Thames Television Ident

[WAYNE1977100]

The Sweeney

[joannedj1]

Was a huge fan of Dangermouse! It may have been a Thames TV production, but Dangermouse and may other great kids' shows (Count Duckula, Chorlton & The Wheelies, etc.) were made up here at Cosgrove Hall Studios, Chorlton, Manchester. I also remember Thames for Rainbow and also, for a while, for Morecambe & Wise, which had a special intro to the Thames theme!

[muttsnuts100]

first the thames tv indent followed by minder, the sweeney, then the lwt indent for proper weekends tv viewing like londons burning, budgie, dempsey and makepeace, or play your cards right , now its crap all the way from monday thru to sunday endless talent shows, cooking programmes or house selling programmes reminice folks you wont get any of the old stuff back on tv again

[corrupt200]

brings me back to Dangermouse and Duckula

[xneverwalkalonex]

@corrupt200

every time i see the thames tv ident the first thing i think of is Dangermouse lol



[toddcharry]

Some great programs back then, why do they have to ruin everything.

[bodienutt1]

Back in the day Thames Tv produced some top quality programs beter then some of the cr_p now...long live the Euston Road studios.......

[allen1jeremy]

This logo also appeared before Give Us A Clue,Name That Tune,This Is Your Life,Never The Twain & Strike It Lucky.

[TK42138]

@allen1jeremy

Give Us A Clue - the only other programme to use the Grange Hill theme tune.

[TheDarkSangheili]

Heh. I remember this from Danger Mouse and Count Duckula back in the 80s.

[xneverwalkalonex]

bought some Dangermouse DVD's a couple of years ago, first time id seen this for a long time on them, i think that made me more nostalgic than the dangermouse episodes lol

[davecub]

Electric guitar and horns

[mrspivvy]

It's strange, when this ident came on it always seemed to be followed by "rainbow"

[strangelove262]

duckula...

[QueenNostalgia]

Benny Hill! Yes!

[namco21gamefreak]

That appeared on the simpsons at the start of the episode where Homer becomes a missionary after the PBS logo

[elfshotthefood]

Whenever I heard this, I'd come running because I knew Benny Hill was about to start.

[102tt]

"Mr. Bean starts.."

[nicolaj0154]

looks good, but need some color correction in the red part, =/

[Feisty1967]

Beware of foreigners who block you on youtube for no reason at all. Mattipionki and co you know who you are.

[baraxor]

This color version always reminds me of "Rumpole of the Bailey" coming on my PBS station, just as the version in B/W makes me think of "World At War".

[simplyeightiesdotcom]

It's such a long time since I heard that! God I'm old :(

[mishabruml]

jaguar skilllls HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[peenowquash]

@mishabruml what?

[mishabruml]

@peenowquash dj jaguar skills uses this theme a lot in the start of some of his sets. and also he uses a sample of someone going "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" for example /watch?v=d7aGpYzI8io

[djrage70]

It's The Benny Hill Show!!!

[sophocha]

I remember this (although not from the UK) when Benny Hill was starting up.....good times!

[Feakre]

This should be followed by Kenny Everett ripping his way through the backdrop.

[bazalmighty]

That ident always sends cold shivers down my spine.

[bladesmark2]

Bless this house.

[kiltsonfire164]

I'm not from England though but my cousin who lives in london used to watch thames whenever he went on Holiday to London.

He said that ITV Is a mess now and watches UK GOLD instead (Because of Carlton TV).

[Sezu86]

@kiltsonfire164 I remember this theme when I was only 4. Watched Danger Mouse. Looked for this one. I guess it a broadcasting company like NBC or CBS.

[gateroman]

Thank you for this. Takes me back to my childhood... I half expect the Lenny Everett show or benny hill to begin..

[TRUMPER007]

I always associate this with 'Minder'.

[F1archivesDotCom]

@TRUMPER007 Yeah. I always new it was time, when mum would send me to bed, when Minder started at about 10:30, lol.

[topliff12345]

chills !!

[BBMng]

gorillaz in da boss dawg, planet of da apes

[Mythic128]

SƎW∀H⊥ 

[alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

Thames was the commercial BBC! RIP Thames! Oh dear God what did we do to have Carlton inflicted on us!!!!

[deededeehaha]

Did anyone else think tower bridge and its reflection looked like a rocket? After spotting the rocket...time for Rainbow!

[MrCombat1965]

If I remember correctly, this was also at the beginning of BBC's War And Peace back in 1972. I might be wrong, though.

[AidanLunn]

There's nothing like seeing all these old idents and programmes on a TV set of the same vintage :D

I've just been watching "The Nation's Health" (Thames, 1983) on a 1969 Sony KV-1320UB :D (type that TV into google images and you'll see how vintage it is!) :D That's one of the first colour TVs!

[etherwave1]

Reminds me of Benny Hill

[azz17394]

Was that tune ever used for yorkshier tv in the early 80s? I remember seeing as a kid yorkshier indent with that tune?

[generalravon]

Who remembers the spooky night version. I think we saw it before Armchair Thriller

[Theiconographer]

Seeing that brings back so many memories,thanks for posting.

[bryemycaz]

Zippy and Bungle now coming on

[surcumcorda]

Yep - I TOTALLY agree - this ident doesn't seem complete somehow without the 'Rainbow' theme tune!

[gallafey]

ITV is so messed up these days sine it became one network it was better regonal, better drama better quiz shows

[surcumcorda]

rainbow!!!!!

[Rawlinson18]

The same pictiure as the HP sauce bottle at my Nans house.

[iblob666]

old school & cool

[Aaronator19842009]

Count Duckula was on Children's ITV too.

[BuddyFantastic]

let's not forget Dangermouse on Childrens ITV too

[KELVINTHECREATOR]

I always remembered 'The Sweeney' after this!

[wildenfree]

Yeah, then it was bed time.

[deglover25]

Me, too!

[racrimbpsvc]

Wonder what would have happened if Thames still was the ITV contractor for London.

Well, to start off, there would have definatly not been a stupid merger with granada.

[NWOConspiracyGroup]

@racrimbpsvc - If Thames had retained their franchise to this day I think BBC would be very worried along with others. They do have a chance to come back if they make plans NOW! Internet TV will be the thing of the future and terrestial tv will eventually die. I hope they are making plans for a web based channel

[davidgbarron]

@racrimbpsvc Well I think that ITV would have become one company, but if Thames have kept the franchise I think they wouldn't have been in thrall to Simon Cowell, plus I think that ITV would have programmes made from all its regions plus have original night time programmes as well.

[bluebus270]

paint the whole world with a rainbow!!!

[QuikSnaps]

What I really miss is the right to be British, which Gordon Brown, Mandelson and the other satanists in Downing St want to deprive us of. That's why it's important to have a revolution.

[madcapoperator]

Nah, I just miss old regional idents cos they're just better :P

[racrimbpsvc]

Oh well.

[Aaronator19842009]

This Thames Television indent is real cool and I mis it alot, don't you.

[radiodarkhorse]

Cool it is! I saw the Thames jingle on a festival cd compilation. I think it was "Bestival" or something like that?

[palexandersquires]

I have this ident on my George and Mildred dvd series

[Qtmas]

absolutely beautiful... so reminicent of watching mr bean and other great classics

[Markbiceps]

Thames was a class act, when they were robbed of their franchise, (dear Maggie getting her revenge on them for that 'This week' documentary) and the start of the dreadful Carlton, spelt the beginning of the end for ITV. Since 2001 BBC1 has regained the tittle as the most wathced channel in the UK, ITV has never been able to beat the beeb on audeince share since.

[brucedanton]

@Markbiceps How right you are-in a more just world Thames would have retained their franchise, with Carlton nowhere to be seen (if only).

Thames at least, had a history of making at least some half decent programmes, whereas Carlton ruined the ITV network by being a slapdash broadcaster who made terrible programmes and were only really driven by money and greed, and not much else.

In my view, this one act changed ITV for the worse, and made it what it is today.

[davidgbarron]

@Markbiceps Too right. I remember the joke "Your Watching Carlton" being used as a joke when it started and it stuck. Strange that the owners of the Daily Mail attack the BBC without saying that they are shareholders in ITV, which would have supported Thatcher, who started the whole ridiculous franchise changes for ITV, which as you stated made ITV a hollow imitation of the channel it used to be,

[stephenm6100]

when you saw this you know the sweeney was coming on.

[martybhoy72]

Did London have two ITV stations? Thames and LWT

[phillper0906]

Yes

[w3cvw]

Thames during the week. LWT at weekends!!!! This ident brings back memories of childhood. : )

[jwfergie]

Oh my...this brings back memories of watching Bombermouse (or something like that) on Nickelodeon way back in the day.

[delboyplonker]

Do you mean Dangermouse?

[jwfergie]

yes, that's it

[ah1701]

Arrrgghhhhh!! Rainbow!! ;-)

[egapnala65]

But I will cut you some slack because your a Dr Who fan. No hard feelings.

[AidanLunn]

Only a fan of the classic series - the new version was good - until Tennant came on. I managed to make it partway through David Tennant's first series and then decided "this Doctor's crap!"

[egapnala65]

Ah ha found it. "Thames Tv Start Up 1982". Check it out.

[AidanLunn]

It seems that there is some confusion as to what we are talking about. I'm not talking about the start-up theme. I'm on about the start-up *time* as you said they started at 8:30am - they didn't - they started at 9:30am

[egapnala65]

Perhaps if you read my posts carefully before leaping to correct them so quickly there would have been no misunderstanding?

[vigilante11485]

Remember it well. I always liked that fanfare. For some reason, this logo reminded me of being at my grandma's house as a kid.

[malylotek73]

in 1993 thames tv was bought by pearson plc.

5/5

[Peter95111]

Always reminds me of the start of the Benny Hill show.

[Blaqjaqshellaq]

It also reminds me of THE WORLD AT WAR.

[Plato722]

Yeah, it does bring back a lot of memories of childhood. I'm American but lived near Canada (Commonwealth nation) and saw this from time to time on Public Television - usually very good shows, so I like this ident. a lot actually.

[Jamie10004]

Thames Television must have had the cheapest logo ever. At least this one has "ripples" on the lower half of the screen to make the water look a bit more believable. I wonder how much they had to spend for that effect??

[Oxaqata]

Because they totally had CGI in 1968...

[Pamultimate]

Aww bless, childhood memories.

[djfairfield]

takes me back

[supergav67]

Can anyone,hand on heart ,safely say they prefer ITV wan & all its subsiduaries who took the Granada/Carlton/Meridian shilling to the days of ITV (full stop) & its regions Thames/Southern/LWT/ATV/Westwa­rd/HTV/Tyne Tees/Anglia,,(stop now,Im going to cry!)

[jsam93]

I can. Maybe its because Im 15 and itvplc is all Ive ever known but regional branding seems unprofitable and inconsistent if you ask me

[AidanLunn]

Maybe so, but don;t forget, back then there were just 3 (and later, 4) channels - so the ITV companies were much more profitable then than they are now as there was much less competition.

And it's not just branding. They were actual television companies, mini-BBC's if you like. "ITV was just a brand name, not a company name". And I'm only 18.

[Malpass93]

I'm 15 too, but I still reckon Central, LWT, and Yorkshire was a heck of a lot better than ITV1, ITV1, and ITV1.

[crocetti1984]

Oh boy! Dangermouse!!

[optimus57]

For me it means rainbow on a weekday lunchtime. It is also on before the man about the house episodes they show on paramount!

I love this and the lwt one so much. I wish itv would sort themselves out, they truelly suck so much now.

[neddx]

YES! Love that title! It's classic! I remember how it came on before Count Duckula. It creeped me out, but nevertheless

[DJTouche]

YES!

Thames TV. Fuck Granada!

This reminds me of when me and my Dad would watch Minder.

[milkshaker74]

Thames Indent Pwns > All

[AidanLunn]

then look at ATV zoom 2 and reconsider that!!!

[howitt400]

You know what this means... It's time for Button Moon!! YEEHAH

[21mooncrystal]

Brings back SO many memories and has just made me realise - I'm getting older!

[mburmy]

Allright! Rumpole's coming on!

[Ashworth6]

I always expect to hear the theme from "Rainbow" everytime I hear this logo. Up above the streets and houses rainbow flying high etc...

[aI2TvrQ]

HELL... this is scary, now i know (for sure) that i was not the only one that thought so...

[tamagoMMA]

I was scared to death of it as a child. That and Yorkshire TV. "Serving 6 million viewers".. more like "Scaring the bollocks off 6 million children".

[fifiragdoll]

What's scary about it?

[convictedashes]

This logo is on the Mr Bean DVD. It can be seen at the beggining of Mr Bean & The Return of Mr Bean chapters.

[cocobliss30]

Brings back memories of me watching Benny Hill when I was younger!

[egapnala65]

Has anybody got the "Good Morning" Ident which used to open broadcasting every morning?

It would start like this but go into a magnificent fanfare. Never forgotten it!!

Before that there was some rather jolly string music played which I also loved and tuned in for.

[morrisgal31]

the good morning britain ident is on youtube

[egapnala65]

Thanks for the info but this was before breakfast tv started. Programmes would start about 8.30.

And the full fanfare version of this was glorrrrious.

[AidanLunn]

programmes started at 9:30

[AidanLunn]

and this ident was used until 1989 - 6 years after ITV breakfast started.

[egapnala65]

I think there is some confusion. I was talking about the extended version of this ident. This is the first couple of bars of a majestic fanfare that went on for about a minute.

Before that there was some kind of "test card" affair with string music playing.

[AidanLunn]

yes - the full start-up was broadcast at 9:25am as programmes started at 9:30!!!

[egapnala65]

Hi, have done some scouting around. Google Johnny Hawksworth/Thames ident and there's a site explaining what I am trying to say. Hawksworth composed it.

It may be the case he wrote the string piece that preceeded it as well.

[egapnala65]

Further research, the string piece was called "Perpetuum Mobile" by Micheal Roberts.

This piece was called "Salute to Thames". They were seperated by a continuity announcement. It all comes back to me now!!

[AidanLunn]

and hawkesworth didn't compose the string piece before it thjough. That was used by several ITV companies as a "generic" start-up piece as early as the start of ITV in 1955.

[egapnala65]

Yes, I know. It was written by Michael Roberts and is called "Perpetuum Mobile."

[hillbillyprofane]

This used to scare me a bit. Saw it late at night, usually on weekends when the local PBS station would show the Adrian Mole series and Executive Stress.

[2hot4paper]

Also seen at the beginning of The Sweeney.

[2hot4paper]

An iconic logo

[barneyffc]

reminds me of the good old days when the weather did what it was ment to do I was a youngster at school, and we had proper school meals old school delights!

[partyguarder]

yes! i remember this quite well. on Thames TV, they used to have this show starring these artists who were forever trying to capture this worm-like creature that just zipped about the room at 100 miles an hour. Does anyone remember that show? i got a brain cramp, LOL. any ideas would be appreciated.

[egapnala65]

Are you thinking "Vision On"? Tony Hart etc. There's a compilation on here somewhere.

[partyguarder]

Yes!! Vision On! That's the one I was thinking about. Thanks egapnala65!

[Vishinsky]

Yes! TV *was* TV in those days.

[johnnysjukebox]

always the start of Minder for me...great memories when tv was good

[captainDread]

ahhh... nostalgia...

[FContreras85]

It appears at the beginning of Mr. Bean's first episodes.

[FritziRitz]

And now its time for the Benny Hill Show!!!!

[JimReevesFan]

YES YES YES!

I remember!!!

[FritziRitz]

i stand corrected...they would say..."YES...its the Benny Hill Show!!!"

[paris400]

When I think of Benny Hill I think of the Thames ident.

[TestCardFanatic]

For me, it's Kenny Everett and how he spoofed and poked fun at "Lord Thames".

[barringtonbank]

I have saved this in my favorites. The theme tune is really cool. I just love this theme tune.

[funkg]

La de da da pum pum pah pum

[ATVmidlands5581]

this is great to see on youtube. every time i see i expect THE SWEENEY opening credit sequence to begin-thats mostly where i saw it during the 70's. this ident is still on the beginning of each episode on the DVD box set of the sweeney. how tv is so much the poorer without the likes of THAMES, ATV, LWT, Westward, Southern and so on.thanks for posting.

[InvenTorr]

The brigde end up always made me think of arocket tunderbird engine or something because of its reflection

[austinmetrocity]

I remember this ident before watching "Minder" all those years ago!!

[saanzacs]

Whoah! How crisp was that!

[tine214]

When I was smaller, I remember this Ident to introduce Benny Hill, but I also imagined that the opening saxophone note was from "Happy Days"

[AidanLunn]

Thames made loads of programmes during their lifetime