Archive:
Television presentation gem of the week

BBC Select

In the early 1990s, the BBC ran a short-lived service called BBC Select. It was designed to deliver highly specialist programming to narrow audiences. The programmes were broadcast after BBC One or BBC Two had stopped broadcasting for the day. This example demonstrates the sort of thing BBC Select did. This is a programme about […]

Grandstand theme tune

Is this the greatest theme tune ever? And have you ever heard the full version of it? I bet many don’t know about the guitar break in the middle! I reckon you could probably tell how old someone is by what pictures they associate the boing with. For me, it is a snooker ball going […]

Scottish Television ident (1962)

Some television presentation is designed to tell you what programmes are coming up. Others might tell you the time. This ident, on the other hand, tells you what country you are in — just in case you found yourself sitting in your front room and suddenly wondering where you are.

BBC Two closedown (1998)

This isn’t even from all that long ago — 1 January 1998 in fact. But you wouldn’t see a closedown like this on BBC Two nowadays. I love that classy clock. Clocks would disappear from BBC Two later that year. It is topped off with an appropriate sting, even if it is a little bit […]

Welcome home to ITV

The 1979 ITV strike was the longest in the history of British television. It was also the last major strike. When service resumed after ten weeks, this is what viewers saw. With this naff jingle, viewers must have immediately wished that ITV never came back. Following the ten week break, it would be a further […]

The end of 405-line television

I cheated a bit last week, so this week I thought I’d better bring out a proper, genuine gem. This is the last ever broadcast on the 405-line system, on 3 January 1985. To mark the occasion, the BBC brought out a 1938 television set (that would be a Baird Model T18 for you anoraks […]

The Krypton Factor’s ITV regions puzzle

I was excited last week when I discovered that the great Gordon Burns is on Twitter. I used to love watching The Krypton Factor when I was a child. The first thing I thought of was this ITV regions map puzzle. I knew I had to feature it as a television presentation gem of the […]

Channel 4 Schools (1995)

Here is another piece of television presentation that has brought the memories flooding back. An early morning (4am) Channel 4 Schools broadcast. I remember the blue slide with the Channel 4 logo on it. It actually looks very classy. Channel 4 had quite a slick presentational style at this point. They used Gill Sans a […]

Harlech ident (1968)

I am conscious that I have not yet featured any ITV idents, despite the rich treasure trove waiting to be delved into. This is the classic, eye-straining original ident for Harlech. You would never — never — see an ident like this these days. In fact, you probably wouldn’t have seen any other idents like […]