With
the launch of Independent Television in 1955, they set out to offer
an alternative to the BBC and part of that service was to offer
something different from the BBC's Children's
hour.
The BBC had started to produce a strand for children called 'For the
Children' in 1930's at the dawn of television itself, the first
broadcast was ten minutes long on Saturday 24th April
1937. With a mixture of different presenters, performers,
story-telling and songs, the programme seemed more like a miniature
theatre show and with a regular slot on Saturday afternoons until
September 1939, when the programme was brought off the air by the one
thing which would dominate the lives of everyone and more so children
for the next seven years, World War Two. The suspension of the
television service meant children relied on the radio service where
Children's Hours was broadcasting and had been since 1922 and became
a vital companion for children everywhere, many of them evacuees away
from their own families.
When
fighting ceased and the television service returned in 1946, the
strand doubled in length to twenty minutes and moved to Sunday
afternoons, the first broadcast after the war was on July 7th
1946. Though during this time, it would see Muffin the Mule make his
debut with his “friend” Annette Mills. But by 1952, the 'For the
Children' would be dropped with the strand for younger viewers
falling under the Watch with Mother strand and the other programmes
introduced by continuity announcers. This settled the pattern for the
BBC for nearly thirty-five years, but with the launch of the
Independent Television service would see children's television
change.
Independent
Television launched on the 22nd of September 1955 with
Associated-Rediffusion on weekdays and ATV at weekend to start
broadcasting, followed by services in the Midlands in February 1956
with ATV during weekdays and ABC at weekends plus Granada launching
on weekdays in the North and ABC at weekends during May of 1956. With
these new companies came, new ideas for the making and broadcasting
of children's
television.
One of these was Small Time, the daily 15 minute slot for the under
five's produced by Associated-Rediffusion and eventually picked up by
Southern and Anglia Television plus also some others as well. The
slot started on 23rd of September 1955 at 12.15pm with Johnny and
Flonny, a series which had glove puppets as their performers as well
as their assistant Paul Hansard, the next had one of Britain's
biggest entertainers making one of their first appearances. Rolf
Harris appeared in the The Big Black Crayon alongside Jean Ford, then
on the Wednesday saw Toybox with Susan Spear. But Small Time also
started careers in children's television of presenters and programme
creators which would go onto bigger things and helped shape ITV's
output during the sixties, seventies and beyond.
But
this proved, that with one company making making such a slot, that
other ITV franchise holders would take their the best of others
programmes to be broadcast by themselves. Though this would be a
problem, with some regions picking and choosing their programmes and
sometimes placing programmes which may have been on family viewing
instead.
Come
1957, The Adventures of Twizzle brought the fist ever television
project by Gerry Anderson and his production company AP Films to the
screens, shortly afterwards in 1958 by Torchy the Battery Boy.
Anderson, so synonymously linked with Lord Lew Grade's ATV, had The
Adventures of Twizzle distributed by Associated-Rediffusion, Four
Feather Falls by Granada. But with APF in financial trouble and
following Anderson's direction of low budge feature film Crossroads
to Crime for Anglo-Amalgamated Studios, he was struggling to find a
buyer for his new project. But if it wasn't for a fortuitous meeting
with Lew Grade, who offered to buy the show. With the international
success of Supercar meant that Grade finance for Anderson to produce
Fireball XL5. With the success of Anderson's next project of
Thunderbirds produced between September 1965 and December 1966 going
stratospheric, meant that the output from AP Films was significant
part of ITV's children's schedules leading to in the mid sixties. As
well as the success of the programme being sold all around the world,
proving that home based production could be popular both in the
United Kingdom but able to bring profit back so money could be
spending on making new programmes for children.
But
with this, it proved that ITV could compete with the BBC over
children's programming. In the early 60's, the BBC had downsized and
merged their children's department into one Family Programmes
department which meant that all of the children's programming
including Blue Peter would be included under this department. With
ITV and the federal system that they offered, meant that other
regions were still buying in programmes from each other and also
material from abroad as well. The powerhouses such as Rediffusion,
Granada and ATV would produce programmes with other smaller regions
having a contribution to make such as Southern, Anglia and Tyne Tees.
Rediffusion brought comedy in the traditional style with Sooty and
Harry Corbett moving over from the BBC plus new comedy with Humphrey
Barclay overseeing new talents to performing Terry Jones, Michael
Palin and also Eric Idle later to go onto merge with with John Cleese
and Graham Chapman from Rediffusion's other new comedy show later in
the evening, At Last the 1948 Show to form Monty Python. Plus with
comic actors Denise Coffey and David Jason as well, they became the
performers in Do Not Adjust Your Set from 1967 and such was the
success of the programme that it led to it being repeated later in
the evening when people got in from work or whatever they were doing
during the afternoon so that more people could see this children's
programme which had became a cult hit with viewers.
Southern
Television had launched How in 1966, as a way to teach children about
different aspects of their world around themselves and how it worked.
Proving that what seemed like dry facts could be made interesting if
they were presented in an entertaining way. Though one man who
started on the programme in 1966, would go like the programme for the
next 15 years to become one of the best known children's presenters
in the country and even going beyond that to become a household name.
Rediffusion,
ATV and Granada was proving that the Independent network could make
quality programmes that had appeal, but by the late 1960's both the
BBC and ITV were to get ready for the decade to come with programme
which would a reflection of the world outside the front living room.
Though
in 1967, the Independent Television Authority advertised their ITV
franchises to start broadcasting in 1968, but with so much rumour and
counter-rumour in the air. What was to happen, was to maybe shock
and surprise people. But it was to have an effect on children's
broadcasting overall, with the franchise round most regions seemed
straightforward or were they? The creation of a new Yorkshire region
saw applications from all over, but with the Telefusion rentals and
pipe-tv group winning the franchise though with the stipulation that
they had to take on the management and talent of rival bid Yorkshire
Independent Television to form Yorkshire Television. ATV had lost
their weekend franchise in London to David Frost's London Weekend but
had gained the new seven day Midlands franchise and then came the
London Weekday franchise, two companies, Rediffusion London and ABC
TV, who provided great service for ITV individually since the
inception of commercial television. Though with London Weekend
getting the franchise for broadcasting at weekends in London, the new
formed Yorkshire Television taking up the area on the east side of
the Pennines, so neither could go their either with Lew Grade settled
even more so in the Midlands now. Lord Charles Hill had a problem,
both franchises had the talent and the management to make one
company, more important to our story though was that Rediffusion had
a very strong children's department which would be a huge part of
ITV in the years to come competing against the BBC.
The
small matter of this occurring between Rediffusion and ABC to form a
new company taking on the responsibility of broadcasting to London on
weekdays, though not a merger of the two companies but it was not
quite to have winners either way. From Rediffusion being top banana
of ITV, but their investment meant they were now part of a new
company called Thames Television. Meaning the children's department
at Rediffusion which had been so successful, took one the
responsibility of making programmes for itself, but also making
programmes to be distributed to the rest of the ITV network.
With
the new companies producing new programming such as Magpie from
Thames to rival Blue Peter, LWT moving into children's comedy and
drama with Catweazle, Yorkshire with Junior Showtime, along with ATV
with Captain Scarlet, the latest production from Gerry Anderson's AP
Films. But what about the presentation? Because of the federal system
of ITV, all the franchises had their own ways of presentation.
Usually a normal continuity announcers just being a bit more jovial
then usual in their usual suit or dress announcing programmes. Back
in the early seventies, plans were mooted to do networked children's
continuity in between the programmes. Though each region themselves
had a strong sense of its own identity by putting their idents on the
front of the programmes, meaning something broadcast by Southern
would have the ident at the beginning before the programme even
started to show it was from Thames. So the idea of networked
children's continuity didn't even leave the ground, though the
schedules having fully networked programmes with itself like How and
Magpie, would sit alongside Anglia's Survival films and even repeats
of family dramas which had been brought in by the various companies.
Over
at the BBC, without this problem they were starting to move ahead in
the schedules and something needed to be done for at least ITV to get
a brand for their children's programming, that it could be
identifiable from the other programmes surrounding it, making
children feel that the programmes were for themselves like they did
on the BBC. The BBC may have had the BBC1 globe before all the
programmes, but their menus and captions looked like they were for
children's programming. ITV regions had done it, but only the
children in each region saw their own identities, leading to puppet
characters such as Gus Honeybun and BC becoming such a success in the
Westward/TSW and Anglia regions respectively.
Watch It presentation from the early 80's
The
change in style came in 1980 when finally the idea of the Watch It
branding was formed, the programmes were distributed in the same way
that schools programmes were via ATV and it was little surprise that
it was conceived there too by the promotions department under Jim
Stokoe, who oversaw the style of presentation for schools and
colleges. Though not a wholly networked brand at all, ATV supplied
animation and stings for each franchise to use at their will and when
the seasons changed new one were sent out for companies to use if
they wanted. But the continuity announcers stayed meaning that
Southern or later TVS and Granada would have their own doing it, but
with the logo itself, the animation would have the exclamation mark
in the animation osculating to make it look like it was saying 'Watch
ITV', subliminal maybe. But the initial idea of Children's ITV came
from Lewis Rudd, Rudd had been involved in Children's television
since the mid 60's firstly with Rediffusion, through Thames being
involved with Magpie, Rainbow and The Sooty Show as a producer later
on becoming the Head of the Children's department at Southern and
then at the newly formed Central Television in 1982. He suggested a
new method of presentation and it was the Central presentation
department again with Jim Stokoe which came up with the concept of
Children's ITV. An all networked service with regular presentation
and presenters which would appear as a united brand to rival the BBC,
beating them to the punch.
The
way the system for broadcasting the service was itself like the
system used for supplying the presentation for ITV's School and
Colleges service from Central, whilst the individual companies played
out their own programmes and supplied them around the rest of the
network. Presentation itself was recorded, featuring faces from the
programmes which were being broadcast meaning that the first ever
presentation face was Matthew Kelly, already famous for Game for a
Laugh, but also presenting the Madabout series for Tyne Tees. Plus
taking their turns were Isla St Clair, from The Saturday Show, Mick
Robertson formerly of Magpie, now with his new programme Freetime,
Tommy Boyd also from Magpie and St. Clair's co-host on The Saturday
Show with lots more faces over time. Meaning it had made its mark and
the BBC had to fight back with the launch of the Broom Cupboard and
Philip Schofield in 1985.
So
contrary to ITV's documentary, Children's ITV may have started in
1983 but children's programmes on the independent channel stretched
even nearly thirty-years before that. The history of children's
television is a long one and also varied in the style, programmes and
presentation, but it is an important one to both for continuity and
also the way television came to be in the latter part of the 20th
century. But 1983 was not only famous for the launch of united ITV
children's service, the BBC's Children's Department also celebrated
an anniversary as well, more of which soon.
Whichever
way you look at Children's ITV is 30 years old and now has its own
channel instead of a strand, giant leaps in 30 years. But if it was
not for people like Lewis Rudd and Jim Stokoe, it would have just
been a continuity announcer in front of a plain background announcing
the children's presentation much like any other time of the day,
Watch It and Children's ITV brought colour to the screen and also
whole wave of programmes with it as well.
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