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VM
VMPhil
UK Gold were probably the first UK channel to do it on a regular basis. They’re on the end of the copies of Alas Smith and Jones I have. BBC1 did experiment with an early form of ECP during the COW era, I don’t think there’s any evidence online that it was used again after this occasion though.

As it only appears briefly at the very end, it makes me wonder if they were cautious about doing it…

what and Inspector Sands gave kudos
IS
Inspector Sands
The briefness was probably more because they weren't allowed to obscure the credits so just did the very end. I can't imagine the various unions etc being that happy with it in 1985
AS
Asa Admin
A 1985 credit squeeze? Never thought I’d see the day! Wonder if it went down as well as a cartoon Graham Norton popping up during Doctor Who.
DE
DE88
Here's SPOTY 2001 in full:



Two years on from the change in name and format, and there's still a "Sports Review" vibe - the ceremony still coming from Television Centre; "Pioneer Trail" still being played at the start as well as the end; the hosts not letting their hair down quite so much (could one *really* imagine Steve hosting it today?); no live orchestra or live performances by pop stars; no In Memoriam segment just before the winner is announced; and no glittery confetti at the end.

But there *are* plenty of bursts of pop music, inevitably (for the time) including that Kylie song that goes "la, la, la". Wink And the segments with Johnny Vegas and Clarky wouldn't look terribly out of place today, either.

Inevitably, plenty of time is devoted to *that* England 5-1 win. I wouldn't say Brian Eno is the most obvious choice of musical accompaniment, but it's a good one all the same.

As for Becks winning? Maybe Michael Owen should have become a two-time winner, maybe Ellen MacArthur should have won more than just the Helen Rollason award - but I'd put my neck on the line and argue that Becks deserved to win it more than Zara Phillips (as she was then) did in 2006. Darren Clarke was well and truly robbed that year, IMHO... Mad

Finally, look out for Jennie Bond, no less, in the audience. Wink
PH
Philheybrookbay
Steve Williams posted:
BillyH posted:
It almost seems unfair that the entire event is usually just summarised with a comedy clip of Michael Fish correctly saying that there isn’t going to be a hurricane on the way, given the damage and issues it caused.


Aside from the usual "it wasn't technically a hurricane" (which I think is a distinction rather lost on the general public), Fish always says that it wasn't just him who failed to spot it because Bill Giles was on duty that evening and all he said was that it was going to be "breezy up the channel" and he didn't get it in the neck the next day like Fish did. But as I've said before, the great thing about that clip is not that Fish doesn't say there was going to be a "hurricane", but specifically goes out of his way to say that there wasn't.

Inspector Sands posted:
From what I remember when I had a curious look at the day on their internal web based search a while ago they do have most of the broom cupboard and some of Breakfast Time proper.


I've, er, had a little look at that too in the past. A while back I also had a quick squizz at some of the paperwork which I seem to remember had someone very senior in BBC News listed as directing the Broom Cupboard section, I think possibly Ron Neil himself.

Markymark posted:
The Burns Day storm (25/1/90) I think was technically more severe than the October 1987 one ? It also occurred in the middle of the day, rather than the middle of the night, so there were more deaths and injuries.


I think it wasn't as severe but, as you say, it hit during the day so there were more deaths. According to Wikipedia the most disruptive storm in recent history was in January 1976, which caused more damage because it hit pretty much the entire UK, whereas in 1987 the South East was badly affected (and as it hit particularly densely populated areas that had a major impact) but quite a lot of the UK remained unscathed.

In fact the 1990 storm here in Plymouth was much more severe and came after a very stormy period starting in the December- remember the run up to Christmas 1989 being particularly dreadful.
CH
channel4squares1
VMPhil posted:
UK Gold were probably the first UK channel to do it on a regular basis. They’re on the end of the copies of Alas Smith and Jones I have. BBC1 did experiment with an early form of ECP during the COW era, I don’t think there’s any evidence online that it was used again after this occasion though.

As it only appears briefly at the very end, it makes me wonder if they were cautious about doing it…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ZXXS5RvTY


I know Super Channel used ECP's before UK Gold did (1:20), which made me thinking if Super Channel was the first fully European channel to use these.

JO
Josh
Speaking of Super Channel, wasn't there interference during the eclipse which caused them to have a breakdown? I remember seeing a video of it somewhere.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Yes. Satellites of that era didn't have enough battery power to run the broadcast kit, so from time to time the satellite went into the Earth's shadow and would go off air.

I think Super Channel even had some bumpers to play either side with a sponsor credit! All totally expected well in advance and scheduled around.

I guess more akin to BBC1 closing down briefly for RBS tests than a breakdown.
JO
Josh
Yes. I remember seeing a video of the signal crashing and (somehow?) there being a breakdown slide with little cartoons explaining the eclipse and why it was breaking. Not sure if it's on here still.
VM
VMPhil
Here it is: https://tvforum.uk/forums/post1079583#post-1079583

And my comment from the time which still applies:

VMPhil posted:
You've got to love those incredibly over-the-top 80s technology adverts. That was literally just an advert for the VCR, but of course it featured a businessman laughing maniacally while leaves blew around him in the moonlight, with a TV sitting on top of a pyramid. Just your typical everyday scene.
LL
Larry the Loafer
Josh posted:
Yes. I remember seeing a video of the signal crashing and (somehow?) there being a breakdown slide with little cartoons explaining the eclipse and why it was breaking. Not sure if it's on here still.


SP
Steve in Pudsey
At the risk of rehashing the old thread, that wasn't for the eclipse and was inserted by a cable head end when it lost the signal.

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