As I recall Tyne Tees cut to a holding slide for several seconds once the LWT feed had faded (which was a long fade as I recall) before crashing into the first advert. There was also a bit of a gap at the end of the ad-break.
would there not be a second feed going down to the 14 local operations room which could show a clock as to how long there have got?
No, the originating company would leave the programme to run till the vision ran out and then display the VT clock for the next part. Each company knew how long the breaks were scheduled to be so there was no need for a countdown.
Quote:
Que dots should have given other companies plenty of notice for someone to be on the mark to push the ad button
Yes, unless there's a sudden need for an ad break in which case there's no time for the normal 2 minute warning via cue dot, as is seen in this example - it's up for 16 seconds in total and only disappears after the theme music ends. The first the other companies would have known that the break was coming early was when the music and caption came up, it would have caught them all by surprise. They probably wouldn't have had the machines containing their ad breaks 'stood up'
I hate to ask this but it's on the subject of "what to do if..." but you can see Tommy is moving very slowly before they cut to the break - would this have been his own doing or some sort of involuntary motion caused by the attack?
I'm a big fan of Tommy Cooper, he was an excellent entertainer, however although I do know how he died I have no intention of watching the clip on You Tube. I know I'd just find it really uncomfortable to watch to be honest.
Has the rest of the footage, minus his last act, ever been shown again since that sad day?
To those saying it's "fitting" that it happened on stage, it's worth considering that if it hadn't happened on stage, he might have had assistance quicker, and survived.
I'm unsure if it was on YouTube (I'd expect it would be removed pretty swiftly) but it did float around some sites, mainly terroristy ones and gory people ones.
The effect you talk about was always very much an LWT thing I think. It was present on a lot of their entertainment productions. The camera or the lighting?
I've not watched the clip, nor do I wish to, but I think the effect you refer to might be the characteristic quality that Marconi Mk9 cameras had. They were used by LWT and many other ITV companies for much of the 80s. Difficult to describe, but very obvious, even when seen through multiple VHS dubbing generations.
Yes, here are some other examples, which don't contain any unsettling subjects:
To those saying it's "fitting" that it happened on stage, it's worth considering that if it hadn't happened on stage, he might have had assistance quicker, and survived.
How do you work that one out?
He was at a theatre in the centre of London. There were plenty of people around to provide medical assistance and there would have been at least one first aider there. Her Majesty's is also less than a mile from one of London's biggest hospitals (St Thomas')... if he didn't survive a massive heart attack there he certainly wouldn't if he'd have somewhere else, his home for example.
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 25 January 2010 12:08am