ITV Schools - the smaller and regional producers

[Arran]

I think they did but it's possible that most of them were broadcast only in the London region.

I was verbally informed that ITV companies made schools programmes as a strategy to win in future franchise rounds. Competitors had to commit themselves to match or exceed the output of the incumbent....

[Arran]

I'm not familiar with many of these programmes because they were before my time. It's possible that they changed days in the future.

[Arran]

Animals in Action was a spin-off from Survival for younger viewers, and contained much footage from Survival.

It was repeated a number of times in the late 1980s on a regional basis outside of the Children's ITV timeslot, including Sunday mornings on TVS.

[Arran]

Any ideas which programme series started out in the regional ITV idents in the afternoon era; passed through the Watch It! era; then ended in the Children's ITV era?

Animals in Action was one programme. The first episode was broadcast on 26 September 1980 when there were still regional...

[Arran]

ITV Schools was dominated by programmes from Thames and ATV / Central with Granada and Yorkshire coming in at third and fourth place respectively. Grampian was always associated with sex education, as a result of its programme Living and Growing, although they produced several other programmes
...

[Arran]

Have any chip shops ever sold poutine? Or is it something only found in Canada?

[Arran]

Now for the He-Man week…

Monday 5 September 1983
16:00 We’ll Tell You a Story
16:15 Doris
16:20 He-Man and Masters of the Universe
16:45 A Musical World

Tuesday 6 September 1983
16:00 Moschops
16:15 Doris
16:20 Hold Tight!...

[Arran]

Children’s ITV was launched on Monday 3 January 1983 at an unusually late start time, due to the film Zulu which proceeded it, and their first programme was the cartoon Dangermouse. On subsequent days, Children’s ITV was broadcast between 4PM and 5:15PM and contained four or five programmes....

[Arran]

Can anybody confirm the last day when Watch It! was broadcast? Was it Wednesday 22 December 1982 with the On Safari Christmas Show? The previous day appeared to have a conventional children's programme schedule but no children's programmes were broadcast on ITV in the afternoon of the next day as Christmas...

[Arran]

I'm unsure how chip shop pies have changed over the decades because I have never bought one. How common are fried pies?

Another tricky find is cod roe that seems to have fallen in popularity.

I'm under the impression that traditional fish and chip shops are declining in popularity...

[Arran]

I have encountered plenty of people over the years who do not like black toilet seats because it reminds them of a public toilet.

[Arran]

Network SouthEast existed for only a mere 8 years from 1986 to 1994 but it left a lasting impression in the minds of both rail users and wider society.

The sectorisation of British Rail with the creation of the InterCity and Network SouthEast divisions was a strategic move that better reflected...

[Arran]

Plaice is a rarity and tends to only be available from chip shops that specialise in fish products along with some where retired people are the main customers. For some reason or other, plaice and chips is commonly available in Denmark.

Scampi seems to have almost vanished from the menu....

[Arran]

Do you think that black toilet seats had an offputting psychological effect?

[Arran]

What things were once commonly sold in chip shops in the past but are now increasingly rare?

[Arran]

On Sunday 25 May 2025 the franchise period for South Western Railway expired and the company was nationalised. Southeastern has been nationalised since 16 October 2021. c2c will be nationalised on 20 July 2025 and Greater Anglia will be nationalised on 12 October 2025.

This means that the...