Gerry Anderson has died

That isn't the opening to the Secret Service - annoyingly that's an unused version - in the actual broadcast edition, the real Unwin appeared and peered through his window. Not on YouTube - I'll add it later if nobody else does.

there was also stuff like ATV Music (which you will no doubt have heard lots c.2009 as it was purchased by Michael Jackson).

ITC was a weird one - Grade tried to spin it such that ATV Midlands commissioned the programme from ITC, and thereby counted towards their quota of productions from indie producers. This lead to Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds being officially ITC Productions for ATV (credited as "in association with ATV"). This arrangement left this programming available to the other contractors under standard networking arrangements (I think!.......................................

It was PolyGram who the BBC acquired the ITC series' from in the 90s - and UK viewers thought they had it bad with stuff like The Perils of Penelope - which appeared to have a physical fold in the film.

With the emergence of the internet, it would appear that there were greater indignities over the pond.

With the emergence of the internet, it would appear that there were greater indignities over the pond.

That isn't the opening to the Secret Service - annoyingly that's an unused version - in the actual broadcast edition, the real Unwin appeared and peered through his window. Not on YouTube - I'll add it later if nobody else does.

It's easy to forget - but ATV in one form or other continued beyond 1982, and the non-ITV programming they held was not transferred to Central Independent Television p.l.c. ITC was one such area - there was also stuff like ATV Music (which you will no doubt have heard lots c.2009 as it was purchased by Michael Jackson).

ITC was a weird one - Grade tried to spin it such that ATV Midlands commissioned the programme from ITC, and thereby counted towards their quota of productions from indie producers. This lead to Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds being officially ITC Productions for ATV (credited as "in association with ATV"). This arrangement left this programming available to the other contractors under standard networking arrangements (I think!).

The ITA expressed their displeasure with the fiddle, and from Captain Scarlet onwards, officially the programmes were commissioned by ITC, and then sold to ATV as an import. This meant that they weren't automatically available to other ITV contractors (I think!) and so the initial contractors acquired copies individually; meaning there were dozens of transfers in circulation in the UK alone - which possibly accounts for the copies MikeGNE refers to. This applied retroactively to the pre-Captain Scarlet productions once their initial number of repeats had been used up by ATV [and the ITV network]. Throughout the 70s and 80s the ITC series were repeated heavily by ATV, and others chose to regularly (Granada, Southern); others possibly not at all (Yorkshire).

Central seemed more keen than others to repeat in the 80s - I suspect ATV "acquired" a number of repeats from ITC in the early 80s, which Central were pretty much free to burn through up to the late 80s.

The ITC library itself had by this point transferred to the control of PolyGram - who were distributing copies based on an increasingly ropey 16mm transfer rather than the 32mm masters (which with a little bit of restoration have lead to Blu-ray releases!). They also insisted initially that only the TV Movie Compillations (which ITC's New York office had created for the burgeoning Cable market) were available for Home Release, before eventually allowing the other episodes to be released.

It was PolyGram who the BBC acquired the ITC series' from in the 90s - and UK viewers thought they had it bad with stuff like The Perils of Penelope - which appeared to have a physical fold in the film. With the emergence of the internet, it would appear that there were greater indignities over the pond.

Carlton acquired the ITC archive, and as we know the rest is history.

This is amazing. Also I completely forgot about Thunderbirds 2086, the dodgy rescripted anime series that I never liked and always thought was crap.

Here's the complete opening of 'The Deadly Whisper' episode of The Secret Service. I've chosen this one as it has a lengthy hook, allowing you to get a feel for the series and also see the puppet you may remember as being Captain Black, without the terrifying makeup:


So, did the rights to Crossroads come [back to] Carlton with the ITC archive?

I take it this might explain why the other station did not buy in Secret service? since it would be counted as a import and not a UK show?

Bought in and import aren't the same thing. It's still a UK show. ITC is British.

Lavender Castle?