ATV continuity & How We Used To Live

[LollieSmith]

used to watch this at school

[disremembrance]

When did the more familiar 'How We Used to Live' theme tune begin?

[CaptainSiCo]

@disremembrance Autumn 1981, with series 4.

[thomasking55]

I've asked that same question to whoever recorded it decades ago...

[borgduck]

You idiot! why did you stop the tape when that nice music was playing??

[cwilliams1976]

You will find that, until 1982, this was transmitted in the half-hour slot intended for use for intervals whilst the IBA were using it to distribute any new advertisements to the network feed for approval before any schools programmes could be transmitted on the network, and this was between 1030 and 1100.

[thomasking55]

Someone commented about decoding the teletext. Anyone know how I can do that? Just plug the RF into a TV?

[tsangari]

That was probably me - my mission is to recover legible teletext signals from video tapes assumed to be of better quality than VHS. Just plug RF into TV and watch as usual. Then, turn on the teletext to see any results.

[airscrew1]

You are quite right. I had some old episodes of The Professionals and if I was watching one I could also see the teletext that was broadcast on the night I taped the programme.

[tsangari]

My gob just dropped as I couldn't believe what I just read - my lips just drew saliva!! Did you say at the end that the tapes were of the U-matic format?

[Jamiep84]

Your school had a u-matic video recorder? awesome :)

[RobinCarmody]

The music played regionally by ATV, from what we hear of it, sounds oddly like Johnny Pearson's music played in schools intervals (which were networked from ATV of course).

[tvarksouthwest]

The same track was frequently used as incidental music in the Southern version of The Famous Five. Possibly Bruton, another recurring track from Bruton in the same series was "Montego Bay".

[RobinCarmody]

tx date for this clip is Monday 25th September 1978 - oddly, the Anglia TV Times does not list any variations for neighbouring ATV at this time (Anglia were rerunning an edition of Survival, typically) but that's clearly just an oversight: the HWUTL and My World titles listed there are the same as Mike mentions here.

The final days of consensus, Callaghan's lost moment ... I have gone on many times, bored half the internet to death no doubt, but it still haunts.

[ATVmidlands5581]

what alovely ATV interval caption that is for the programme 'something different'. how tv was so much better back then. ATV had integrity warth and charm unlike ITV today. they treated their audience as intelligent people. how we miss those regional stations. sadly all closed now for cist cutting.

[dunkiep]

Wow, I remember the stamp!

[LuthansaTerminal]

12 minutes past 10! what sort of crazy scheduling is that?

[RobinCarmody]

Until about the late 1980s, such timings were the norm for daytime schools programmes.

[CaptainSiCo]

This version of HWUTL was shown from Autumn 1978 - Spring 1981: The ITV Schools slide dates this to Autumn 1978.

[RobinCarmody]

Which only makes it all the more heartstopping ... and of course the announcer is Mike Prince at his finest, speaking first to the network, and then just to the Midlands.

Remarkably, the last series of How We Used To Live (still made by YTV, by then part of Granada) went out as recently as 2002, although only in the early hours on Channel 4.

[Gayunderweather]

That's what should be on Day Time TV and not the consumer rubbish that we've got now.

[cwilliams1976]

I totally agree with you - and bring back the test card!!!!