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Regional news presenters making you think you're abroad

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    Regional news presenters making you think you're abroad

    They're just in the background, normally, aren't they? The happy clappy people who come on after the proper news, telling you about what local schools have gone and sung something somewhere, or which local politician has been filmed allowing his dog to befoul the pavement.

    But then you go twenty miles out of your own region, and WOW they're a different crew! It's like suddenly being abroad and watching Cannel 9 on the Fast Show.

    #2
    Even more freaky to me was the realisation that people who were on national telly - like Gordon Burns and Richard Whiteley - had day (well, evening) jobs on regional TV.

    Think we've covered Tony Wilson previously but I first saw him as being the host of The Other Side of Midnight, took me a while to realise he was behind Factory Records and the Hacienda, and then longer still to discover his regional news job.

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      #3
      Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
      Even more freaky to me was the realisation that people who were on national telly - like Gordon Burns and Richard Whiteley - had day (well, evening) jobs on regional TV.
      We got an early heads up on this in the West Midlands because various ATV/Central people had roles on Tiswas and later Saturday morning kids shows. A bunch of them lived in a shared house across the road from us, although I don't remember ever thinking, "Wow, there's Gary Newbon!" or whoever.

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        #4
        Holidays in Cornwall were always slightly odd whenever you'd see Gus Honeybun popping up at seemingly random occasions during a quiet afternoon.

        I was weaned on Granada (we could technically pick up HTV and Central as well but the various conditions had to be just so for them not to be all grainy and full of ghosting), so I was used to the likes of Charles Foster and Bob Greaves.

        I thought all continuity announcers would be specky, more mature gentlemen so to see a six inch tall overweight rabbit was a culture shock to say the least.

        I do miss proper regional telly with its scheduling quirks and mad idents. Fucking Broadcasting Act 1990 ruining everything.

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          #5
          Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post
          Holidays in Cornwall were always slightly odd whenever you'd see Gus Honeybun popping up at seemingly random occasions during a quiet afternoon.
          to see a six inch tall overweight rabbit was a culture shock to say the least.

          Ah, those carefree adolescent reminiscences.
          Last edited by Nocturnal Submission; 28-03-2019, 22:00.

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            #6
            Is former Children's BBC Phillip Schofield replacement Andy Crane still frowning in the North West?

            [checked Wikipedia: no. Radio only now]
            Last edited by Auntie Beryl; 28-03-2019, 22:04.

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              #7
              Yes the days of (except Tyne Tees).

              Richard Whiteley, though. We'd been enjoying/tolerating him for years in Calendar land.
              People look doubtful when I tell them it used to be called Calendar Countdown, and it was just for us, in that slot when every regional company came up with their own progammes.

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                #8
                Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
                Even more freaky to me was the realisation that people who were on national telly - like Gordon Burns and Richard Whiteley - had day (well, evening) jobs on regional TV.

                Think we've covered Tony Wilson previously but I first saw him as being the host of The Other Side of Midnight, took me a while to realise he was behind Factory Records and the Hacienda, and then longer still to discover his regional news job.
                On my first day at North West Tonight when I was being introduced to everyone, I tried desperately not to mention The Krypton Factor to Gordon. I failed miserably.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post
                  I was weaned on Granada (we could technically pick up HTV and Central as well but the various conditions had to be just so for them not to be all grainy and full of ghosting), so I was used to the likes of Charles Foster and Bob Greaves.

                  I thought all continuity announcers would be specky, more mature gentlemen so to see a six inch tall overweight rabbit was a culture shock to say the least.

                  I do miss proper regional telly with its scheduling quirks and mad idents. Fucking Broadcasting Act 1990 ruining everything.
                  I can lose hours watching old Granada idents and continuity by Colin Weston and Beverley Ashworth on YouTube.

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                    #10
                    I was somewhat surprised when Austin Mitchell went straight from presenting Calendar to the Houses Of Parliament as an MP.

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                      #11
                      Is Fred Dinage still the regional news presenter on ITV Meridian?

                      How, you might say.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Benjm View Post
                        although I don't remember ever thinking, "Wow, there's Gary Newbon!"
                        There can't be many circumstances where anyone would say that - the only one that springs to mind is if Slipknot all removed their masks at the end of a gig and it turned out he was playing bass for them all along.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Giggler View Post

                          I can lose hours watching old Granada idents and continuity by Colin Weston and Beverley Ashworth on YouTube.
                          Are you subscribed to Applemask as well?

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by slackster View Post
                            Is Fred Dinage still the regional news presenter on ITV Meridian?

                            How, you might say.
                            My mother had a cousin, Roger, who used to bother us as a family when I was about ten. Roger used to "make walking sticks" and lived in Stroud. Despite living in Stroud, he was round our place at least once a week, bothering us.

                            Roger reckoned he was mates with Fred Dinenage. Yet he always, always, called him "Fred Dindage". Christ, that pissed me off, and I was only ten.
                            ​​​

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by jwdd27 View Post
                              Yes the days of (except Tyne Tees).

                              Richard Whiteley, though. We'd been enjoying/tolerating him for years in Calendar land.
                              People look doubtful when I tell them it used to be called Calendar Countdown, and it was just for us, in that slot when every regional company came up with their own progammes.
                              I was doubtful, but:

                              Countdown is based on the French game show Des chiffres et des lettres (Numbers and Letters), created by Armand Jammot. The format was brought to Britain by Marcel Stellman, a Belgian record executive, who had watched the French show and believed it could be popular overseas. Yorkshire Television purchased the format and commissioned a series of eight shows under the title Calendar Countdown, which was to be a spin-off of their regional news programme Calendar. As the presenter of Calendar, Richard Whiteley was the natural choice to present Calendar Countdown with his daily appearances on both shows earning him the nickname "Twice Nightly Whiteley". These shows were only broadcast in the Yorkshire area.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post
                                I do miss proper regional telly with its scheduling quirks and mad idents. Fucking Broadcasting Act 1990 ruining everything.
                                This - fucking this

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                                  #17
                                  Yes. F*cking that.

                                  But wasn't it Richard Madeley who presented Calendar? (He certainly fronted Calendar Goes Pop which gave us that very odd moment with Shakin' Stevens.)

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                                    #18
                                    Madeley replaced Austin Mitchell IIRC. Whiteley was on Calendar from its launch in 1968 until 1995. Famous for being bitten by a ferret.

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                                      #19
                                      I used to watch Bill Grundy presenting Today on Thames Television in the 1970s. On one programme in, oh, 1976 I'd say, he interviewed a punk rock group. Caused a bit of a stir.
                                      Last edited by Nocturnal Submission; 31-03-2019, 21:03.

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                                        #20
                                        When I was a kid, I used to watch The Commander Tom Show out of Channel 7, Buffalo, NY. The deal was that he was some kind of Air Force / Astronaut commander and he'd introduce the cartoons and whatever other reruns they played in syndication. Then one day I noticed that the Channel 7 noon weather guy (Tom Jolls) was Commander Tom in civilian getup and my head almost exploded. I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. For all I know, he owned a string of Arbys franchises in the Buffalo region, too.

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                                          #21

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                                            #22
                                            Neat. That's interesting that it was on at 3:30 pm. So I'd have just been home from school in the afternoon. In my mind, it was a morning show that I watched before school.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                                              Madeley replaced Austin Mitchell IIRC. Whiteley was on Calendar from its launch in 1968 until 1995. Famous for being bitten by a ferret.
                                              Ah, fair dos. Have seen that clip many times, obviously, but hadn't realised that it was from the same show.

                                              Not being 'regional', like.

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                                                #24
                                                Judi Spiers = peak regional telly.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Madeley did Granada Reports as well though … the tart.

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