THE caretaker at a South Woodford church hall has spoken about its appearance in comedian Alan Davies' Channel 4 programme.

In the documentary Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution, first shown on Thursday, the star of Jonathan Creek and QI reminisces about growing up in Loughton and his time at Bancroft's School in Woodford Green High Road.

He describes rowdy gigs organised by his friends at St Mary's Church Memorial Hall in Woodford, focusing on a fight between his friends' band, the Dead Beats, and local skinheads, who he said terrorised his teenage years.

But the hall's manager then and now, Barbara Slaney, 66, said her memories are of calm, well-organised events and the fight in March 1984 was a one-off.

“There was a lead window broken that night, but the organiser paid for it the next day,” she said. “I didn't realise until recently, when I chatted to them before the documentary, that there was quite a big fight.”

She said the organiser, who was about 18, had taken responsibility for the damage and paid for it himself.

“We didn't get many complaints about noise or trouble from local residents,” she added. “I think the main time there was trouble there was before my time, in the 1950s and '60s, when there was quite a lot of rivalry between gangs and local people. The '80s were fairly tame compared with that.”

Dead Beats member Bev Nichols, who was filmed for the programme, said that skinheads had been a “real presence” at gigs and parties in the area during the decade.

“They were actually our fans and they called themselves the Dead Beats Army, although we didn't really want an army,” he said. “That gig at the Memorial Hall was the only one where they kicked us around. It was mostly peaceful.

“If we had a party, there was always a chance that the skinheads would turn up and all the windows would be kicked in.”

The 45-year-old now lives in Norwich and lost touch with Davies after they left Bancroft's School.

“It was strange to see him, the same way it's strange to see anyone you haven't seen for 30 years,” he said. “The interesting thing was how little we've all changed since then.

“Alan fancied himself as part of the band, which he wasn't, but he was a very loyal fan. He used to catch the number 20 bus from Woodford to Loughton and he used to write the name of the band on the back of the seats.”

The programme will be repeated on Tuesday at 11pm and the next in the series, when he will look at his years at Loughton College, will be shown at 9pm on Thursday.