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Archive: Television presentation gem of the week

The end of 405-line television

6 May 2011 14:30

Categories: Television presentation gem of the week

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 out there!) that was picking up BBC One as it was being transmitted from Crystal Palace. This was broadcast live to the nation during that evening’s closedown.

A full recording of the T18′s output, capturing the final moments of 405-line transmission, also lives on.

625-line broadcasts began in 1964 with the advent of BBC Two. BBC One began to make the switch in 1969. It took some time for the new system to reach the high levels of coverage achieved by 405-line, despite there being many more transmitters.

As such, the switchover period from the first public 625-line broadcast to the 405-line closure was 21 years. A further 27 years on, the 625-line service will be closed when digital switchover is completed in 2012.

You will note that the BBC One continuity announcer refers to 625-line broadcasting as “high definition”. The 405-line system was also originally billed as “high definition”.

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The Krypton Factor’s ITV regions puzzle

29 April 2011 14:30

Categories: Television presentation gem of the week

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 week.

Is your knowledge of ITV regions strong enough to do this?

Today, the multicoloured map would be gone. There are, at most, four distinct ITV channels remaining. All of England and Wales has been homogenised into a merged ITV, and STV and Grampian has effectively become one STV channel as well.

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Channel 4 Schools (1995)

22 April 2011 14:30

Categories: Television presentation gem of the week

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 lot, before it became the BBC’s corporate font a few years later.

Like all of the best television presentation, this is ever so slightly scary. These Channel 4 Schools idents and countdowns used to scare me witless as a child.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, and switching on the telly just to check that the world hasn’t gone mad overnight. Then you tune into Channel 4 and are presented with that freakish, ghostly Channel 4 Schools ident. These figures from the past are rigid and look as though they have been stuffed, yet they are staring right at you, beady-eyed. It certainly sent the willies right up me as a nine-year-old!

The music is quite freaky too. It sounds like it is being transmitted from a shipwreck.

Considering the target audience — primary school children — it is all very arty and avant-garde. As a piece of television presentation, I love it — but it doesn’t quite seem right for schools programmes, does it?

And now, with my web hat on, check out the amazingly 1990s URL advertised at the end:

http://www.schools.channel4.co.uk/c4schools

I certainly remember seeing web addresses that were a lot more unweildy than this being broadcast on the television in the 1990s. (An early Blue Peter URL that was so long it had to scroll across the screen sticks in my mind — but more on that in a future television presentation gem of the week.) But the needless complexity of this URL still amuses me.

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Harlech ident (1968)

15 April 2011 14:30

Categories: Television presentation gem of the week

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 this in those days either.

At the very least, this ought to carry a “flashing lights” warning if it were broadcast today!

And what a strange name for a television station. A bit egotistical for it to be named after the station’s founder. Harlech shook off the weird name when it began broadcasting in colour and became HTV.

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