Welcome Home To ITV

[curavon01]

This is so achingly beautiful from a nostalgia viewpoint and fancy, a whole evening's entertainment that wasn't full of patronising crap. Not to mention the classic John Mills Quatermass on the rump end of post-apocalyptic television "BTV" and the Tittety Bumpety family show a la "Dancing On Flipping Anything." Don't make me play it again:)

[dfarmbrough]

I shall watch the Muppetts and Quatermass, but for the rest of the evening my home will be the BBC thank you very much!

[MATTYHOUGH1976]

top class..the cheesy back..i remember as a 7 year old ( im not the above..but sad i know) looking at the tv guide thinking how come only channel islands ( who ever they are?) have ITV and we haven't? why cant we watch puffin at 4pm!! ..what was puffin?

[Albailey27]

Wow thanks so much for this.. I remember this exact moment. Having a weekend break with my mum (I was 9) and we were waiting for Quatermass... Like everyone says it sticks in your brain...

[LoLzZ85]

No one would bat an eyelid if ITV went on strike now

[JFredUK]

Out of that line-up, I'd watch about 4 of the programmes. Nowadays, they'd be lucky if I watched one!

[Gulftastic]

This jingle still rattles around my brain.

[phillper0906]

Flaming cheapskates on ITV even then,

just pinch the old Thames clock and shove an 'ITV' on it.

[Feisty1967]

This makes me feel safe and cosy, I can feel the protection of my mum and dad.

[scorpiofootiemad]

24 OCTOBER 1979 was a Wednesday.

[DickButtIoM]

Love the full stop at the end of Welcome home to ITV.

[Kevo00]

Interesting they went for a 'generic' approach!

[pawnsacrifice1]

I remember this so clearly

[funkg]

i remember this very well, it was a big event having ITV back!

[MrChrisbrindley]

Jesus, what a shitty night of TV, and we waited all that time to get our third channel back, LOL

[nje36]

OMG i remember this and i was only 9yrs old then!!

[thisismikehunt2009]

I was 7 years old in the summer of 1979, when ITV went on strike for two months. If they go on strike again, let it be a permanent one and hope all other tv channels follow suit.

[qgloscit]

Remember this annoying jingle so much! We had a new kid at school called "Malcolm". Unfortunately the class wind up merchant sung this song constantly and drove everybody up the wall to the tune of "Malcolm, Welcome Home to ITV". Kid was in tears by the end of his first day!!. Just remember as 7 year old sat and watching that blue strike caption for hours on end thinking someting remarkable was going to happen! Sad I know!

[holeinmydonut]

me too i was the same.

[qgloscit]

Blimey what a first night return line up! Think I would have nipped down the pub!

[holeinmydonut]

Oh gosh i remember this so well. Everybody was so pleased to have ITV back after the strike which seemed to last for ever. In those days we only had 3 channels and ITV was the nations favourite and held with affection. We all had regional identities ,ours was ATV. What has gone wrong with ITV now. Would we even care if they went on strike now? As stig114 put it watching ITV1 now seems like an eternity, bit like the X Factor!

[seangenegenie]

no they wouldnt care what with the amount of satelite boxes people have if they went off the air there would be about 500 more channels willing to take there place

[qatopboy]

Ahhhhhh the Mike Sammes Singers!

[TheDoctor001]

30 years today since ITV returned to the airwaves.

[Wolfington]

I can remember Coronation Street that night had a pre-titles sequence where Len Fairclough broke the fourth wall and reminded the viewers what had happened before ITV went on strike.

[Tripp1993]

What did they say?

[Wolfington]

Can't remember - the usual crappo. Annie Walker's got a bad back, Fred Gee's been caught fisting Eunice, Arnold Swain's been pimping out Emily, and I'm taking Tracey swimming later on...you get the picture...

[Hodmox]

Your video description isn't 100% accurate. Not ALL ITV companies went on strike in 1979. Channel continued broadcasting throughout the whole strike.

[thelyniezian]

Were people really that dependent on TV for their entertainment by then? There are other things to do besides telly! (Not that I do to be fair...)

[UKSazzy67]

Suddenly I'm 12 years old again! 2 months without ITV seemed like an eternity at that age.

[stig114]

Now two months watching ITV would seem like an eternity!

[gottagothatsme]

Lmao at the sheer dreadfulness of that song!

[kingofpunk1967]

Too anyone under 40...........The UK 30 years ago was ment to be some leading nation & for 3 months we only had TWO CHANNELS. Only the music & some choice movies was good the rest of the 70's SUCKED

[pawnsacrifice1]

I can't beleive this is on here. I remember being 10 years old and having no ITV for the whole summer holidays...disaster when there were only 3 channels!

I seem to remember a graphic og the ITV logo being defrosted from Ice with butterflies flying about also

[Markbiceps]

Brilliant brings back many memories, This was when ITV was regarding as the nations favourite, this is no longer the case!!!!

[lyniseuk]

Wicked how cool is this! It was just the other day I sang this tune to a couple of friends now I will show them this clip so funny and thanks again!

[soapbox5]

Wonderful to be reminded of an evening of t.v.1979,or to be precise:Thames TV 5-44pm Wednesday 24th October 1979 !.

[LuthansaTerminal]

ITV had a national service for a while after the strike from Thames (and presumably from LWT as it went on until a Monday) so this could be from any region

[623058]

Expect STV, which never used this, as there actually provide there own service and slides.

[oldtatshow]

Thanks so much for posting this - I remember the "Welcome Home" jingle so well.

[WolfriksWorld]

I'm really glad we have You Tube.

It's like my whole childhood just flashed in front of my eyes.

[Forestamtul]

unlike in 1979 before most of us had computers and internet was way into the future. Technology has changed so much now compared to then.

[lestube001]

omfg i rember this.cheers for posting

[ron564]

I'm sure this was from late 1979. Did'nt Itv go off air due to a strike. I'm sure it was off air for weeks.

[AidanLunn]

few months to be more precise.

[jifkitchen]

haha. they'd never show anything liem this again.

[suburbanbatherson]

That's great nostalgia... Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Cheers.

[BNCA70]

yeah, me too, 9 years old and remember this ident. Apparently it was down to ITV off air for so long that The Good Life took off which was in its infancy over on BBC1 ( or even BBC2 .

[filmnet]

Presumably all the continuity came from Thames for this first night (Thames clock and announcer, but with "ITV" sign). By the way, the first showings of the Good Life were between 1975-1978 on BBC.

[BNCA70]

yeah I know, when the strike was on one of the only progs to watch on the other side some nights was TGL. That's when it caught on after a pretty mediocre first series. Check it out, it's in the nerds companion somewhere. Hey ho.

[cwilliams1976]

@filmnet I would think that it would in this case as Thames were the ITV weekday company which operated in London at the time - LWT didn't start until 7pm on Friday evenings!!!!

[Nibster213]

i was six and can remember this! Why would you have this? Thanks all the same, many memories

[doozytube]

Wow I was 9 years old and I remember that welcome home tune...it suck in my head all these years, and now it's just be re-ignited by this YouTube clip. Wow, nostalgic or what..

[jg953]

It's wierd you say that. I was younger but that tune has stuck in my head all these years. I have to be honest though, i've always held a jingle in my nut longer than the average bear.

"Step ahead with a pacer pacer mint, step ahead with a pacer, pacer mint!" etc.

[jimboss1986]

why did itv go on strike?

[asnycnow15]

it started at Thames television hen spread to all other ITV regions even LWT

[Applemask]

Except Channel, because it was too small to survive a massive strike so they left it alone.

[section451]

ACTT union lead by Alan Sapper wanted a pay rise for technicians - after the strike pay went up from 8k to about 11k

[cwilliams1976]

It was triggered as a result of a pay claim by the ACTT union. Public sector workers had won pay awards of up to 20 per cent following the Winter of Discontent. The ACTT wanted a similar amount for its ITV staff. However, the ITV stations refused. On August 06 1979, an overtime ban came into force. Technicians at Thames walked out on strike late that night. On August 10, the ACTT instructed its members around the country to walk out on strike in support of a 15 to 20 per cent pay increase.

[AussieEvil]

Ugh. The song sounds like something from a cheesy Christmas special.

[crazyclive]

Courtesy, I believe, from some bloke called Ray Woodward and some firm called DRSM. Or is it DSRM? Oh, who cares...?

[TheKid965]

Question from an American student of British TV: It's been mentioned in other comments that Channel kept a limited service going during the strike. Did any of the other small companies (I'm thinking ones like Border and Ulster here) do anything similar during this time, or was it a total shutdown across the board?

Also, about how long was it before the regions began operating at full strength again, so things like the rebadged Thames clock weren't needed anymore? Just wondering.

[section451]

If I recall, Southern were back up and running the next day at Lunchtime. I think they were still running the national service with a very reduced local news.

[newschannel]

"Let's get on with it!"

What a classic line from Parkin.

[unicentre]

the strike lasted 10 long weeks,channel kept on air with loads of films & archive itv programmes,figures showed that millions just sat in front of the strike logo hoping that the screen would magically come to life!! including me.

[Waterwings1978]

How long did the ITV strike last in 1979?

[Hoddersrevenge]

August the 10th to the 24th of October and the first programme was the ITN news at 545 with Leonard PArkin.

[AidanLunn]

However the London companies were off air since augist 6th - and Southern didn't return till lunchtime on 25th October.

[cwilliams1976]

@Waterwings1978 This lasted for eleven weeks.

[ITVNut]

WOW - I've been looking for this for years! Have a photo of the TV with the apol caption!

[ITVNut]

WOW - I've been looking for this for years! Have a photo of the TV with the apol caption!

[ColonelWalterKurtz]

Wow, what a great night of telly!

[Rumpio]

better than you'd get nowadays!

[johnnyaalaska]

Let's not forget that the long ITV strike had millions of Britons tuning in to nothing the BBC; in the pre-cable days of 1979, BBCs One and Two and ITV were the ONLY television on the air across the pond.

At least one of the ITV stations managed to stay on during the strike and aired anything they could grab; they even expanded their local news to an hour (something they copied from the U.S.).

[hyperwhizzkid]

I remember vaguely the return of ITV after the strike - I remember being very excited at 3-2-1 being shown mid-week! And remember the BBC strike? Which meant just ONE channel - ITV, and nothing else!!

[AidanLunn]

if you are talking about the 1978 BBC strike - then I must correct you - Yorkshire Television were on strike for 2 days in that same period - leaving us poor Yorkshiremen with NO TV a few days before christmas 1978!!!

[Forestamtul]

It must have been boring enough with no ITV for two months but imagine both channels were on strike for months and thankfully it was only tor a few days but at christmas of all days.

this was days before we had so many channels like today. Hasnt tv changed in the last 30 yrs.

[dacrlit]

Which one of the ITV stations stayed on air please?

[johnnyaalaska]

Channel Television.

[Hoddersrevenge]

Because they weren't, and stilla ren't part of the ITV plc

[timonline2000]

Channel Television was the smallest company in the ITV network, and the company would have simply gone bust if staff joined the 1979 strike.

[rfitzhen]

Very cheesey

[LyndonSoulGroove]

itv programmes

[mjlodge]

isnt this comment about the 1968 emergency service - not the 1979 dispute..............

[numberstation]

Jesus!That music for the news at 545 made me think I was on an acid flashback!

[mjlodge]

am i right in thinking that this was done by Thames and broadcast across the network for all ITV companies so they could start earning money quickly after the strike - but that it only lasted for a few days until individual companies go themselves up and running again ... and they chose to opt out?

Can anyone clarify?

[troublemaker1973]

Yes, that's right.

[LuthansaTerminal]

Yes, if you look at the clock before the news, it's the Thames on-screen clock with an 'ITV' caption stuck over the usual 'Thames' logo

[neckus22]

It certainly is!

[AidanLunn]

I have seen Yorkshire TV returning from the strike and they used a full Yorkshire TV start-up sequence with one of their announcers - so if they had a continuity announcer in Leeds then i don't know why they didn't choose their own continuity into the ITN 5:45 news.

[malfcouk]

Remember this very well !!

[showsimon]

I wish it was 1979 so i could watch that episode of Crossroads!

[troublemaker1973]

I was 6 at the time. I remember being so excited about ITV coming back on and I could see the Muppets again!

[MoleinaHole]

Sound on!!! Vision on !!!

[whirlyfan]

i wanna watch muppets lol! wasn't born yet !

[tsangari]

I was 18 days old when this was transmitted!

[Dustybin321]

it was 1979

[RSS1998]

What year was this? It looks pretty old lol.

[TVnostalgia]

I remember liking the music & taped it on my cassette recorder!

[rayflute]

Me too!! :D

[luckyboy19]

I remember it like it was yesterday!! OMG I'm getting old...lol

[guywoodhouse]

This is when I saw Chinatown for the first time. Exciting.