The biggest mistake ITV ever made (apart from buying friendsreunited) was removing the regional identities at the beginning of the programs.
For decades, each program on this channel was prefaced by an ident sequence and a tune that indicated the company behind the show. It gave ITV character, and to those who remember TV from those days, the idents are often indelibly associated with the programs themselves. ATV for Sapphire and Steel; Anglia for Sale of the Century; Thames Television for Minder.
ATV:
Thames:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOgTsCkhvik
And who could forget LWT?
The ATV ident has always been my favourite, though I can’t recommend adopting it as your morning alarm as I did a few years ago. As for the LWT, I had forgotten how sweet the music sounded! I just watched the video ten times in a row. Mesmerising!
It is sweet, isn’t it?
We’re currently very familiar with the ATV ident as we’ve been watching Sapphire and Steel.
I still mourn the passing of Rutland Weekend Television…
Ah!