TVS start up September 1987

[jgee201066]

I almost forgot...September 7, 1987...that's the day Evan Rachel Wood was born in Raleigh, North Carolina!

[WizardKing78]

A nice shot of the great lady there. No, not Anne Diamond!

[MQsCues]

The handover from TV-am is at exactly 0925 (1:10 in this clip) and Chain Letters starts at 4:00 in this clip, which must have been 0927:50. Yet the line-up says 0930. By 1993 ITV stations were required to show programmes no more than 30 seconds before their advertised start time (or up to 2min30 after it) - does anyone know when that rule was introduced?

[thefirstchoice]

@MQsCues It looks like there's a jump at 3:03 from the beginning of the weather forecast (which would logically be talking about "today") straight to the conclusion (talking about "tonight") though I'd doubt that a whole 2 minutes was cut out.

[MQsCues]

@thefirstchoice Well spotted!  I hadn't noticed that!

[delboyplonker]

0:21 it's Bollo!!

[Hodmox]

This is easily datable. September 7th 1987, as ITV Schools on 4 started a week later.

[eszettfromhell]

The tv-am eggs used to creep the fuck out of me.

[MrTrumptonriots]

try watching htv crimestoppers - THAT is bad sh*t scary!

[filmnet]

@MrTrumptonriots Crimestoppers with the mouths? That was not just an HTV thing

[623058]

there still on top of the MTV offices ( mtv having brought the tvam office in camdam

[Kevo00]

The announcer sounds frighteningly posh! The TV-am advert is something that I would almost have watched behind the sofa when I was a kid, I'd imagine.

[Hoddersrevenge]

7th September 1987 if Robin hasn't dated this already.

[MJPExeter]

Was that RIchard Keys?? One that does Sky sports live Prem football??

[allenjeremy]

Yes it was

[headphone355]

Have you the very last start-up on TVS on 31st December, 1992? I must see it!

[TigerWalrus26980]

Yes, it was

[DJgaZman]

Beadle - legend!

[TigerWalrus26980]

Nice line-up they've got here - beats the pants off anything they put on these days!

[MQsCues]

Any idea if this was in fact the launch moment of TVS' new look?

[allenjeremy]

The new logo launched 2 days earlier as the viewers saw the first look of the logo before the first edition of a new series of No 73.

[MQsCues]

I can clearly remember seeing that ident before the first "Number 73" of the new series. The program began with the ident at exactly 09.25, so there was no ITV regional continuity after TV-am went off air. Living in south London, I actually thought for a split second that for some reason (power cut or something) our transmitter been switched to TVS's feed and we were watching some fancy TVS startup graphics, but eventually realised this was a new front-cap ident, and a fancy one at that. Cool.

[MQsCues]

Turns out, of course, that the swanky startup graphics did indeed look like that at the beginning as well!

[johnwest19995]

@allenjeremy 4:10 The Tyne Tees ident was used as a startup ident at that time.

[phillper0906]

If that is right, then that would've been Sat Sept 5 1987, daytime on ITV started as they shoved the schools programmes to Channel 4 on the Monday the 7th.

[videonut33]

TelevisionSouth was the best in it's day!!!

[mason642]

and they are brilliant episodes too, watched dave spikey, although when it was shown on the screen it said david spikey , and one of the beadle ones, absolutely brilliant.

[jane1975]

OMG, look at the stuff we ( TVS region) were showing LOL. Yes RIP Jeremy, he was a funny man.

[tallandhandsome29]

Yes, but happy happy days! TVS was great in parts, but so much made locally and you felt ownership, somehow.

[stephenb1987]

Beaddle was the king of saturday nights on itv with game for a laugh and beadles about RIP Beadle

[stuttsy83]

I think ITV should repeat Beadles version of chain letters as a trubute not just 2 a legendry prankster but also 4 doing this gameshow justice and his charity work as well Beadle R.I.P.

[nje36]

RIP Jeremy Beadle.

Chain letters was such a brill gameshow, a simple format but good to watch. I remember watching this. ITV should bring it back, in the 5pm slot after the brilliant golden balls has finished its latest series.

[allenjeremy]

I have just found out that Jeremy Beadle has died.

[mason642]

please upload all of these episodes many thanks simon.

[richie5791]

Television at it's best. Not so these days.......

[brybish]

best years of my life working for TVS at northam.stagehand southern/TVS 1978-1992.

any of the guys reading this best wishes

from brian bishop.

[thebear1968]

Nice to see Rochester M2 bridge,Leeds castle in kent on opening tvs titles...Blimey the time the place..Where Is MIKE SCOTT now?..TVS REST IN PEACE

[DJgaZman]

beadle is a legend. Forever

[Babe5677]

I thought the lady sings heres Bill but it's heres Beedle.Dopey Me. So the theme goes. Take a word change a letter do it again and you've got a chain that's how you playyy Chain Letters Chain Letters. Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Whoaaa heres Beedle.

[Babe5677]

WOW. TVS RULES. CHAIN LETTERS RULE TOO and Who's Bill. Because it the end of the doos doos the lady says heres Bill ?

[DANWOODHOUSE]

THE TVS ANNOUNCER IS FERN BRITTON

[GWaites]

That song didn't half sound like "The Brand New Cheesy Song" on the Chris Moyles show!

[Rackabello]

So 80s

[crazyclive]

Fucking *love* that sexy plummy voice from continuity. Any idea whose it might have been? :)

[MQsCues]

Jennifer Clulow

[tonyMCMLXXVI]

Couldn't agree more, the lovely chrome effect is beautiful! Much better than their cheapo looking previous version.

[welshguy28]

loving that glossy, metalic logo ...

[Stubcrouch]

It was the one (and only?) thing I ever heard Maggie Thatcher apologise for! When she wrote to the head of TVAM and said how sorry she was that they'd lost the franchise!

[allenjeremy]

At the end of the TVAM promo how many of you thought that it was a headless chicken on top of the TV.

[lapalmyresam]

I used to love TVS and TV AM they were great!!

Thanks for showing the clip!!!

[whirlyfan]

chain letters good times used to watch that when i was off ! 80s bad for fashion great for tv !

[vincelockyer]

wow this is so nostalgic, love it! i always notice how much more production value goes into older on screen graphics compared to most today.

[martinquested]

I presume you're not referring to the Tyne Tees ident!

[seamanrob]

lol! Incredibly, Tyne Tees always had really crappy idents, right up until its last dying breath as ITVPLC breathed down its neck it got itself its first and only decent ident!

[jasejames]

Each to their own. I thought that TTTV ident was superb for 1979 -- it was just that they kept it too long. Whereas the one you refer to was, IMHO, insipid, uninspired carp, typical YTV/Ballistix dreck of the time. Their idents were pretty terrible from around 1992 onwards though -- C3NE was the final straw.

TVS was good -- but too straight-laced for me. They were probably responsible for Victoria Wood's mickey-take of IVC as well -- cheesey beyond belief TVS IVC was!

[MQsCues]

As far as I can tell, there was a TVS policy to end virtually every IVC announcement with a smile. A nice idea (and contrasts well with TSW announcers, the males of which as often as not ended with a frown as they looked over to the monitor to watch the feed), but, yes, it was rather cheesy!

[jasejames]

I think the art of good IVC is getting the balance right. I personally believe that Tyne Tees came closest -- announcers chosen for their friendliness rather than their voices, and openly encouraged to throw formality in the bin by being given free-reign over what they promoted and when. They also had a policy of allowing announcements to slightly overrun, which allowed the controller to fade the anno out just as they finished, avoiding the sometimes-painful smile (or frown) at the end.

[danthediesel]

What ITV Should do is have a programme about TV-AM called TV-AM - After the End.

[AidanLunn]

why? nothing happened to TV-am after they finished.

[JokerCapt]

How did TV-am and TVS ever lose their licences' is beyond me! Great Clip Thanks!

[brianconley]

simple - they have to bid enough to keep their franchise, but bidding too much loses money.

[AidanLunn]

TV-am lost because it did not pass the rules and regulations set out by Mag. Thatcher. TVS lost out because they were experiencing some serious financial difficulties at the time and the ITC believed that TVS bid too much for their new licence period. meridian (the successor) bid £39 million for the licence, TVS bid a whopping £54 million for their licence.

[neoncherry]

Wasn't it all set off for political reasons by the whole Death On The Rock controversy?

[AidanLunn]

well, partly. that it was i mean by "the rules and regulations set out by margaret Thatcher". There are differing opinions on to how this all came about. Some say it was cuased by the Death on the Rock documentary, others say it was because the head of Carlton communications, Michael green, wanted to take over Thames TV, but when Richard Dunn, manager of Thames said no, Michael complained to his best freind, who just happened to be you-know-who.

[Stubcrouch]

A good example of the quality of TV that Carlton produced is when you concider that Central Television scrapped Crossroads not long after it took over. Carlton brought it back! 'nuff said!

[AidanLunn]

Central scrapped Xroads in 1988, Central TV took over ATV in January 1982.

[mason642]

chain letters was a great quiz, any full episodes of game shows?

[allenjeremy]

I have 3 editions of Chain Letters, 2 of them from 1987 hosted by Jeremy Beadle and 1 from 1997 hosted by Dave Spikey.

[doddzesgameshowroom]

Excellent I cant wait to see them i can remember watching Chain Letters when I was a couple of years old. when are you going to upload the episodes you have btw

[allenjeremy]

I am planning to upload the 1995-1997 opening titles for Chain Letters which will be coming soon so look out for it.

[doddzesgameshowroom]

Thats good and will it be the full episodes after that.

[mysaveloy]

that would be good to watch more chain letters :)

[doddzesgameshowroom]

Are you still going to upload the titles and the 3 episodes you have.

[allenjeremy]

I have tried to upload them but my computer keeps saying the message 404 error.

[doddzesgameshowroom]

get yourself a dailymotion account and upload them there because it allows files up to 150mb and 20minutes also if you get a video deleted you dont lose your account as CentralSouth said on his account.

[lostinbass4]

tv-am is far superior to gmtv! wow wasnt the 80s great!