15 December 1979: Jinty

Pam of Pond Hill was a slice-of-life school drama that had much more in common with Grange Hillthan with traditional schoolgirl comics such as The Four Marys or Bessie Bunter.

It launched in the second week of December 1979 and survived Jinty’s merge into Tammy two years later.

Written by Jay Over and drawn by Bob Harvey, it clearly recognised children’s enthusiasm for realistic stories set in comprehensive school, essentially proven by the success of Phil Redmond’s fantastic Grange Hill (two seasons old at this point).