Another Update.

I am taking a short break from doing some blog pieces, will there will be more soon. Until then, he’s a list of all the TV shows that I have reviewed so far. If anything takes your interest, then you are welcome to take a look, and anyone who wants to share their memories are welcome as always.

Aaahh! Real Monsters!
Absolutely
Absolutely Fabulous
Ad Fab
The Adam And Joe Show
Ads Infinitum
The Adventure Game
The Adventures Of Captain Zeelig
The Adventures Of Sam And Max: Freelance Police!
After You’ve Gone
Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters
ALF
Alfresco
Alias
All Clued Up
The All-New Alphabet Show
The All-New Harry Hill Show
All Over The Shop
Allsorts
Alphabet Castle
The Alphabet Game
Alvin And The Chipmunks
American Dad
America’s Top Ten
Amoebas To Zebras
Andy Capp
Angela Anaconda
Anglian Lives
Animaniacs
The Ant And Dec Show
Ant And Dec Unzipped
Armstrong And Miller
The Armstrong And Miller Show
Around The World With Willy Fog
Art Attack
Artifax
As If
Ask The Family
Atlantis High
Auntie’s Bloomers
Babes In The Wood
Backdate
Bad Influence
Bailey Kipper’s POV
The Baldy Man
Bamboozle!
Bananaman
Bang Bang It’s Reeves And Mortimer
Bargain Hunt
Barking
Barmy Aunt Boomerang
Beadle’s Hot Shots
Beast
Beat The Nation
Beat The Teacher
Beavis And Butt-Head
Bedrock
Beetlejuice
Before They Were Famous
Believe Nothing
The Benny Hill Show
Bertha
The Best Show In The World… Probably
Bid TV
Big Break
The Big Breakfast
Big Brother
The Big Stage
Big Train
The Biggest Game In Town
Biker Mice From Mars
Billie – Girl From The Future
Birds Of A Feather
A Bit Of A Do
A Bit Of Fry And Laurie
Bits
Bitsa
Black Books
Blackadder
Blam!!!
Blandings
Blankety Blank
Blind Date
Blockbusters
Blue Peter
Bob And Margaret
Bob Martin
Bob Monkhouse On Game Shows
Bob Monkhouse On The Spot
The Bob Monkhouse Show
Bob Says Opportunity Knocks
Bob’s Fab Ads
Bob’s Full House
Bob’s Your Uncle
Bodger And Badger
Body Heat
Bottom
Box Clever
Boyz Unlimited
Brainstorm
BrainTeaser
Breakaway
Breakfast Serials
Bremner, Bird, And Fortune
The Brian Conley Show
Brian Conley This Way Up
Bric-A-Brac
Bring Me The Head Of Light Entertainment
The Brittas Empire
Broken News
Brookside
Bruce’s Guest Night
Bruiser
The Bubble
Bucky O’Hare
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Bug Alert
Bullseye
Busman’s Holiday
Button Moon
Bygones
Byker Grove
Call My Bluff
Cambridge Footlights Revue
Cannon And Ball’s Casino
Captain Zep Space Detective
Carrott’s Commercial Breakdown
Casting Couch
Catchphrase
Catchword
CatDog
Catterick
Caught In The Act
Cavegirl
CD:UK
Celebrity Squares
Chain Letters
Challenge Of The South
Channel 5 News
The Channel 4 Daily
Charley Says
The Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show
Charlie Chalk
Charmed
The Chart Show
The Chase
Cheap Cheap Cheap
Cheggers Plays Pop
Chewin’ The Fat
Child’s Play
Chip In
Chip ‘N’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Chockablock
ChuckleVision
Chute
Clarissa Explains It All
Cleopatra 2525
The Cleveland Show
The Clive James Show
Clockwise
Clueless
Colin’s Sandwich
Coming Next
The Common Denominator
Commuter Quiz
Coogan’s Run
Concentration
Cone Zone
Connections
Coronation Street
Count Arthur Strong
Count Duckula
Countdown
A Country Practice
Coupling
Cow And Chicken
Cradle To Grave
Craft, Design And Technology
Crazy Comparisons
Crazy Cottage
The Creatives
Cross Wits
Crossroads
Cryptogram
The Crystal Cube
The Crystal Maze
Cult Toons
The Dance Years
Danger! 50,000 Volts
Danger! Incoming Attack
Danger – Marmalade At Work
Danger Mouse
Danny Baker After All
The Danny Baker Show
Dappledown Farm
Dare To Believe
Daria
Dark Angel
Data Run
The Day Today
Days Like These
Dead Man Weds
Dead Ringers
Deal Or No Deal
Dear Mr Barker
Dear Television
Defectors
Defenders Of The Earth
Dennis
Dennis The Menace
The Dennis The Menace And Gnasher Show
Desmond’s
The Detectives
Dexter’s Laboratory
Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow
Didn’t They Do Well
Dilbert
Dinosaurs
Directors Commentary
The Disney Club
Dizzy Heights
The DJ Kat Show
Do It
Do The Right Thing
Doc Martin
Dogtanian And The Three Muskehounds
Don’t Blow The Inheritance
Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush
Double Dare
Doug
Dr Terrible’s House Of Horrible
Dr Zitbag’s Transylvania Pet Shop
Dream Team
Duck Patrol
Duck Tales
Dumb And Dumber
Earthworm Jim
EastEnders
Ed, Edd ‘N’ Eddy
Educating Marmalade
The 8:15 From Manchester
The Elvira Show
End Of Part One
The End Of Thames
Eurovision Song Contest
Every Second Counts
Everybody’s Equal
Extras
Fairly Secret Army
Faith In The Future
The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin
Family Affairs
Family Fortunes
Family Guy
The Family Ness
Famous People, Famous Places
Fanorama
Fantasy Football League
FAQ
Fast Forward
Fast Friends
The Fast Show
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
Fifteen-To-One
Filthy, Rich And Catflap
Finders Keepers
Fingermouse
Fireman Sam
First Class
Fist Of Fun
500 Bus Stops
5’s Company
The Flintstones
FLIP
Fluke
The Flumps
Focus North
Follow Your Nose
Football First/The Goal Rush
Football Italia
Football League Extra
FOT
Four Square
Fraggle Rock
The Frank Skinner Show
Freakazoid!
French And Saunders
Friday Night Live
The Friday Zone
Fudge
Full Swing
Fully Booked
Fun House
Futurama
Gambit
Game On
Game Show Marathon
Games World
Gamesmaster
Garfield And Friends
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
Gas
Gavin And Stacey
Gems
The Generation Game
Get Fit With Brittas
Get Fresh
Get Stuffed!!
Get Your Own Back
Ghost Train
Ghostwriter
Gilbert’s Fridge
Gimme 5
Gimme Gimme Gimme
Girls On Top
Give Us A Clue
Gladiators
Glam Metal Detectives
Going For Gold
Going Live!
Good Morning
Goodbye To All That
Goodnight Sweetheart
Gordon The Gopher
Goth Girl
Grand Slam
Grandstand
Grange Hill
The Great Bong
The Great British Quiz
Green Claws
The Green Green Grass
Green Wing
Gridlock
Grim Tales
The Grimleys
The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole
Hale And Pace
H&P@BBC.
Hangar 17
Happiness
Happy Families (BBC1)
Happy Families (CBBC)
Hardware
Hardwicke House
Harry And Cosh
Harry And Paul
Harry Enfield And Chums
Harry Enfield’s Brand Spanking New Show
Harry Enfield’s Television Programme
Harry Hill
Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule
Harry Hill’s Fruit Fancies
Harry Hill’s Shark-Infested Custard
Harry Hill’s TV Burp
Harry’s Mad
Hart Beat
Have I Got News For You
Having A Pop
Headjam
He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe
Henry’s Cat
Hex
Hey Arnold!
The High Life
Hippies
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Hive Minds
Hokey Cokey
Hold Tight
Holding The Baby
Hollyoaks
Home And Away
Home Run
Home To Roost
Hospital!
Hot Metal
Hot Streak
Hotch Potch House
Hotel!
Hotlinks
House Of Fools
The House Of Gristle
How Dare You!
How 2
Hububb
The Hurricanes
I Am Weasel
I Love The 1980s
Ideal
I’m Alan Partridge
In At The Deep End
In Bed With Medinner
In The Grid
The Inbetweeners
Incognito
Incredible Games
The Ink Thief
Inspector Gadget
Interceptor
Introducing Tony Ferrino
Is It Legal?
Is That A Fact
The IT Crowd
It’ll Be Alright On The Night
It’ll Never Work
It’s A Mad World World World World
It’s A Mystery
It’s Anybody’s Guess
It’s Kevin
It’s Not!
It’s Not Just Saturday
It’s Only TV… But I Like It
It’s Wicked!
ITV Results Service
The Jack Docherty Show
Jackson Pace – The Great Years
James Bond Jr.
Jane
Jane In The Desert
Jangles
Jeeves And Wooster
Jem
Jeopardy!
The Jetsons
Jim Tavaré Pictures Presents…
Jimbo And The Jet Set
Johnny Ball Reveals All
Johnny Bravo
The Joke Machine
The Joy Of Painting
Juke Box Jury
Julia Jekyll And Harriet Hyde
Jumble
Jumpers For Goalposts
Just A Gigolo
Just A Minute
Just For The Record
Kappatoo
Kath And Kim
The Kenny Everett Television Show
The Kenny Everett Video Show
Keynotes
The Kid
King Of The Castle
King Of The Hill
Kingdom
Kinvig
Knightmare
Knowing Me Knowing You
The Krankies Elektronik Komik
The Krypton Factor
KYTV
Last Chance Lottery
The Last Salute
Late Lunch
The Late Show With David Letterman
The Laughter File
The League Of Gentlemen
The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin
Les Lives
Let Me Entertain You
Let Them Eat Cake
Let’s Get Quizzical
Let’s Pretend
Light Lunch
Lingo
The Link
Liquid News
Little Britain
Live & Kicking
Live With Chris Moyles
Look And Read
Look Around You
Lose A Million
Love Me Do
Loved By You
Lucky Feller
Lucky Ladders
Lucky Numbers
The Machine
The Mag
The Magic Comedy Strip
Magic Micro Mission
Magpie
Maid Marian And Her Merry Men
Man Stroke Woman
Man To Man With Dean Learner
Married For Life
Married… With Children
Mashed
Masterchef
Mastermind
Masterteam
Match Of The Day
Match Of The 90s
Me, You And Him
Meg And Mog
Mega Mania
Melvin And Maureen’s Music-A-Grams
Memory Bank
Men Behaving Badly
Metal Mickey
Midas Touch
The Mighty Boosh
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mike And Angelo
Mind The Gap
Ministry Of Mayhem
Mirrorball
Miss-Takes
The Mitchell And Webb Situation
Model Millie
Monkey Trousers
Monster Cafe
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Motormouth
Mousetrap
Move On Up
The Movie Game
Movies Games And Videos
Movies Movies Movies
Moviewatch
Mr Bean
Mr Bean The Animated Series
Mr Don And Mr George
Mr Majeika
MTV Bytesize
MTV Select
The Munsters Today
The Muppet Show
Muppets Tonight
Murphy’s Micro Quiz-M
The Music Game
Music Match
My Life In Film
My Parents Are Aliens
My Wonderful Life
Naked Video
Name That Tune
Nathan Barley
The National Lottery Live
Ned’s Newt
Neighbours
Nelly Nut Live
The Nelly Nut Show
Never Had It So Good
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
The New Addams Family
New Girl
News At Ten
Newsround
NHS Loto
Night And Day
Night Fever
Night Network
Nighty Night
Nine O’Clock News
No. 73
No Win No Fee
The Noel Edmonds Show
Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy
Noel’s Addicts
Noel’s House Party
Noel’s Telly Years
The Noise
Norbert Smith – A Life
Not Another Awards Show
Not Another Eurovision
Not Going Out
Not The Nine O’Clock News
Not With A Bang
Now You See It
The O Zone
Odd One Out
The Office (BBC2)
The Office (ITV)
OFI Sunday
On The Waterfront
Once In A Lifetime
One Foot In The Grave
The 100 Greatest Children’s TV Shows
The 100 Greatest TV Adverts
100%
1001 Things You Should Know
One To Win (BBC1)
One To Win (Channel 5)
Only Connect
Only Fools And Horses
Open All Hours
Our Hero
Out Of This World
Outside Edge
Ovide
Ox Tales
Palace Hill
Parallel 9
Parallel Playback
Paris
Pass The Buck
Passport To Paradise
Password
Paul Merton In Galton And Simpson’s…
Paul Merton The Series
Peep Show
Pennis Pops Out
Penny Crayon
The Pepsi Chart
Perfect Recall
Perfection
The Peter Serafinowicz Show
Pets Win Prizes
Phoenix Nights
The Pig Attraction
Pigeon Street
The Piglet Files
Pingu
The Pink Panther
Pinky And The Brain
Planet Mirth
Play School
Play Your Cards Right
Playbus
Playdays
Playing For Time
Pob’s Programme
Poddington Peas
Pointless
Points Of View
Police Squad!
Pop Quiz
Pop Upstairs Downstairs
Popular
Popworld
Porkpie
Postman Pat
Potsworth And Co.
The Powerpuff Girls
The Premiership
Press Gang
Press Your Luck
The Preventers
Price-Drop TV
The Price Is Right
A Prince Among Men
PSI
Puddle Lane
Punchlines
Punt And Dennis
Pushing Up Daisies
The Pyramid Game
Q
QI
A Question Of Pop
A Question Of Sport
Quisine
Quiz Call
Quiz Night
Quizmania
Rab C Nesbitt
The Raccoons
Radio Roo
The Raggy Dolls
Rainbow
Raise The Roof
Razzmatazz
Reactive
Ready Steady Cook
The Real Ghostbusters
Reboot
Record Breakers
Record Of The Year
Red And Blue
Red Dwarf
Remote Control
The Ren And Stimpy Show
Renford Rejects
Rentaghost
The Return Of Dogtanian
Richard Whiteley Unbriefed
Richmond Hill
The Riddlers
Rise
Robot Wars
Rock And Chips
Rock Profile
Rocko’s Modern Life
Rocky Star
Rod, Jane And Freddy
Roger And The Rottentrolls
Roland Rat The Series
The Ronn Lucas Show
Room 101
Rory Bremner… Who Else
Rosie And Jim
Round The Bend
Round The Twist
The Roxy
The Royle Family
Rugrats
Run The Risk
Runway
S And M
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Saint And Greavsie
Sale Of The Century
Sam’s Game
Samson Superslug
The Satellite Show
Saturday Banana
Saturday Live
Saturday Night Takeaway
The Saturday Picture Show
The Saturday Roadshow
The Saturday Show (CBBC)
The Saturday Show (CITV)
Saturday Starship
Saturday SuperStore
Scooby-Doo
Scratchy And Co.
Scrubs
Second Thoughts
The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Age 13¾
The Secret Video Show
Seinfeld
Sesame Street
The Shane Richie Experience
Sharp’s Funday
She-Ra: Princess Of Power
Shooting Stars
Simon And The Witch
The Simpsons
Sir Bernard’s Stately Homes
Sitcom Showdown
Sitcom Weekend Spoofs
Sitting Pretty
Six Pairs Of Pants
The $64,000 Question
The Sketch Show
Skull
Sky Soccer Saturday
Sky Trax
Slap Bang
A Slice Of The Action
Smack The Pony
Small Talk
Smart
The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer
Smith And Jones
Smith And Jones In Small Doses
The Smoking Room
SMTV Live
The Smurfs
So What Now?
Sometime, Never
A Song For Europe
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sons And Daughters
Sooty And Co.
The Sooty Show
Sorry, I’ve Got No Head
Sounds Like Music
South Park
The Spa
Space Cadets
Space Ghost Coast To Coast
Space Vets
Spaced
Spatz
Spellbound
Spitting Image
SpongeBob SquarePants
The Spooks Of Bottle Bay
Sporting Triangles
Sportsmasters
Sportsnight
Star Test
Stars In Their Eyes
Steal
The Steam Video Company
Stella Street
Still Game
Stop That Laughing At The Back
Stoppit And Tidyup
The Strange World Of Gurney Slade
The Strangerers
Strike It Lucky
Stupid
Sudo-Q
The Sunday Show
Sunnyside Farm
Sunset Beach
Super Mario Brothers
Supergran
Supermarket Sweep
Superted
Swap Shop
Swapheads
Swiss Toni
The Sylvester And Tweety Mysteries
Take The High Road
Take Your Pick
Takeover Bid
Tale Spin
Tales From The Poop Deck
Talk About
Talking Telephone Numbers
Tarby’s Frame Game
Tarrant On TV
Taz-Mania
T-Bag
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
The Telebugs
Teleganticmegavision
Teletubbies
Tell The Truth
Telly Addicts
Tellystack
Ten Sharp
Tenable
Tenball
The 10%ers
Terrahawks
Terror Towers
The Terry And Gaby Show
Test The Nation
TFI Friday
TFI 1998
That 80s Show
That Mitchell And Webb Look
That’s Life!
That’s Showbusiness
There’s A Lot Of It About
There’s Nothing To Worry About
They Came From Somewhere Else
They Think It’s All Over
The Thin Blue Line
Think Tank
30 Years Of LWT
This Is 5!
This Is Your Life
This Morning With Richard Not Judy
This Time
Thomas The Tank Engine
3-2-1
Three’s A Crowd
Through The Dragon’s Eye
Through The Keyhole
Thumb Bandits
Thunderbirds
Thundercats
Tibs And Fibs
Tickle On The Tum
The Tim Vine Christmas Present
Time After Time
Time Gentlemen Please
Timekeepers
Timeline
Timothy Goes To School
Tiny Toon Adventures
Tip Top TV
Tipping Point
Tiswas
To Me… To You…
Toast Of London
Today’s The Day
Toksvig
The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon
Top Banana
Top Of The Pops
Topranko!
TOTP2
Tots TV
Touch Me, I’m Karen Taylor
Transformers
The Trap Door
Treasure Hunt
The Tribe
Tricks And Tracks
Tricky
Tricky Business
Trivial Pursuit
Turnabout
TV Heroes
TV Mayhem
TV Offal
TV Scrabble
TV Weekly
TVGoHome
TV’s Finest Failures
24 Hour Quiz
2DTV
Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps
Two Point Four Children
The Two Ronnies
Two Stupid Dogs
2004 The Stupid Version
Two Tribes
TX
The UK Top 40
University Challenge
Up Yer News
Upstart Crow
UP2U
Very Big Very Soon
Vic And Bob’s Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
The Vicar Of Dibley
Victor And Hugo
Video And Chips
Videotech
Virtually Impossible
Wacaday
Wacky Races
Wake Up In The Wild Room
Wake Up London
Watching
Watson And Oliver
A Way With Numbers
WCW Worldwide
We Know Where You Live
We Love TV
The Weakest Link
We’ve Got Your Number
What The Papers Say
What’s Happening
What’s My Line?
What’s Up Doc
Wheel Of Fortune
Where’s Wally?
Whittle
Who Dares Wins
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Whoops Apocalypse
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Why Don’t You…?
The Wide Awake Club
Willy Fog 2
Win Beadle’s Money
Win, Lose Or Draw
The Winjin’ Pom
Winner Takes All
Winning Lines
Wipeout
Wizadora
Wizbit
Wogan
Wogan’s Web
Wolf It
The Wolvis Family
The Wombles
Woof!
A Word In Your Ear
Wordplay
Words And Pictures
Working Lunch
The World According To Smith And Jones
The World Of Lee Evans
World Of Pub
The Worst Week Of My Life
Worzel Gummidge
Worzel Gummidge Down Under
Wow
WYSIWYG
Xchange
Xena: Warrior Princess
XYZ
You And Me
You Bet!
You Gotta Be Jokin’
The Young Doctors
You’ve Been Framed!
Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It
Zig And Zag: Entertainment Cops
Zig And Zag’s Dirty Deeds
Zzzap!

Maybe one day…

Some people have hoped that I will continue to review TV shows on this blog. However, I have now reviewed the vast majority of what I have wanted to. There are some more shows that I want to review, that I remember from the time, or I don’t but I have read about them and want to discover more, but there are no traces of them online. This is a list of these shows, and a brief description.

Ask No Questions (late-80s ITV game show)
Blind Men (late-90s ITV sitcom)
The Boot Street Band (mid-90s CBBC sitcom)
Boyz Unlimited (late-90s Channel 4 sitcom)
Champion Blockbusters (late-80s ITV game show)
Demolition (early-2000s Channel 5 game show)
Ed Stone Is Dead (early-2000s BBC Choice sitcom)
Etc… (late-80s ITV sketch show)
Fifteen-To-One Scrapbook (late-90s Channel 4 game show special)
Forever (early-2000s ITV music show)
Get Fit With Brittas (late-90s BBC1 sitcom spin-off)
Get Real (late-90s ITV sitcom)
Gibberish (early-90s BBC1 game show)
Here’s Johnny (late-90s Channel 4 comedy chat show)
Hit Man (late-80s ITV game show)
Housemates (mid-90s BBC1 game show)
The Jim Tavare Show (late-90s Channel 5 sketch show)
Kelly’s Eye (mid-80s ITV sketch show)
Knock Knock (late-80s CBBC game show)
Marlene Marlowe Investigates (mid-90s CBBC sitcom)
Morris Minor’s Marvellous Motors (late-80s BBC1 sitcom)
The New Tomorrow (mid-2000s Channel 5 drama spin-off)
Not Another Game Show (early-2000s BBC1 comedy clip show)
100% Gold (late-90s Channel 5 game show)
Only Joking (early-90s ITV comedy panel game)
People Do The Funniest Things (mid=80s ITV comedy clip show)
Pirates (mid-90s CBBC sitcom)
A Question Of Entertainment (late-80s BBC1 game show)
A Question Of TV (early-2000s BBC1 game show)
Quiz Bowl (early-90s Channel 4 game show)
Relative Strangers (mid-80s Channel 4 sitcom)
Sport Addicts (early-2000s Challenge game show)
Sprockets (early-90s ITV film show)
10 Sharp (early-90s ITV entertainment show)
What’s All This Then (late-80s CBBC show)
Your Number Please (early-90s ITV game show)

If anyone does have at least one full edition of any of these shows to put online, or knows where there may be some clips already online, then that will come in really useful. Until then, I might review a few other things that I have planned.

The Review Of 2020.

It’s time to take a look back at the year. Now I plan to only really write about what I have achieved on my blog in 2020, I have tried not to take too much notice of what has been happening in the news, although it’s hard to deny that there have been times when it has been dispiriting to say the least. Being able to put more blog pieces together has definitely helped me to get through it all, and I’ll pick out a few highlights. 2020

It is weird to think that I started this blog almost six years ago now. I did wonder if it was a good idea, but it has gone well, and my memories of putting those early pieces together are almost nostalgic in themselves now. This year I realised that there were still plenty of TV shows that I wanted to review, so I thought that I might as well just get on with it. This meant that for a while the pieces were being produced at a frantic pace, with one a day at one point, and this will be my 321st piece of the year.

To go on about statistics a little, this blog has had over 105,000 views this year, which is a new record for a year by some distance, and an average of almost 290 views a day. My most-viewed piece is my review of ITV’s Tenable. I haven’t reviewed many shows that are currently still on TV, but this one has had a big response, because every time there is a big win on the show, people look at the piece to discover what the biggest-ever win is.

It’s always great to find things on YouTube as well, and I have looked back at TV shows of varying fame, just anything that I thought people would like to know about. Leaving this blog open to comments is always interesting, because sometimes I simply get a comment saying “I remember that”, or “that was good”, and it always makes me feel flattered that people want to spend the time looking at this blog and share memories.

One that really stood out to me though was when I got a comment from someone who was in the cast of BBC2’s sitcom The Wolvis Family (which is now not far short of its 30th anniversary). I didn’t expect that at all, it was a real surprise to me, and it’s difficult to describe the buzz that I got from that, it definitely made taking the time to watch that one worthwhile. Thank you, Honey!

I must admit that I don’t have many more plans for pieces at the moment. I have now got the vast majority of what I have wanted to share online, and I am pleased that it has been archived for people from across the world to read, with over 1,200 pieces available. I feel that I have dedicated enough of my time for now. There are about 35 more TV shows that I’d like to review, but there are currently no traces of them online, I might put a list on here soon, and see if there is anyone out there with any full episodes because it would be really useful.

I might do a few more pieces about pop music as well from the 80s and 90s, an area that I am always interested in discovering more about, and maybe some radio and computer games too, along with continuing on YouTube and Twitter. I shall just have to see how it goes. I’d like to finish off for now by saying thanks once again for your support throughout the year, it does mean a lot to me, and I hope that whatever you’re doing you and the people you know will have a Happy New Year.

The review of the year so far.

As we have now somehow reached the halfway point of the year, I thought that I would take the opportunity to do a piece featuring the TV shows that I still want to review. There could still be more shows added to this list, but this is what is planned for now, and hopefully I can get it all done before the end of the year, so if you remember any of these shows and want to know what I think of them, they will be coming soon.

Adrian Mole
ALF
Ask No Questions*
Bailey Kipper’s POV
The Benny Hill Show
Black Books
Blackadder
Blandings
Blind Men*
Bob Monkhouse On The Spot*
The Boot Street Band*
Boyz Unlimited*
Bring Me The Head Of Light Entertainment*
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Champion Blockbusters*
Charmed
The Clive James Show
Colin’s Sandwich
Coupling
Cradle To Grave
The Creatives
Dappledown Farm
Dead Ringers
Demolition*
Desmond’s
The Detectives
Dream Team
EastEnders
Ed Stone Is Dead*
The Elvira Show
Etc…*
Fairly Secret Army
Fast Forward
Fawlty Towers
Fifteen-To-One Scrapbook*
Filthy, Rich And Catflap
FLIP*
Forever*
Fraggle Rock
French And Saunders
Game On
Get Fit With Brittas*
Get Real*
Gibberish*
The Green Green Grass
Grim Tales
H&P@BBC*
He-Man
Here’s Johnny*
Hex
Hit Man*
House Of Fools
Housemates*
The Inbetweeners
Is That A Fact
Jane
The Jim Tavare Show*
Just For The Record*
Kelly’s Eye*
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Kingdom
Knock Knock*
The Krankies Electronik Comik
The Late Show
Let Me Entertain You
Let Them Eat Cake
Little Britain
Love Me Do
Maid Marian And Her Merry Men
Marlene Marlowe Investigates*
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Model Millie
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Morris Minor’s Marvellous Motors*
Mr Majeika
The Muppet Show
Muppets Tonight
Music Match
New Girl
Noel Fielding’s Comedy Luxury
Noel’s Telly Years
Not Another Game Show*
Not The Nine O’Clock News
100% Gold*
Only Fools And Horses
Only Joking*
People Do The Funniest Things*
The Pig Attraction
Pirates*
Play School
Popular
Porkpie
Press Gang
Q
A Question Of Entertainment*
A Question Of TV*
Quiz Bowl*
Rab C Nesbitt
Record Breakers
Red Dwarf
Relative Strangers*
Renford Rejects
Roland Rat
Round The Twist
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Sam’s Game*
Samson Superslug
The Shane Richie Experience
She-Ra
Sky Trax
Sport Addicts*
Sprockets*
Stop That Laughing At The Back*
Supergran
T-Bag
10 Sharp*
Terrahawks
There’s A Lot Of It About
This Morning With Richard Not Judy
Thunderbirds
Timothy Goes To School
Toast Of London
Transformers
TV Offal
Upstart Crow
Vic And Bob’s Big Night Out
Video And Chips
What’s All This Then*
Worzel Gummidge
Xena: Warrior Princess
Your Number Please*

*This means that I want to review the show, but there seem to be no full editions online, and I never recorded any myself. If anyone does have at least one or two full editions of these shows to share online that I can watch, I would be very grateful. Otherwise, they will have to be left for now.

Along with these shows, I also plan to review other things, such as continuing my series looking back at 80s pop music, and I’ll also be going into the 90s and 2000s decades as well. Your continued support has been terrific, I hope that you’ll look forward to what’s still to come.

The story so far…

Around this time of year I like to do an update, and recently I did a list of the TV shows that I have yet to review on this blog, so here is a now rather long list of the shows that I have reviewed already. If you like the look of anything that you might find interesting or think will bring back memories, why not take a look at the piece, it’d be great to know what you think!

Absolutely
Ad Fab
The Adam And Joe Show
The Adventure Game
The Adventures Of Captain Zeelig
The Adventures Of Sam And Max: Freelance
After You’ve Gone
Alfresco
Alias
All Clued Up
All Over The Shop
Allsorts
The Alphabet Game
Animaniacs
Ant And Dec Unzipped
The Armstrong And Miller Show
Art Attack
As If
Ask The Family
Atlantis High
Auntie’s Bloomers
Babes In The Wood
Backdate
Bad Influence
Bananaman
Bang Bang It’s Reeves And Mortimer
Bargain Hunt
Barking
Beast
Beat The Teacher
Bid TV
Big Break
The Big Breakfast
Big Brother
Big Train
The Biggest Game In Town
A Bit Of Fry And Laurie
Bits
Bitsa
Blankety Blank
Blind Date
Blockbusters
Bob And Margaret
Bob Martin
Bob Monkhouse On Game Shows
Bob Says Opportunity Knocks
Bob’s Fab Ads
Bob’s Full House
Bob’s Your Uncle
Bodger And Badger
Brainstorm
BrainTeaser
The Brittas Empire
Bruiser
Bullseye
Busman’s Holiday
Bygones
Call My Bluff
Catchphrase
Catchword
CatDog
Caught In The Act
CD:UK
Celebrity Squares
Chain Letters
The Chart Show
The Chase
Cheap Cheap Cheap
Chewin’ The Fat
Child’s Play
ChuckleVision
Clockwise
The Common Denominator
Coogan’s Run
Concentration
Cone Zone
Connections
Count Arthur Strong
Countdown
Cow And Chicken
Crazy Cottage
Cross Wits
Crossroads
Cryptogram
The Crystal Maze
Cult Toons
The Dance Years
Danger – Marmalade At Work
Danger Mouse
Danny Baker After All
Dare To Believe
Daria
Dark Angel
The Day Today
Dead Man Weds
Deal Or No Deal
The Dennis The Menace And Gnasher Show
Dick And Dom In Da Bungalow
Dilbert
Dinosaurs
Dizzy Heights
Do The Right Thing
Don’t Blow The Inheritance
Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush
Double Dare
Doug
Dr Terrible’s House Of Horrible
Dr Zitbag’s Transylvania Pet Shop
Ed, Edd ‘N’ Eddy
Educating Marmalade
The End Of Thames
End Of Part One
Every Second Counts
Everybody’s Equal
The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin
Family Affairs
Family Fortunes
Family Guy
Fantasy Football League
FAQ
Fast Friends
The Fast Show
Father Ted
Fifteen-To-One
Finders Keepers
First Class
Fluke
Football League Extra
FOT
Four Square
Freakazoid!
The Friday Zone
Full Swing
Fully Booked
Fun House
Futurama
Gambit
Gamesmaster
Garfield And Friends
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
The Generation Game
Get Fresh
Get Stuffed!!
Get Your Own Back
Ghost Train
Give Us A Clue
Gladiators
Glam Metal Detectives
Going For Gold
Going Live!
Goodbye To All That
Goodnight Sweetheart
Grandstand
The Great Bong
Green Wing
Hangar 17
Happiness
Happy Families
Hardware
Harry And Cosh
Harry Enfield’s Brand Spanking New Show
Harry Hill
Harry Hill’s Shark-Infested Custard
Harry Hill’s TV Burp
Harry’s Mad
Have I Got News For You
Having A Pop
Headjam
Hey Arnold!
The High Life
Hippies
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Hollyoaks
Hospital!
Hot Metal
Hotlinks
How 2
Hububb
Ideal
I’m Alan Partridge
In The Grid
Incognito
Incredible Games
Is It Legal?
The IT Crowd
It’ll Be Alright On The Night
It’s A Mad World World World World
It’s Not!
ITV Results Service
The Jack Docherty Show
Jangles
Jem
Jeopardy!
The Joke Machine
Jumble
Just A Gigolo
Just A Minute
Kappatoo
Keynotes
Knightmare
Knowing Me Knowing You
The Krypton Factor
KYTV
Last Chance Lottery
The Last Salute
Late Lunch
Let’s Get Quizzical
Light Lunch
Lingo
Live & Kicking
Live With Chris Moyles
Look And Read
Look Around You
Lose A Million
Lucky Feller
Lucky Ladders
Lucky Numbers
The Machine
The Magic Comedy Strip
Man Stroke Woman
Married For Life
Married… With Children
Masterchef
Mastermind
Masterteam
Me, You And Him
Mega Mania
Men Behaving Badly
Midas Touch
The Mighty Boosh
Mike And Angelo
Mind The Gap
Miss-Takes
The Mitchell And Webb Situation
Monkey Trousers
Monster Cafe
Motormouth
Mouse Trap
Move On Up
The Movie Game
Mr Bean
Mr Don And Mr George
The Music Game
My Wonderful Life
Name That Tune
Nathan Barley
Ned’s Newt
The Nelly Nut Show
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
NHS Loto
Night And Day
Night Fever
No Win No Fee
Noel’s House Party
The Noise
Not Going Out
Not With A Bang
The O Zone
Odd One Out
The Office (ITV)
One Foot In The Grave
The 100 Greatest TV Adverts
100%
One To Win (BBC1)
One To Win (Channel 5)
Only Connect
Only Fools And Horses
Our Hero
Ox Tales
Parallel 9
Parallel Playback
Pass The Buck
Peep Show
The Pepsi Chart
Perfect Recall
Perfection
The Peter Serafinowicz Show
Pets Win Prizes
Phoenix Nights
Pinky And The Brain
Play Your Cards Right
Playing For Time
Pointless
Police Squad!
Pop Upstairs Downstairs
Potsworth And Co.
Press Your Luck
The Preventers
Price-Drop TV
The Price Is Right
A Prince Among Men
Punt And Dennis
The Pyramid Game
A Question Of Pop
A Question Of Sport
Quiz Call
Quizmania
Radio Roo
Rainbow
Raise The Roof
Reactive
Ready Steady Cook
The Real Ghostbusters
Reboot
Remote Control
The Ren And Stimpy Show
Robot Wars
Rock Profile
Rocko’s Modern Life
Room 101
Round The Bend
The Roxy
The Royle Family
Rugrats
Run The Risk
Runway
Sale Of The Century
The Saturday Roadshow
Scratchy And Co.
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sharp’s Funday
Shooting Stars
The Simpsons
The $64,000 Question
The Sketch Show
Skull
Smack The Pony
Small Talk
The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer
Smith And Jones
The Smoking Room
So What Now?
Sometime, Never
Sooty And Co.
The Spa
Space Ghost Coast To Coast
Space Vets
Spaced
Spatz
Spellbound
SpongeBob SquarePants
Sporting Triangles
Sportsmasters
Star Test
Stars In Their Eyes
Steal
The Steam Video Company
The Strange World Of Gurney Slade
The Strangerers
Strike It Lucky
Stupid
Sunnyside Farm
Supermarket Sweep
Swiss Toni
Take Your Pick
Takeover Bid
Talk About
Talking Telephone Numbers
Tarby’s Frame Game
Taz-Mania
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
Tell The Truth
Telly Addicts
Tellystack
Tenable
Tenball
Terror Towers
The Terry And Gaby Show
TFI Friday
That Mitchell And Webb Look
That’s Life!
That’s Showbusiness
They Think It’s All Over
The Thin Blue Line
Think Tank
30 Years Of LWT
This Is 5!
This Is Your Life
3-2-1
Through The Keyhole
Tickle On The Tum
Time Gentlemen Please
Timekeepers
Timeline
Tiny Toon Adventures
Tipping Point
To Me… To You…
Today’s The Day
Top Banana
Top Of The Pops
Topranko!
Touch Me, I’m Karen Taylor
The Tribe
Tricky
Trivial Pursuit
Turnabout
TV Heroes
TV Mayhem
TVGoHome
TV’s Finest Failures
2DTV
Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps
Two Stupid Dogs
The UK Top 40
University Challenge
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Videotech
Virtually Impossible
Wake Up London
Watching
We Know Where You Live
The Weakest Link
What’s Happening
What’s My Line?
What’s Up Doc
Wheel Of Fortune
Where’s Wally?
Whittle
Who Dares Wins
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
The Wide Awake Club
Win Beadle’s Money
Win, Lose Or Draw
The Winjin’ Pom
Winner Takes All
Winning Lines
Wipeout
Wizadora
Wogan’s Web
The Wolvis Family
Wordplay
The World According To Smith And Jones
World Of Pub
You Bet!
You’ve Been Framed!
Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It
Zzzap!

The Year In Review – Part 1.

When I say “The Year In Review” I don’t mean that I’ll be reviewing what has happened on TV and so on in 2015, but I’ll be having a look back at what I have achieved on the first year of this blog, and my plans for the future. In part one let’s determine the progress that I have made on the various things that I like to write about on here.

CBBC Memories. I have enjoyed writing about some of my favourite CBBC memories. There aren’t too many more shows left for me to write about now, just some cartoons plus a few other things.

CITV Memories. Again like with CBBC there isn’t much more beyond some cartoons to write about now. But when I wrote about The Adventures Of Captain Zeelig which caught people’s attention I was very pleased because I realised that doing this might be worth it. My piece received a link on the UK Game Shows website and I even got a reply from someone who was a contestant on the show.

The Comedy Vault. I’ve already shared lots of memories of some of my favourite comedy sitcoms and sketch shows from over the years. I still have some more to write about. I’m particularly looking forward to telling you why I like The Brittas Empire which turns 25 next month.

Comic Memories. I have enjoyed sharing memories of my favourite comics where I picked out one issue to review. Next I plan to look at the history of various comics, some of my favourite characters, and also review some more of my favourite artists.

Game Show Memories. This is of course something that I am a big fan of and have written about a lot. I’ve now shared the majority of my favourite game show memories, but there will be more, and I’ll also be looking back at some of my favourite hosts, and I plan to do another first and final series comparison piece, this time on Blockbusters.

Gaming Memories. I started out by having a look back at some of my favourite gaming magazines because I felt they deserved some more recognition, and I’ll continue to share some more of my favourite games on various formats.

More TV Memories. This is the section where I look back at various shows. It was originally called “Obscure TV Memories” but someone seemed to object to the use of the word “obscure” so let me just clarify. I am not one of those people who insists that “obscure = good and mainstream = bad”, the original idea was to write about some less-famous programmes that there is little information on the internet about in the hope that if someone does remember them and does a search this site might be the first place that they come to. I did plan to make people more aware of shows that I have liked including The Winjin’ Pom, Harry And Cosh, Glam Metal DetectivesMy Wonderful Life and others and still we wait for these shows to come out on DVD. I have also written about the likes of Noel’s House Party and You’ve Been Framed which are definitely mainstream but I still a big fan of them. As well as more lost gems or known favourites to write about, I’ll also write some more about my OnDigital and Freeview memories.

Musical Memories. I started doing this section by picking a singles chart at random and choosing my favourite songs from it. Soon I plan to reveal some of my favourite acts and look back some of my favourite hits from a particular year. I’ll also get around to reviewing another classic edition of TOTP eventually.

Round The Regions. This is a feature that has now ended but I very much enjoyed looking at the various presentation of ITV regions in their 60th anniversary year, it’s great that there is so much archive now online.

Saturday Morning Memories. I have now finished sharing my memories of CBBC/CITV Saturday Morning shows, it was great thinking about the likes of Parallel 9 and Motormouth again.

The YouTube Files. I’m always on the search for enjoyable things on YouTube, such as TV programmes that I might not remember from the first time round or just generally unusual moments. I recently found an interesting video featuring a newsflash of a famous moment so I’ll use that to take an opportunity to look at various news presentation soon.

Next time in the second part I’ll be revealing what my most viewed pieces are and what I’ll be doing on here over the next year. Thanks for your interest in what I’ve had to say this year.

More TV Memories – Startups.

Just when I thought that I had reviewed every element of classic TV presentation, from having a look back at the ITV regions over the years to closedowns, I have realised that I haven’t looked back at startups yet, so here’s my review of those. Just as closedowns would end the day’s programming, startups would begin them.

I must admit that startups on ITV are before my time, but as ever I have watched several archive clips of them online, and I do find them rather curious. Although it would vary from region to region, the startup process would be mostly the same. At around 9:30 a caption would come on the screen featuring the region’s name and an solemn announcement informing us that the region was “providing a full colour service on the transmitters of the Independent Broadcasting Authority”, as if they felt that they had to thank them every single day for the honour of being able to provide programming to viewers. vlcsnap-01425

Then there would usually be a short piece of music over this caption, some of these pieces were used for a long time so they became familiar to viewers in their various regions that they were used. For example Thames used to use a classical piece called “Perpetuum Mobile”, before then their own classic “Salute To Thames” which was played over the mankiest slide of the Thames ident that they could find. It just seems so odd now that they would have to spend about ten minutes settling in before you would see anything else. vlcsnap-01426

After all this ceremony, the continuity announcer would finally start the day by introducing a lineup of forthcoming programmes and usually informing us about what the weather was like before the first programme, which is these days was usually for schools. After the launch of TV-am in 1983, the startups would occur at 9:25am. LWT also used a famous piece of music for their startups called “A Well Swung Fanfare”. As a tribute to this, on their final day under the LWT name in October 2002 a recreation of a startup was shown which was a nice touch. vlcsnap-01427

Some regions would also feature various things in their startups such as a short film of landmarks around the region. By the mid-1980s the startup process began to be phased out by the regions, and by the time 24-hour programming had come to every ITV region in 1988 there was no longer any need for a startup routine as all regions would now be on all day.

More TV Memories – Family Guy.

“It seems today that all you see is Family Guy on TV…” so the opening theme (almost) goes. But this isn’t going to necessarily be a piece about my favourite episodes or characters as such, it’s going to more be about the history of the scheduling and promotion of Family Guy when it was first shown in the UK in 1999.

There were already a lot of great animated sitcoms on TV at the time including The Simpsons, South Park and King Of The Hill. Somewhat unsurprisingly when Family Guy launched a lot of the publicity consisted of “if you think that the Simpsons are crazy, just wait until you see this lot!”, and the fact that the creator of the show and provider of some of the voices was newcomer Seth MacFarlane who was only 25 at the time. We first met the Griffin family in the UK when the first episode was shown on Sky One on 21 September 1999 at 8:30pm. fg0001

The main characters included Peter who worked at a toy factory, who some viewers complained was just a Homer Simpson clone, Brian the talking dog, and there was also the one-year-old son Stewie who has an English accent and originally was something of a nasty and matricidal character, but he has changed over time into a rather camp inventor of time machines. fg0003

I still have a few articles about the launch, including one from Melody Maker (which incorrectly refers to the show as The Family Guy throughout). I will always associate Family Guy with the animated science-fiction sitcom Futurama, because it launched in the UK on the same day. This actually gained more publicity at the time because it was the first new show created by Matt Groening, the brain behind the massive success of The Simpsonsfg0002

I still remember watching the earliest episodes, with the famous cutaways already established. It is a surprise how scruffy the animation on the early episodes is compared to now, but they still look better than the first series of The Simpsons which looks like it was drawn with crayons now. In more recent years even Family Guy referenced the launch with an episode called “Back To The Pilot” which mocked the animation mistakes, unsettled characterisation, and a different actress providing the voice of Meg. fg0004

I did like Futurama and Family Guy and watched regularly, even going as far to buy the first series when it was released on VHS. Yes, it was that long ago now. Family Guy was first shown on terrestrial television in the UK in August 2000 on Channel 4 but they really didn’t know what to do with it. For a while it was shown at 6pm (the same timeslot in which they now show The Simpsons), and after a while it oddly got moved to the afternoons, meaning it ended up being edited. vlcsnap-01335

The first episode of Family Guy was shown in America in January 1999 after the Superbowl so it attracted big ratings. After a few series though it was cancelled, but good DVD sales meant a revival, and the show continues to this day, with another new series starting in America soon. After a while Sky One and Channel 4 stopped showing Family Guy and it moved to the BBC, with BBC3 repeating episodes endlessly on an almost daily basis and the show finally gaining in popularity. fg2

After the success of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane went on to launch a second animated sitcom, American Dad. Soon Family Guy will be shown on ITV2 for the first time, presumably they think that they are going to have success with the show. Do Sky One and Channel 4 now regret losing the show? I can’t believe that I have been a fan of Family Guy for almost 16 years now.

More TV Memories – Channel 5.

CHANNEL 5

1997-2002: There have been four different eras of presentation on Channel 5. Before the launch in 1997, a lot of media publicity and test transmissions prominently featured five colour bars along with the symbol which was a “5” in a circle. When the launch finally came I was surprised that the colour bars didn’t feature too much in the main idents, which featured the symbol appearing on various backgrounds. I think that these worked well though and definitely gave the channel a look that was distinctive. Also, Channel 5 never used a clock and have never closed down, being on air 24 hours since day one. c51

I did like the early days of Channel 5 and watched a lot of programmes, they weren’t exactly big budget or highly rated but at least they had a go, and they were pioneering in their news coverage. Around 1999 Channel 5 introduced a new wave of idents but they retained the symbol. Most of these were celebrity idents, a little like what Channel 4 did in their circles era, featuring various personalities on the channel. Of course, ITV1 would do something like this a few years later too. c54

There was one more change to the idents in March 2002 which dropped the celebrities but still kept the symbol and colour bars appearing on various coloured backgrounds, and also included a five-note piece of music. Around this time slides were dropped too. Looking back it is a surprise to realise how long this look lasted. vlcsnap-01321

2002-2008: In the second era the decision was taken to give the presentation a complete overhaul and rename the channel “five”. There was a new wave of idents which featured the name of the channel appearing on the right of the screen. This was yet another group of lifestyle idents, similar to the current ITV look, but these were really dull, with barely anything happening in them. vlcsnap-01320

Also, “five” would appear in a different colour for every trail, again similar to current ITV. Some more adventurous idents were added over time with the symbol appearing in unlikely places, and curiously some near the end which didn’t feature the name of the channel at all, but other four-letter words, and it was odd seeing programmes introduced with vague messages such as “fast” or “love”. The first wave of five’s spin-off channels launched around this time too. c52

2008-2011: The third era featured the symbol now being in capitals and changing to “FIVE”. The idents around this time were very creative and unusual, featuring things such as invisible superheroes, and enormous drums. The look wasn’t developed too much though, being used for barely two-and-a-half years. c55

2011-present: The fourth era saw the channel reverting back to being called “Channel 5” again after nine years, not that anybody ever stopped calling it that. The current group of idents take place in a space with a big red screen, where various things happen and then the “5” symbol forms in a circle, looking a little like the original 90s symbol. Circles on red backgrounds does make it seem rather similar to BBC1’s current look. c56

There also some variations made for specific programmes, including 30 years of Neighbours. There’s even a sombre ident for going into the news, they’ve thought of everything! I don’t have a problem with these idents, and I don’t feel that there is any need to change them any time soon, even though they have now been on screen for almost five years. It’s just a shame that most of the programmes are so rotten now.

More TV Memories – Channel 4.

CHANNEL 4

1982-1996: There have been five different eras of Channel 4 presentation. The first began when Channel 4 launched in November 1982. Their first ident was groundbreaking in many ways. It was one of the first anywhere in the world to be computer-generated and was created using the latest technology of the time, and there were also multiple idents for the first time, with six different variations created. c47

Channel 4’s original ident was made of five colours and split into nine different blocks, and it was soundtracked by a piece of music specially made called “FourScore”. The ident made such an impact with viewers that a variation is still used today. I do think that it is a great ident myself, definitely up there with the BBC2 1991-2001 look for the most creative way that a channel ident was used and it fitted the channel’s programming and ideas perfectly. In the early days in-vision continuity was used but only occasionally, and there was also a clock but that was only usually seen before the news and closedown. c42

Over the years several variations were used in trails and idents for special seasons. By 1992 a new soundtrack was used for the idents, and more often in the later years of the look programmes were introduced by various personalities who were featuring in programmes currently on Channel 4. After just over 14 years the decision was made that it was time for a change. c41

1996-1999: Channel 4’s second era featured four circles, which contained the Channel 4 symbol inside one of them. What disappointed me about this look was that the 4 was now colourless and did nothing, just appearing in one of the circles, and that was about it. There were lots of new idents, with most of them again referencing the programme they were about to introduce. Channel 4 also went 24 hours in the early days of this look, meaning no more closedowns. The only creative variations in this era were the special idents introduced for the 15th anniversary in 1997. c49

Channel 4 did use in-vision continuity again, but it was only a small camera in the announcer’s room. There was no clock by this point and also a generic look was introduced to some extent with all trails finishing in the same way, although this was dropped after a while, with even Channel 4 seemingly becoming dissatisfied with this look after just a couple of years. c410

1999-2004: Channel 4’s third era moved their symbol from being inside a circle to a square. Again the “4” didn’t actually do much in this era. It was something of a transition time for television when this look was introduced, digital television and widescreen was in its earliest days, and Channel 4 also launched some spin-off channels including E4 in 2001. c44

There were various idents at the start of this era featuring scrolling stripes in different colours, plus a few again featuring Channel 4 personalities, but these were changed after a while, and again there were lots of creative variations. Trails were also in the same style and slides were used in the early days too. c45

2004-2015: With the fourth era there was another new set of idents. Various shapes floated in the air and as the camera moved around they created the “4” symbol for a very short time. This suggests that the symbol is now so familiar that it needs to only appear on the screen for a second to be identified by the viewers. c412

One thing that I like about this look is that it was great seeing the “4” symbol being used creatively again, with it magically appearing in markets, fields, motorways, and many other places. My favourite one is the diner because that’s the one that most reminds me of the original Channel 4 look. Trails feature a 3D version of the symbol. c46

2015-present: The fifth era of Channel 4 presentation launched in September. The new look seems to have taken the idea of the “4” symbol appearing onscreen for a very brief time and taken it to the extreme – the “4” symbol as such doesn’t appear at all now fully formed – most trails just feature three or four of the nine individual blocks from the symbol as if to say it is now so familiar we can still recognise it. There are also lots of colour combinations and many variations have been made. vlcsnap-01415

The idents themselves though are very peculiar and almost defy description, I certainly haven’t been able to decipher them yet in the short time that they have been on air. There are currently four of them and again they don’t prominently feature the “4” symbol in full or otherwise. Maybe as time goes by it will all begin to make sense as the story is told. It’s definitely got people’s attention though.