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Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
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<p><i>Multi-Coloured Swap Shop</i>, more commonly known simply as <i>Swap Shop</i>, is a British <a href="/facts/Children%2527s_television_series/IIudw8LF">children's television series</a> that aired on <a href="/facts/BBC_One/t4SaSm6X">BBC1</a> from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was groundbreaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornings, being live, being three hours in length, and using the phone-in format extensively for the first time on TV. </p><p>The show rivalled the growing success of rival broadcaster <a href="/facts/ITV_(TV_network)/pIlD3oza">ITV</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Tiswas/DehC0gMg">Tiswas</a></i>, though the latter was initially only broadcast in the <a href="/facts/Associated_TeleVision/W9kKjFyd">ATV</a> region in the <a href="/facts/English_Midlands/8mgY3qAe">Midlands</a> and, at the time of <i>Multi-Coloured Swap Shop</i>'s inception, had yet to be taken up by other ITV franchises around the country. </p>