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Networked ITV - 1990s and before...

(August 2010)

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CR
ColonelRed
Steven O posted:
Si-Co posted:
Steven O posted:
Si-Co posted:
Mr Kite posted:

That's grim. Wasn't there an HTV West announcer who did something similar around that time? I think it was a woman. Don't think she killed herself in the same way, but I seem to recall that she was working right up to the end. Unless my memory's playing tricks on me here.


Yes, the lovely Annie St John. She took a lethal overdose of champagne and tablets. Bosses found her semi-conscious the following morning when she failed to turn up for work. She died in hospital a few weeks later. She was only 33.


There was just a few months between them IIRC - Pat in February, and Annie in August. A spooky co-incidence was that they'd both announced for Tyne Tees during their careers!


Annie died in December 1990 - but yes, still only a few months between them.


Gosh, that's much later than I thought - for some reason I always thought that she died that summer.


Strange that - I was sure it was in the summer as well.
SO
Steven O
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
623058 posted:
Does anyone know who this Border Television IVC is:

*


Yes - it's the late Pat Doody, one-time Radio 2 presenter and who was the voice of the introductory voiceover on the Border version of Mr & Mrs. As well as announcing at Border, Pat announced for Tyne Tees occasionally and also voiced ads for Metro Radio in Newcastle.

Pat took his own life (he gassed himself in his car) at the end of February 1990, aged 52. He had apparently been suffering from cash from cash problems for some time. The night before his death, he had been announcing on Border and reading the late news headlines after the News At Ten.


He was Senior Announcer at the time and had cut down the amount of time he was on air.

Unusually he did a few late shifts in a row just before his death - he was on duty on the Saturday and Sunday late shifts supervising a new announcer, off on the Monday, on the late shift on his own on the Tuesday, and died on the Wednesday in the afternoon.

His death was first announced on the late Border News on Wednesday 28th February 1990.


I remember watching the bulletin which announced Pat's death. My reaction was one of shock as he'd been on duty the night before - if my memory serves me correctly, that bulletin was read by Sue Radford who had not long joined Border. I wonder if (as was the case with Annie St John a few months later) he was due to do a shift that day and failed to turn up. It wasn't until the inquest in June that year that the fuller picture emerged regarding his cash-flow problems and the circumstances in which he died.

I didn't know that Pat was the Senior Announcer at the time of his death, though. That position was of course held by Allan Cartner for many years, with Clive Champney as his deputy. Both left Border in 1988, Allan went to Tyne Tees where he stayed until 1996, while Clive retired. Derek Batey (RIP) also retired from Border at the same time.


It was Andrew Burns who read that bulletin. Pat was off on the Wednesday and due to be in on the Thursday.

Pat had been the Senior Announcer since Alan and Clive left. Clive was at the last Border reunion party and looked amazing, and was in great form - a true gent.


So it was Andrew and not Sue who announced the news of Pat's death - I'd always thought it was Sue. It just shows how the memory can play tricks. That must have been one of the hardest things for Andrew to do, announcing the death of a colleague as part of a news bulletin.

Another of the post-1988 team, Craig Austin, was responsible for refreshing Border's on-screen presentation along with Andrew. I seem to remember it was Andrew who came up with the idea of the short "Border Heritage" five-minute fillers.

Good to hear that Clive is still with us.
SC
Si-Co
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
Si-Co posted:
Steven O posted:
Si-Co posted:
Mr Kite posted:

That's grim. Wasn't there an HTV West announcer who did something similar around that time? I think it was a woman. Don't think she killed herself in the same way, but I seem to recall that she was working right up to the end. Unless my memory's playing tricks on me here.


Yes, the lovely Annie St John. She took a lethal overdose of champagne and tablets. Bosses found her semi-conscious the following morning when she failed to turn up for work. She died in hospital a few weeks later. She was only 33.


There was just a few months between them IIRC - Pat in February, and Annie in August. A spooky co-incidence was that they'd both announced for Tyne Tees during their careers!


Annie died in December 1990 - but yes, still only a few months between them.


Gosh, that's much later than I thought - for some reason I always thought that she died that summer.


Strange that - I was sure it was in the summer as well.


I was at college and I remember the news coming on the radio in the common room - so it must have been after September. I remember it as being November she took the overdose and December she died.
CR
ColonelRed
Steven O posted:
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
623058 posted:
Does anyone know who this Border Television IVC is:

*


Yes - it's the late Pat Doody, one-time Radio 2 presenter and who was the voice of the introductory voiceover on the Border version of Mr & Mrs. As well as announcing at Border, Pat announced for Tyne Tees occasionally and also voiced ads for Metro Radio in Newcastle.

Pat took his own life (he gassed himself in his car) at the end of February 1990, aged 52. He had apparently been suffering from cash from cash problems for some time. The night before his death, he had been announcing on Border and reading the late news headlines after the News At Ten.


He was Senior Announcer at the time and had cut down the amount of time he was on air.

Unusually he did a few late shifts in a row just before his death - he was on duty on the Saturday and Sunday late shifts supervising a new announcer, off on the Monday, on the late shift on his own on the Tuesday, and died on the Wednesday in the afternoon.

His death was first announced on the late Border News on Wednesday 28th February 1990.


I remember watching the bulletin which announced Pat's death. My reaction was one of shock as he'd been on duty the night before - if my memory serves me correctly, that bulletin was read by Sue Radford who had not long joined Border. I wonder if (as was the case with Annie St John a few months later) he was due to do a shift that day and failed to turn up. It wasn't until the inquest in June that year that the fuller picture emerged regarding his cash-flow problems and the circumstances in which he died.

I didn't know that Pat was the Senior Announcer at the time of his death, though. That position was of course held by Allan Cartner for many years, with Clive Champney as his deputy. Both left Border in 1988, Allan went to Tyne Tees where he stayed until 1996, while Clive retired. Derek Batey (RIP) also retired from Border at the same time.


It was Andrew Burns who read that bulletin. Pat was off on the Wednesday and due to be in on the Thursday.

Pat had been the Senior Announcer since Alan and Clive left. Clive was at the last Border reunion party and looked amazing, and was in great form - a true gent.


So it was Andrew and not Sue who announced the news of Pat's death - I'd always thought it was Sue. It just shows how the memory can play tricks. That must have been one of the hardest things for Andrew to do, announcing the death of a colleague as part of a news bulletin.

Another of the post-1988 team, Craig Austin, was responsible for refreshing Border's on-screen presentation along with Andrew. I seem to remember it was Andrew who came up with the idea of the short "Border Heritage" five-minute fillers.

Good to hear that Clive is still with us.


The sad thing about it was that it was Andrew's first shift on his own after training - weirdly he had completed training with Pat on Sunday, which must have made it even harder.

The announcers roster in those days was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday late. Pat swapped and did Sunday night instead of Craig who did Monday night, did Tuesday late himself, and left Andrew a note wishing him a great first night according to the local press at the time, and was due to be back in the office on Thursday for an administration shift.

Daphne Neville was also at the last Border reunion, she looked great as well. A really nice lady.
SO
Steven O
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
ColonelRed posted:
Steven O posted:
623058 posted:
Does anyone know who this Border Television IVC is:

*


Yes - it's the late Pat Doody, one-time Radio 2 presenter and who was the voice of the introductory voiceover on the Border version of Mr & Mrs. As well as announcing at Border, Pat announced for Tyne Tees occasionally and also voiced ads for Metro Radio in Newcastle.

Pat took his own life (he gassed himself in his car) at the end of February 1990, aged 52. He had apparently been suffering from cash from cash problems for some time. The night before his death, he had been announcing on Border and reading the late news headlines after the News At Ten.


He was Senior Announcer at the time and had cut down the amount of time he was on air.

Unusually he did a few late shifts in a row just before his death - he was on duty on the Saturday and Sunday late shifts supervising a new announcer, off on the Monday, on the late shift on his own on the Tuesday, and died on the Wednesday in the afternoon.

His death was first announced on the late Border News on Wednesday 28th February 1990.


I remember watching the bulletin which announced Pat's death. My reaction was one of shock as he'd been on duty the night before - if my memory serves me correctly, that bulletin was read by Sue Radford who had not long joined Border. I wonder if (as was the case with Annie St John a few months later) he was due to do a shift that day and failed to turn up. It wasn't until the inquest in June that year that the fuller picture emerged regarding his cash-flow problems and the circumstances in which he died.

I didn't know that Pat was the Senior Announcer at the time of his death, though. That position was of course held by Allan Cartner for many years, with Clive Champney as his deputy. Both left Border in 1988, Allan went to Tyne Tees where he stayed until 1996, while Clive retired. Derek Batey (RIP) also retired from Border at the same time.


It was Andrew Burns who read that bulletin. Pat was off on the Wednesday and due to be in on the Thursday.

Pat had been the Senior Announcer since Alan and Clive left. Clive was at the last Border reunion party and looked amazing, and was in great form - a true gent.


So it was Andrew and not Sue who announced the news of Pat's death - I'd always thought it was Sue. It just shows how the memory can play tricks. That must have been one of the hardest things for Andrew to do, announcing the death of a colleague as part of a news bulletin.

Another of the post-1988 team, Craig Austin, was responsible for refreshing Border's on-screen presentation along with Andrew. I seem to remember it was Andrew who came up with the idea of the short "Border Heritage" five-minute fillers.

Good to hear that Clive is still with us.


The sad thing about it was that it was Andrew's first shift on his own after training - weirdly he had completed training with Pat on Sunday, which must have made it even harder.

The announcers roster in those days was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday late. Pat swapped and did Sunday night instead of Craig who did Monday night, did Tuesday late himself, and left Andrew a note wishing him a great first night according to the local press at the time, and was due to be back in the office on Thursday for an administration shift.

Daphne Neville was also at the last Border reunion, she looked great as well. A really nice lady.


That must have been a real test of Andrew's character to have to announce the death of his mentor on his first shift after training, and even more so as Pat had left Andrew a note wishing him all the best for his first night on air. We will probably never know if Pat had intended to take his own life after that Tuesday late shift or if the pressure had finally got to him on the Wednesday.

That was also around the time that John Myers left Border. In his book "Team, It's Only Radio" he recounts what happened during one of his final shifts at Border when an afternoon film matinee finished abruptly. The film - a movie set during wartime - was just building up to the climax when the credits started to roll. This took viewers by surprise, including John himself as he was a fan of war films. It turned out that a trainee technician at Border had been tasked with taking nine minutes out of the film and instead of making subtle edits to make it film fit the available timeslot, he cut the last nine minutes instead. When John asked the technician why he did this, he replied that "everyone knows who won the war so there was no point in keeping that bit in", at which point John pointed out that it didn't matter who won the war - they had just shown a film which had no ending!

16 days later

:-(
A former member
You can now view the clip in question.

Border Television in-vision continuity - Boxing Day 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CBBsRDnV10
WE
Westy2
623058 posted:
You can now view the clip in question.

Border Television in-vision continuity - Boxing Day 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CBBsRDnV10


You can tell which ITV regions had a decent presentation budget.

Don't think ATV/Central ever used the ITV branded trails ISTR.

Did Border ever do their own branded trails, for network stuff?

I even remember TSW, while on holiday there once, doing their own trail for a networked quiz show. (Lingo, I think?)
IS
Inspector Sands
Westy2 posted:
I even remember TSW, while on holiday there once, doing their own trail for a networked quiz show. (Lingo, I think?)

I remember seeing TSW on holiday and seeing them replace production captions with their own - i.e. The Bill having 'a TSW presentation' replacing the Thames one
CR
ColonelRed
Westy2 posted:
623058 posted:
You can now view the clip in question.

Border Television in-vision continuity - Boxing Day 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CBBsRDnV10



Did Border ever do their own branded trails, for network stuff?

I even remember TSW, while on holiday there once, doing their own trail for a networked quiz show. (Lingo, I think?)


Yes they did for peak time shows, however in the 90's that was mainly for Highway, which was pretty much the only networked programme that they did.

20 days later

TH
Thinker
This week's Media Show on Radio 4 was all about the Thatcher years and how it affected the media landscape. The second half is about the 1991 franchise auction. Plenty of interesting views and insight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr4wd/The_Media_Show_Lady_Thatcher_the_Media_and_Rupert_Murdoch/
:-(
A former member
Thinker posted:
This week's Media Show on Radio 4 was all about the Thatcher years and how it affected the media landscape. The second half is about the 1991 franchise auction. Plenty of interesting views and insight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr4wd/The_Media_Show_Lady_Thatcher_the_Media_and_Rupert_Murdoch/


Bill was wrong, bill was pointless. Since sky come along it challenged itv, and it was this kind of competition which has lost itv it's viewers.

Carlton would have brought Thames either way.
RI
Rijowhi
623058 posted:
Thinker posted:
This week's Media Show on Radio 4 was all about the Thatcher years and how it affected the media landscape. The second half is about the 1991 franchise auction. Plenty of interesting views and insight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rr4wd/The_Media_Show_Lady_Thatcher_the_Media_and_Rupert_Murdoch/


Bill was wrong, bill was pointless. Since sky come along it challenged itv, and it was this kind of competition which has lost itv it's viewers.

Carlton would have brought Thames either way.


I wonder if Carlton had bought Thames (imagine the 1991 auction went to Thames), how different ITV would have been? Yes I guess we would still end up with ITV Plc but...

I think I've said it before that these days I see ITV as a Table with three legs*, they chopped off one of their legs (Central) when they moved a lot of Production to London (as per the BBC). At the time Central was probably the biggest producer of programmes to ITV.

* Another leg (Yorkshire) is rotting off too...only Emmerdale left.

P.S - Thanks for the link btw.

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