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TV Breakdown Appreciation Thread

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SP
Steve in Pudsey
That would make sense, I misread your post as that they had issues all night.
IS
Inspector Sands
Carlton announcer having to fill over a menu:

MA
Markymark
Carlton announcer having to fill over a menu:


No ordinary Carlton announcer, but none other than David Allen Cool
MA
markwrightrf
Veteran Phil Vowels braving the elements just a few days ago with a stubborn Nicky Campbell, presumably another IP issue. Even the breakdown music wouldn't play. Bah, all this modern technology, eh?

MA
markwrightrf
There's much to be harvested in this thread for a TV Cream BBC vs ITV breakdown showdown, although ITV is a surely a dead cert given the strike of 1979. In the red corner, Redvers Kyle's embarrassed fudging over the mislaid PPB versus Peter Brook hedging his bets waiting for VT to buzz; in the blue corner Tom Edwards determinedly reading from the TV Times versus a matey Andy Taylor furiously filling-in... ding ding!

As an aside, are there any examples of TV-am falling off air, aside from the technical directorial woes of its strike era? I suppose it wasn't on-air long enough and didn't much depend on outside sources, but I can't remember any occasion when transmission was interrupted or blacked out (in the union sense) prior to or during its "troubles".
Last edited by markwrightrf on 12 May 2018 5:15pm - 3 times in total
RO
robertclark125
What happened with schools programmes, especially during the ITV Schools on 4 era? I know that on Fridays, all programmes were repeats, but what did they do during the week, on BBC1/2, and ITV/4?
IS
Inspector Sands
Thing is, once you start watching breakdowns on Youtube, it starts to suggest more videos of TV breakdowns.

Here's some cricket being abandoned:
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 12 May 2018 8:21pm
SP
Steve in Pudsey
As an aside, are there any examples of TV-am falling off air, aside from the technical directorial woes of its strike era? I suppose it wasn't on-air long enough and didn't much depend on outside sources, but I can't remember any occasion when transmission was interrupted or blacked out (in the union sense) prior to or during its "troubles".


The morning after the Great Storm. I believe that they did fall off air after they resumed "normal" service from Eggcup House, but Richard Keys had stayed at Thames in readiness for that situation.
WH
Whataday Founding member
ukpetey, Stuart and paul_hadley gave kudos
IT
itvblocks
Not a breakdown, but I found this one quite funny.

A load of protesters stage a protest, causing "The Time and The Place" to go off the air 10 minutes early...
SC
Si-Co
What happened with schools programmes, especially during the ITV Schools on 4 era? I know that on Fridays, all programmes were repeats, but what did they do during the week, on BBC1/2, and ITV/4?


I’m not sure I understand - not all of Friday’s programmes were repeats from earlier in the week. On ITV, during a breakdown, we tended to get the standard (current) interval slide and a Central announcer apologising. Music, which may or may not have been that term’s interval tape, would be played.

To get back on schedule, subsequent junctions would normally be shortened, often just showing the countdown clock, and closing credits faded out early (normally a mix to the relevant company’s endcap) if necessary.

ITV Schools on 4 fell off the air completely one morning around 1989. A couple of extended captions were shown, with no announcer or music, and eventually a testcard tape was played for the remainder of the morning.

The first caption they showed was an “ITV Schools 30th Anniversary Year” slide Channel 4 originally used back in June 1987 when they showed schools programmes due to General Election coverage on ITV. Evidently they still had this to hand. There may have been an ITV Schools on 4 branded breakdown slide or sequence, but perhaps the fault was so serious that this too couldn’t be transmitted. The second caption was white text on a black background apologising for the loss of schools programmes and advising that Channel Four programmes would begin shortly as scheduled.

I can’t seem to upload images - but the captions are uploaded as Files 17608 and 17609 on MHP, if you have access.
IS
Inspector Sands
I'm not sure why things wold be different on a Friday even if they were repeats.... programmes can break down just as much second time round

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