One thing that crossed my mind when thinking of old TV was that until the 1990s there were a lot more imported shows on BBC1 & ITV between 7pm & midnight.
I guess the growth of multi-channel TV, the BBC being put under pressure to buy in less shows has changed things.
Also over the years ITV has tended to network more shows at peak periods, reducing the chances of imports being sold to individual stations, then building up popularity until they were networked. This used to happen a lot before Channel 4 started, though many never got beyond being sold to very ITV company, but not having the same episode shown in the same timeslot.
The last netowrk import I can remember on ITV was Baywatch, though I remember Granada showing Midnight Caller (orginally on BBC2) at about 11pm in 1999.
The last for BBC1 I can recall was the X-Files, unless anyone knows better.
I guess the growth of multi-channel TV, the BBC being put under pressure to buy in less shows has changed things.
Also over the years ITV has tended to network more shows at peak periods, reducing the chances of imports being sold to individual stations, then building up popularity until they were networked. This used to happen a lot before Channel 4 started, though many never got beyond being sold to very ITV company, but not having the same episode shown in the same timeslot.
The last netowrk import I can remember on ITV was Baywatch, though I remember Granada showing Midnight Caller (orginally on BBC2) at about 11pm in 1999.
The last for BBC1 I can recall was the X-Files, unless anyone knows better.
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