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We looked at the final couple of hours of an average ITV 1980s weekday in the post-News at Ten films thread in the obvious place, so let's have a look at the other end of the day - the morning, just after the Kellogg's cereals have all been eaten and just toast crumbs left over on the plates...
Just before 9.20 am - everyone has gone to work or school, and the housewife has to clear the breakfast crockery away, Hoover around (Jenny Logan impressions not obliged), and do the washing - after she's watched After Nine with Jayne Irving, of course.
At the same time, TV-am is about to wrap up for the day - its daily epilogue with Anne Diamond and Nick Owen on the sofa (which went peach in 1985 because of the old one was won in a competition), telling us which celebrities will be gracing their derrieres on the famous sofa the following morning, and also with a sub-Miriam Stoppard After Nine guest (if it is a school day) or a Wacaday presenter such as Timmy Mallet (if it isn't). Time is up, the Jeff Wayne Good Morning Britain (not the current one) theme fades up, the credits roll - (Bill Ludford always got a mention in the end credits for being "Editor in Chief", and even Greg Dyke himself was mentioned there too), and we go to the pictures of the TV-am eggcups (three or four on screen in this instance, with the incumbent year in view). This era ended when Nick Owen left to go to Midweek Sports Special - and if it didn't end then, it certainly did by the time when the strike of 1987 happened. Flipper, Batman and Happy Days networked on ITV for the first time.
Screen fades to black, and the regional ITV stations take over, although the "bridge" was replaced by advertising by the end of the 1980s aimed at those at home - Pampers, Milton sterilising fluid, Bold Automatic, Vespre Silhouettes "with wings" etc - with the problems that TV-am had when they started up in 1983, they were lucky to have those as well, mostly because they didn't contain Equity members on camera. Not too many "have you had an accident in the last three years?" or "do you need a loan but have your work cut out paying it back?" gambits that daytime TV in the last 20 years or so are more famous for, mostly on Channel 5.
While smaller regions got some countryside view of the region (with a "follows shortly" caption thrown in), the almost landlocked region all got the following: "Good morning, this is Central which provides your programmes on the Midlands transmitters of the Independent Broadcasting Authority". Cue three minutes of static Central globe with "Good Morning" at the bottom in Central font and the Central theme tune - in 1983 it was still at least ten minutes of an IBA caption, sandwiched as a bridge between TV-am and the ITV regional contractor. Yorkshire had some sergeant major's march; Thames had Salute to Thames, and Anglia had their Handel's Water Music ripoff.
At 9.30 am we then either go to schools programmes (Picture Box or Start the Day depending on a Monday or Thursday), or school holiday stodgy viewing: a cartoon here, a Sesame Street there, and a film over there, probably on Border - all were either repeats or American or both. Christmas, New Year, General Elections and Royal Weddings were the exception. Schools programmes moved to Channel 4, game shows took over the 9.30 am slot, providing students ironic programming usually with Dale Winton - until 1998 when the end of time had arrived.
Turn the clock back to the pre-breakfast television days when TV-am was just plain old BisonCrown Limited and even before that - Mondays (natch) had Monday's Newcomers which was for the benefit of the advertising industry and not the general viewer unless in anorak mode. Here we saw premier showings of that week's television commercials within 25 minutes and one didn't have to wait until 7.42 pm during Coronation Street either. Nimble bread and Fairy Liquid adverts made their first appearances at around 9.15 am on a Monday morning.
On Tuesday mornings, the IBA had its weekly engineering announcements for the radio and television trade from Crawley Court. Was Sutton Coldfield on reduced power that morning, or was Emley Moor off completely for maintenance work? A programme all about aerials (horizontal or vertical?) and transmitters (most ghosting than Hallowe'en and more snow than Christmas). Some "Points of View" correspondence from those in the TV aerial trade, and not a sign of Rod Hull and Emu either thank goodness. Producers in the gallery at work, overseeing transmissions which are in evidence.
How interesting is a television aerial? - someone who decided to to into engineering after they left school thought it was interesting at the time no doubt. It certainly got me interested, and I have no qualifications to my name when it comes to engineering - I must have purchased every portable TV aerial and signal booster from Argos in those pre-cable and satellite (and Channel 5) days of the mid 1990s just to try and receive a good Yorkshire Television signal in Nottingham from the Belmont transmitter in Lincolnshire (the one that you saw when you were in your caravan on holiday in Skegness or Mablethorpe), but I wanted it on my Nottingham-based bedroom teletext TV set.
What pride we saw when the IBA logo was on screen? - pure class. Sadly, the engineering announcements was transferred to Channel 4 because of breakfast television and other programming commitments, and it went completely in 1990 when it was replaced by the Independent Television Commission - a sad day when the Broadcasting Act 1990 came into existence as its successor was not as good. Indeed, when TVS first came on the air on New Year's Day 1982 the first image we saw was of the IBA logo on the Winchester building just as Khalid Aziz was starting his opening gambit.
And special occasions such as Christmas when one got up early especially for the day itself - if the bedroom is a sea of wrapping paper, then the only other thing to do is go downstairs to put the TV set on, usually cartoons, although breakfast television had made children's TV in the mornings deliberate by the time it came on the air. It was probably unheard of to see proper programmes before 9.00 am in the late 1970s or early 1980s unless some Royal couple was about to say "I do" or ITN was to announce that Britain was to have a new Prime Minister, usually the previous Leader of the Opposition.
These days, the 2014 model of Good Morning Britain reminds me of the Mark Durden-Smith's (son of Judith Chalmers') version of Channel 4's RI:SE from 2003 and shares not much charm as the L-shaped sofa of the TV-am's programme namesake or even GMTV's attempt to cash in on their predecessor.
It is really worth watching first thing in the morning these days?
Just before 9.20 am - everyone has gone to work or school, and the housewife has to clear the breakfast crockery away, Hoover around (Jenny Logan impressions not obliged), and do the washing - after she's watched After Nine with Jayne Irving, of course.
At the same time, TV-am is about to wrap up for the day - its daily epilogue with Anne Diamond and Nick Owen on the sofa (which went peach in 1985 because of the old one was won in a competition), telling us which celebrities will be gracing their derrieres on the famous sofa the following morning, and also with a sub-Miriam Stoppard After Nine guest (if it is a school day) or a Wacaday presenter such as Timmy Mallet (if it isn't). Time is up, the Jeff Wayne Good Morning Britain (not the current one) theme fades up, the credits roll - (Bill Ludford always got a mention in the end credits for being "Editor in Chief", and even Greg Dyke himself was mentioned there too), and we go to the pictures of the TV-am eggcups (three or four on screen in this instance, with the incumbent year in view). This era ended when Nick Owen left to go to Midweek Sports Special - and if it didn't end then, it certainly did by the time when the strike of 1987 happened. Flipper, Batman and Happy Days networked on ITV for the first time.
Screen fades to black, and the regional ITV stations take over, although the "bridge" was replaced by advertising by the end of the 1980s aimed at those at home - Pampers, Milton sterilising fluid, Bold Automatic, Vespre Silhouettes "with wings" etc - with the problems that TV-am had when they started up in 1983, they were lucky to have those as well, mostly because they didn't contain Equity members on camera. Not too many "have you had an accident in the last three years?" or "do you need a loan but have your work cut out paying it back?" gambits that daytime TV in the last 20 years or so are more famous for, mostly on Channel 5.
While smaller regions got some countryside view of the region (with a "follows shortly" caption thrown in), the almost landlocked region all got the following: "Good morning, this is Central which provides your programmes on the Midlands transmitters of the Independent Broadcasting Authority". Cue three minutes of static Central globe with "Good Morning" at the bottom in Central font and the Central theme tune - in 1983 it was still at least ten minutes of an IBA caption, sandwiched as a bridge between TV-am and the ITV regional contractor. Yorkshire had some sergeant major's march; Thames had Salute to Thames, and Anglia had their Handel's Water Music ripoff.
At 9.30 am we then either go to schools programmes (Picture Box or Start the Day depending on a Monday or Thursday), or school holiday stodgy viewing: a cartoon here, a Sesame Street there, and a film over there, probably on Border - all were either repeats or American or both. Christmas, New Year, General Elections and Royal Weddings were the exception. Schools programmes moved to Channel 4, game shows took over the 9.30 am slot, providing students ironic programming usually with Dale Winton - until 1998 when the end of time had arrived.
Turn the clock back to the pre-breakfast television days when TV-am was just plain old BisonCrown Limited and even before that - Mondays (natch) had Monday's Newcomers which was for the benefit of the advertising industry and not the general viewer unless in anorak mode. Here we saw premier showings of that week's television commercials within 25 minutes and one didn't have to wait until 7.42 pm during Coronation Street either. Nimble bread and Fairy Liquid adverts made their first appearances at around 9.15 am on a Monday morning.
On Tuesday mornings, the IBA had its weekly engineering announcements for the radio and television trade from Crawley Court. Was Sutton Coldfield on reduced power that morning, or was Emley Moor off completely for maintenance work? A programme all about aerials (horizontal or vertical?) and transmitters (most ghosting than Hallowe'en and more snow than Christmas). Some "Points of View" correspondence from those in the TV aerial trade, and not a sign of Rod Hull and Emu either thank goodness. Producers in the gallery at work, overseeing transmissions which are in evidence.
How interesting is a television aerial? - someone who decided to to into engineering after they left school thought it was interesting at the time no doubt. It certainly got me interested, and I have no qualifications to my name when it comes to engineering - I must have purchased every portable TV aerial and signal booster from Argos in those pre-cable and satellite (and Channel 5) days of the mid 1990s just to try and receive a good Yorkshire Television signal in Nottingham from the Belmont transmitter in Lincolnshire (the one that you saw when you were in your caravan on holiday in Skegness or Mablethorpe), but I wanted it on my Nottingham-based bedroom teletext TV set.
What pride we saw when the IBA logo was on screen? - pure class. Sadly, the engineering announcements was transferred to Channel 4 because of breakfast television and other programming commitments, and it went completely in 1990 when it was replaced by the Independent Television Commission - a sad day when the Broadcasting Act 1990 came into existence as its successor was not as good. Indeed, when TVS first came on the air on New Year's Day 1982 the first image we saw was of the IBA logo on the Winchester building just as Khalid Aziz was starting his opening gambit.
And special occasions such as Christmas when one got up early especially for the day itself - if the bedroom is a sea of wrapping paper, then the only other thing to do is go downstairs to put the TV set on, usually cartoons, although breakfast television had made children's TV in the mornings deliberate by the time it came on the air. It was probably unheard of to see proper programmes before 9.00 am in the late 1970s or early 1980s unless some Royal couple was about to say "I do" or ITN was to announce that Britain was to have a new Prime Minister, usually the previous Leader of the Opposition.
These days, the 2014 model of Good Morning Britain reminds me of the Mark Durden-Smith's (son of Judith Chalmers') version of Channel 4's RI:SE from 2003 and shares not much charm as the L-shaped sofa of the TV-am's programme namesake or even GMTV's attempt to cash in on their predecessor.
It is really worth watching first thing in the morning these days?
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