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Bits and Pieces (April 2017)

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KE
kez19
Not sure if it was 8PM, but it was pre-watershed from the move to half-hour episodes in 88 until the 2009 revamp. These things do happen though as times change, the first episode of EastEnders for example also has Nick Cotton using a word you wouldn't get away with pre-watershed these days either.

I haven't quite reached series 5 yet, still working my way through series 4, almost at the end though. Of course their "Series 5" also includes around half of Series 6, and I won't be suprised if Series 6, which they're due to release tomorrow, includes a large chunk of series 7.

Admittedly the grouping into series was pretty meaningless after the move to half hour episodes really, it's just a 22-year long continuous flow of episodes, it's just a way of splitting the years they were broadcast in. Pretty much every change that was made to the show (i.e. new title sequences and theme tunes, moving back to an hour long format, going widescreen, the ditching (and then re-introduction of) episode titles, even the 2009 revamp) took place mid "series". The only exception I can think of was the new title sequence and the move to three times a week which took place on the first episode of "series 9" (also the first episode aired after Thames went off air, and started being commissioned through YTV). Even the 1998 revamp didn't happen until the 3rd episode of "series 14".



Also to note in one of the earlier series the end credits say LWT than Thames too! Very Happy, I know in the ones I have watched so far there is mild swearing but I was surprised at a particular word had appeared and wondered how it would have got through at 8pm (I know times change and we could say it was at that time but you know you couldn't say it now even if it was pre-watershed)
JA
james-2001
Looks like UKTV Play's "Series 6" also includes the first 41 episodes of series 7.
JA
james-2001
though it was on Saturdays for six months in 1993 when it flitted around between 7.30 and 9pm.


Which is something I remember, going to my school's Firework display, then coming home, my dad had The Bill on and the episode included.... a firework display! They'd clearly started having the show reflect the time of year by that point, because they didn't used to do that in the early years of the show being year round. You used to get through December with no sign of Christmas.
RO
rob Founding member
Looks like UKTV Play's "Series 6" also includes the first 41 episodes of series 7.


The start of "Series 6" can be found in the "Series 5" section from episode 105 onwards...
JA
james-2001
A non-Bill related thing, for the last week Drama have been using a photo of the Father Brown Mysteries to represent Peak Practice over the end credits of shows, clearly nobody's noticed.
KE
kez19
rob posted:
Looks like UKTV Play's "Series 6" also includes the first 41 episodes of series 7.


The start of "Series 6" can be found in the "Series 5" section from episode 105 onwards...



Oh thanks for that info!
DB
dbl
*

Solidarity BLM slide, airing in all ad breaks from 9pm-11pm tonight across the network.
KE
kez19
Sorry to back on The Bill on UKTV Play - Series 5 I am noticing that on some of the later episodes the intro theme sounds like its going a bit wonky? (has anyone spotted this?), was it like that originally broadcast or has someone at UKTV been mucking about with the sound system? Laughing

I need to also add I think episode 84 (there is a warning before playing on UKTV Play) but it was pretty much colourful language you couldn't get away with .... at least one word was p..s but the other words we're describing other ethnic minorites (the terms used but you couldn't air today)
Last edited by kez19 on 6 June 2020 10:53pm
JA
james-2001
One thing I want to see it what happens when we get to 1993 in terms of the endcaps. Looking at videos on YouTube which I think come from the Australian DVDs, they have the original endcaps up until the end of 1992, then in 1993 they have either the pre-1989 skyline logo (but without the "Colour Production" tag) or the 1997 Tower Bridge one. In 1993 The Bill started being commissioned through Yorkshire, (then moved to Carlton in 1994) and they were mentioned on the endcaps, and it looks like they're using the other endcaps to cover up the mentions of Yorkshire and Carlton as seen here:

http://ppfiles.meldrum.co.uk/files/jpg/thebillend.jpg

With the episodes on UKTV Play so far, the original hour long episodes have the original endcaps, the first half of series 4 mostly has the 1997 endcap, then from that point we're back to the original endcaps (the skyline "Colour production" endcap until Autumn 1989, then the "For IT*" endcaps after, with another change in Thames logo in 1990). Will be interesting to see what endcaps are on the 1993 episodes that Fremantle send them.

The last time the 1993-97 episodes were shown in the UK, on UK Gold way back in 2001 and 2002, they used an endcap with the 1990 Thames logo, but a "A Pearson Television Company" tagline (as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqWlugZQ_Q ) up until some point in 1996 when it changed to the 1997 endcap. From the late 90s till the mid-00s was the era where you'd never see original Thames endcaps on repeats, they were always replaced with the then current one.

Another noticable thing about 1993, is in the new title sequence, it's clearly Stamp & Ackland in the police car that speeds towards the camera at the start, whereas in the original 1985 version it's just a couple of random extras. There was a period in 1991 and 92 where they didn't have the police car intro for some reason, and the titles just began with the closeup of the flashing lights.
Last edited by james-2001 on 6 June 2020 10:03pm - 5 times in total
KE
kez19
This maybe an odd question to ask.... I like watching Abandoned Engineering on Yesterday, however the name in the US is Mysteries of the Abandoned and is shown on Discovery there, is this programme part of a co-op production between UKTV and Discovery itself? I have always wondered when the UKTV breakup happened we would say lose this programme but it seems its one of the "Discovery" shows that they are happy to show (as its never been repeated on the Discovery channels in the UK just for a bit more clarity...)
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
kez19 posted:
This maybe an odd question to ask.... I like watching Abandoned Engineering on Yesterday, however the name in the US is Mysteries of the Abandoned and is shown on Discovery there, is this programme part of a co-op production between UKTV and Discovery itself? I have always wondered when the UKTV breakup happened we would say lose this programme but it seems its one of the "Discovery" shows that they are happy to show (as its never been repeated on the Discovery channels in the UK just for a bit more clarity...)


That seems to be an indie production (their website says they make all their own programmes, so presumably somebody somewhere flogged it to UKTV and they bought some broadcast rights) and it just has various distributors for different territories. Its not unusual for a programme to have a different name once it crosses the Atlantic (in either direction) when it gets imported, especially if there is or has been a programme of the same or similar name floating around.
KE
kez19
kez19 posted:
This maybe an odd question to ask.... I like watching Abandoned Engineering on Yesterday, however the name in the US is Mysteries of the Abandoned and is shown on Discovery there, is this programme part of a co-op production between UKTV and Discovery itself? I have always wondered when the UKTV breakup happened we would say lose this programme but it seems its one of the "Discovery" shows that they are happy to show (as its never been repeated on the Discovery channels in the UK just for a bit more clarity...)


That seems to be an indie production (their website says they make all their own programmes, so presumably somebody somewhere flogged it to UKTV and they bought some broadcast rights) and it just has various distributors for different territories. Its not unusual for a programme to have a different name once it crosses the Atlantic (in either direction) when it gets imported, especially if there is or has been a programme of the same or similar name floating around.



I just wondered as in general as I think its one of those programmes you think you not going to watch and in the end find it interesting, I'm glad even though its made by an indie production its at least a common ground between the both companies in my book, that even though the UKTV partnership is over but at least programming can be kept (maybe its just me being positive on this)

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