The Open University

[BillyJimOMFG]

...as opposed to the crime of "murder against the family roadkill"

[LinuxManUK]

i used to love these black & white ones especially, the dull, grey hue of the 'show' the matter o fact, and rather 'stiff' presentations, the Eric Illet style illustrations, the tank tops and the weird esoteric names of the presentation , something like U103 - Reverse Polish notation - module 7 or whatever it was LOL

[matelot95]

No way was I frightened by this music. It was the discoverance that there was telly hours before proper programmes started that made it special. That and Stuart Freake!

[superteacher1000]

I admit to being scared by this too! I was walking past the TV at my nan and grandad's house when it came on - absolutely terrified me!

[glatbaby007]

To those who were scared by this...I'll join the club! It's that noisy horn at the end of the jingle that still gets me at the tender age of 38!!

[quackhandles]

I loved Open University, not because I was interested in Mathematics but because the professors had brilliant flares and massive collars you could go hangliding with. My favourite was Dave Sargent and Lans Aleeson.

[mrscruffy]

STILL sends a shiver down my spine, and I'm 36 now.

[VelvetVoixdeVille]

I remember hiding under my Mum's Formica kitchen table and screaming because I thought the OU logo was going to get me. Other phobias included the 'dots' shown before schools programmes and the Playschool clock. Am I alone here?

[mrscruffy]

@VelvetVoixdeVille No I'm right with you.

[jhangirk]

Someone take me back to time when all was valued, especially EDUCATION.

Curse bloody 2000's!

[stepahead2be]

For those who love the 70's OU may want to see a recent documentary made by the BBC called "electric dreams" filmed back in 2008. It's about a family in the UK experimenting living back in the 70's-80's-90's over three parts. These shows are posted on youtube for all to see by youtube user - nedsrubiquitous

[cyclepod1]

I never used to like this tune, left me with the feeling of dread of more beards and round spectacles.

[19bootsy68]

This tune played in my mind for weeks but i could not pin point what it was off...it was driving me mad...until i asked a friend at work and i started to hum it ...Open University he said just like that...my madness is finished....i want this as a tune for my text messages now..

[JasonJason210]

Wow - that takes me back in time to rainy week days off school.

[amrj700]

More than any other video I have found, this music takes me back to when Britain was a nice gentle place.

[capsule35]

@amrj700 - ah yes, those wonderful days of industrial action, race riots and terrorist bombings! But of course these things mainly concerned the adults and not us as youngsters, which is why we all tend to think back on the past so fondly (and why today's children will no doubt be doing the same in 30 years' time...).

[MusicStudyMan]

@amrj700 Really - I was just a kid in the eighties when OU still showed prgrammed in the monring and I clearly remember...The Miner's strikes, the Falklands War, the Iranian Embassy Hostage Seige, the UK entered recession before everyone else...have you got a pair of Rose Tinted Sepctacles on?

[stepahead2be]

Why did the BBC stop showing the Open University? These programmes were great and educational to watch.

[afuzzyduck]

It was mainly down to the OU not needing the airtime any more - most of their course materials are done through DVDs and the Internet these days. The OU still makes a few "proper" programmes though

[SAMMYTHOMAS]

@afuzzyduck I believe you are correct. For example, James May's Big Ideas programme is used as part of the T184 Robotics course.

I think a nice touch would be to include this original intro with the DVD materials.

[cyclepod1]

@stepahead2be - they were good programmes, but often the dress sense was rubbish. I am off to find OU somewhere in cyberspace

[MusicStudyMan]

@stepahead2be "Coast" is an OU programme - excellent stuff

[stepahead2be]

Great years, think those were in the late 70's. Great hearing them again. Bring back the good old years..

[asg19665]

Yes. Memories. I'm studying with OU at the moment but I do miss those middle of the night programs and of course the music. I find myself humming or whistling it often, and often with excagerated vibrato, God knows why. Sad, I know.

[mrdoofa]

This music is just plain scary, enough to give you nightmares!!!

[AllisonGrosser]

@mrdoofa Used to scare me as well. To stop me being frightened my sister would play a comedy version of it on the piano! I was only about 6 or 7.

[mrscruffy]

@mrdoofa It did. Lots.

[SmallGrayBox]

Aww wow I miss those OU programs so much, just like

radiodarkhorse says I use to watch them when I was young, it was those programs that gave me such a big interest in psychology and many other things

Aww happy days where Saturday morning, BBC 2 :)

[radiodarkhorse]

I used to watch this when I was younger. Never understood what was being said but watched it anyway. Thanks for posting. Haven't seen it in years!"

[ScrewAttackEurope]

I always used to think this was an upside-down policeman's helmet as a kid.

[darwinclose09]

They played this at the 40th Anniversary concert in Milton Keynes.

[matelot95]

FABULOUS! Takes you back to a time when the OU was something only University students and small kids who got up at 5:30 in the morning knew about!

It was a little secret thing that only we knew of, like when we discovered the existence of Pages From CEEFAX.

[palexandersquires]

Professor squires now pesents.....

[DaveJP1973]

I used to sit and watch this and count the seconds between each play of that eerie music!

[testcardgirl76]

I'm another one who'll admit that this ident scared me as a child!

[gobbygirl77]

scared me too!

[yethboth]

Interesting.

[gmullin]

Whever I heard this it meant that I was up either too early or too late!

[zaftra]

which piece of music by Janacek (sp?) is that.

[afuzzyduck]

it's the start of Leonard Salzedo's Divertimento

[zaftra]

thank you, got it in me head it was Janacek

[VikutaaChyaaruzu]

When I first found a Flash-based simulation of the OU ident on the BBC's Cult webpage (not updated anymore), I actually did NOT get frightened. The one time I would get frightened is if I were in 1971, in the UK, and it was late at night, in front of the TV (or "telly"), and I watch the BBC1 COLOUR clock, and then it fades out at signoff, and a few minutes after I doze off to sleep, the test card suddenly comes on and scares the crap out of me.

That's how I think of "scary." XD

[EdinburghGuy]

For some reason I remember one video where this guy trying to stuff a bunch of cubes into a dodecahedron, and another where somebody bough a pair of clocks, decided he didn't like one of them, and sent it into orbit around earth in order to prove that it was running slower.

[icecoldinalex]

Ha! i was PETRIFIED of this damn thing! Me and my sister would flee the room every time it came on. We even named it, I think, although the name has long left me.

Stupid Open University ident, you traumatised a generation!

[intavent]

lol

[teaface1976]

I'm glad I'm not alone with the music thing!

I love Educating Rita (esp the disco scene) and when i saw it for the first time it gave me a right shock when the OU popped up. I remember that my cousin was about 6 years older than me and loved to draw comics, she decided to make me a comic strip featuring these symbols with legs etc to scare me less which was sweet- then i just had loads of diff coloured ones to stare at...nevermind!

I can watch it now but still get a little shiver!

[imperialpod]

My god, I thought it was just me,wow.

A couple of brass instruments and an oboe and its game over for the kid, scary stuff.

Reminds me of uncle hair from pipkins and old English, oaken wierdness.

[idontbelieveinsanta]

This ident was used from 1971 to 1984 on BBC2 and didn't mention the BBC at all. But when the OU expanded to BBC1, the idents were changed to show what channel you were watching.

[redhairkid]

I love the music. It was composed by Leonard Salsedo, incidentally.

[thomasking55]

Has anyone got an old Engineering Scientist for colleges type program theme - futuristic electronic music with three or four arcs being draw - like a C shape...

[JodieBCUK]

Thanks for posting - I'm so pleased to see this one again. I hadn't realised that 'there were people like me' out there :-]

I think this ident crops up in the film Educating Rita.

Now that I've seen this and the Rotomotion ITV on channel 4 I think I can die happy ;-)

[WorldRecords]

It does crop up on Educating Rita on a vintage style television!

[ianucci]

Um why does she say good afternoon?

[afuzzyduck]

because this was taken from an afternoon. other than the announcement, it's exactly the same as what you'd get at 5.30 in the morning

[potato73]

That trumpetty jingle! Used to find it really weird as a kid but kind of liked it!

[Voxac100b]

I attended a O.U. graduation ceremony the music was great but I was dissappointed as they didn't play this fanfare!

[teaface1976]

That music still scares me, I used to hide beside the TV when it came on as a kid- that hole reminded me of a cyclops type eye. URRRRRRRRRRRGH!

[dunkiep]

So it wasn't just me then? I was scared stiff by this. I just used to sit there frozen with fear when it started. (Unless I imagined it,) that bloody fanfare used to repeat several times with long silent gaps in between. It was AWFUL. And all I wanted was a bit of scooby doo.

[sallynufc]

Me too! When I was little, I daren't turn on the television in case the scary music was playing. I'd not heard it for over 20 years until I found it here. It frightens me still.

[WorldRecords]

I have to say when i first heard the piece of music it frightened me but i like it now

[imperialpod]

My god, I thought it was just me,wow.

A couple of brass instruments and an oboe and its game over for the kid, scary stuff.

Reminds me of uncle hair from pipkins and old English, oaken wierdness.

[icecoldinalex]

oh god, when they repeated it several times I thought my heart would actually collapse from terror. I used to be howling!

[dunkiep]

Howling eh?...

Isn't it strange how such a thing can evoke such strong memories of fear. Something about the way it revolved was pretty sinister too...

[icecoldinalex]

absolutely - one eyed monster of doom!

[afuzzyduck]

should point out that this is probably from tv ark, back before they had their own frontcaps

[prontford]

Brings a tear to the eye, especially as the OU no longer broadcasts on terrestrial tv.

[amcd1982]

we do still broadcast on terrestrial TV, just not in the same formats that you are used to seeing from us (if you are used to Professors with beards in front of chalkboards!)

If you've ever watched Coast, Bang Goes the Theory, James May's Twentieth Century, Fossil Detectives, Seven Ages of Britain (I could go on!) then you will have seen one of our programmes.

Enjoy!

[prontford]

Thank you for this. Since that comment 3 years ago, I've been working on a project which the OU is also associated with (OPAL Explore Nature and iSpot) so I'm much more familiar with the organisation. I can only say - what a fantastic group of people!

Slightly disappointed that the automatic doors at the Berrill Building don't play the old OU fanfare as they slide open, though.

[amcd1982]

haha - yeah, that would be an improvement, though really they should concentrate on making them open quicker first!!

Glad you enjoy working with us - there's a lot of us here, but generally we're a nice bunch of people!

All the best!

[Fogbog]

This is the ultimate nostalgia fix for me... it takes me back to being about 7 years old. That logo and music has always held a kind of mystique for me- thanks for putting it up!