolce * Renato Pagliari of the duo Renée and Renato * Clive Jackson of Doctor and the Medics * Carl Douglas * Mary Sandeman aka Aneka Only Pagliari, Jackson and Douglas turned up to perform their hits at the Clapham Grand, London.

Jun 6, 2006

Bring Back Dallas

Bring Back... Dallas was a one-off special shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 27 May 2007. The show featured Justin Lee Collins attempting to track down the retired stars of Dallas and reunite them together at his Oil Barons Ball. At the end of the show he managed to find and interview: * Mary Crosby - Kristin Shepard * Patrick Duffy - Bobby Ewing * Linda Gray - Sue Ellen Ewing * Larry Hagman - J.R. Ewing * Susan Howard - Donna Culver Krebbs * Ken Kercheval - Cliff Barnes * Charlene Tilton - Lucy Ewing * Eric Farlow - Baby Christopher Only Eric Farlow, who played Baby Christopher in the show, arrived, much to Collins' delight.

May 27, 2007

Bring Back Star Wars

Sep 14, 2008

Bring Back Fame

Originally broadcast on Channel 4 on 27 December 2008, Bring Back...Fame was Lee Collins attempt to reunite the cast of a vintage television show. Justin traveled to America to track down some of the surviving members of the hit Movie and spin-off TV show, Fame. He successfully tracks down: * Irene Cara - Coco Hernandez (movie) * Erica Gimpel - Coco Hernandez (tv) * Carlo Imperato - Danny Amatullo * Valerie Landsburg - Doris Schwartz * Lee Curreri - Bruno Martelli * Carol Mayo Jenkins - Elizabeth Sherwood * Debbie Allen - Lydia Grant Of those, Gimpel, Imperato, Landsburg, Curreli, Jenkins and Allen turned up for the street dance reunion that was arranged by Lee Collins. During the show he also talks to the mother of Gene Anthony Ray who played Leroy in the series. Ray tragically died in 2003 from a stroke.

Dec 27, 2008

Bring Back Star Trek

Collins attempts to track down the cast of the original Star Trek series, hoping to recreate the scene from the episode "Arena" in which Captain Kirk battles a Gorn.

May 9, 2009

The Goonies