Diff'rent Strokes shown in the UK

I can remember watching Diff'rent Strokes when I was very young (around 4 or 5) in 1984-1985 and I remember seeing the series again on Sky One in the early 1990s. I have found out in more recent years that the series ran until 1986 and that later on Mr Drummond remarried and his new wife Maggie had a young son, who was basically the "new kid" in the series.

Did ITV show the later series of Diff'rent Strokes? I can't remember seeing Diff'rent Strokes in the Central region in 1987-88 which I guess is when the last series would have been shown in the UK. I personally can't remember seeing the series after 1985. Apparently, when Maggie and especially her son Sam were in the series, it wasn't as popular and websites have said that it had "new kid syndrome".

I watched it on The Paramount Comedy Channel during the 1990s and am not aware I ever saw the final seasons. Not definitive of course, but that may suggest the later seasons hadn't been seen before in this country either, or they'd have run them too.

Sky One definitely showed all 8 seasons in the early 90s, and their spin-off show The Facts of Life.

Quote: Richard Wells @ July 10 2013, 10:13 PM BST

Sky One definitely showed all 8 seasons in the early 90s, and their spin-off show The Facts of Life.

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Thanks. I did see some of the early Diff'rent Strokes episodes on Sky One, including the very first, where Mr Drummond says to Arnold "I've never seen a black goldfish before" and Arnold replied "that's OK, he's probably never seen a rich white man before, either"!

I lost interest after a few episodes on Sky One - the series seemed too preachy as well as corny to me when I was 13. I just wondered, though, if the whole series had been shown in the UK as I know there were some US comedy series that were never run in full.