► Twist and shouting 

16 October 2017 tbs.pm/13994

It’s 22 September 1975 and ITV is celebrating 20 years of broadcasting. Eamonn Andrews devotes the second half of the Today local news programme to a debate about whether ITV was a good idea in the first place and whether it still has places to go – an ITV-2, for instance.

Taking part in this bad-tempered debate that descends into a near shouting match are:

  • Leslie Mitchell (1905-1985), television announcer
  • Hughie Green (1920-1997), television host
  • Robin Day (1923-2000), television journalist
  • Leslie Welch (1907-1980), “Memory Man” variety artist
  • Christopher Mayhew (1915-1997), Labour MP 1945-1974
  • John Hanson (1922-1998), singer
  • and Eamonn Andrews himself (1922-1987)

Before that, we’ve left in some continuity caught on the audio recording: the end of the ITN news, a promo for World In Action and Philip Elsmore with the local weather forecast.

You Say

3 responses to this article

David Rhodes 17 October 2017 at 7:19 pm

So, did the producer want a nostalgic chat about the early days of ITV or a serious discussion of its impact and future? Bits of both emerge here.

Might have been a good idea to get Mayhew on ‘Something to Say’ – if it was still going in 75 – and expand on his ideas, while having a smaller panel discuss the early days on ‘Today’

Still, a great historical find – I’ve only ever seen stills of Eamonn on ‘Today’ before. Interesting, too, to briefly hear John Hanson, who seems to have been a fairly big name for a while – in a time when there still a large ‘popular’ (as distinct from ‘pop’) music audience.

Thames opting for announcer-read weather here – presumably Francis Wilson emerged when the programme became Thames at 6?

And you’ve inadvertently answered a question that’s been in the back of my mind – did ITN use Non-Stop for the evening bulletin before it became News at 5.45? Yes, they did!

Aidan Lunn 21 October 2017 at 12:13 pm

I ask this question in the spirit of the mood in the studio during this programme:

Is Christopher Mayhew talking out of his arse?

Russ J Graham 21 October 2017 at 1:40 pm

Yes.

Your comment

Enter it below

A member of the Transdiffusion Broadcasting System
Liverpool, Monday 18 March 2024