When Channel 4 started.

[Richard1978]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

One problem ITV had until the start of the 1980s was deciding which shows to network, & often some programming ended up being shown in certain regions, especially if it was a little off-beat.

Channel 4 did allow some more off-beat programmes to be shown nationwide, especially if made my one of the smaller companies who had limited leverage.

It it's early days a lot of then current ITV shows had repeat runs on C4, some of the earlier episodes of Inspector Morse come to mind.

[ericthecavalier]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

I was the one to tune it our TV (button ITV2!) - I was only 8

[agfagaevart]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Brookside did get about us surreal in it's plots as any soaps, seems to be some sort of inherent seed in the form no matter how relatively realistic it might start off. In Brookside's case it was named for an actual close development near Liverpool they just bought up and used for the show.

When actors like Brian Murphy joined, it turned into a parody of itself, and I stopped watching it. After Brookie went off-air, they sold the close for a healthy profit.

I read that Channel 4 was meant to cater to minority interests somehow. I think possibly some bureaucrats wanted to say it answered complaints they'd had about (fill-in-the-blank interest) not getting coverage?

It did start off as a good alternative to what is now called the mainstream media. But by the end of the 1990s, once it's funding had changed, so did the quality of the "independant" programmes.

She had an undeclared war going on with tv broadcasters, especially ITV's Thames, and Channel 4's addition was one of the first things that took place that many in the industry disliked... making for the same ad money being spread among more programmes, many of which were lower budget out-sourced and/or imported. Another was an idea to simply auction the licenses off to a highest bidder. This lead to many franchises losing their market, like Thames (they crossed her with some news programme involving a shooting incident in Gibraltar which was counter to the government's report of the incident), even after making all sorts of economies and layoffs. Later Sky was allowed to go ahead in the satellite arena without having to cover the many public service and technical requirements BSB had been made to (and this lead to them merging when BSB seemed to run through it's limit of spending slightly before Sky had and they became BSkyB). There was a movement for quality in broadcasting for a few years with Rowan Atkinson and Terry Jones involved as celebrities against some of the measure forced by Thatcher which they disagreed with.==

I think her war was fully declared; If you recall her stupid ban on broadcasting any comments from IRA members, which resulted in the silly situation where their voices were replaced like a news version of Eurotrash! And later she regreted deregulating the TV channels, as it resulted in her sending a letter of apology to Bruce Gingell after he lost the GMTV franchise. Look how bland and generic British TV is now.

[scotchmist]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Seem to remember a gay magazine programme called "One in Four" which was very ground-breaking at the time where ordinary members of the gay community discussed their everyday experiences. Seem to remember Grace Jones making an appearance. My mother was quite upset to find me watching it at the tender age of 16 !

[beccabear67]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Mulletino knows!

Now that I've summarized Thatcher vs. ITV, and Pob, I might have an eye toward entering the yearly 'Summarize Proust' competition!

I do think Channel 4 was a good thing, opening opportunities to independent productions, giving mostly overlooked voices an airing, and showing fifty gaffers assistants with mandatory tea breaks and triple overtime aren't necessary for quality.

Now it's in the news over the airing of some Diana tapes!

[Mulletino]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Pob's Programme? never heard of it!

[zabadak]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

I think I went out with her!

[beccabear67]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Another unusual and memorable Channel 4 show was Pob's Programme. He was a sort of meant to 'live' inside the tv set and communicate from behind the glass screen in various ways.

[beccabear67]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Why would they boycott it? Those people that didn't like Thatcher would find many shows to like on 4. It was home to The Comic Strip Presents, for a start.

She had an undeclared war going on with tv broadcasters, especially ITV's Thames, and Channel 4's addition was one of the first things that took place that many in the industry disliked... making for the same ad money being spread among more programmes, many of which were lower budget out-sourced and/or imported. Another was an idea to simply auction the licenses off to a highest bidder. This lead to many franchises losing their market, like Thames (they crossed her with some news programme involving a shooting incident in Gibraltar which was counter to the government's report of the incident), even after making all sorts of economies and layoffs. Later Sky was allowed to go ahead in the satellite arena without having to cover the many public service and technical requirements BSB had been made to (and this lead to them merging when BSB seemed to run through it's limit of spending slightly before Sky had and they became BSkyB). There was a movement for quality in broadcasting for a few years with Rowan Atkinson and Terry Jones involved as celebrities against some of the measure forced by Thatcher which they disagreed with.

[marc]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

IIRC when Channel 4 started, there was a lot of shows being repeated from the 1970s.The Six Million Dollar Man being one. Somehow, it didn't seem to be the same.

[staffslad]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

The Comic Strip Presents... was very good, particularly the Famous Five parodies.

I also enjoyed the feature-length dramas they screened, my favourite being the one about a group of schoolgirls who were desperate to see Spurs play at Wembley in the F.A. Cup final in their double season. I think it was called Those Glory Glory Days. I only saw it once on its first transmission and would love to view it again.

[I. R. Fincham]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Anyone have any memories of when Channel 4 started? Late 1982 wasn't it? Was it exciting to have an entire new channel as well as new shows? I guess there's a political aspect to it existing at all, I wonder if any people boycotted it that didn't like Thatcher or whatever at the time.

Why would they boycott it? Those people that didn't like Thatcher would find many shows to like on 4. It was home to The Comic Strip Presents, for a start.

[staffslad]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

I had forgotten all about the triangle. Yeah, if I was flipping channels and that triangle appeared, there was a temptation to keep watching to see what it was warning about.

[Richard1978]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Being only 4 when Channel 4 started I missed out a lot of the early post watershed programming. I've heard a few times about the "Red Triangle" which was supposedly dropped because it was encouraging people to watch!

When my college was having a clear out I managed to salvage a few VHS tapes of programmes from The Open College On 4.

[fynger]

Re: When Channel 4 started.

Sounded weird when virtually every announcer between progams had a geordie accent.