Thames Television
Encyclopedia
Thames Television was a licensee
of the British ITV
television network, covering London
and parts of the surrounding counties
on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992.
Formed through a merger between the television interests of British Electric Traction
(trading as Associated Rediffusion) and Associated British Picture Corporation
(trading as ABC Weekend Television
) 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 Institute
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 fanfare
called Salute to Thames, composed by Johnny Hawksworth
.
After Thames was acquired by FremantleMedia
it was merged with another Fremantle company, Talkback Productions
, 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.
(ITA) contract to provide programming on the ITV
network for London on weekdays had been operated by Associated-Rediffusion
. 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 Television
(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 Consortium
, led by presenter David Frost
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 ATV
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 Granada
. 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 London
– it was named Thames Television, after the River Thames
. 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 company
, 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 Service
for some two 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.
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 illness
and believed David Frost
was part of a government experiment to hypnotise people via television transmissions. Although Frost worked for the ITV weekend London contractor, LWT
, she targeted the offices of Thames as she also believed Eamonn Andrews
, 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 journalist
made a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005.
launched a take-over bid for Thames after Thorn EMI
and BET
decided to sell. This was blocked by both Richard Dunn, Chief Executive
of Thames, and by the IBA
. Thames then proceeded to have a management buyout and were floated on the Stock Exchange
. It is said that Carlton Chief Executive Michael Green
talked to the then Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
on the matter, which in turn may have helped to shape the 1990 Parliamentary Act which replaced the IBA with the Independent Television Commission
and the change in franchise allocation procedures.
, a subsidiary of Carlton Communications and headed by Michael Green
.
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 Act
.
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 Thatcher
in particular, who had presided over its creation. Opinions vary on the matter of political motivations; some cite the documentary "Death On The Rock
", 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 entry
) 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 Communications
, 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 5
licence when it was first advertised in 1992 as the main shareholder in a consortium (alongside Warner Bros. Television
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 South
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 Tourists
' cover of "I Only Want to Be With You
", which was shown mostly on Thames' final week, before ITN broadcast a special report with Dermot Murnaghan
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 Network
playout centre on the South Bank where Carlton Television
launched. After 25 years, Thames Television had finally ceased broadcasting.
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 Bill
. 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 FremantleMedia
, part of the RTL Group
; Fremantle also acquired TalkBack Productions
and merged the two companies under the new name Talkback Thames in 2003.
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 House
and their main studio complex at Wembley on top of ABC's headquarters and London base at Teddington
, their Midlands base in Aston
, co-owned with ATV, their northern base in Didsbury
, Manchester
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 Television
by order of the ITA. These studios were used by LWT until 1970, when they moved into the London Television Centre
, and have since been in independent ownership under the name of Fountain Studios. ABC's Aston
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 radio
station. The Didsbury site was for a time used by Yorkshire Television
prior to the Kirkstall Road studios
construction, but was later sold to Manchester Polytechnic
. The offices in Manchester were also sold.
This left Thames with a main production base at the former ABC studios at Teddington
, and with their headquarters in the former Rediffusion property Television House
until 1970, when Thames' corporate base moved to their newly constructed studios and base at Thames Television House
on Euston Road
. 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 talkbackTHAMES
, 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 Pinewood
and Shepperton Studios
.
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 Helvetica
font, and a vignette
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 House
, the latter shows that came from ABC's former Teddington studios
.
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 Ben
, the British Telecom Tower
, the dome of St Paul's Cathedral
and Tower Bridge
. 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 Carlton
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 Tourists
, 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.
and the detective thrillers Callan
and Public Eye, all inherited from ABC. One of these shows was the comedy Do Not Adjust Your Set
, formerly Rediffusion, – nominally a children's show, but forerunner of Monty Python's Flying Circus
.
The Sooty Show
, cancelled in 1967 by the BBC, aired on Thames's first day and after Harry Corbett
's retirement in 1975 continued with his son, Matthew Corbett
, until November 1992, a month before Thames closed down (the programme was replaced by Sooty & Co, produced by Granada
). The company took over This Is Your Life
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 Servant
, Rumpole of the Bailey
, the game shows Strike It Lucky
, Give Us A Clue
and Name That Tune
, the dramas Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest
, Rock Follies
, Reilly, Ace of Spies
and Danger UXB
, and the Benny Hill Show
and Mr. Bean
.
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 Olivier
, 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 Father
, Bless This House starring Sid James
, George and Mildred
, After Henry
, Never the Twain
, and Love Thy Neighbour
, with its controversial take on racial issues. Less well-known is its adaptation of Andy Capp
, starring James Bolam
. Two of its more recent sitcoms found more success when they transferred away from ITV
– Men Behaving Badly
, which moved to the BBC
in 1994 and Is It Legal?
, which moved to Channel 4
in 1997. Both were written by Simon Nye and co-produced by independent company Hartswood Films
. It also produced the children's show Magpie
, intended as a rival for Blue Peter
, and Rainbow
, 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 Mikado
and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
.
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 Films
produced many of Thames' highest-profile contributions to ITV network programming. These included The Sweeney
(1975–78), Minder
(1979–94) and Quatermass
(1979).
The ITA ordered ABC's Managing Director Howard Thomas
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 Traction
, and the owners of ABC, the ABPC
, later to become (via mergers) Thorn EMI
.
The two companies allowed Thames independence (although in later years there were accusations that they both treated the company as a cash cow
). This allowed the station to establish separate divisions to focus on particular genres. Euston Films
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 People
(1992-5, in association with Thames-owned Reeves Entertainment for ITV and Nickelodeon) and Rainbow
(1994/96, for HTV) - along with a range of original film and television productions.
In 1985, the company made a deal with international distributors for US production company Lorimar to purchase the US drama Dallas
, at that time transmitted on BBC1
. This broke a gentlemen's agreement
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 Television
) 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 ATV
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 Braben
, 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 Murder
– was eventually screened on New Year's Day 1985.
Benny Hill
In 1989, Thames sacked Benny Hill
, 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 Grundy
. 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 Jones
, 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 Rock
", part of the current affairs This Week
series. The programme questioned the authority of British troops who had gunned down suspected Provisional IRA members allegedly planning a terrorist
attack on a British military ceremony on Gibraltar
. The documentary was regarded almost as treason by many Conservative
politicians, and by newspapers such as The Sunday Times
.
Broadcast license
A 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 ITV
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...
television network, covering London
Greater London
Greater 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 counties
Home Counties
The 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 Traction
British Electric Traction
British 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 Corporation
Associated British Picture Corporation
Associated 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 Television
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...
) 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 Institute
British Film Institute
The 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 fanfare
Fanfare
A 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 Hawksworth
Johnny Hawksworth
Johnny 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 FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, 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 Productions
Talkback Productions
Talkback 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 AuthorityIndependent Television Authority
The 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 ITV
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...
network for London on weekdays had been operated by Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-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 Television
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...
(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 Consortium
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...
, led by presenter David Frost
David Frost (broadcaster)
Sir 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 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...
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 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....
. 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 London
Tower of London
Her 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 Thames
River Thames
The 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 company
Holding company
A 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 Service
ITV Emergency National Service
The 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
Unemployment , 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 illness
Mental illness
A 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 Frost
David Frost
Sir 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, LWT
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...
, she targeted the offices of Thames as she also believed Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn 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 journalist
Journalism
Journalism 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
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....
launched a take-over bid for Thames after Thorn EMI
Thorn EMI
Thorn 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 BET
British Electric Traction
British 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 Executive
Chief executive officer
A 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 IBA
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The 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 Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The 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 Green
Michael Green (television magnate)
Michael 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 Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The 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 Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret 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 Commission
Independent Television Commission
The 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
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,...
, a subsidiary of Carlton Communications and headed by Michael Green
Michael Green (television magnate)
Michael 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 Act
Broadcasting Act 1990
The 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 Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret 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 Rock
Death on the Rock
Death 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 entry
Barriers to entry
In 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 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....
, 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 5
Channel Five
Channel 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. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner 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 South
Television South
Television 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 Tourists
The Tourists
The 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
"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 Murnaghan
Dermot Murnaghan
Dermot 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 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...
playout centre on the South Bank where 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,...
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 Bill
The Bill
The 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 FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, 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 Group
RTL Group
RTL 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 Productions
Talkback Productions
Talkback 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
Television House
Television 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 Teddington
Teddington Studios
Teddington 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 Aston
Alpha Television
Alpha 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 Didsbury
Didsbury
Didsbury 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...
, 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...
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 Television
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...
by order of the ITA. These studios were used by LWT until 1970, when they moved into the London Television Centre
The London Studios
The 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 Aston
Alpha Television
Alpha 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 radio
Independent Local Radio
Independent 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 Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire 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 studios
The Leeds Studios
The 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 Polytechnic
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester 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 Teddington
Teddington Studios
Teddington 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 House
Television House
Television 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 House
Euston Tower
Euston 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 Road
Euston Road
Euston 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 talkbackTHAMES
TalkbackTHAMES
Talkback 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 Pinewood
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood 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 Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton 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 (identStation identification
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 Helvetica
Helvetica
Helvetica 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 vignette
Vignetting
In 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 House
Television House
Television 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 studios
Teddington Studios
Teddington 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 Ben
Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster
Big 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 Tower
BT Tower
The 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 Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St 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 Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower 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 Carlton
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,...
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 Tourists
The Tourists
The 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 (TV series)
The 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 Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan 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 Set
Do Not Adjust Your Set
Do 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 Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty 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 Show
The Sooty Show
The 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 Corbett
Harry Corbett
Harry 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 Corbett
Matthew Corbett
Matthew 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 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....
). The company took over This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This 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 Servant
The Naked Civil Servant
The 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 Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole 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 Lucky
Strike It Lucky
Strike 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 Clue
Give Us A Clue
Give 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 Tune
Name That Tune
Name 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 Rest
Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest
Dodger, 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 Follies
Rock Follies
Rock 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 Spies
Reilly, Ace of Spies
Reilly, 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 UXB
Danger UXB
Danger 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 Show
The Benny Hill Show
The 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. Bean
Mr. Bean
Mr. 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 Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence 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 Father
Father, Dear Father
Father, 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 James
Sid James
Sid 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 Mildred
George and Mildred
George 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 Henry
After Henry (TV series)
After 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 Twain
Never the Twain
Never 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 Neighbour
Love Thy Neighbour
Love 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 Capp
Andy Capp (TV series)
Andy 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 Bolam
James Bolam
James 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 ITV
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...
– Men Behaving Badly
Men Behaving Badly
Men 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 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...
in 1994 and Is It Legal?
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 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...
in 1997. Both were written by Simon Nye and co-produced by independent company Hartswood Films
Hartswood Films
Hartswood 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 Magpie
Magpie (TV series)
Magpie 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 Peter
Blue Peter
Blue 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 Rainbow
Rainbow (TV series)
Rainbow 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 Mikado
The Mikado
The 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 Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A 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 Films
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...
produced many of Thames' highest-profile contributions to ITV network programming. These included The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The 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), Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder 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 Quatermass
Quatermass (TV serial)
Quatermass 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 Thomas
Howard Thomas
Howard 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 Traction
British Electric Traction
British 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 ABPC
Associated British Picture Corporation
Associated 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 EMI
Thorn EMI
Thorn 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 cow
Cash cow
In 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 Films
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...
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 People
The Tomorrow People
The 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 Rainbow
Rainbow (TV series)
Rainbow 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
DallasIn 1985, the company made a deal with international distributors for US production company Lorimar to purchase the US drama Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas 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 BBC1
BBC One
BBC 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 agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A 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 Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire 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 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...
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 Braben
Eddie Braben
Eddie 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 Murder
Night Train To Murder
Night 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 Hill
Benny Hill
Benny 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 Grundy
Bill Grundy
William "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 Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen 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 Rock
Death on the Rock
Death 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 Week
This Week (ITV TV series)
This 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 terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism 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 Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar 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 Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The 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 Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The 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 FilmsEuston 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...
- Talkback Thames
- Thames SilentsThames SilentsThames Silents is a series of releases of films from the silent era produced by the British ITV contractor Thames Television...
- Associated Rediffusion
- Associated British CorporationAssociated British CorporationAssociated 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 TelevisionCarlton 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,...
- London Weekend TelevisionLondon 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...
- ITVITVITV 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 ITVHistory of ITVThe 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...