Countdown1982
Channel Four's first programme, the popular words and numbers gameshow presented by Richard Whiteley. Originally there were two hostesses Beverley Isherwood and Cathy Hytner to deliver the letters. Whilst our Carol had to take turns with Doctor Linda Barrett to be the maths expert!
Password1982 Thames
Password was an entertaining Mark Goodson word association show very similar to Three Little Words & The Pyramid Game where contestants had to convey a word to a celebrity. Presented by Tom O'Connor and produced by Give Us a Clue's David Clark the game formed part of Channel 4's antidote to sport, being shown on Saturday afternoons with the Brookside Omnibus. One of its best features must its delightful theme composed by Denis King. Esther Rantzen presented a BBC version in the mid seventies.
The Snowman1982
Raymond Briggs enchanting tale has been one of the channel's major successes and made a child star of singer Aled Jones. Relive the beautiful music of Howard Blake, the direction of Dianne Jackson and production of John Coates before it is shown again next Christmas!
Treasure Hunt - A Second Look1983
AKA The Best of Treasure Hunt. Kenneth took to the helicopter to introduce clips from the first series, whilst Anneka had to put up with being in a hot & stuffy studio. These titles use the first series' opening sequence with much footage from the trip to Singapore.
Anne Meo was the adjuicator here, she was given a walk on part only and also wrote the clues for this series as well as the questions for Central's Blockbusters.
The Worst of Hollywood1983
Now, this is really just an intro for a collection of bad films. Michael Medved presided over The Man With Two Heads, The Wild Women of Wongo and the classic Plan 9 from Outer Space with many more to come. If you like spaceships made from tin cans, walls that are really a pair of curtains, bad continuity , poor acting and ridiculous scripts .... This is for you!
Murun Buchstansangur1984
Murun Buchstansangur was nothing more than a piece of dirt in the corner of a wall. The comedy from this cartoon came his relationships with other pieces of dirt and humans, who were surprisingly the same size as Murun. Two series were made all directed and written by Timothy Forder. The comedy appealed to adults as well as children and the fourth channel played the programme at all hours of the day.
The Tube1984
A welcome back to Paula Yates for series 3 in 1984 after becoming a mother with the lovely Leslie Ash moving on to CATS Eyes.
A relatively clean set of titles these. Mid series they were adapted to incorporate the bands appearing on the show.
The Tube1985
Definitely the best set of titles the programme had. A witty look at how important The Tube was to the world!!
Hands up anybody who knew who REM were in 85 ?
The Making of Treasure Hunt1986
After years of being the channel's most successful game show. The channel itself made this documentary to show how complicated and clever the technology was. So for one edition only there were two sets of camera crews following Anneka's bottom!
4 What It's Worth1986
This consumer programme was the natural successor to Thames' Money-Go-Round when many ITV shows transferred to Channel 4. This edition, presented by Penny Junor was recorded when the Thames electricians went on strike! The show was the first on TV to adopt the aggressive reporting style later used on TV by Roger Cook. Its long serving editor was Mary McAnally who later became chief executive at Meridian.
Dick Spanner1986 Anderson Burr
Dick Spanner was a Sam Spade style claymation Private Investigator who got himself involved in various scrapes. Created by Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr the series premiered within the first series of Network 7 as five minute segments with cliffhanger endings. The comedy came from visual gags and a tight script, a style made famous by the Zucker brothers. Anderson Burr must also have been influenced by Warner Bros. as the Zippo company has taken over Acme's reign here. A similar character, Lou Tennent, appeared in a campaign for Tennent's Pilsner shortly after. A great little series if you are able to see it.
The Eleventh Hour1986
Many independent producers pitched their single or short-run documentaries for this serious strand, often dealing with the Third World. Since it always came on Mondays 23.00 after Hill Street or St Elsewhere, for me it meant turn over or go to bed.
Ghosts in the Machine1986 / 1988
Now, I don't know if anybody ever watched this. A showcase for short film makers new to television , transmitted around midnight on Tuesday evenings and produced by John Wyver's Illuminations company. Some were good, some not, however the only short film I can remember was a video for the song " O Superman" which seemed to take up most of the programme. Great modern computer title sequence, well for 1986 it was!
The Gong Show1985-1987 Chuck Barris/Chris Bearde
This is one of those programmes you either loved or hated. A supposed talent show where bad performers were "gonged off" the stage before completing their act. Producer Chuck Barris hosted from 1977. Its up to you whether you think Chuck was deliberately bad . He forgot his lines, turned to the wrong camera, clapped his hands after every sentence etc. The talent show performers were joined by "Non-contestant talent"; these were usually some loonies who did their party pieces and wanted to be gonged. Other "acts" were regulars The Unknown Comic and Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine. The show ran in America from 1976 to 1980. Compliations were shown on Channel Four in the Countdown slot in the mid-eighties!! Hopefully there will be more of The Gong Show soon on TV Ark
The Tube1986
You can tell these titles cost more to make, however they're not a patch on 1985!
Incidently, this was the sequence Jools Holland told all the groovy f**kers to look out for!
Network 71987 The daddy (or mummy)of all Yoof Programming; well it was created by two women : Janet Street-Porter and Jane Hewland. It was the first show to shove graphics down your throat. Of course we are all used to this now, especially if you watch Sky Sports!! Many quality TV professionals made their debuts on this show: Sebastian Scott, Charlie Parsons & Magenta De Vine to name a few. Does Jane Hewland still use the N7 logo for Hewland International programmes?
Treasure Hunt1987
Kenneth is wearing a nice salmon pink number here as host of the long running adventure game show which pitted Anneka Rice and contestants against the clock. Wincey Willis is the adjudicator , giving nothing away as usual. Whilst Anneka flies through St Albans & Hatfield. The end credits are also avaliable. "It's just so awful!"
Friday Night Live1988
Live music and comedy show presented by Ben Elton and produced by LWT for Channel Four. Previously called Saturday Live
Max Headroom1988
Now, I remember Max introducing pop videos for Chrysalis and being seen at entrances for car parks. By 1988 his character had developed into a news reporter with an alter ego called Edison Carter. Matt Frewer played Max throughout its run and the riotious Jefrey Tambor is amongst the American cast. This show has been described as being years ahead of its time.
Countdown1988
The YTV graphics department had now been given a computer to play with. This is what they came up with. Our Carol was still only judging the numbers game. The hostess was now Karen Loughlin from Sale of the Century. By now, Cathy Hyther had left the show to run a B & B in France, apparently.
Gallery1988
Jazz man George Melly gleefully hosted this long running simple but high brow quiz. Name the painting? Two resident experts, a chain smoking Maggi Hambling and a smiling Frank Whitford had two celebrities to make up the team. Ken Russell and Brian Sewell were two who guested in this edition. Kenneth Price produced and directed this edition of the show which ran for seven years on Sunday afternoons.
Chelmsford 1231988
The first sitcom from Hat Trick Productions, easily one of the brightest and successful comedy production companies in the UK. Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath and Phil Pope from Who Dares Wins starred with Denise O'Donoghue producing. Mulville played the Roman Governor of Britain with McGrath, Pope & a pre Dead Donkey Neil Pearson as the invaded locals of Chelmsford.
This is David Lander1988
Paul Mayhew- Archer, script editor on Spitting Image was drafted in to produce this classic series for newly formed Hat Trick Productions. Stephen Fry played reporter David Lander, a Roger Cook type investigator who ran after villians on behalf of consumers who'd been ripped off. An underrated series, with a glorious script by Tony Sarchet. Two years later the series returned with Tony Slattery in the main role, this time in "This Is David Harper".
The Parliament Programme1988
The Parliament Programme was shown on Channel Four weekdays presented by Alastair Stewart. Live interviews and audio coverage of The House of Commons, plus tv coverage of The House of Lords.
Absolutely1989
"A comedy of observation" said Michael Grade playing himself in this very funny character led series. Pete Baikie provided much of the music, Morwenna Banks was the little girl, John Docherty & Moray Hunter were Don & George and Gordon Kennedy was the head of Stoneybridge Town Council. With the brilliant John Sparkes as Frank Hovis on the toilet and DIY with Denzil.
Round The Bend1989
A children's programme first shown on CITV. With puppets and performers from Spitting Image and a script editing team of Hat Trick's Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath and Geoffrey Perkins. Puppet Doc Croc would introduce the world's first video comic. For example: cartoon parodies of children's shows Thunderpants and Wee Man and The Masters of the Puniverse. The humour was far more adult than that of general children's programmes and Mary Whitehouse is thought to have intervened. These are the extended titles from the first series. Please accept my apologies for the poor quality.
Tour De France1990
Derek Brandon's Cheerleader Productions produced la Tour throughout the eighties for the fourth channel. Throughout the run, the presenter and commentator was cycling expert Phil Liggett who was joined by these multi-coloured titles.
Four Mations1990
Fourmations was a strand to showcase animation on Channel 4, usually to producers new to television. These titles are based on a multi-coloured, energetic tribal person whilst performing a Mad Lizzie workout!
The Late Late Show1991
Gay Byrne hosts this long running chat & entertainment show from Ireland. This highlights version shown on the Monday after the live Friday was on Channel 4 for a good 15 years until they fell in love with replacement Ricki Lake at 5pm.
S and M1991
Just so this cannot be mistaken for anything else, S stands for Slattery, Tony Slattery. M for McShane, Mike McShane. S & M were two of the stars of Hat Trick's Whose Line is it Anyway? In this series S & M were given an whole half hour to improvise and that was it! Just seven 30 minute shows were made.
Vic Reeves' Big Night Out1991
Straight from the ill fated "One Hour With Jonathan Ross" came Vic & Bob with their first show of their own. Who can forget Les and the man with the stick? They wouldn't let it lie!
Brookside1991
Although on Channel 4 since the start these titles of the Scouse soap were shown in 1991. Not that there's any difference in them! Nowadays its difficult to find Brookie in the Channel Four schedule!
Drop The Dead Donkey1991
Topical comedy series set in a television newsroom. The episodes were edited just hours before transmission; the content updated to include late-breaking news stories. Produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel Four.
The Big Breakfast1992 The first episode of the Big Breakfast presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin
right clip - prelaunch promo
Nightingales1992
Now put together a great cast of Robert Lindsay, David Threlfall and James Ellis as security guards in an empty office block. Add a surreal script by ex - A Kind of Living writer Paul Makin and you have a sitcom as unconventional as they come. Two series totalling 13 episodes were made.
Late Lunch with Sir Les1992
Now Dame Edna is great, but Barry Humphries' funniest creation is Sir Les. Tasteless and vulgar, but always with sexy women by his side. This is his special from New Year 1992. The titles are captured by paparazzi snapshots.
Sean's Show1992
An attempt by Channel 4 to transfer "It's Garry Shandling's Show " to the UK. Starring the then Pierrer Award Winner Sean Hughes. I found this hilarious , but I assume most people missed most of the jokes. Lasted for 2 seasons.
Cutting Edge1993
One of the channel's most successful documentary series and still running today. The series came into its own when it used the docusoap model in the early series. Now, one hour about a subject is ample, but the siblings it has spawned has changed TV forever.
Dispatches1993
First there was The Friday Alternative, then Diverse Reports for a short time. However, Dispatches beats them all. The heavyweight current affairs programme is still running today.
Without Walls1993
Channel Four's 90's arts strand. I love the jaunty music & the little armadillo running around. Now what this has to do with arts I haven't thought about. Apologies for the poor quality of the clip.
Brass Eye1997
A few years after The Day Today, Chris Morris returned to our screens with this satirical look at TV current affairs, the continuity annnoucer says. Most controversy concerned celebrities/MPs being duped into believing what they were saying was true. Here Eve Pollard seriously tells us about a 2 foot testicle which does not have long to live. Sorry Eve. By the way, contains a great spoof title sequence!
Countdown1997 By 1997, Countdown had notched up its 1999th & 2000th editions, the latter hosted by William G Stewart. Producing the show at this time was Mark Nyman who was one of the youngest contestants in the show's early years. Out of all the assistants Richard had throughout the years, only Carol Vorderman remained, now picking the numbers, the letters and still being the best Vital Statisician!! These titles are based on a ticking metronome, whose last regular TV appearance must have been in Pipkins!! The 1999th edition clip, clearly shows Richard's enthusiasm and enjoyment for Carol & the show. Richard's death is a sad loss to the county of Yorkshire, Channel 4 & the TV industry as a whole. He will be sadly missed. Many thanks to Steve G for providing the clips.
The Bigger Breakfast1998
Expanded version of The Big Breakfast, during school holidays The Bigger Breakfast would take over from 9am
The Best of The Word1998
An excuse for showing the best .... or worst moments of this programme again. As Tim Roth says "It's best watching when you are drunk!
