Sparky
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Post by Sparky on May 30, 2021 16:33:00 GMT
Having watched a number of ATV news clips I've noticed that whenever Chris Tarrant, John Swallow or whoever encounter a woman they'll often say things like 'it's not very ladylike is it?' In the clip above John Swallow introduces the stuntwoman with 'it's an extraordinary way for a pretty young lady to make a living isn't it?' & later says 'for a dental receptionist that was, this is quite an extraordinary stunt'.
Thats sad news.
Never really seen much of other ITV Regions local news - a little on Channel TV. Though I'd think each region had their very own John Swallow, Chris Tarrant etc.
One thing that grinds my gears is that many armchair "TV Historians" take the view that ATV were dreadful with it's coverage of the entire midlands. And that is what they were punished for.
In my opinion, this was total b*llocks - having seen their local News/Feature film & tape library - and they did cover the region, pretty well - considering what they were up against - no sattelite links, no ENG/Video tape, Not many motorways - and everything from the 50s, 60s, 70s and into early 80s was shot on film - and had to be shot, returned to Birmingham, processed, edited, dubbed and ready by 6pm. If a news story broke at 3pm in Lincoln - they'd get it covered, but no way in time for the news at 6pm.
They had reporters all over the region, as well as a large number of Freelance Camera men and Couriers.
In 1974, the Pub Bombings in Birmingham occured during the early evening - just after the local news had ended. ATV had two film crews on site literally minutes after the blasts (they walked from the studios down New Street) - they didn't film anything at first as they helped recover the injured, trapped and any walking wounded.
A mate of mine was a sound recordest - it was his first assignment "on his own" so to speak. Talk about being shoved in at the deep end.
Anyway..
Given how diverse the Midlands is - it must have been a tricky job to cover the whole region - it's cultures, industries, trades and topics.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 2, 2021 10:03:15 GMT
I'm biased but Granada tended to have a bit of a mirco/local celebrity thing going on with it's news/current affairs presenters. The obvious one was Tony (Anthony H) Wilson which in as much as possible shoehorned his Factory Records double life into Granada Reports, World in Action and other TV shows he fronted for Granada - sometimes brilliantly, sometimes not that well - IIRC there was a bit of a car crash interview Wilson had with MP Keith Joseph on World in Action once. Like them or loathe them (I'm indifferent) Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan built up many years on Granada Reports before getting the 'This Morning' gig in the late '80's. Gordon Burns too made a leap from both BBC's Look North/North West Tonight and Granada Reports to The Krypton Factor and other Granada programmes too. Then you got perhaps not nationally known presenters on Granada Reports like Bob Greaves and since the late '80's Lucy Meacock who is still fronting Granada's local evening output too which had a fairly high profile in the North West along with Granada's continuity announcers like Jim Pope, Charles Foster, Beverley Ashworth and Colin Weston too. There's a few others we won't mention for obvious reasons. It's interesting the BBC poached a few of these Granada Reports presenters - like Wilson, Burns etc. for it's output over the years too. It's also interesting Sparks' mentioning a similar setup over at ATV/Central and the breakout of Chris Tarrant and Nick Owen is probably similar to Richard & Judy etc. but I think a lot of these presenters at Granada wanted to prove themselves and try and prove it on a national stage too.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jun 2, 2021 11:04:33 GMT
I'm biased but Granada tended to have a bit of a mirco/local celebrity thing going on with it's news/current affairs presenters. The obvious one was Tony (Anthony H) Wilson which in as much as possible shoehorned his Factory Records double life into Granada Reports, World in Action and other TV shows he fronted for Granada - sometimes brilliantly, sometimes not that well - IIRC there was a bit of a car crash interview Wilson had with MP Keith Joseph on World in Action once. Like them or loathe them (I'm indifferent) Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan built up many years on Granada Reports before getting the 'This Morning' gig in the late '80's. Gordon Burns too made a leap from both BBC's Look North/North West Tonight and Granada Reports to The Krypton Factor and other Granada programmes too. Then you got perhaps not nationally known presenters on Granada Reports like Bob Greaves and since the late '80's Lucy Meacock who is still fronting Granada's local evening output too which had a fairly high profile in the North West along with Granada's continuity announcers like Jim Pope, Charles Foster, Beverley Ashworth and Colin Weston too. There's a few others we won't mention for obvious reasons. It's interesting the BBC poached a few of these Granada Reports presenters - like Wilson, Burns etc. for it's output over the years too. It's also interesting Sparks' mentioning a similar setup over at ATV/Central and the breakout of Chris Tarrant and Nick Owen is probably similar to Richard & Judy etc. but I think a lot of these presenters at Granada wanted to prove themselves and try and prove it on a national stage too. Of the little bits I saw of Granada TV - I loved them. They had a morning startup and midway through it had a small dot and countdown clock which morphed into a stroboscopic "G" logo - not sure how those with epilepsy would have coped - but they didn't half push the colour TV thing.
I remember the music, it sounded like something from the "DamBusters"!
Judy Finnegan (If I am correct) started her days at Anglia. Micheal Parkinson started life at Granada too. Fern Britton was a continuity announcer for "Westward TV" during the late 70s, Ruth Langsford was on "TSW" for a while too.
At Border - we had Derek Batey and "Mrs & Mrs"...
You might find this interesting as it's written by Granada staff... I love some of the interviews.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 2, 2021 11:14:32 GMT
Brilliant link that Sparks, I'll have a proper look of it later but thanks for sharing.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jun 2, 2021 11:40:11 GMT
Brilliant link that Sparks, I'll have a proper look of it later but thanks for sharing. The interviews are well worth reading. It seems they keep updating.
The Chris Kelly interview is interesting too.
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Nightfly
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Post by Nightfly on Jun 3, 2021 7:57:09 GMT
Deadline from 1995, was a series that went behind the scenes of the Yorkshire TV regional news show Calendar when Richard Whiteley was the main presenter. There were several episodes covering the range of items, industrial unrest in YTV, coverage of a political conference and one particularly memorable edition when Richard interviewed a slightly inebriated Lynne Perry from Coronation Street.
The first edition looked behind the scenes of coverage of a story of a missing schoolgirl (who was tragically found dead a few months after the programme was aired). This is the only episode I have managed to find online and the sound quality isn't great, but it's still a fascinating insight into how Calendar was made in the mid 90s.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 3, 2021 9:11:13 GMT
Deadline from 1995, was a series that went behind the scenes of the Yorkshire TV regional news show Calendar when Richard Whiteley was the main presenter. There were several episodes covering the range of items, industrial unrest in YTV, coverage of a political conference and one particularly memorable edition when Richard interviewed a slightly inebriated Lynne Perry from Coronation Street. The first edition looked behind the scenes of coverage of a story of a missing schoolgirl (who was tragically found dead a few months after the programme was aired). This is the only episode I have managed to find online and the sound quality isn't great, but it's still a fascinating insight into how Calendar was made in the mid 90s. Christa Ackroyd was a bit of a well-known local-celebrity face in Yorkshire being on Calender in the '90's with Richard Whiteley and Mike Morris for a few years before jumping over to the BBC's Look North.
IIRC I think she had a few issues towards her time with the BBC and a well known tax case too.
Not that often but I did see an odd Calendar when I was studying in Hull a few years back I suppose that and Look North were the closest equivalents to Granada Reports and the BBC's North West Tonight although both regions would fiercely not admit to this.
Thanks for sharing Nighfly, Lynne Perrie as funny as it is to watch is a also quite sad considering the issues/addictions she was going through back then.
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Nightfly
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Post by Nightfly on Jun 3, 2021 9:29:19 GMT
Deadline from 1995, was a series that went behind the scenes of the Yorkshire TV regional news show Calendar when Richard Whiteley was the main presenter. There were several episodes covering the range of items, industrial unrest in YTV, coverage of a political conference and one particularly memorable edition when Richard interviewed a slightly inebriated Lynne Perry from Coronation Street. The first edition looked behind the scenes of coverage of a story of a missing schoolgirl (who was tragically found dead a few months after the programme was aired). This is the only episode I have managed to find online and the sound quality isn't great, but it's still a fascinating insight into how Calendar was made in the mid 90s. Christa Ackroyd was a bit of a well-known local-celebrity face in Yorkshire being on Calender in the '90's with Richard Whiteley and Mike Morris for a few years before jumping over to the BBC's Look North.
IIRC I think she had a few issues towards her time with the BBC and a well known tax case too.
Not that often but I did see an odd Calendar when I was studying in Hull a few years back I suppose that and Look North were the closest equivalents to Granada Reports and the BBC's North West Tonight although both regions would fiercely not admit to this.
Thanks for sharing Nighfly, Lynne Perrie as funny as it is to watch is a also quite sad considering the issues/addictions she was going through back then.
I think this was around the time Bruce Gyngell, the former MD of TV-AM took over as a manager of YTV and brought Mike Morris with him. I remember one of the episodes covered a dispute with backroom staff and management having to step in and work in the studio. The golden era of Calendar for me was during the 70s/early 80s when Austin Mitchell and Richard Whiteley made a great double act. However, the rival Look North from Leeds held its own too with Judith Stamper, Harry Gration and Khalid Aziz. I seem to remember they even got Khalid to present recipes on occasion and I think he brought out his own BBC sponsored cook book.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jun 3, 2021 12:38:11 GMT
Deadline from 1995, was a series that went behind the scenes of the Yorkshire TV regional news show Calendar when Richard Whiteley was the main presenter. There were several episodes covering the range of items, industrial unrest in YTV, coverage of a political conference and one particularly memorable edition when Richard interviewed a slightly inebriated Lynne Perry from Coronation Street. Industrial Unrest at an ITV station? Blimey that never happens....
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Nightfly
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Post by Nightfly on Jun 3, 2021 13:16:51 GMT
Deadline from 1995, was a series that went behind the scenes of the Yorkshire TV regional news show Calendar when Richard Whiteley was the main presenter. There were several episodes covering the range of items, industrial unrest in YTV, coverage of a political conference and one particularly memorable edition when Richard interviewed a slightly inebriated Lynne Perry from Coronation Street. Industrial Unrest at an ITV station? Blimey that never happens.... In that particular edition of Deadline, I remember a brief shot of a cartoon someone has stuck on the office wall at YTV. The caption was something like, "After years of loyal service, Albert was disappointed with the manner in which he was made redundant" and showed a chap opening an envelope with a note inside with just two words... the second word being "Off".
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