Central Independent Television
Encyclopedia
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central (now ITV Central) is the Independent Television
contractor for the Midlands
, created following the restructuring of ATV
and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc
, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited. The main news programme it broadcast for the region is Central Tonight
.
many of its major productions were recorded at its main studios at Elstree
, London
, a legacy of when the company also served London at the weekends prior to 1968. Equally, its corporate headquarters were in central London.
ATV attempted to address its problem in 1980 as part of its franchise re-application; with plans for a second major facility in the area (to be based in Nottingham
) and as part of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
plan for the contract to be a dual region, they would provide separate news coverage for both the East and the West Midlands. The company name would also be changed from ATV Network Limited to ATV Midlands Limited, thus reinforcing the new regional focus. The IBA accepted ATV's assertion that ATV Midlands Ltd planned to take a more local identity, and awarded the contract to ATV Midlands Ltd on the basis that further changes were to be implemented, including that the parent company Associated Communications Corporation would divest 49% of its shareholding in ATV Midlands Ltd in an attempt to introduce local shareholders and that ATV Midlands Ltd's registered office should be within the region. To demonstrate this change of share structure, the IBA insisted that ATV change its company name, to show that it was a substantially new company.
It has been reported that, around the time of the franchise changing hands, a local businessman had registered dozens of company names (some of which included the words "Central" and "Television"), in the hope of being offered substantial financial compensation to relinquish the rights to one of these, if chosen by the new company. Central got around this by simply inserting "Independent" into their name on registering it (something the businessman had not thought of).
(with studios in Birmingham), and one for the East Midlands
(with studios in Nottingham). There were few differences between the sub-regions, but each had its own news service and advertisements. This led to the BBC
also producing two news programmes (Midlands Today
for the West and East Midlands Today
for the East). Central pre-empted the 1990 Broadcasting Act (and a new condition of the Midlands licence) by adding a third sub-region - Central South - in 1989, broadcasting on the Oxford and Ridge Hill transmitters and establishing the news centre on an industrial park in Abingdon in Oxfordshire (retained for the Thames Valley service in 2006, although minus the studio).
The station opened transmission at 09:25 on Friday, 1 January 1982 with an authority announcement by duty announcer Su Evans, followed by an extended 5-minute promo entitled Welcome to Central, previewing the company's network and regional programming and the schedule for the first day of transmission. The logo is often thought of as a 'cake', but in fact it was an 'eclipse' after the Total Lunar Eclipse on 9 January 1982.
had owned a stake in Central since the early eighties (before Carlton Television
became an ITV Franchisee in its own right). In 1994, Central was completely bought by Carlton and on 6 September 1999 was rebranded as Carlton Central, though the registered company name remained Central Independent Television Limited. The new identity, produced by Lambie-Nairn
was used across all of Carlton's franchises; Carlton London
, Carlton Westcountry
and some elements on HTV
. Only the "Carlton" name was used on air, however Central's regional news programmes retained the "Central" brand.
With the merger of Carlton and Granada on 2 February 2004, the brand became ITV1 Central. Central Independent Television is currently owned by ITV plc
and on 29 December 2006, Central's registered company name was changed from Central Independent Television Ltd to ITV Central Ltd.
, Lenton Lane. (This move was even brought in to play in one of its most famous shows Boon
when the main characters moved from Birmingham to Nottingham in its fourth series in 1989.) This facility was to be called 'The Television House'. Until the new Nottingham studios were ready, Central operated from a converted facility on an industrial estate at Giltbrook
, near Eastwood on the outskirts of Nottingham. Operations at Nottingham were to be staffed by employees originally based at Elstree, which led to many problems due to the relocation, including industrial action (in fact, it was because of this industrial action that the promised separate news service for the East Midlands did not begin until 1984, by which time they had vacated Giltbrook).
In 1989, Central opened a third studios for its new South sub-region and city, based in Abingdon
, near Oxford
.
In 1994, the company's new owners Carlton acquired land on Gas Street, Birmingham, to begin work on building a new digital studio complex, with the intention of replacing Central's Broad Street studios. The new centre was completed in 1997, when Central West's regional news department moved from its Broad Street base. A tribute to the Broad Street studios was broadcast on Central News West.
Having been one of the first fully computerised news programmes, Central News South was again a pioneer of new technology when, in the Spring of 2001, state-of-the-art Quantel
digital video servers and edit suites were installed, along with a complete re-fit of camera and VTR equipment, placing Central South at the forefront of digital news-gathering in regional news.
In February 2004, ITV plc
announced plans to close and sell the Nottingham Lenton Lane production centre. Following the closure of the studios, a new news-gathering centre was established in the city, but production of Central News East moved to Central's Birmingham Gas Street studio in Spring 2005. The former studio complex is now part of The University of Nottingham
and is known as 'King's Meadow Campus
'. It still maintains one Studio (Studio 7), and this is rented out to television and film Companies, generating income for the University.
In October 2004, ITV plc
closed Central's presentation/transmission department and moved transmission to the Northern Transmission Centre in Leeds
. Although there was heavy opposition, the role of presentation and transmission at Birmingham had been significantly reduced after network presentation was centralised to LNN
in London in 2002 and so there was an inevitability that this function would be moved out. CITV
(Children's ITV), which had been presented from Central's Birmingham studios since 1983, was also re-homed to Granada
's studios in Manchester
, with all content pre-recorded and with out-of vision presentation.
It was announced on 6 June 2006 that Central News South's existence as a news region was to end after 17 years when the eastern half of the region (the area served by the Oxford transmitter) would merge its operations with Meridian West
's output, forming a new news region named ITV Thames Valley
and a new news programme, Thames Valley Tonight
would begin. Originally, the changes were supposed to make over 40 workers redundant
from the closure of Central South's Abingdon base, however this was later reduced to 20. The last edition was broadcast on Sunday 3 December, although there was a pan-regional Central News broadcast the following morning during GMTV
. At the same time, ITV West
's broadcast footprint was expanded to cover North Gloucestershire from the West's Bristol
studios, while Herefordshire
re-joined Central News West from Birmingham
. Abingdon was retained as a newsgathering base, whilst equipment was sold off.
In September 2007, Central House on Broad Street was covered in scaffolding, ready for demolition, which commenced the following month. The facade, exhibition hall and studio block still remain as of November 2009.
A documentary about the Broad Street studios complex is in the process of being put together. Entitled 'From ATVLand In Colour' (referring to the nickname used on Tiswas, and the building being purpose-built by ATV for colour broadcasting), the documentary features presenters, actors, announcers and behind-the-scenes staff talking about their time working in the studios, and the programmes that were made there by Central, and predecessor ATV. Contributors include Chris Tarrant
, Shaw Taylor
, Jane Rossington
and Bob Carolgees
.
appearing to its left hand side. This ident was dropped in 1985 expect for Front and end caps on Networked programmes until 1988.
on the left. by 1988, a new station logo was adopted, featuring all the elements of the disc. The new logo was a circle in shape, but with a curved line running down the left hand side and five horizontal lines dividing the sphere up into twelve segments. The left six segments were coloured red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple and the whole symbol was computer animated. The symbol, nicknamed The Cake, would have a variety of form ups, mainly involved with bringing the segments together or applying the colour to the symbol. The soundtrack was the same composition, but played in a variety of different ways.
Central adopted the ITV 1989 generic look as another ident to use alongside the Cake. The generic ident was used in its raw form, with altered music, and as part of another ident giving greater emphasis to the cake but was dropped in 1990. Between 1988 - 1997 well over 10'000 different piece of variations were made, including break bumpers, ident, "next" or many other features, Which give the channel a hugh range of presentation. The last batch to be created was in 1997, in which the cake became more abstract with both more advanced computer graphics used and more live action models and sequences.
who had been using since 1996. This featured the name Central in the font Gill Sans
in centre screen against a bright and colourful background. The idents featured a 2D animation of either the letters interacting in some way, a letter being replaced with another object, or the word being part of a larger scene, such as a cross word of place names in the region. The look was to subside however in 1999.
The Carlton brand continued to be seen on production captions until February 2004, when the caption A Carlton Production or A Carlton Production for Central England being used. This was replaced, following the merger of Granada PLC and Carlton Communications
to form ITV plc
, with an ITV regional logo featuring the word Central below the ITV logo. Today, all productions have been moved away from the Midlands region, and any productions are accredited to ITV Studios
.
series Boon
. Original programming included the comedy-drama
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
(more recently revived by the BBC) and the game shows The Price is Right
, Bullseye
and Blockbusters.
On the second day of transmissions, Central made a poor impression to viewers when the Tiswas
spin-off O.T.T.
went on air. The show was hosted by Chris Tarrant
, Lenny Henry
and Helen Atkinson Wood. Though it did receive 13 million viewers on that night, it was criticised for being "too sexist" and it did not help that the opening titles were of a naked blow-up doll floating around the screen. Though its viewing figures would normally have earned another series, it was cancelled after the first series, mainly due to its risky and dangerous acts.
Aside from continuing the theme of ATV, Central also produced the heavyweight drama Walter for the first evening of Channel 4
. A critically acclaimed drama it starred Ian McKellen
in the eponymous lead role as a handicapped
man adjusting to life after the death of his mother. The company also produced the detective drama Inspector Morse
in association with Zenith Productions
, a production company originally set up to be an in-house subsidiary of Central specialising in high-cost filmed drama, but which in 1987 was sold to Carlton Communications
, the company that eventually was to purchase Central itself. Like ATV, Central was also a large contributor to programmes for schools and colleges on the ITV network.
It scored a failure however with the 1987 comedy Hardwicke House
, about an anarchic comprehensive school. The first two episodes received so much public condemnation that the remainder were never transmitted.
Christmas 1990 saw Central enjoy its largest audience ever for a Christmas Show with well in excess of 16 million viewers for a pantomime special edition of Family Fortunes, produced by Tony Wolfe and Associate Producer Roger Edwards.
Whereas local news had been a constant criticism of ATV, Central invested more effort into it. As well as the east and west regions, in 1989 a third sub-region covering the South Midlands was created. With a news studio in Abingdon
(near Oxford
), Central News South was at the time of its creation the most automated news operation in the country. The service was launched on 9 January 1989, the opening night being fraught with technical problems. Presenters Wesley Smith and Anne Dawson co-presented the main programme, and were the longest-serving co-presenters of any ITV regional news programme, until Dawson's departure in 2003 to become a college lecturer. She was replaced as main presenter by Hannah Stewart-Jones, formerly of Channel TV
. Both continue to appear on Thames Valley Tonight
, although Wesley Smith's regular co-presenter is now Mary Green, formerly of the West sub-region of Meridian Tonight
.
The BBC finally responded to the creation of Central News South in 2000, by creating a sub-opt-out of South Today
, that is broadcast to Oxfordshire
, eastern Wiltshire
, and parts of Buckinghamshire
.
As well as previously being at the heart of the ITV Network's children's and schools programming, Central was also a significant contributor to network sport production. Until it was moved to London (and merged with the London News Network
's operations to form ITV Sport
Productions), Central's sport department, under the leadership of Gary Newbon (who also occasionally appeared on-screen as a reporter and presenter), produced nearly all of ITV's football coverage (from FA Cup
to UEFA Champions' League). Following its disbandment, Newbon moved to presenting full time, first for talkSPORT
, then Sky Sports
.
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...
contractor for the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, created following the restructuring of ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated 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...
and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited. The main news programme it broadcast for the region is Central Tonight
Central Tonight
Central Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Central, serving the English Midlands.-History:...
.
History
During the 1970s, the previous Midlands licence holder ATV had often been criticised for its lack of regionality to its area. Although ATV had purpose-built a modern colour production complex in the centre of BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
many of its major productions were recorded at its main studios at Elstree
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a legacy of when the company also served London at the weekends prior to 1968. Equally, its corporate headquarters were in central London.
ATV attempted to address its problem in 1980 as part of its franchise re-application; with plans for a second major facility in the area (to be based in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
) and as part of the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
plan for the contract to be a dual region, they would provide separate news coverage for both the East and the West Midlands. The company name would also be changed from ATV Network Limited to ATV Midlands Limited, thus reinforcing the new regional focus. The IBA accepted ATV's assertion that ATV Midlands Ltd planned to take a more local identity, and awarded the contract to ATV Midlands Ltd on the basis that further changes were to be implemented, including that the parent company Associated Communications Corporation would divest 49% of its shareholding in ATV Midlands Ltd in an attempt to introduce local shareholders and that ATV Midlands Ltd's registered office should be within the region. To demonstrate this change of share structure, the IBA insisted that ATV change its company name, to show that it was a substantially new company.
It has been reported that, around the time of the franchise changing hands, a local businessman had registered dozens of company names (some of which included the words "Central" and "Television"), in the hope of being offered substantial financial compensation to relinquish the rights to one of these, if chosen by the new company. Central got around this by simply inserting "Independent" into their name on registering it (something the businessman had not thought of).
Launch
Central retained ATV's sub-regional split; one sub-region for the West MidlandsWest Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
(with studios in Birmingham), and one for the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
(with studios in Nottingham). There were few differences between the sub-regions, but each had its own news service and advertisements. This led to the BBC
BBC
The 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...
also producing two news programmes (Midlands Today
Midlands Today
Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the West Midlands region, which covers the north of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands county...
for the West and East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for its East Midlands region, which covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and the Grantham and Stamford areas of Lincolnshire....
for the East). Central pre-empted the 1990 Broadcasting Act (and a new condition of the Midlands licence) by adding a third sub-region - Central South - in 1989, broadcasting on the Oxford and Ridge Hill transmitters and establishing the news centre on an industrial park in Abingdon in Oxfordshire (retained for the Thames Valley service in 2006, although minus the studio).
The station opened transmission at 09:25 on Friday, 1 January 1982 with an authority announcement by duty announcer Su Evans, followed by an extended 5-minute promo entitled Welcome to Central, previewing the company's network and regional programming and the schedule for the first day of transmission. The logo is often thought of as a 'cake', but in fact it was an 'eclipse' after the Total Lunar Eclipse on 9 January 1982.
Takeover
Carlton CommunicationsCarlton Communications
Carlton 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....
had owned a stake in Central since the early eighties (before Carlton Television
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,...
became an ITV Franchisee in its own right). In 1994, Central was completely bought by Carlton and on 6 September 1999 was rebranded as Carlton Central, though the registered company name remained Central Independent Television Limited. The new identity, produced by Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn
Lambie-Nairn is an international branding agency within the WPP Group, headquartered in London with offices in Munich, Madrid, Abu Dhabi and Prague...
was used across all of Carlton's franchises; Carlton London
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,...
, Carlton Westcountry
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
and some elements on HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
. Only the "Carlton" name was used on air, however Central's regional news programmes retained the "Central" brand.
With the merger of Carlton and Granada on 2 February 2004, the brand became ITV1 Central. Central Independent Television is currently owned by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
and on 29 December 2006, Central's registered company name was changed from Central Independent Television Ltd to ITV Central Ltd.
Studios
Initially, Central inherited ATV's 1970s Broad Street studios, ATV Centre, which was re-named Central House when the contractor changed its name; It was retained as Central's main base of activity until 1996. Upon winning the franchise, Central decided to construct new studios for its East sub-region, based in NottinghamNottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, Lenton Lane. (This move was even brought in to play in one of its most famous shows Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
when the main characters moved from Birmingham to Nottingham in its fourth series in 1989.) This facility was to be called 'The Television House'. Until the new Nottingham studios were ready, Central operated from a converted facility on an industrial estate at Giltbrook
Giltbrook
Giltbrook is a village situated approximately 10 kilometres West-northwest of Nottingham and within close reach of junction 26 of the M1 motorway. It is part of Greasley ward, which had a population of 6,076 in 2001....
, near Eastwood on the outskirts of Nottingham. Operations at Nottingham were to be staffed by employees originally based at Elstree, which led to many problems due to the relocation, including industrial action (in fact, it was because of this industrial action that the promised separate news service for the East Midlands did not begin until 1984, by which time they had vacated Giltbrook).
In 1989, Central opened a third studios for its new South sub-region and city, based in Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
, near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Having been one of the first fully computerised news programmes, Central News South was again a pioneer of new technology when, in the Spring of 2001, state-of-the-art Quantel
Quantel
Quantel is a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designs and manufactures digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries...
digital video servers and edit suites were installed, along with a complete re-fit of camera and VTR equipment, placing Central South at the forefront of digital news-gathering in regional news.
In February 2004, ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
announced plans to close and sell the Nottingham Lenton Lane production centre. Following the closure of the studios, a new news-gathering centre was established in the city, but production of Central News East moved to Central's Birmingham Gas Street studio in Spring 2005. The former studio complex is now part of The University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
and is known as 'King's Meadow Campus
King's Meadow Campus
King's Meadow Campus is a campus, that is part of the University of Nottingham, and is located in Nottingham. It opened in 1983, as a television studio complex, called East Midlands Television Centre from 1983 till 1994 and Carlton Studios from 1994 till 2005.-East Midlands Television Centre...
'. It still maintains one Studio (Studio 7), and this is rented out to television and film Companies, generating income for the University.
In October 2004, ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
closed Central's presentation/transmission department and moved transmission to the Northern Transmission Centre in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Although there was heavy opposition, the role of presentation and transmission at Birmingham had been significantly reduced after network presentation was centralised to LNN
London News Network
London 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...
in London in 2002 and so there was an inevitability that this function would be moved out. CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
(Children's ITV), which had been presented from Central's Birmingham studios since 1983, was also re-homed to Granada
Granada Television
Granada 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....
's studios in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester 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...
, with all content pre-recorded and with out-of vision presentation.
It was announced on 6 June 2006 that Central News South's existence as a news region was to end after 17 years when the eastern half of the region (the area served by the Oxford transmitter) would merge its operations with Meridian West
Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
's output, forming a new news region named ITV Thames Valley
ITV Thames Valley
ITV Thames Valley was a non-franchise ITV news region covering the Thames Valley area of the United Kingdom from 4 December 2006 until 8 February 2009. It served the south/south-eastern area of the legal Central franchise and the north/north-western area of the legal Meridian franchise...
and a new news programme, Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight was a regional news programme broadcast to part of the ITV Network in the Thames Valley area of southern England. The Thames Valley news region was launched on Monday 4 December 2006 and ceased to exist on 8 February 2009....
would begin. Originally, the changes were supposed to make over 40 workers redundant
Layoff
Layoff , also called redundancy in the UK, is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs...
from the closure of Central South's Abingdon base, however this was later reduced to 20. The last edition was broadcast on Sunday 3 December, although there was a pan-regional Central News broadcast the following morning during GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
. At the same time, ITV West
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
's broadcast footprint was expanded to cover North Gloucestershire from the West's Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
studios, while Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
re-joined Central News West from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. Abingdon was retained as a newsgathering base, whilst equipment was sold off.
In September 2007, Central House on Broad Street was covered in scaffolding, ready for demolition, which commenced the following month. The facade, exhibition hall and studio block still remain as of November 2009.
A documentary about the Broad Street studios complex is in the process of being put together. Entitled 'From ATVLand In Colour' (referring to the nickname used on Tiswas, and the building being purpose-built by ATV for colour broadcasting), the documentary features presenters, actors, announcers and behind-the-scenes staff talking about their time working in the studios, and the programmes that were made there by Central, and predecessor ATV. Contributors include Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
, Shaw Taylor
Shaw Taylor
Shaw Taylor MBE is a British actor and television presenter.He served in the RAF and trained at RADA. He then acted on stage in the West End and on tour. He was an announcer for ATV when the normal announcer was not available...
, Jane Rossington
Jane Rossington
Jane Rossington is a British actress, best known for her role as Jill Richardson in the soap opera Crossroads.Born in Derby, Rossington's family moved to Sutton Coldfield when she was four years of age...
and Bob Carolgees
Bob Carolgees
Bob Carolgees is a comedy entertainer who appeared on the Saturday morning TV series Tiswas and then later in its adult versions O.T.T. and Saturday Stayback. He is best-known for appearing with a puppet named Spit the Dog.-Career:In the early 1970s Carolgees ran a DJ and modelling school at 11A...
.
Sub-regions
Central currently operates two subregions with shared involvement in a third:- Central West - based in Birmingham Gas Street predominately operating from the Sutton Coldfield, The Wrekin and recently Ridge Hill transmitters and associated relays.
- Central East - with newsgathering centre in Nottingham but now based in Birmingham Gas Street, operating from the WalthamWaltham transmitting stationThe Waltham transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facilityat Waltham-on-the-Wolds, 5 miles north-east of Melton Mowbray. It sits inside the Waltham civil parish near Stonesby, in the district of Melton, Leicestershire, UK. It has a guyed steel tubular mast...
transmitter and associated relays. - ITV Thames ValleyITV Thames ValleyITV Thames Valley was a non-franchise ITV news region covering the Thames Valley area of the United Kingdom from 4 December 2006 until 8 February 2009. It served the south/south-eastern area of the legal Central franchise and the north/north-western area of the legal Meridian franchise...
- Now merged with MeridianMeridian BroadcastingMeridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
. Previously two subregions; Central South and Meridian North, merged in 2006. They merged again in 2009 with Meridian. Central South's Abingdon base was retained as a newsgathering centre and general office, however produced from Meridian's studios in WhiteleyWhiteleyWhiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...
, HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. Broadcast from the OxfordOxford transmitting stationThe Oxford transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land above Ordnance Datum to the north east of the city of Oxford, in Oxfordshire, England . It has a guyed steel lattice mast which is in height to the top of the main steel structure...
and Hannington transmitters plus associated relays.
Identity
Upon launch, Central's on screen presentation featured a sphere which resembled as moon/total eplices would burst open with light, before reforming, accompanied by a light jingle, but was dropped and revised during 1982, so the moon ident would just be flashed with colour spectrumVisible spectrum
The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of...
appearing to its left hand side. This ident was dropped in 1985 expect for Front and end caps on Networked programmes until 1988.
Cake
In 1985 it was updated with the moon being replaced by the "Cake" by using 3-dimensional computer graphics shapes to from the Central 'cake' while still keeping the colour spectrumVisible spectrum
The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of...
on the left. by 1988, a new station logo was adopted, featuring all the elements of the disc. The new logo was a circle in shape, but with a curved line running down the left hand side and five horizontal lines dividing the sphere up into twelve segments. The left six segments were coloured red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple and the whole symbol was computer animated. The symbol, nicknamed The Cake, would have a variety of form ups, mainly involved with bringing the segments together or applying the colour to the symbol. The soundtrack was the same composition, but played in a variety of different ways.
Central adopted the ITV 1989 generic look as another ident to use alongside the Cake. The generic ident was used in its raw form, with altered music, and as part of another ident giving greater emphasis to the cake but was dropped in 1990. Between 1988 - 1997 well over 10'000 different piece of variations were made, including break bumpers, ident, "next" or many other features, Which give the channel a hugh range of presentation. The last batch to be created was in 1997, in which the cake became more abstract with both more advanced computer graphics used and more live action models and sequences.
Central
The cake lasted 12 years before being replaced in 1998, by an adapting a version of the idents used by CarltonCarlton 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,...
who had been using since 1996. This featured the name Central in the font Gill Sans
Gill Sans
Gill Sans is a sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill.The original design appeared in 1926 when Douglas Cleverdon opened a bookshop in his home town of Bristol, where Eric Gill painted the fascia over the window in sans-serif capitals that would later be known as Gill Sans...
in centre screen against a bright and colourful background. The idents featured a 2D animation of either the letters interacting in some way, a letter being replaced with another object, or the word being part of a larger scene, such as a cross word of place names in the region. The look was to subside however in 1999.
Carlton
Central adopted the Carlton 'Star' branding in 1999, shortly before much of the network adopted the second generic look under the theme of 'Hearts'. The Carlton idents featured an opening film featuring a heart at the end, before a star shaped light came from the heart, engulfing the screen, and showing the endboard, which featured a background of spinning stars in different colours with the brand name centre screen above an ITV logo. The ident itself technically was praised, however the presentational package received complaints and criticisms due to the fact that the Central brand was replaced by the Carlton brand. These idents were branded as Carlton, with the Central brand remaining for the news service only.ITV
On 28 October 2002, ITV scrapped regional continuity and launched a single ITV1 identity for all the regions. Regional idents were retained, which for central meant a celebrity ident with an ITV1 logo on the left hand side of the screen, with a small Carlton logo below. This continued until late 2003, when local idents were replaced with images of four coloured cubes spread out on a landscape from the region. The ident had an ITV1 logo in the bottom right, with the caption ITV1 for Central England beneath.The Carlton brand continued to be seen on production captions until February 2004, when the caption A Carlton Production or A Carlton Production for Central England being used. This was replaced, following the merger of Granada PLC and Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications
Carlton 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....
to form ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
, with an ITV regional logo featuring the word Central below the ITV logo. Today, all productions have been moved away from the Midlands region, and any productions are accredited to ITV Studios
ITV Studios
ITV Studios is a television production company owned by the British television network ITV. It not only makes programmes primarily for its parent company, but also for other networks...
.
Programmes
The company performed strongly on programming, carrying on several ATV shows, most notably the soap-opera Crossroads and the hit DramaDrama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
series Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
. Original programming included the comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven English migrant construction workers. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf....
(more recently revived by the BBC) and the game shows The Price is Right
The Price Is Right (UK game show)
The Price Is Right in the UK was hosted by Leslie Crowther, Bob Warman, Bruce Forsyth, and Joe Pasquale. It ran from 24 March 1984 to 12 January 2007.-Crowther era :...
, Bullseye
Bullseye (UK game show)
Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981 and Central from 1982 until 1995, and hosted by Jim Bowen. The show originally aired on Monday nights from 1981, it was then moved to Sunday nights from 1982 to 1993 where it was watched by...
and Blockbusters.
On the second day of transmissions, Central made a poor impression to viewers when the Tiswas
Tiswas
Tiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
spin-off O.T.T.
O.T.T.
O.T.T. was a late-night adult version of the anarchic ATV children's show Tiswas, but made by its ITV franchise successor Central Television. It was broadcast at 11.00pm on Saturday nights for one series in 1982. O.T.T. was created and presented by Chris Tarrant, and also starred ex-Tiswasians John...
went on air. The show was hosted by Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
, Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
and Helen Atkinson Wood. Though it did receive 13 million viewers on that night, it was criticised for being "too sexist" and it did not help that the opening titles were of a naked blow-up doll floating around the screen. Though its viewing figures would normally have earned another series, it was cancelled after the first series, mainly due to its risky and dangerous acts.
Aside from continuing the theme of ATV, Central also produced the heavyweight drama Walter for the first evening of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 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...
. A critically acclaimed drama it starred Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
in the eponymous lead role as a handicapped
Handicapped
Handicapped or handicap may refer to:*Handicapping, various methods of leveling a sport or game**Golf handicap, a sport-specific handicapping method**Go handicaps**Handicaps in shogi**Asian handicap, bookmakers technique to level odds...
man adjusting to life after the death of his mother. The company also produced the detective drama Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
in association with Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions was a British independent film and television production company which made a number of drama series including Inspector Morse for ITV, and several series including Byker Grove and Hamish Macbeth for the BBC...
, a production company originally set up to be an in-house subsidiary of Central specialising in high-cost filmed drama, but which in 1987 was sold to Carlton Communications
Carlton Communications
Carlton 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....
, the company that eventually was to purchase Central itself. Like ATV, Central was also a large contributor to programmes for schools and colleges on the ITV network.
It scored a failure however with the 1987 comedy Hardwicke House
Hardwicke House
Hardwicke House was a 1987 seven-episode sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network. It was so negatively received that only the first two episodes were transmitted.-Plot and episode titles :...
, about an anarchic comprehensive school. The first two episodes received so much public condemnation that the remainder were never transmitted.
Christmas 1990 saw Central enjoy its largest audience ever for a Christmas Show with well in excess of 16 million viewers for a pantomime special edition of Family Fortunes, produced by Tony Wolfe and Associate Producer Roger Edwards.
Whereas local news had been a constant criticism of ATV, Central invested more effort into it. As well as the east and west regions, in 1989 a third sub-region covering the South Midlands was created. With a news studio in Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
(near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
), Central News South was at the time of its creation the most automated news operation in the country. The service was launched on 9 January 1989, the opening night being fraught with technical problems. Presenters Wesley Smith and Anne Dawson co-presented the main programme, and were the longest-serving co-presenters of any ITV regional news programme, until Dawson's departure in 2003 to become a college lecturer. She was replaced as main presenter by Hannah Stewart-Jones, formerly of Channel TV
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
. Both continue to appear on Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight
Thames Valley Tonight was a regional news programme broadcast to part of the ITV Network in the Thames Valley area of southern England. The Thames Valley news region was launched on Monday 4 December 2006 and ceased to exist on 8 February 2009....
, although Wesley Smith's regular co-presenter is now Mary Green, formerly of the West sub-region of Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight
Meridian Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Meridian , serving the South and South East of England , and usually broadcast at 6pm and 10.30pm every weeknight. Other bulletins are branded as Meridian News...
.
The BBC finally responded to the creation of Central News South in 2000, by creating a sub-opt-out of South Today
South Today
South Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for East Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, West Sussex and the western fringes of Surrey...
, that is broadcast to Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, eastern Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and parts of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
As well as previously being at the heart of the ITV Network's children's and schools programming, Central was also a significant contributor to network sport production. Until it was moved to London (and merged with the London News Network
London News Network
London 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...
's operations to form ITV Sport
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc. It was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national...
Productions), Central's sport department, under the leadership of Gary Newbon (who also occasionally appeared on-screen as a reporter and presenter), produced nearly all of ITV's football coverage (from FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
to UEFA Champions' League). Following its disbandment, Newbon moved to presenting full time, first for talkSPORT
TalkSPORT
Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
, then Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
.
Notable programmes
- $64,000 QuestionThe $64,000 Question (UK game show)The $64,000 Question is a UK game show based on the US format of the same name that originally ran from 19 May 1956 to 18 January 1958 produced by ATV and was originally hosted by Jerry Desmonde, and called simply The 64,000 Question with the top prize initially being 64,000 sixpences , later...
(1990–1993) - Auf Wiedersehen, PetAuf Wiedersehen, PetAuf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven English migrant construction workers. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf....
(1983 & 1986, co-produced with Witzend) - Astro FarmAstro FarmAstro Farm was an English children's television series animated in stop motion. It featured the adventures of the Foxwoods, a small family who work on an asteroid, which is covered in farmland...
(1992, 1993, 1996 & 1997, co-produced with FilmFair Animations/David Yates) - Bangers and MashBangers and Mash (TV series)Bangers and Mash was a children's cartoon series broadcast on CITV in 1989, and repeated until around 1993. The series consisted of 24 five minute episodes.-History:The series revolved around the adventures of two chimpanzees, Bangers and Mash...
(1989 & 1990) - Blockbusters (1983–1993)
- Bob's Your Uncle (1991–1993)
- BoonBoon (TV series)Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
(1986–1992; 1995) - BullseyeBullseye (UK game show)Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981 and Central from 1982 until 1995, and hosted by Jim Bowen. The show originally aired on Monday nights from 1981, it was then moved to Sunday nights from 1982 to 1993 where it was watched by...
(1981–1995) - Cadfael (1994–1998)
- ChancerChancerChancer is a British television serial produced by Central Television for ITV. It tells the story of a likable conman and rogue at the end of the yuppie eighties...
(1990 & 1991) - Coming of AgeComing of AgeComing of age is a young person's formal transition from adolescence to adulthood.Coming of Age may also refer to:- Music :* Coming of Age , a 1990s American R&B group* Coming of Age , or the title song...
(1986) - Crossroads (1964-1988 & 2001-2003)
- Dale's Supermarket SweepDale's Supermarket SweepDale's Supermarket Sweep was a UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format.-1993 - 2001:The original show was recorded in the Television House in Nottingham, which was renamed the Carlton Studios in 1996...
(1993–2001, co-produced with Talbot Television, Freemantle Productions (UK) and Grundy) - The DreamstoneThe DreamstoneThe Dreamstone is a British animated television series that ran for 4 series of 13 episodes each between 1990 and 1995. The original concept and artwork were created by Michael Jupp. The series was animated by the FilmFair animation studio as a Central production for ITV...
(1990–1995, co-produced with Filmfair) - Drumbeat (1999) (TV series)
- Emu's All Live Pink Windmill ShowEmu's All Live Pink Windmill ShowEmu was an anarchic British television puppet of Rod Hull, and after successful appearing on a number of Variety shows, he was given his own Television series on the BBC, then on ITV.-Emu's Broadcasting Company:...
(1982–1988) - Family FortunesFamily FortunesFamily Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...
(1980–1985; 1987–2002) - The Gingerbread Man (1992, co-produced with FilmFair Animations/David Yates)
- Harry's Mad (1993–1996)
- Henry's CatHenry's CatHenry's Cat is an animated children's television programme, written by Stan Hayward and produced by Bob Godfrey, who was also the producer of Roobarb, a similar cartoon series from the 1970s...
(1983 & 1984) - Huxley PigHuxley PigHuxley Pig was a stop-motion animated children's television series from 1989 and 1990.Based on the picture books by Rodney Peppe, the series was produced by FilmFair for Central TV .-General Theme:...
(1989, co-produced with FimFair) - Inspector MorseInspector Morse (TV series)Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
(1987–2000, co-produced with Zenith) - The Legends of Treasure IslandThe Legends of Treasure IslandThe Legends Of Treasure Island is an animated cartoon from the UK that ran from 1993-1995. It had two series of 13 episodes each and each episode runs for 22–25 minutes....
(1993–1995, co-produced with FilmFair Ltd) - Let's PretendLet's Pretend (TV series)Let's Pretend was a 1980s children's television series aimed at preschool ages. It was shown across the ITV Network at 12.10 on Tuesdays, then later Mondays, replacing the popular Pipkins which had been cancelled at the end of 1981...
(1982–1988) - Midas Touch (1995 & 1996, co-produced with Carlton Television)
- Molly's Gang (1994, co-produced with Martins Gates)
- New FacesNew FacesNew Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
(1986–1988)
- Orm and CheepOrm and CheepOrm and Cheep is a 1980s British children's television series that was aimed at the younger viewers of CITV. It used puppets as the main characters and was narrated by Richard Briers. The show was created by Tony Martin, the puppets created by Mary Edwards...
(1983–1987) - O.T.T.O.T.T.O.T.T. was a late-night adult version of the anarchic ATV children's show Tiswas, but made by its ITV franchise successor Central Television. It was broadcast at 11.00pm on Saturday nights for one series in 1982. O.T.T. was created and presented by Chris Tarrant, and also starred ex-Tiswasians John...
(1982) - Paddington BearPaddington BearPaddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....
(1989 & 1990, co-produced with Hanna-Barbera) - Peak PracticePeak PracticePeak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
(1993–2002) - Press GangPress GangPress Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
(1989–1993) - The Price is RightThe Price Is Right (UK game show)The Price Is Right in the UK was hosted by Leslie Crowther, Bob Warman, Bruce Forsyth, and Joe Pasquale. It ran from 24 March 1984 to 12 January 2007.-Crowther era :...
(1984–1988) - Playbox (1987 & 1988)
- Potamus ParkPotamus ParkPotamus Park is a preschool program about hippos who love to sing and play and learn something new.Their friends are Tigger, Guesswho, and Mindy and Moe .Potamus Park [C] Zoo Gang Production / Central Independent Television / Carlton UK...
(1996 & 1997, co-produced with Zoo Gang Productions) - The RattiesThe RattiesThe Ratties is a British cartoon series that ran in 1987 with 26 episodes.It is about a family of rats that live in a country house. The rats try to emulate the human owners of their house. The show was created by Mike Wallis and Laura Milligan, and is narrated by Spike Milligan...
(1987 & 1988) - RespectRespect (TV series)Respect was a ground breaking seven part documentary television series featuring some of the biggest names in British sport and was broadcast each Sunday at 5.00pm on Central Independent Television during November/December 1995....
(1995) - Rosie and JimRosie and JimRosie and Jim was a British children's television programme which appeared, on and off, on CITV since the early 1990s. The programme was the creation of John Cunliffe, in collaboration with Anne Wood and Robin Stevens, Robin Stevens] also played the character Jim...
(1990–1992, co-produced with Ragdoll Productions) - The Saturday ShowThe Saturday Show (ITV TV series)The Saturday Show was Birmingham-based Central Television's flagship Saturday morning kids TV show which replaced their previous success Tiswas. It ran on ITV for two series between 1982 and 1984. It was originally planned that popular wrestler Big Daddy would star and that it would be called "Big...
(1982–1984) - The Saturday StarshipThe Saturday StarshipThe Saturday Starship was a British Saturday morning children's series that was produced by Central Television and aired on the ITV network. There was one series of 21 editions between 01 September 1984 and 26 January 1985 hosted by Tommy Boyd and Bonnie Langford. It was a follow-up to The Saturday...
(1984) - Saturday StaybackSaturday StaybackSaturday Stayback was a late night comedy show made in 1983 by Central Television, starring Chris Tarrant. It was performed entirely in a public house....
(1983) - SharpeSharpe (TV series)Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books...
(1993–1996) - Shine on Harvey MoonShine on Harvey MoonShine on Harvey Moon is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by Meridian....
(1982–1985, co-produced with Witzend) - Soldier, Soldier (1991–1997)
- Spitting ImageSpitting ImageSpitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
(1984–1996) - Star Fleet (1982)
- StealSteal (game show)Steal was a Saturday evening game show that was produced by Central Television and aired on ITV between 1985 & 1992 and was hosted by Mark Walker, who was the son of Roy Walker first & longest ever host of Catchphrase.-External links:*...
(1985–1992) - Tales of Sherwood Forest (1987–1989)
- TiswasTiswasTiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
(1982) - Tales from Fat Tulip's GardenTales From Fat Tulip's GardenTales from Fat Tulip's Garden was a children's TV program in the mid 1980s, starring Tony Robinson. It was produced by Debbie Gates for Central Independent Television and aired on British TV network ITV from 1985-87, in a 4:00pm timeslot, with each episode lasting about 10 minutes.Robinson would...
(1985–1987) - Thomas the Tank EngineThomas the Tank EngineThomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
(1984, season collection co-produced with Britt Allcroft) - The Upper HandThe Upper HandThe Upper Hand is a sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?....
(1990–1996) - Tots TVTots TVTots TV is a television show, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central . Tots TV was also broadcast in the USA on PBS from 3 January 1993 to 27 April 1998...
(1993–1997, co-produced with Ragdoll Productions and Carlton Television) - What-a-Mess!What-a-MessWhat-a-Mess is a series of children's books written by British comedy writer Frank Muir and illustrated by Joseph Wright. It was later made into an animated series in the UK in 1990 and again in 1995 by DiC Entertainment and aired on ABC in the United States...
(1990) - Woof!Woof!Woof! is a Children's ITV television series produced by Central Independent Television about the adventures of a boy who turns into a dog. It was based on the book by Allan Ahlberg. It was directed by David Cobham. It was written by Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss.-History:The show was first...
(1989–1997) - XpressXpress (TV series)XPRESS was an award-winning multi-cultural entertainment television series.Notable appearances on the program included performances from Aaliyah, China Black, Pato Banton, Apache Indian, Ranking Roger from ska band The Beat, New Power Generation and Edwin Starr...
(1995) (TV series)
External links
.- Interior and exterior photos of the original home of Central studios, Broad StreetBroad Street, BirminghamBroad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular nightspot in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded with the removal of the Inner Ring Road, Broad Street has been incorporated into...
. - - A slowly developing web-guide to Central.
- Tiswas Online - TiswasTiswasTiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
was a popular Saturday morning children's programme produced by ATV/Central. - Ident on Central branding