Anglia Television/Television Idents

This article is about the TV idents. For the production logos, see ITV Anglia Productions.

Credits

Descriptions by
mr3urious and CosgroveHallFanatic

Editions by
Michael Kenchington

Video captures courtesy of
tjathome2002, matipionki, davidseare and Pakokelso93

Background

Anglia Television was launched on 27 October 1959 as the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. During its years as an independent station, it was best known for the nature documentary series Survival, as well as the British versions of the game shows Sale of the Century and Gambit. It also owned the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films from 1993 onwards, and half of HBO subsidiary Citadel Entertainment until 1998.

In 1994, Anglia was bought by Mills & Allen International (later merged with United Newspapers in 1996 to form United News & Media), then by Granada in 2000, and as a result of the Carlton-Granada merger in 2004, ceased to exist as a separate brand.

Contents 1st ID (27 October 1959-1 October 1970) 2nd ID (1 October 1970-21 March 1988) 3rd ID (21 March 1988-7 November 1999) 4th ID (8 November 1999-27 October 2002)

Unused Logo

Contents   Logo (1989)

1st ID (27 October 1959-1 October 1970)

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Visuals: There is the shadow of a model knight on horseback holding a triangular flag in the background. "FROM EAST ANGLIA" is displayed on the screen. It then fades out, and a spotlight lights up above the knight. "Anglia" is displayed on the flag in a fancy font. The camera then fades into a close-up shot of the flag, with "PRESENTS" below. The company's original station clock, which survived into their colour era, also featured the knight on the right side of its face.

Trivia: The knight statue was originally commissioned by King William III of the Netherlands for the Falcon Club. It is intended to represent the Black Prince. It was bought by the station's chairman, Lord Townshend after he spotted it in a jeweler's store.

Variants:

• Another opening variant exists. There is a shot of the knight from before, with no text overlay. Then, the camera fades to a grey screen, which has the text "Anglia" in the same font as the knight's flag and "IN THE EAST OF ENGLAND PRESENTS" below it (this time, the camera does not fade in to a close-up of the flag, as a result of that).
• There was also a version of this logo without the texts, which featured the knight rotating on a turntable before the camera zoomed in on his flag and he stopped rotating. This version was only used as a station identity, and could be seen as a precursor to the company's 4th logo (introduced circa 1981).

Technique: Mostly live-action, with fading effects for the transitions.

Audio: An abridged version of "Alla Hornpipe" from George Frideric Handel's Water Music. This would serve as the company jingle until the introduction of their third logo.

Audio Variant: A recomposed version of the music exists.

Availability: Logo enthusiasts have, much like the logos of many other now-defunct ITV regions, preserved this on websites such as TV-Ark.

2nd ID (1 October 1970-21 March 1988)

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Visuals:

• Station ID: There is the knight from before rotating clockwise on a turntable on a light blue background. The camera then zooms up to the flag he is holding and he stops rotating.
• Accompanying clock ident: On a dark blue background, the knight is seen on the right with a heavy white wash over it, along with an analogue clock on the left with fancy-looking hands. On the bottom is a line with a break containing "Anglia" in a rather distorted recreation. Early on, it had "COLOUR" below the text as well.

Variants:

• An early opening ident exists. There is the silver knight from before standing on what appears to be a mountain against a greyish sky, facing to the left. The text "Anglia" in the same font as the flag and "PRESENTS" then appears to the left of the knight.
• Central Television once recreated the logo with a tinfoil model in 1985 for a Sale of the Century spoof at the start of a Spitting Image episode.
• A much longer version of this ident which showed various parts of the knight was shown during start-ups, with the full version of the music included.
• A closing logo variant exists for the last shot, appearing on Encore for the Mighty Organ.

Technique: Mostly live-action, with fading effects for the transitions.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Has been preserved on websites like TV-Ark.

3rd ID (21 March 1988-7 November 1999)

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Visuals:

• On a slate background, twelve triangles (five dark blue on the outside and one in the centre, three yellow on the right side, and three white on the inside; the blue one on the left is also larger than the others, and the finished product is supposed to resemble the letter "A") appear on a light blue flag piece-by-piece until the whole logo has appeared and zooms out slightly. "ANGLIA" then fades in below as the flag keeps waving and having parts of it disappear/appear.
• Accompanying clock ident: A different slate background is shown having a new clock design, which consists of a dark blue ring and a teal outer ring, white clock hands, and yellow triangles to mark the hours. The "cardinal hours" have the Triforce-like design instead.

Trivia: The logo was designed by Robinson Lambie-Nairn, who had previously designed the original "blocks" logos for Channel 4 in 1982 and Scottish Television's 3D "thistle" ident in 1985.

Variants:

• In the case of a breakdown, the text "We are sorry for the loss of your programme and hope to correct the fault very shortly" would be displayed below the flag.
• In 1999, there was also a special version 40th anniversary variant, where the logo was shortened and had a large "40 YEARS" symbol attached to the front of it. The Anglia knight is superimposed onto the left side of the screen, zooming out and rotating counterclockwise before stopping at a comfortable position, and the 1996 break bumper appearing in the top right of the screen, albeit heavily faded.
• There might be some text to the side saying "888 (Captions)" (later changed to "Subtitles" starting in May 1999), or "Stereo" that appears during the idents.
• Starting in May 1999, the 1998 ITV logo appears at the top left and "Subtitles" appears at the bottom right of the ident.

Technique: Live-action and computer effects.

Audio: A heraldic-style thirteen-note fanfare, culminating in a reverse cymbal crash once all twelve triangles and the company name appear. Composed by Nic Rowley.

Audio Variants:

• Occasionally, a re-arranged version of the normal fanfare was also used, but it still culminated in a reverse cymbal crash at the end.
• Sometimes, an announcer will accompany it.

Availability: Idents can be found on VHS recordings from the UK.

4th ID (8 November 1999-27 October 2002)

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Visuals: See ITV.

Unused Logo

Logo (1989)

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Note: This ident, much like several of those designed for the other current ITV regions at this time, was never used on air.

Visuals: See ITV for descriptions.

External Links

• Anglia Television on TVARK