A couple who allowed a BBC film crew to follow the first year of their marriage share their experience.
The BBC placed an advertisement in the newspapers seeking a couple who would like to be followed by cameras during the first year of their marriage. Three thousand couples expressed an interest before Marc and Karen Adams-Jones were chosen. The BBC followed the couple before they were married, the wedding day itself, the honeymoon and the first year of marriage. 'The Marriage' was broadcast as a series by the BBC.
They filmed the ups and downs, everything to do with them and they even filmed discussions about the couple's sex lives together.
Marc and Karen Adams-Jones were guests on a 'Late Late Show' Valentine's Day special to discuss their experiences of life in front of television cameras. The couple initially thought the project offered a way to record their wedding day and to document a part of their lives in a way that children and grandchildren to would be able to look back on. In hindsight, the couple are glad that they took part in the experiment and have received praise for their honest presentation of life. Marc and Karen Adams-Jones believe that the reason they were chosen for the programme is down to their openness and honesty.
The couple had very little editorial input to the production and only saw the programmes when they were ready for broadcast. While they claim they knew what they were letting themselves in for, they did not anticipate that 11.7 million viewers would tune in to watch the show, making it a huge success for the BBC.
As a payment, the couple received £1,200 and a first year wedding anniversary party from the BBC.
This episode of 'Late Late Extra' was broadcast on 16 February 1986. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
