What will happen when...

...they shut off the signal?

Will they show a caption for a while before or just. BOOM BANG WALLA WILLA BING BANG BOOM?

Gone. I expect they'll have some party showing you them pressing the button to shut it off, (obviously on digital as by the time they've pressed it you'll be watching about 5 seconds before and you won't even see it. Anyway...)

No, they won't be doing an awful rendition of "Witchdoctor" by the Cartoons.

Very good one!

I was thinking the same as well.
EW E EW HAHA TINGTANG WALLABE BINGBANG

Nah I reckon they'll just show an ident, and then the announcer will say something like, "Well, it's time to say farewell to our terrestrial viewers, as this is the moment, until you get digital, it's goodbye from BBC One." and the same on all terrestrial channels respectively. Though I'm sure they'll say it in a slightly better way than that. Or since they're doing it region by region they might cut to a regional news bulletin or something and then say "We now cross live to <insert place where they'll do it> where Prime Minister Tony Blair is about to press the button to turn off the terrestrial signals" and then they'll do it.

Well that's what I think anyway.

Have you seen that Storm Breaker movie?

"We now cross over to the PM who is about to link up all 70,000 storm breaker computers"

Spoiler of the movie:

I very much doubt they will do it like an old closedown and say goodbye - because it isn't goodbye. By that time most if not all homes will have access to digital.

It probably end with an ident, an announcer saying switch to digital now then an advert telling you how to get digital and how much etc. Basically a Freeview ad. Then a blank screen.... then snow.

I reckon it'll just disappear one night (with some warning beforehand, of course)
And then do something like this for a few months:

http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/features/images/iba_eng_ann_405close_251.jpg
Picture from meldrum.co.uk

Will Tony still be in by then...

Besides isn't the switch-off going to be done on a regional basis, so lots of apologies?

John

Yes...

I can't read sorry, I'll get out of here now.