Thames Television was a
licenseeA broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
of the British
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television network, covering
LondonGreater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
and parts of
the surrounding countiesThe home counties is a term which refers to the counties of South East England and the East of England which border London, but do not include the capital city itself...
on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992.
Formed through a merger between the television interests of
British Electric TractionBritish Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...
(trading as Associated Rediffusion) and
Associated British Picture CorporationAssociated British Picture Corporation , originally British International Pictures , was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970...
(trading as
ABC Weekend TelevisionAssociated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
) it was both a broadcaster and a producer of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and for networking nationally across the ITV regions. The
British Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
describes Thames as having "served the capital and the network with a long-running, broad-based and extensive series of programmes, several of which either continue or are well-remembered today."
Thames covered a broad spectrum of commercial public-service television, with a strong mix of drama, current affairs and comedy. The company's logo remains widely recognizable and was accompanied by a
fanfareA Fanfare is a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets and other brass instruments often accompanied by percussion...
called
Salute to Thames, composed by
Johnny HawksworthJohnny Hawksworth is a British musician and composer who has lived and worked in Australia since 1984.Hawksworth initially trained as a pianist, but also played double bass for Britain's leading big band the Ted Heath Orchestra during the early 1950s and through the 1960s...
.
After Thames was acquired by
FremantleMediaFremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
it was merged with another Fremantle company,
Talkback ProductionsTalkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. The company is one of the UK’s leading production companies and part of the RTL Group, a major European broadcast and content company....
, to form a new independant production company Talkback Thames; consequently Thames no longer exists as a separate entity. However it was announced on 22nd November 2011, that from 1st January 2012, the Thames brand will be revived as Talkback Thames is split into four different brands; Thames, Talkback, Boundless and Retort.
Formation
From launch in 1955 to July 1968, the
Independent Television AuthorityThe Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
(ITA) contract to provide programming on the
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network for London on weekdays had been operated by
Associated-RediffusionAssociated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
. Geographical and structural changes in the network created by the ITA's 1967 invitation for applicants for new contracts for the right to broadcast on ITV (running from 1968 to 1974 and sometimes referred to as a 'contract round') meant that
ABC Weekend TelevisionAssociated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
(ABC) lost both their contracts (sometimes known as franchises), serving the Midlands and the North at weekends, as these areas were to become seven-day operations.
Consequently ABC applied for both the Midlands seven-day operation and the contract to serve London at the weekend, preferring the latter. It was widely expected that the company would be awarded the weekend franchise. However, after an impressive application, it was allocated to the
London Television ConsortiumLondon Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, led by presenter
David FrostSir David Paradine Frost, OBE is a British journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and daytime TV game show host best known for his two decades as host of Through the Keyhole and serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon...
amongst others.
ABC was a popular station, whose productions earned vital foreign currency. Station management and presentation style were well-admired and it could have been controversial to dismiss that as a result of administrative changes. It was equally difficult for ABC to win the Midlands seven-day contract as the existing five-days contractor
ATVAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
had also applied and was a large earner of overseas revenue, having won the Queen's Award for Export in 1966.
The outcome proposed by the ITA was a "shotgun marriage" between ABC and Rediffusion, the resultant company being awarded the contract to serve London on weekdays. Control of the new company would be given to ABC, a move unpopular with Rediffusion.
Rediffusion had believed that their contract renewal was a 'formality' and their application reflected this complacency: The company had treated the ITA high-handedly in interviews. In the early days of ITV, the company had worked hard to keep the network on-air during financial crises that threatened the collapse of other stations, notably
GranadaGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. It was reported that Rediffusion's chairman Sir John Spencer Wills felt the ITA owed his company a 'debt of gratitude' for this, a comment which particularly annoyed the Authority. During the interview process several members of Rediffusion management also appeared in interviews for applicants for other regions, principally the London Television Consortium, as well as the interview for Rediffusion, leading the ITA to question the loyalty at the company.
In programming, Rediffusion was originally considered stuffy but in the previous contract round of 1964, it had re-invented itself, dropping the name 'Associated Rediffusion' in favour of the more
swinging 'Rediffusion London', to reflect the cultural changes of the time, and output altered accordingly.
Questioning the ITA's decision Rediffusion attempted to slow down the merger: Only the threat of giving the licence solely to ABC made it relent. To assist Rediffusion financially the ITA insisted that the new company have two sets of shares, voting shares which would allow ABC to have control (with 51%) and 'B' shares which were to be split equally between the two, thus sharing profits fairly.
After some discussion as to the name of the new company – some directors favoured 'ABC London', while others suggested 'Tower Television' to reflect the Post Office Tower and the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
– it was named
Thames Television, after the
River ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. This name had been previously considered and rejected by
London Weekend Television.
The structure of the new company was also a problem. A merger between the two existing contract holders
Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited and
Rediffusion Television Limited was impossible due to internal politics as was a merger between their respective parent companies
Associated British Picture Corporation and
British Electric Traction. The answer was a new
holding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
,
Thames Television (Holdings) Ltd.
On Tuesday 30 July 1968, Thames began broadcasting to London, from the start of broadcasting on Monday until its handover to LWT at 7.00 pm on Fridays. (From 1982, the handover time was 5.15 pm). The opening week was disrupted by sporadic strike action; the following week, the action had spread to all of ITV and resulted in the creation of a management-run
ITV Emergency National ServiceThe ITV Emergency National Service was the management response to the near-complete Independent Television technicians strike immediately after the 1968 franchise changes took effect....
for some two weeks.
Industrial disputes
Like most of ITV, Thames was beset by conflicts with trade unions, notably the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) – indeed, the worst strike to hit the network originated at Thames. Failure to reach agreement on pay increases and shift allowances in the 1979 pay round resulted in technicians switching off power to the transmission facilities at the Euston Road centre on 6 August. After management restored power, the technicians walked out. Within four days the whole of the ITV network was off-air after the ACTT asked members at other companies to walk out in claim for a 15% pay rise. The network was off the air for ten weeks.
In 1984 another strike was called, this time over the use of new cameras and editing equipment along with overtime payments for transmission staff. The technicians walked out for two weeks but the station was off the air for just one day as management and administration staff took over their roles.
Arson attack
In April 1970, 25-year old
unemployedUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
advertising model Patricia Drew entered the main foyer at Thames' new Euston Road offices and threw a petrol bomb at the reception desk, causing minor damage. Drew was suffering a
mental illnessA mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and believed
David FrostSir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
was part of a government experiment to hypnotise people via television transmissions. Although Frost worked for the ITV weekend London contractor,
LWTLondon Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, she targeted the offices of Thames as she also believed
Eamonn AndrewsEamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
, the then-presenter of Thames'
Today, the local news programme, was also part of the scheme.
Little comment was made on this story at the time and it only fully emerged after a
journalistJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
made a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005.
Ownership changes
In 1985,
Carlton CommunicationsCarlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
launched a take-over bid for Thames after
Thorn EMIThorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in...
and
BETBritish Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...
decided to sell. This was blocked by both Richard Dunn,
Chief ExecutiveA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Thames, and by the
IBAThe Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
. Thames then proceeded to have a management buyout and were floated on the
Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
. It is said that Carlton Chief Executive
Michael GreenMichael Philip Green is a British businessman.He attended Haberdashers' Aske's School in Elstree, Hertfordshire on a scholarship and left, aged 17, with four O-Levels....
talked to the then
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
on the matter, which in turn may have helped to shape the 1990 Parliamentary Act which replaced the IBA with the
Independent Television CommissionThe Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
and the change in franchise allocation procedures.
Franchise loss
On October 16, 1991, Thames lost its 'Channel 3' franchise to broadcast to London during weekdays as a result of losing the silent auction used to renegotiate the expiring contracts; previous contract tenders had been based on merit alone – the record of incumbents against the potential of new applicants – with no cash element. The successful company was
Carlton TelevisionCarlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
, a subsidiary of Carlton Communications and headed by
Michael GreenMichael Philip Green is a British businessman.He attended Haberdashers' Aske's School in Elstree, Hertfordshire on a scholarship and left, aged 17, with four O-Levels....
.
This occurrence was seen as controversial by many and highly significant by most given Thames's history within ITV, both as a long-standing franchisee in its own right; its heritage from the start of the network, through its founding parents ABC and Rediffusion London; the fact that it was one of the major contributors of content to the network; and due to the auction method used to conduct the new 'franchise round' – a significant change from previous rounds, brought about by the
1990 Broadcasting ActThe Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...
.
Consequently, the franchise loss became a subject of political debate, with changes brought about by the 1990 act being cited as the primary reason for an operation such as Thames being able to lose its licence to broadcast. That the then Conservative government had passed such an act, caused accusations of direct responsibility to be levelled on former Prime Minister
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in particular, who had presided over its creation. Opinions vary on the matter of political motivations; some cite the documentary "
Death On The RockDeath on the Rock is a British Academy Television Award-winning episode of Thames Television's current affairs series This Week, first aired by the British television network ITV on 28 April 1988. On 6 March 1988, three Irish Republican Army members, Danny McCann, Sean Savage and Mairéad Farrell,...
", which may have caused displeasure to the then government, whilst others link it to a more general ideological dislike of the way ITV had been run at the time, with 'excessive over-manning' and the fact that programme production was generally limited to franchise holders (sometimes critically referred to as
barriers to entryIn theories of competition in economics, barriers to entry are obstacles that make it difficult to enter a given market. The term can refer to hindrances a firm faces in trying to enter a market or industry - such as government regulation, or a large, established firm taking advantage of economies...
) being seen as examples of why more commercial freedom and competition was needed within the network. An auction could be argued as being very much in the spirit of this style of thinking.
The amount that Thames offered to pay for its franchise was significantly less than the money offered by other companies, and although a 'quality of service' threshold was a part of the auction, this was not sufficient to save Thames. Since both Thames and Carlton were deemed to have passed the quality threshold, the franchise was awarded to Carlton for having submitted the higher cash bid. Some commentators consequently speculated that Thames had fallen victim to a 'government vendetta', whilst others felt that the auction had been won fairly.
In addition to Thames's departure from the network as franchise owners, it could also be argued that an equally significant part of the changeover was the fact that its replacement,
Carlton CommunicationsCarlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it taken over by Granada plc to form ITV plc with Carlton gaining 32% of the new company....
, broke away from the traditions of the 1968 and 1982 franchise rounds, in not acquiring and taking-over the bulk of its predecessors' studios, facilities, work-force and infrastructure. Instead, Carlton chose to commission the vast majority of its production content from third-parties; not only had ownership changed, but so too had the nature of a large part of ITV's operation. The 1990 act, again, could be cited as being responsible for this, with previous franchise rounds having specific stipulations preventing this from happening, whereas the latter act could be seen as encouraging this. Although Carlton initially stuck to its practice of outside-commissioning, it later acquired Midlands franchisee Central Television, and hence became one of the UK's largest commercial producers.
Thames Television was also involved in an attempt to win the
Channel 5Channel 5 is a television network that broadcasts in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1997, it was the fifth and final national terrestrial analogue network to launch. The station was branded as Five between 2002 and 2010...
licence when it was first advertised in 1992 as the main shareholder in a consortium (alongside
Warner Bros. TelevisionWarner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
and others) called "Channel Five Holdings" - as the lone bidder. They were however rejected by the ITC as a result of concerns about their business plan and investor backing. The deadline was therefore extended twice before finally handing the licence to
Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited.
On 31 December 1992, at 10:45pm, Thames' final programme as a broadcaster – a compilation of highlights from the station's output entitled
The End of the Year Show – aired in most ITV regions, with
Television SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
being the main exception, since they had their own farewell show,
Goodbye to All That. The programme ended with a clip from a 1978 Morecambe and Wise special as the closing credits played. After the closing credits came a congratulatory message:
After the programme, Thames signed off with a farewell announcement by chief executive Richard Dunn:
Following the announcement, a long montage of Thames' very best programmes through an edited-for-time version of
The TouristsThe Tourists were a British rock and pop band, but are better known for two of their members who went on to achieve great success as Eurythmics...
' cover of "
I Only Want to Be With You"I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz...
", which was shown mostly on Thames' final week, before ITN broadcast a special report with
Dermot MurnaghanDermot Murnaghan is a British journalist and television presenter.He is well known for his work as a presenter of ITV and BBC News as well as the shows Eggheads and Treasure Hunt . He co-presented BBC Breakfast from Monday to Thursday as well as regularly fronting national BBC news bulletins...
entitled
Into The New Year. At midnight when the chimes of Big Ben first struck, transmissions switched from Thames' headquarters in Euston Road in London, to the
London News NetworkLondon News Network was a television news and facilities organisation in London. It was created in 1992 as a joint operation between London's two ITV contractors, Carlton Television and London Weekend Television, with each company holding a 50% stake...
playout centre on the South Bank where
Carlton TelevisionCarlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
launched. After 25 years, Thames Television had finally ceased broadcasting.
Life after the franchise
Shortly before the loss of its franchise, Thames partnered with the BBC to launch UK Gold, an archive channel dedicated to classic programming from the archives of both broadcasters. At the time, the total audience of satellite and cable television had grown to around 3 million – roughly equivalent to that of a small ITV company. The group later launched UK Living, a channel for women. Some years later, Thames sold their stake in the UKTV venture to the cable group Telewest.
After 1992, Thames continued to produce programmes for the ITV network and other UK and international broadcasters, a notable example being the long-running police drama
The BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
. However the company radically changed: Thames studios at Teddington and their headquarters at Euston Road were sold as the company shrunk.
The company itself changed hands a number of times: it was owned by Pearson Television in 1996, which is now
FremantleMediaFremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
, part of the
RTL GroupRTL Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company, and is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It has 45 television and 32 radio stations in 11 countries...
; Fremantle also acquired
TalkBack ProductionsTalkback Productions was formed in 1981 by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. The company is one of the UK’s leading production companies and part of the RTL Group, a major European broadcast and content company....
and merged the two companies under the new name Talkback Thames in 2003.
Studios
When Thames was formed, the new company acquired the numerous properties of both the former Rediffusion and ABC. This meant that Thames now acquired Rediffusion's London headquarters at
Television HouseTelevision House, on Kingsway in London was, from 1955, the London headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion, Independent Television News , TV Times magazine, the Independent Television Companies Association and, at first, Associated TeleVision...
and their main studio complex at Wembley on top of ABC's headquarters and London base at
TeddingtonTeddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...
, their Midlands base in
AstonAlpha Television was a British limited company which operated television studios in Aston, Birmingham.- History :The company was formed in 1956 as a co-venture between two newly-created Independent Television companies, ATV and ABC Television...
, co-owned with ATV, their northern base in
DidsburyDidsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
,
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and a sales office in central Manchester. For the company to survive, it couldn't own all of these studios and so many were sold off.
The former Rediffusion studios at Wembley were sold off to
London Weekend TelevisionLondon Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
by order of the ITA. These studios were used by LWT until 1970, when they moved into
the London Television CentreThe London Studios is a television studio complex which is owned by London Weekend Television and has been home to the London Weekend ITV provider since 1972...
, and have since been in independent ownership under the name of Fountain Studios. ABC's
AstonAlpha Television was a British limited company which operated television studios in Aston, Birmingham.- History :The company was formed in 1956 as a co-venture between two newly-created Independent Television companies, ATV and ABC Television...
studios were sold to ATV, who already owned half of the studio complex and who now took full control, and who sold the site a few years later to an
independent local radioIndependent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. The same name is used for Independent Local Radio in Ireland.-Development of ILR:...
station. The Didsbury site was for a time used by
Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
prior to the
Kirkstall Road studiosThe Leeds Studios also known as the Yorkshire Television Studios or YTV Studios is a television production complex on Kirkstall Road in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
construction, but was later sold to
Manchester PolytechnicManchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
. The offices in Manchester were also sold.
This left Thames with a main production base at the former ABC studios at
TeddingtonTeddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...
, and with their headquarters in the former Rediffusion property
Television HouseTelevision House, on Kingsway in London was, from 1955, the London headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion, Independent Television News , TV Times magazine, the Independent Television Companies Association and, at first, Associated TeleVision...
until 1970, when Thames' corporate base moved to their newly constructed studios and base at
Thames Television HouseEuston Tower is a skyscraper located in the London Borough of Camden. It is a good example of an International style skyscraper with glass curtain walls. It is situated at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road/Hampstead Road and Euston Road. It stands across the Euston Road from Warren Street...
on
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
. The Teddington studios were highly desirable, as they had participated in colour experiments and were already partially converted, and as such were sought after by both Thames and LWT.
Following the loss of Thames' franchise and the amalgamation of the company into
talkbackTHAMESTalkback Thames is a British television production company, a division of FremantleMedia . It was formed by the merger of Talkback Productions and Thames Television, the former ITV network franchisee for London on weekdays between 1968 and 1992...
, the Euston Road base of Thames was sold off and demolished. The site of the studios is currently occupied by Triton Square and the registered headquarters of the British operation of spanish bank Santander. The studios at Teddington were sold to a management buy-out team and are now part of the Pinewood Group, owners of both
PinewoodPinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
and
Shepperton StudiosShepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
.
Presentation
Thames's station and production identification sequences (
ident Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
s) provided the station with some fame. For many years these would be aired both in London, where Thames would broadcast during the week, and throughout the country, animated before, and as a static image after, programmes produced for ITV by Thames.
The first idents to be used comprised a plain screen with the words 'FROM THAMES' written in white in the
HelveticaHelvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann.-Visual distinctive characteristics:Characteristics of this typeface are:lower case:square dot over the letter i....
font, and a
vignetteIn photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center. The word vignette, from the same root as vine, originally referred to a decorative border in a book. Later, the word came to be used for a photographic...
that resembled the famous ident, containing famous London landmarks. Both were accompanied by the tune 'Salute to Thames' written by Johnny Hawksworth. The first ident was used to signify programmes made at Rediffusion's old studios at
Adastral HouseTelevision House, on Kingsway in London was, from 1955, the London headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion, Independent Television News , TV Times magazine, the Independent Television Companies Association and, at first, Associated TeleVision...
, the latter shows that came from ABC's former
Teddington studiosTeddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...
.
With the introduction of colour, the ident was remodelled on the vignette, this time using photographs rather than drawings. This ident was designed by agency Minale Tattersfield. It was originally shot by stop-frame animation on 16 mm film, then shot again on 35 mm film in 1976 and finally digitized on computer in 1984. All of these animations featured the same design, which consisted of the skyline slowly rolling up from the River Thames along with the logo, which was reflected briefly on the water and then quickly faded to its static position at the center of the ident.
This classic ident was finally withdrawn in the summer of 1989, ahead of ITV's first attempt at generic presentation. Before that, Thames celebrated its 21st anniversary with an ident that retained the London landmarks but contained them in a blue and orange triangle, pointing downwards, with three wavy blue lines to represent the river and the words 'THAMES XXI' in the orange part of the triangle. This ident used an orchestral version of 'Salute to Thames'. The triangle design was retained for the company's first ITV generic ident from September 1989 (as shown right).
A new ident was launched in 1990, featuring a redesigned triangle logo containing
Big BenBig Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world...
, the
British Telecom TowerThe BT Tower is a tall cylindrical building in London, United Kingdom, located at 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia W1T 4JZ, London Borough of Camden. It has been previously known as the Post Office Tower, the London Telecom Tower and the British Telecom Tower. The main structure is tall, with a...
, the dome of
St Paul's CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
and
Tower BridgeTower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...
. Initially, this ident was used only before local programmes; a modified ITV generic ident featuring this new logo was used for networked shows until Thames learned of the loss of its franchise to
CarltonCarlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
in October 1991. After this, the former ident was used for all programmes.
Though Thames ceased broadcasting at the end of 1992, it continued to use the triangle logo for its first few years as an independent production company.
A special montage ended the station's last broadcast on New Year's Eve 1992. The montage, variants of which were also aired in the last days of the station's broadcasts, comprised clips of notable Thames programmes, and included short segments of some of the station's previous idents. It was played to the song "I Only Want To Be With You" by
The TouristsThe Tourists were a British rock and pop band, but are better known for two of their members who went on to achieve great success as Eurythmics...
, and ended with a modified version of the ident used at the time and an announcer reading the line "Thames, a Talent for Television". This was followed by the sounds and an image of Big Ben, a common practise for marking the start of the New Year, which was also the time that Thames's ITV franchise would end but not before ITN showed their news report called
Into The New Year.
Programmes
The station originally continued formats inherited from its predecessors. These included the variety show
Opportunity Knocks, the last series of
The AvengersThe Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and the detective thrillers
CallanCallan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...
and
Public Eye, all inherited from ABC. One of these shows was the comedy
Do Not Adjust Your SetDo Not Adjust Your Set was a children's television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969....
, formerly Rediffusion, – nominally a children's show, but forerunner of
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
.
The Sooty ShowThe Sooty Show is a British children's television series that aired on the BBC from 1955 to 1967 when the BBC eventually cancelled The Sooty Show after Paul Fox, the controller of BBC1 at the time, cleared out some of the long running shows. After it was cancelled from the BBC that year, The Sooty...
, cancelled in 1967 by the BBC, aired on Thames's first day and after
Harry CorbettHarry Corbett OBE was a British puppeteer, known as the creator in 1948 of the long running 'Sooty' glove puppet character.He was born in Bradford to coal miner James W...
's retirement in 1975 continued with his son,
Matthew CorbettMatthew Corbett is an English television personality best known for The Sooty Show and laterly Sooty and Co. He is the son of Harry Corbett...
, until November 1992, a month before Thames closed down (the programme was replaced by
Sooty & Co, produced by
GranadaGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
). The company took over
This Is Your LifeThis Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
after the BBC dropped it. It ran for 26 years on ITV. When the show moved back to the BBC, Thames continued to produce it until it was axed again in 2003.
Other Thames shows included
This Week (known as
TV Eye between 1979 and 1985), the drama
The Naked Civil ServantThe Naked Civil Servant is the title of two biographical works, both based on the life of Quentin Crisp:*The Naked Civil Servant is Crisp's 1968 autobiographical book...
,
Rumpole of the BaileyRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
, the game shows
Strike It LuckyStrike It Lucky was a popular British television game show from 1986 to 1999, originally produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore...
,
Give Us A ClueGive Us a Clue is a British televised game show version of charades which was broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel from 1979 to 1983, followed by Michael Parkinson from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two teams, one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una...
and
Name That TuneName That Tune is a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta....
, the dramas
Dodger, Bonzo and the RestDodger, Bonzo and the Rest was a television drama series which centered around the lives of Michael "Dodger" Dolan and his sister, Carol who were part of a large foster family in London. It was aired in the early evenings on the ITV channel's Children's ITV. There were two series of six episodes...
,
Rock FolliesRock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...
,
Reilly, Ace of SpiesReilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies to ever work for the British. Among his exploits in the early 20th century were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of...
and
Danger UXBDanger UXB is a 1979 British ITV television series developed by John Hawkesworth and starring Anthony Andrews as Lieutenant Brian Ash, a new direct commission officer in World War II....
, and the
Benny Hill ShowThe Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
and
Mr. BeanMr. Bean is a British comedy television programme series of 14 half-hour episodes written by and starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character. Different episodes were also written by Robin Driscoll, Richard Curtis and one by Ben Elton. The pilot episode was broadcast on ITV on 1 January 1990,...
.
The World at War was a history of the Second World War using unseen footage and interviews at high level. The show, narrated by Sir
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, was commissioned in 1969, took four years to produce, and cost a record £4m (approx £32m at today's prices).
Thames produced a number of sitcoms including
Father, Dear FatherFather, Dear Father is a British television sitcom produced by Thames Television for ITV from 1968 to 1973 starring Patrick Cargill. It was subsequently made into a spin-off film of the same title released in 1973....
,
Bless This House starring
Sid JamesSid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
,
George and MildredGeorge and Mildred is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television that aired from 1976 to 1979. It was a spin-off from Man About the House and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as an ill-matched married couple, George and Mildred Roper...
,
After HenryAfter Henry is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1988 to 1992. Starring Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson, it had started on BBC Radio 4 in 1985, finishing in 1989. It was written by Simon Brett...
,
Never the TwainNever the Twain is a British sitcom that ran for eleven series from 1981 to 1991. It was created by Johnnie Mortimer, and was the only sitcom he ever created without his usual writing partner, Brian Cooke...
, and
Love Thy NeighbourLove Thy Neighbour was a popular British sitcom, which was aired from 13 April 1972, until 22 January 1976, spanning seven series. The sitcom was produced by Thames Television and broadcast by ITV. The main cast included Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams...
, with its controversial take on racial issues. Less well-known is its adaptation of
Andy CappAndy Capp is a British sitcom based on the cartoon Andy Capp. It starred James Bolam and ran for one series in 1988. It was written by Keith Waterhouse. Unusually for a sitcom, there was no studio audience during the filming of Andy Capp...
, starring
James BolamJames Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
. Two of its more recent sitcoms found more success when they transferred away from
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
–
Men Behaving BadlyMen Behaving Badly is a British comedy that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang and his flatmates, Dermot Povey and Tony Smart It was first broadcast on ITV in 1992...
, which moved to the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1994 and
Is It Legal?Is It Legal? is a British television sitcom set in a solicitors office in Hounslow, west London, which ran from 1995 to 1998. It was produced by Hartswood Films and was shown on ITV for Series 1-2 and Channel 4 for Series 3...
, which moved to
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 1997. Both were written by Simon Nye and co-produced by independent company
Hartswood FilmsHartswood Films is a British television production company, founded and run by producer Beryl Vertue. The company is noted for its sitcom output, which includes Men Behaving Badly, Is It Legal? and Coupling...
. It also produced the children's show
MagpieMagpie was a children's television programme shown on ITV from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. It was a magazine format show intended to compete with the BBC's Blue Peter, but attempted to be more "hip", focusing more on popular culture...
, intended as a rival for
Blue PeterBlue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, and
RainbowRainbow is a British children's television series, created by Pamela Lonsdale, which ran twice weekly at 12:10 on Tuesdays and Fridays on the ITV network, from 16 October 1972 to 6 March 1992...
, which started in 1972 and ran all the way up until the loss of the Thames broadcasting franchise in 1992. Thames became a significant contributor to the ITV network and its shows (most notably
The World at War and
The Benny Hill Show) became worldwide award-winning successes. Unusually for a commercial broadcaster it also produced lavish versions of Gilbert and Sullivan's
The MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
and Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
.
In addition to its evening and peak time programming, Thames changed the face of daytime television in Britain.
Afternoon Plus brought the art of intelligent interviewing to a wide and growing audience.
Thames' subsidiary production company
Euston FilmsEuston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
produced many of Thames' highest-profile contributions to ITV network programming. These included
The SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
(1975–78),
MinderMinder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
(1979–94) and
QuatermassQuatermass is a British television science fiction serial produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network in October and November 1979. Like its three predecessors, Quatermass was written by Nigel Kneale...
(1979).
Culture
Thames is often quoted as a prime example of a good commercial public-service broadcaster with shows covering all aspects of the spectrum and the largest producer in the network. Its shows achieved massive audiences and are still remembered many years later. This is sometimes attributed to the culture of the company, which could be claimed to be a continuation of that at ABC. This station was more highly regarded by the ITA (amongst others) than Rediffusion whose programming was seen as downmarket and whose management-style was viewed as high-handed.
The ITA ordered ABC's Managing Director
Howard ThomasHoward Thomas CBE was a Welsh-born British radio producer and television executive.-Early career:Thomas began his career typing invoices for a firm of wire-drawers in Manchester. While doing that job, he taught himself to write newspaper articles and short plays...
to be appointed in a similar capacity at the new station. ABC had majority control of the new company and the make-up of its board predominantly (and eventually fully) came from ABC. The use of ABC's studios at Teddington meant the workforce was predominantly ex-ABC (although those at Kingsway were ex-Rediffusion). However, with the inherited creative talent and facilities the opportunity bequeathed to the new station was enormous.
Thames also benefited from benign shareholders. There were just two shareholders at the company, these being the former owners of Rediffusion,
British Electric TractionBritish Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...
, and the owners of ABC, the
ABPCAssociated British Picture Corporation , originally British International Pictures , was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970...
, later to become (via mergers)
Thorn EMIThorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in...
.
The two companies allowed Thames independence (although in later years there were accusations that they both treated the company as a
cash cowIn business, a cash cow is a product or a business unit that generates unusually high profit margins: so high that it is responsible for a large amount of a company's operating profit...
). This allowed the station to establish separate divisions to focus on particular genres.
Euston FilmsEuston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
was established in 1971 by independent producers financed by Thames and specialised in drama output while Cosgrove Hall was employed to produce children's animation. The children's department also spawned the independent production company Tetra Films, which would later revive some classic Thames children's programmes for ITV –
The Tomorrow PeopleThe Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
(1992-5, in association with Thames-owned Reeves Entertainment for ITV and Nickelodeon) and
RainbowRainbow is a British children's television series, created by Pamela Lonsdale, which ran twice weekly at 12:10 on Tuesdays and Fridays on the ITV network, from 16 October 1972 to 6 March 1992...
(1994/96, for HTV) - along with a range of original film and television productions.
Controversy
Dallas
In 1985, the company made a deal with international distributors for US production company Lorimar to purchase the US drama
DallasDallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
, at that time transmitted on
BBC1BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. This broke a
gentlemen's agreementA gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
not to poach each others' imported shows. Thames paid $60,000 a show compared to the $33,000 of the BBC. The deal brought condemnation from the BBC and from other ITV stations, who feared the BBC would poach their imports, pushing up prices. The BBC delayed transmission of the episodes of
Dallas that they already had, planning to broadcast them at the same time Thames broadcast their new purchases. Ultimately, pressure from other ITV companies (notably
Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
) forced Thames to sell them back to the distributor at a loss.
Morecambe and Wise
In 1978. Thames secured British entertainers Morecambe & Wise, the stars of the BBC1 Christmas schedules which overshadowed ITV programmes with 27 million viewers. They had worked with the BBC since 1968, after leaving
ATVAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
because it would not make their shows in colour. Thames offered them a film through the Euston Films subsidiary and clinched the deal. Their leading scriptwriter,
Eddie BrabenEddie Braben is a comedy writer and performer who has provided material for such figures as David Frost and Ronnie Corbett, and who is most famous for having written for Ken Dodd and Morecambe and Wise....
, did not initially move to ITV with them, and with Eric Morecambe's failing health, the shows never repeated the audiences they once had. Productions were delayed while Morecambe recovered from heart surgery. The film he and Wise wanted to make –
Night Train To MurderNight Train To Murder is a 1984 British comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Morecambe and Wise. It was the last work that Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise worked on together before Eric's death in 1984...
– was eventually screened on New Year's Day 1985.
Benny Hill
In 1989, Thames sacked
Benny HillBenny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
, a stalwart at the station since 1969. It was widely believed that he was dismissed because his shows were considered offensive. Thames' decision was taken on ratings grounds: Hill made only 58 hour-long episodes in the 20 years. He stayed in the public eye by repeats and by re-edits of hour-long productions into a half-hour format. The show at its peak had 21 million but the last episode had nine million viewers.
Bill Grundy and The Sex Pistols
In 1976, the punk band The Sex Pistols uttered obscenities on the live show evening news programme
Today. They were being interviewed by
Bill GrundyWilliam "Bill" Grundy was an English television presenter and former host of Today, a regional news programme broadcast on Thames Television...
. Grundy made it clear he did not like their lifestyle. When singer Johnny Rotten uttered
shit, Grundy asked him to repeat it. One band member,
Steve JonesStephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
, called Grundy a
dirty old man and a
fucking rotter. Grundy claimed he had allowed bad language to show the Sex Pistols as they were. There had, however, been claims that he had been drinking; he introduced the group as
...being drunk as I am. The transmission was not stopped. There were 30 seconds to the end of the show and producers feared trouble in the studio if the show were halted. Grundy was suspended and
Today ended soon afterwards; his career never recovered.
This Week: Death On The Rock
The most controversial act was the documentary "
Death On The RockDeath on the Rock is a British Academy Television Award-winning episode of Thames Television's current affairs series This Week, first aired by the British television network ITV on 28 April 1988. On 6 March 1988, three Irish Republican Army members, Danny McCann, Sean Savage and Mairéad Farrell,...
", part of the current affairs
This WeekThis Week was a weekly current affairs series first produced for ITV in January 1956 by Associated-Rediffusion , running until 1978, when it was replaced by TV Eye...
series. The programme questioned the authority of British troops who had gunned down suspected Provisional IRA members allegedly planning a
terroristTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
attack on a British military ceremony on
GibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. The documentary was regarded almost as treason by many
ConservativeThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politicians, and by newspapers such as
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
.
See also
- Euston Films
Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
- Talkback Thames
- Thames Silents
Thames Silents is a series of releases of films from the silent era produced by the British ITV contractor Thames Television...
- Associated Rediffusion
- Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
- Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
- London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
- ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
- History of ITV
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1954.-The early years: 1954–1963:After much debate both in the British Parliament and the British Press, the Television Act became law in 1954...
External links