And as I'm nice, here's a never-before-seen-on-my-website clip of the competition phone number jingle (well one of them!), with some of the insane tomfoolery leading into a programme.
What made them want to change their number? Everyone knew it and I actually still hear it often today. The number they replaced it with was impossible to remember and rubbish!
What made them want to change their number? Everyone knew it and I actually still hear it often today. The number they replaced it with was impossible to remember and rubbish!
09011 10
50
10 I think it was, not 60.
I agree, a good number. I don't know why they changed, but it might have been at the same time that Millionaire changed from 09011 444444 to 09068 444444 so maybe BT axed the 09011 numbers?
For 5 years they didn't actually have any studio!...
Actually in total it was about 7 years, as during the Stonewall Era, with Scally and co. They didn't have a studio, instead they shot around Central in various locations.
Looking at that old set reminds me of the rubbish graphics that they started with and the rather catchy theme tune before they introduced the current one that I won't get out of my head.
To my knowledge there have been five phone numbers with 8 jingles to accompany them.
The first that was about 5 seconds long with rubbish graphics, that was used may-sept 98 used to cut back to the studio then they asked to play it again.
In sept.98 relaunch the number and jingle were kept with a whistle in between the two plays with the second part going up a key, the whistle to give presenters a two line verse inbetween, they also changed the graphics. The number through both was 0894 123344.
They later (I think early 1999) introduced 09011 105010, that having three versions early 99 (white era - good graphics), sept 99 relaunch - blue with white lightning with the blue phone with eyes, sept 2000 - jazzy version of the jingle.
The third phone (personally my favourite jingle) 0901 0707 123 (the number still used, minus the jingle) the one version though originally had room for a four line rhyme was cut to two lines most probably for time reasons.
The forth and fifth numbers, the text line numbers, both had vertually the same jingle and graphics but with the different numbers, the first 079... (can't remember), the second and current 078 1801 4000. Neither were used for long, the first when the txt line started to run, and the second version used when they changed the number - these had no presenters in the middle of the repeat but had the bloke signing the line "Don't be perplex, just send us a text!"
And then the varying jingles introduced from sept 1999 preceeding the phone and the BiG competition. Other jingles before the game played on sunday mornings (either 2000 or 2001) "Wanna win some prizes, don't get in a spin, all you've got to do is... play watch & win"
Also comp in white era on sunday morning where kids phoned up and had to guess the characters that made up a faces, faces comprising of two, three and four characters, depending on the level - not sure if there was a jingle though.
More jingles include the birthday card jingle where the cartoon mouth would be placed over the persons picture on the brithday card and sung. And a jingle used for a spoof of a spoof. When the schedule ran 5 days a week, CiTV shownt sm:tv live's 'chums' (a spoof of friends) so on tuesday's when stephen and tom presented they did a spoof called 'chumps' (at this point chums was a hit of its own without resembeling friends) with a jingle and credits that had to resemble chums. The visual was recorded with an inflatable chair and a couple of umbrellas round a massive water fountain in birmingham, quite nice actually. Shame they dont do stuff like that anymore. Though since michael's come they've done crocadile mike and did that sketch thing with michael as the cheeky geeks.
For 5 years they didn't actually have any studio! - just a voice over
And I hated that guy. He probably wouldn't have been too bad, but when you only have one man trying to do loads of voices nearly every day for 5 years, it soon annoys you!
This - Shows a typical example of him at work, trying in vain to sound different. Could Central not have hired more than just him! Just when we thought we had rid of him though, he popped up to do more voiceovers in 2001 on Tellytots, and even now I believe he still pops up on adverts occasionally.
Andrea Ford
Leigh Morrison
David Leon
Leah Charles
Remember when all that lot first started, and they used to get cut off every single time they went to a break, the rest of CITV is a very slick operation usually
They do seem to be going through a lot of presenters lately, but much less than CBBC who have hundreds!
By the way, isn't it refreshing, all this positive comment towards an ITV Production, we should have more of this!
IT
ITVonly
It was good to see how past CiTV presenters where doing!
...It would be really good If Tom, Dan, Stephen and Andrea could return just for 1 day @ CiTV!
It was really good to see how they was doing!
There should be a section on the new CiTV website (coming soon) itv.com/CiTV all on CiTV's history.
Dug out a few pictures of it actually.
