On The Move

Image: Donald Gee as Bert and Bob Hoskins as removal man Alf Hunt in On The Move, February 1976

The adult literacy series On the Move began on 12 October 1975. It aimed to encourage some of the two million adults in the country who had difficulty with reading or writing, using sketches and celebrity guests. The title sequence had no text, just the jaunty theme song- sung by the Dooleys – and a delivery van with a large arrow on the side. The van was driven by delivery men Bert and Alf, played by Donald Gee and – in his first major television job – Bob Hoskins.

Bert and Alf’s sequences were written by Barry Took and showed Alf bantering with his mate and making steady progress to improve his reading. Every episode there was an inspiring interview with someone whose life had been transformed after taking adult literacy classes, but the entertainment factor was kept up with appearances from guest presenters. In the first week it was Polly James. Subsequent weeks featured stars such as Patricia Hayes, Martin Shaw, Rosemary Leach, Gay Hamilton and Nigel Stock.

The success of On the Move prompted over 70,000 adults to look at improving their literacy, calling the helpline number given out at the end of the programme. In 2012 adult literacy was imaginatively highlighted in the BBC drama series Secrets and Words and linked to the BBC Learning website Skillswise, which provides resources for people wanting help with life skills. The BBC also promotes other key skills for young people and adults, and its latest "Make It Digital" campaign (2015) is aimed at growing the nation’s coding skills.