Tyne Tees Television

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum




1st Logo (January 15, 1959-July 16, 1970)


Visuals: On a black background, an anchor zooms in to the middle of the screen. Once it zooms in, the anchor morphs into a "T" and two smaller "T"s emerge from the "T" from the left side and the right side. The circle part of the anchor then moves to the left and reveals the words "TYNE TEES" while moving to the right and vanishes after. "TELEVISION channel 8" then appears below the giant "T".

Variant: At the beginning of some news programs, "TYNE TEES TELEVISION NEWS" can be seen above the symbol and "PRESENTS" can be seen below.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: An announcer says "Tyne Tees Television, channel 8", and then a nautical sounding fanfare plays. Composed by Arthur Wilkinson and is also contained in its start-up theme, "Three Rivers Fantasy".

Audio Variant: In some cases, there's no announcer, with the music higher pitched, sounding more cheerful.

2nd Logo (July 17, 1970-1979)


Visuals: On a blue background, four yellow lines go by really quickly from all four sides of the screen. Once they all intersect across the screen, they morph into a stylised "TTTV" which consists of a "T" and a "V" connected together and a "T" connected to the top of the two letters. "TYNE TEES" then appears below the logo and then six red diamonds appear below "TYNE TEES" which then turn into "COLOUR".

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: A majestic horn fanfare, sounding somewhat like the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

Legacy: This is the first appearance of the TTTV symbol, which would be used for the next 22 years.

3rd Logo (October 24, 1979-September 4, 1988)


Visuals: On a blue background, the "TTTV" symbol (designed the same as the 2nd logo) moves towards the center of the screen in Star Wars text fashion, leaving a trail of rainbow lines in the process. Once it reaches the center of the screen, it flips back to normal and its outline flashes at the screen with a rainbow "candy-stripe" effect. The background then turns blue, and "TYNE TEES" zooms out from the bottom of the screen, making a white trail and stops below the "TTTV" symbol.

Variant: A Christmas variant of this logo exists, which was used around 1981. The background is also lighter and there is a holly border surrounding it.

Technique: What appears to be cel animation with slit-scan trailing effects.

Audio: A triumphant sounding fanfare made on a synthesizer.

4th ID (September 5, 1988-September 1, 1989)


Visuals: Against a yellow background textured to look like sand, a stream of grey-coloured water moves across the screen in a wave-like motion. It then splits into several streams and forms the logo in light blue and has a drop shadow. The camera turns upwards and "Tyne Tees", in white, fades in below.

Technique: CGI by Digital Pictures in London.

Audio: A synthesised fanfare sounding a little similar to the third logo.

5th ID (September 1, 1989-February 1991)

Visuals: On a black background, a yellow "river" is seen. On top of the river is the "TTTV" logo in blue and below it is "TYNE TEES" in the Palatino font. The logo then wavers and disperses into the river, and in its place, various images of ITV shows fly by from the right to the left, such as the Elizabeth Tower, a white bird, a basketball player, etc. As these images fly by, the letters "I" and "T", followed by half of the letter "V", fade in one by one. Finally, a vertical triangle appears in place of the other half of the "V", containing the left part of the "TTTV" against a yellow background (evoking their 1988 ident). The river fades out.

Variant: A still version with both the 1989 ITV logo (except for the triangle) and the "TYNE TEES" text in white exists for some junctions.

Technique: A mix of live-action and computer animation effects, designed by English Markell Pockett.

Audio: A rather airy synthesised flute theme that culminates in a 5-note trumpet fanfare, sometimes with the flute echoing at the end. Composed by David Dundas as an ITV jingle. A continuity announcement may be used, as well. The jingle was adopted from the full theme.

Legacy: This logo is a favourite of many UK logo enthusiasts.

6th ID (1990-1991)

Visuals: There is a twisted, spiral-esque neon stream shooting forward, morphing into the Tyne Tees logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

Availability: Used as a break bumper in-between programmes and advertisements.

7th ID (February 1991-October 4, 1992)

Visuals: A "screen" containing several images of England flips up from the bottom on a black background. The screen then rotates around to reveal more screens. They then flip upward to form the same logo from before, which is coloured with red, blue, green, and grey diagonal stripes, and situated against a bright light. "TYNE TEES", in a white serif font, appears below.

Variants:

  • A variant used a slightly dimmer spotlight below the TTTV.
  • Sometimes, there's no name below.
  • The second variant features the logo on a multicoloured background which was used from January to May 1992.
  • The third variant features the logo on a bluey-grey background and the words "TYNE TEES" in a blue serif font, appearing below which was used from May to October 4, 1992.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: David Dundas' 1989 ITV fanfare from the fifth logo.

8th ID (October 5, 1992-September 2, 1996)


Visuals: A series of thick white flashes move quickly in various directions across a blue and white background, tracing what turns out to be a new "TTTV" logo, three-dimensional and in silver, with the letters in a chunky serif font and not joined to each other. As the "TTTV" is being formed, it turns to face the camera, reflecting numerous colours along the way. When it does face the camera, it shines briefly, and "TYNE TEES", in blue with a white drop-shadow, fades in below.

Variants:

  • A still variant also exists which was used in some TTTV junctions.
    • Sometimes, "STEREO" also appears underneath both the TTTV logo and the words "TYNE TEES" as well.
  • A sign-language version exists that has a person spelling out "Tyne Tees TTTV" (maybe) in sign language, fading out before the logo finishes.
  • A short version exists, where all the flashes move in at once to create the logo as it eases back and the text and background (which is slightly lighter), appears.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A composition of four "chimes", two each at the start and end of the logo, and several "swish" sounds as the "TTTV" is being formed.

Audio Variants: Sometimes, an announcer can be heard as well.

Legacy: This is the first appearance of the new TTTV symbol.

9th ID (September 2, 1996-March 8, 1998)


Visuals: Against a stylized blue background, a large gold "3" swoops in from the right and zooms out. To the left of the "3", the letters of the words "NORTH EAST", in gold, unfold, with several rings and electricity moving across them. "TYNE TEES TELEVISION", also in gold and in a Friz Quadrata font, is formed below in a similar fashion.

Trivia:

  • The sample used in the logo's theme can be heard on one of the radio stations in the first Grand Theft Auto game, and also be heard on other logos such as the 3rd Alliance Atlantis logo.
  • It has been said by the company who produced it that it was done in one afternoon.

Variants: Sometimes, "888" would also appear in the top left corner as well for programmes featuring subtitles.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A rather heroic fanfare, ending with Glorious Finale by Peter Siedlaczek from the Orchestral Colours sample library.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, an announcer can be heard.

Legacy: A very unpopular logo.

10th ID (March 9, 1998-September 3, 2000)


Visuals: On a similar blue background to the one in the previous logo, there is a map of the North East of England, together with the outlines of the letters "TTTV" (arranged in the same way as before) in a stylised serif font. After a while, the letters turn yellow and become more three-dimensional, while "TYNE TEES TELEVISION" in a Friz Quadrata font appears below.

Variants:

  • Like the 9th logo, sometimes, "888" would also appear in the top left corner as well for programmes featuring subtitles until 1999.
  • There was an evening variant of this logo, with the background in a darker shade of blue.
  • There was also a variant of this logo used before news programmes, with the map replaced by news footage.
  • There was also a variant used before sports programmes, with the map replaced by scenes from football matches.
  • The 40th anniversary variant used a ruby background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An abridged version of Glorious Finale by Peter Siedlaczek.

Audio Variants:

  • Sometimes, an announcer can be heard.
  • The ruby background variant uses some pulsating music similar to the 1st logo.

Legacy: Like with the previous logo, it annoyed people more than delighting them.

11th ID (November 8, 1999-October 27, 2002)

Variants:

  • From December 13, 1999 to 2000, the G-Wizz URL appears on the bottom right of the screen reading "www.g-wizz.net/tttv".
  • From 2000 to 2001, the URL was later changed to "www.tynetees-tv.co.uk".

See ITV.

12th ID (September 4, 2000-October 27, 2002)


Visuals: A montage of various imagery plays out showcasing various landmarks and activities in the Tyne region, overlayed with a blue tint and a grid of dots playing behind them, all in this order:

  • A show of Tynemouth Castle that starts on a up-close piece of rubble before focusing on the main castle.
  • A horse running over a hurdle.
  • A close up of a train's wheels moving, panning from left to right.
  • A blurry crowd of people walking around.
  • A panning shot of the Angel of the North's upper body.

As the last clip plays, white dots streak in and form a crescent shape on the left side of the screen, with the largest dot situated in the north east and the rest of the dots getting smaller from it, and then it shines brightly. As the shine dies down, it reveals the new Tyne Tees logo with the familiar "TTTV" in a Radiant font along with the dots next to it, all on a thick white stripe that fades out near the end. The background also now shows a rippling cloth with dots fading in and out, as well as the Angel of the North zooming out on the right before settling.

Trivia: The logo was created by Rob Curtis of Oktane.

Variants:

  • A sports variant exists where the logo's clips are replaced largely with sport-focused ones.
  • A short version also exists which has the logo at the end result without the Angel of the North, though the rippling cloth and dots remain.

Technique: Live action mixed with 2D computer animation.

Audio: A happy-sounding tune using a piano and violin, which becomes more dramatic as the logo gets revealed. An announcer usually follows it up.

Availability: This logo was only used for regional programming.

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