What Was The Idea Behind Candid Camera?

Candid Camera  (ITV, 1960-67) was a forerunner of later shows like "You've been Framed." At the time the format of using an unsuspecting public as part of the entertainment was quite new in Britain – in fact the original idea came from a 1940s American radio show.

People would be placed in improbable situations and their reactions recorded by a hidden camera. One one occasion, it observed people's reactions to a man selling £5 notes for les than £5. In another, a woman would approach passers-by and ask them to look after her baby for a moment while she went inside a shop. As soon as the victim was left alone with the pram, the "baby" (actually a very small actor) would leap out of the pram and run off. Most people gave chase.

The show was very popular and became a byword for a certain type of TV, though eventually it was superseded by bolder "reality" based programmes.