Comments on: Tonight’s Rediffusion, London… in 1968

By: Alan Collins

Alan Collins — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 14:43:15 +0000

It was LWT not Thames that repeated those Rediffusion HALF HOUR STORY episodes, 9 episodes repeated January to April 1971.

By: Alan Steven Collins

Alan Steven Collins — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 07:35:17 +0000

It was LWT not Thames that repeated these Rediffusion’s HALF HALF STORY episodes, 9 episodes repeated January to April 1971.

By: Jeremy Rogers

Jeremy Rogers — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 20:16:42 +0000

In reply to Geoff Viner. Thames did indeed bring back Laurie West to a limited extent for a short period but this had followed adverse press coverage in early 1969 about him having to sign on at his local Labour Exchange as he had found any work since the end of Rediffusion. There is at least one example existing.

By: Geoff Viner

Geoff Viner — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 13:31:26 +0000

An excellent piece of history from Transdiffusion. I do remember however that Laurie West was brought back by Thames on the Today programme for a period, I think, from memory, it was just a Friday for the weekend weather. Not sure if anyone else remembers that? But later Francis Wilson also did the weather forecast in that slot.

By: Alan Keeling

Alan Keeling — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 14:51:01 +0000

On Rediffusions final day, a new cartoon series began at 4.55, The New Adventures of Superman (1966), was previously shown on CBS in a Saturday morning slot during the fall of 1966, produced by Filmation Associates, the series contained two Superman segments with a Superboy segment sandwiched between.

By: Paul Faulder

Paul Faulder — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 12:51:36 +0000

Very interesting, beyond the fact that Rediffusion plus ABC equals Thames i knew very little about that period. Thames was established by the time i was old enough to appreciate the regions. Thank you for the education.

By: Les

Les — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 18:25:15 +0000

Really interesting pieces on the end of the old itv and the beginning of the new.
Rediffusion was a good tv company for the swinging 60s, and with atv, were fun to watch. It seemed someone turned the wick down on tuesday .. thames came across as competent, but not very exciting. They didn’t use the skyline ident much in the early days, and instead used a grey into black ‘from thames’ ident. I watched their first night from 6, and didn’t see the ident until news at ten. Thames used a blank screen between the commercials, instead of rediffusion’s ‘starburst’.

Tv times also said that london weekend would have no symbol, just the company’s name. So for the first few months there was just a caption saying ‘this is london weekend television’ instead of an ident … so dull after atv!

By: Darren Brian Renforth

Darren Brian Renforth — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 17:37:53 +0000

Yet another superb article from the Transdiffusion team.
I’ve heard an edited audio recording of their final opening which said,

“This is Rediffusion, broadcasting for the last time from the London transmitter of the Independent Television Authority”, then the main part of the theme started.

I’m too young to remember the original ITV contractors, but have wondered if some old ABC or Rediffusion programmes were repeated under the Thames banner as Central did when repeating most ATV programmes in 1982?

Seems that’s been answered by the mention of “Half Hour Story” repeated under the Rediffusion banner.

As with ATV and Central in most cases, copyright of the older programmes were not transferred to the new companies, even when they continued producing material made by their predecessors.

In 1976 Yorkshire Television repeated the first colour series of “The Avengers” produced by ABC in 1967. The ABC idents and end captions were substituted by Yorkshire Television In Colour ones they used for Presentations.