And it's Goodbye from us Part Two Southern's final prog. 

A note to any extra-terrestrial beings that may come across this video: If you are exploring the universe and you find a big structure, a big compass-like structure, then, yeah, that was ours, we'd quite like it back, thanks.

They really outdid themselves with this signoff. The look on the faces of the "Southern People" really gives off this "Why would you do this to us?" image and the star spinning off into space with a somber-sounding jingle is the bitter icing on the cake.

Southern Television may be gone, but the star will keep on shining.

That final line up looks like something from the USSR. Everybody smiling had got a job with TVS!

Everyone talks about the star finding its final resting place in space, but that last camera pan out, looking at all the staff members, w/ the music swelling is perfectly timed, and is also extremely moving. I hope someday someone uploads the entire show.

Very sad indeed to see the Southern star fade away amongst all the other stars in the universe never to come back. Brings a tear to my does that. I was after all, bought up in Kent and Southen gave us great programming. Especially childrens TV programs after school. Thank you Southern for the lovely memories.

Southern was very old school broadcasting that reflected an England sadly no longer with us. The hours of hard work these presenters put into making regional entertainment for 23 years was outstanding, there were so many itv franchisees back in the day..I think Southern was undoubtedly the best. It just had that family feel to it. I’m from the midlands the old ATV/Central stomping ground but we did get some southern shows up here..they were all great and I loved the acoustic jingle. I’m writing this as the 40th anniversary of Southerns demise approaches in just 9 days time..and coincidentally Fred Dineage only retired from broadcasting on regional itv in the south LAST WEEK!

The ending is quite moving; I found I had a tear in my eye!

That one final,distant play of the southern jingle as the star shines in space.. even though I wasn’t around when Southern was still alive(or born in the UK at all, i’m American) it still brings a tear to my eye.. long live southern and all of the itv regional franchises of the past .. you will be missed 😢

@TheAnneLeveridge Thank You for your comments. Like you I think the 'Southern star' spinning into space for eternity was actually quite a nice, even imaginative touch.....

The star ending is creepy. Southern were extremely bitter of their loss, hence the abrupt sign off, no 'switch off your sets, no 'once again a very goodbye...etc'. I'm sure Chris Robbie went on to be on screen announcer for TVS when I were a lad...

6:53 "We said at the start that we'd come to celebrate, and I think we have. We've enjoyed remembering, and I'm sure you won't forget. So, with a final farewell smile from those Southern people who've become to many of you... true friends...It's Goodbye From Us"

Read the whole story and comments but in my opinion this was a classy way to bow out. I come back to this from time to time as I remember enjoying a lot of Southern programmes growing up. Shame the complete final programme isn't available online. I would love to get the Southern Fantasia from this show in high quality, I doubt it was ever played again after this but it's marvelous and captures the occasion perfectly.

Trivia: Pay attention to the star. When it zooms out you can still see it spinning. It will then stop and fade.

I was just over a year old when this was televised so obviously dont remember, but this is one of, if not the most unique and bizarre night time closedown in the whole of British tv broadcasting history.

Funereal and perhaps a little overly dramatic, but a fascinating insight into 1980s British broadcasting. The star spinning off into the distance was a nice and unexpected touch.

9:30 The Station that once served the South now returns to the stars, up to TV Heaven.

Your comments I completely agree with. The Southern management thought they were invincible, and were really shocked to learn they had lost the franchise - and reacted very badly and bitterly towards TVS. For many people the Southern logo represented a cross, especially as the bottom taper was longer pointing 'South' However, to those in the know if was always a 'star' The fact that the star spinning into the universe happened confimed it. Thank you for your comments.

I loved Southern TV as a kid and I still love that ident music. The ending of this video gives me the shivers!

The company has long since gone and yet in the latest Blu-ray release of Worzel Gummidge, there is an option to start each episode with the Southern TV ident, so even after all this time, the love for that ITV station is still there. 👍🙂

The most bitter close down of an ITV station in history although TWW did a good fist of one back in 1968!

Brings back memories. My dad Terry Johnston worked at Southern TV for many years.

This was without doubt a classy and memorable ending to an ITV station. It was of it’s time.

8:55 Even us in the States feel saddened. Southern Television 1958-1981

I didn't get to watch the original broadcast. I was out in Trafalgar Square to see in the New Year and had a great time. It was sad to lose Southern. I guess they didn’t move with the times, but that's what I liked. It was like an extended family. The channel had such a warm and homely feel. This programme was a fitting send off, and the final scenes bring a lump to the throat.

9:38 Change da world, my final message. Goodbye.

Thank you for this of course and very much well done too. The end of Southern was a real shame at the time too-and of course there was no mention of TVS who were to follow them at all! It really was as plain as that at the time too. But on ITV then at the time that is what the IBA had decided of course so too. Take care!

R. I. P. Southern Television 1958-1981

This needs to be taken in context. Television then wasn't what it is today. Southern Television was also a family. The comrarderie was obvious throughout the years and heartbraking near the end with the Day By Yesterday team poking fun at each other like only friends can do, and thanking their viewers through song. Showing that it wasn't just about going to work - there was something more going on. This show was saying "You have smashed apart our family." In today's context, where everything is owned by one gigantic company and everything is centralised, nationalised, dispassionate, slick, and hi-tech this is unprofessional and downright childish... but this was 1981 regional television, and one of the most successful franchises in television history - human beings who made television programmes with their hands, for their region, for their extended family of viewers. I find this one of the most emotional things ever shown on television, because the guards were down and it was just "Look at us, we're the humans who've been working for you, and now it's New Year's Eve and we're all out of a job."

7:20 ..(for 10 seconds) It does have a striking resemblance to the pink panther theme... it is little cheeky! The notes used in the melody are different to the PP theme but the phrasings are quite deliberate... aside from that, could I say, thank you for recording,keeping and uploading this programme. .

Hi There, You have to remember that SOUTHERN TV was one of the origianl ITV Companies, and thought itself 'unbeatable' The manangement was very conservative in it's outlook, and was very surprised when it lost it's franchise. This prog was of course no ordinary nightime closedown, It was Southern's 'swan song' the rotating Southern Star back into the universe was itself I think, quite a good idea. Glad you enjoyed the prog.

Best. Final sign-off. Ever. You can't get any better than that, folks! X3

I was 4 years of age when Southern started. I remember sitting on my fathers knee in 1960, when the first Coronation Street was broadcast. I was 6 by then I remember it very well, a few weeks later my father passed away. That memory has stayed with me ever since, more for my dad than Corrie.

When the show is over, we neither hear the National anthem nor an announcement about switching our televisions off altogether as a fire precaution.

I grew up on southern television and remember the close down...TVS and Meridian have never really quite lived up to southern.

So where did they all go after this dirge-fest? [Updated December 2022] - Christopher Robbie went on to announce for Southern's successor TVS, as did Brian Nissen, who retired in 1987. Robbie is still active as an actor. Nissen died in 2001. - Norman Goodland returned to the BBC in 1982. Goodland died in 2005 aged 86. - Arnold Wilson, despite the sour face, was kept on by TVS for Coast to Coast. He went on to become skiing correspondent for the Financial Times before becoming editor of Ski+board magazine, from which he retired in 2014. - Preston Witts, Christopher Peacock, Fred Dinenage, Steve Harris, Veronica Charlwood, Mike Fuller, Roger Livingston and Mike Field were also retained by TVS. Witts is now the press & PR manager of the Institute of Management in London and until 2017 worked as a freelance journalist for the Stratford Herald newspaper. Peacock later moved to London Tonight and is now an actor. Dinenage retired as anchor of Meridian Tonight in December 2021 ending a career as a journalist that spanned six decades, but can still be seen on CITV in the recent revival of HOW, and his daughter Caroline is a Conservative MP in the constituency of Gosport (though I won't hold that against Fred!). Fuller moved into television production. Field can also still be seen on screens sometimes in the south as a sports journalist. The current whereabouts of Harris, Charlwood and Livingston are unknown. - Peter Clark continued as a newsreader on Coast to Coast and continued helping the local bobbies catch the crims. He is now retired and celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary in August 2018. - David Bobin was also kept on by TVS. He later went on to Sky Sports News. Bobin died in May 2017 aged 71. - John Caine moved to Central News in 1982. He was jailed in 1999 for sexually abusing minors. - Brian Shallcross also made the leap to Coast to Coast in 1982 and also presented the regional political programme Agenda, before joining Capital Radio Group in 1993 as a parliamentary lobby correspondent and seemed to have a residency in the Press Gallery at the House of Commons! Shallcross died in 2009 aged 71. - James Montgomery also went to TVS where along with reporting on Coast to Coast, he became a sailing correspondent, as well as introducing several televised concerts by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonietta. He married porn star Fiona Richmond in 1985, though they later separated. Montgomery wrote the obituary for Day By Day director Dave Heather for The Guardian in 2005. He was also a co-founder of Ocean Sound, an ILR station for the Solent (now Heart Hampshire) before going on to produce documentaries for BBC Radio. Montgomery died in November 2019 aged 74. - Donald Dougal did not make the leap. It's unknown what happened to him after this programme went out. - Max le Grand is still flying off all over the world as a photographer and motor-sport writer. - Malcolm Mitchell is still with is, he regularly comments on Facebook on Southern-related posts. - Pat Sloman is understood to be longer with us. - Daphne Lee, Cherry Marshall and Lucy Morgan are all in the great Houseparty in the sky. Ann Ladbury used to pop up from time to time on BBC Radio in the south; and remained a master seamstress operating from her home in Yorkshire until her death in May 2020 aged 88. It's unknown if Mary Morris is still with us or not. - Mark Jenner moved his farming programmes to TVS. Jenner died in 2003 aged 81. - Jack Hargreaves made programmes for Channel 4, along with special episodes of "Out of Town" for video, later making a one-off episode for Meridian in 1994. He died the day it was broadcast, aged 81. - David Wilson died in 2012. - Trevor "The Weather" Baker moved his forecasts to TVS until 1988. He died in August 2016 at the age of 94. - Derek Williamson's whereabouts are unknown. - Jill Cochrane moved to TVS where she presented "Not For Women Only" with Derek Hobson from the new TVS Television Theatre in Gillingham. She went on to present "Country Ways" for Meridian. She now runs Vertex Training International, a presentation and media training firm.

Thank you for the posting here-it is excellent! It is amazing, but on the 31st December 2011, it will be exactly 30 years since this Southern Television send off-and though it paved the way for TVS and Meridian to come, it was indeed one of the things that led to the rot of television today-in particular ITV1 I feel!

Fred Dinenage is the only one who survived ITV South under 3 names.

What a sad departure from TV!!

I hope the Southern Star sees Vrillon one day.

The star spinning into space is a nice touch.

This is very creepy! What’s with the line up at the end with the Pink Panther theme as the accompanying music. Like Madame Tussaud’s waxworks!

You watch this & you know people like Fred are like Oh dear, how sad, never mind, then run down the road to join TVS.

The Guardian picked up on that in an article of the best and worst Christmas/New Year television, commenting "The look on the face of Arnold Wilson is priceless, if borderline psychopathic. Whether his soon-to-be-ex-colleagues received a few home truths the second the company went off air is sadly unrecorded."

the sign off is top 10 saddest anime moments

9:23 BUGS: Well What Did You Expect In An Opera? a Happy Ending?

I've often heard that TV/Radio signals never stop, they keep going out, further into space, so somewhere, this programme is showing, deep out in space........

Southern were extremely upset at losing their franchise so decided to leave with a stroppy attitude by showing angry upset scowling unhappy faces at the very end, and they deliberately overrun their franchise removal time of midnight deliberately by 45 minutes by staying on air past midnight, as a deliberate parting shot 'act of defiance' to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to show and vent their frustration. You'd think the IBA would've switched off the transmitters at midnight and just pulled the plug on it mid-sentence. At least TVS and Thames Television went out more gracefully when their franchises to broadcast were removed and didn't do a 'Southern Television 2.0' on the newly formed Independent Television Commission (iTc), the IBA's successor.

Brian Shallcross: AMAZING combover! Chris Peacock and Fred 'Legend' Dinage' went onto TVS. Dinage is still on Meridian anchoring evening news. I vaguely remember Christopher Robbie doing on air continuity at TVS as a kid too in the early 80s.

Southern TV revolved around a Southampton-Basingstoke axis. It was a Hampshire station that never really served Brighton as it should have. Our house wasn’t sorry to see it go.

Christopher is a great host

Southern > TVS was in practice not really any different to Westward > TSW in the South West or ATV > Central in the Midlands. Essentially the only things to go with the old company were the brand name and senior management but virtually everyone else would be back at work the following day as employees of the new company, working in the same building and doing the same jobs they had done before, with the viewer noticing very little difference beyond the change of name. At least this was vaguely acknowledged over the Westward > TSW switchover with Roger Shaw announcing the demise of Westward only to then remain on screen and announce the launch of TSW. The end of Southern admittedly was pretty cool for 1981 with the star spinning off into space, but lining all the on-screen personality up for this final bow type ending was just bitterness from Southern's management when most of them weren't actually going anywhere. Fred Dinenage was still doing regional news on the same patch until the end of 2021!

Actually, Christopher Robbie did some continuity during Christmas of 1987 and actually retired from TVS around 1988. And by the way, the man next to him at the end, Brian Nissen (the man grinning at 7:10) was also kept on by TVS. He did continuity announcements at the station until he retired around August of 1987. In fact, Nissen and Robbie were, I believe, the only Southern Television continuity announcers to be kept on by TVS.

Southern management could not believe the had been shafted by the IBA, they were really bitter and let is show.

When tvs took over it was the best thing that happened I worked for southern then tvs most staff were kept on even presenter's to keep familiar faces.

I'm from London (The old Thames/LWT stomping ground) and for me Southern bowed out in a defiant stance towards the IBA unlike Westward when Roger Shaw both closed Westward Television before midnight and at midnight reappeared launching TSW and ATV in the Midlands when Mike Prince and ATV's original announcer Shaw Taylor gracefully bowed out with a tribute to ATV and played the National Anthem at the end of broadcast before it became Central. For Thames and LWT it was also a sad day as well because they also said goodbye to the Bluebell Hill Transmitter thus losing West Kent which also became part of TVS.

Clearly the best part of the parade of presenters at the end was seeing the expressions give the game away as to who had been kept by TVS and who hadn't. You'd think Arnold Wilson had only gotten sacked that day from how pissed off he looked. :D

Not my normal type of thing but lilian Watson has an amazing voice

9:28 R.I.P Southern Television (1958-1981)

This company officially signed-off at 1 January 1982 at 00:43 GMT Southern Television's final programme And It's Goodbye From Us ended at 12:43 am on New Year's Day 1982. The programme closed with a medley of songs "to suit the occasion" sung by Lilian Watson and performed by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta under conductor Owain Arwel Hughes. The show's presenter, long-serving continuity announcer Christopher Robbie, signed off from Southern Television with the words: Goodbye songs from Lilian Watson because ... it's goodbye time. We said at the start that we'd come to celebrate, and I think we have. We've enjoyed remembering, and I'm sure you won't forget. So, with a final farewell smile from those Southern people who've become to many of you, true friends, it's goodbye from us. Afterwards, the camera panned to show many of the on-air talent and company executives standing (rather solemnly) as their names were displayed on-screen and the "Southern Fantasia" (composed especially for the show by Jonathan Burton, and performed earlier on in the programme) played in Southern Television's final two minutes. When the piece came to a climactic end, the illuminated logo signs and lights on the set were gradually turned off, fading to the Southern Television Colour Production slide (being shown for the final time), which dissolved into the station's logo, spinning away into an animated starry sky. The acoustic guitar jingle played for what would be the final time with a deep extended echo, and the screen slowly and silently faded to black, remaining that way for close to a minute. There were no closing or shut-down announcements, no suggestions for viewers to switch off their television sets, nor even the customary playing of God Save the Queen. At 12:45 am the transmitters were simply, and abruptly, shut down, putting a permanent end to Southern's broadcasts after 24 years. Exactly 8 hours and 40 minutes later, Television South began broadcasting in Southern's former region. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Television#Closure_of_Southern_Television

Like i said - i think this was a very sad event for all concerned - the opinion that the ending needed to be "bright and cheerful" is of course subjective on your part. i thought it was very moving but then thats subjective on my part. i enjoyed seeing it again. many thanks mike

If i was in the south at the time and say sixteen i would think 'Goodbye to 1958' .It is comical and very wholesome music for a northerner in 2015. Was it really this posh for 23 years? What about the Kent people who spoke in a regional accent? What areas did they cover as opposed to TVS?

This year 2018 is the sixtieth year of Southern Television starting and ITV starting in the South but who made the best programmes Southern or TVS well it's a tie I just couldn't separate them they made great programmes for ITV nationally and locally to

Next year should have been 62 years long time

Imagine if Southern TV came back in 1993. I wonder if they would've played the clip again of the star disappearing but in reverse.

Imagine if an American TV station used the Southern Star as a logo? WLVI Channel 56 in Boston. WGN Channel 9 in Chicago. KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles. Those are examples

It must`ve been hard not to get a lump in the throat if you were one of the people on the stage once the lights dimmed, you knew then that your job had gone and it would be unlikely that the people who had been a family of sorts over the years would be together like this again. ... But on the flipside, TVS would go the same way, leaving with the same sense of "surprise" that they were to be terminated...

It was odd in a way too that all of those who worked for Southern were not taken on then by TVS-that would have been easier surely too? Also, it was not handled in the same way then as it was with Westward going to TSW or ATV going to Central at the time too. I wonder what the IBA thought of it at all? Most interesting though too all the same.

My sources also tell me that TVS were operating from Terrapin offices from the car park as Southern management would not allow them access to the building until the complete end of their franchise. Also... As a final blow... Southern copped a huge fine for over-running with the above show by 45 minutes... A deliberate stunt to further p1ss off the incoming TVS. Rather pathetic really... And most unprofessional.

Looks like a fun night.

At least Southern had the opportunity to say goodbye! The US network DuMont (1946-1956) had the rug pulled out from under it by creditors!

NOOOOOOOOOOO! MY SOUTHERN TELEVISION!!! I WANT IT BACK!!!

@onthetellybox Hi, The whole programme is on 'My Channel', but in four parts. Thank You for your comments. GLF

i miss things like this from another time...sure its bizarre.. but i like it..

Chris Robbie - a former cyberman in Dr Who.

Paedo smiling John Caine at 7:27.

An old friend of mine worked for Mary Morris at her restaurant in Chichester West Sussex.

This New Year of course it is indeed now 42 years ago old since this first went out so too? But as others have said; this is just as moving now then really as it was then too? Thank you of course anyway too.

Ha, yes. I hadn't thought of it like that; great comment.

Why did they have to make it like a wake?

Southern never quits you'll see!

R.I.P SOUTHERN TELEVISION 1958-1981

Yes, Yes and Yes!

Yes, you are correct. Quite a number of staff did transfer to TVS though, but as you stated TVS too were in the same boat several years later.... GLF

The worst collection of haircuts ever caught on film...

TVS was more suited for the 80s anyhow. In this case, IBA knew what they were doing.

I don't really know if you could say that it was an insight into 1980s British broadcasting...Southern Television never really seemed to leave the 1950s & this proves it.

9:37 change da world my final message. Goodb ye (Windows 95 startup music plays)

And I want that sothurn star to come back out of the universe -- for living!

Despite all the love and nostalgia people had for Southern, I (maybe because I’m a cynical American) view Southern as a stuffy and immature lot. They were so confident they would win and then when the IBA ruled in favor of TVS, they acted like a scorn ex. Vowing to challenge the ruling as much as they wanted to, mocking the new comer and leaving with a detestable aftertaste that shouted “YOU ALL WILL REGRET THIS!!”, proven by how they extended past the mandated Midnight ceasing for an extra 40 minutes as if to give one final middle finger to the IBA rather then to actually say Goodbye. Southern caused their own demise, if they actually tried to update their look for the 80s and maybe not send a 16 Page long application to the IBA, maybe they stood a chance against TVS, alas we’ll never know because Southern chose the complacent option. TVS’s farewell 10 years later was much more professional and mature, it definitely felt like a Broadcaster that was proud to serve its region and looked forward to what the future for the South had, unlike the “it will be dark without us” attitude of Southern.

The firing squad tribute at the end is cringeworthy but it was a fairly common practice of the time. If only the "former" Southern employees knew this would still be watched 40 years later.

That was really quite sad. I don't remember that cos I was only 2 but i'm sure my parents do....what happened next? do you have a video of when TVS tookover?

That was quite a different matter. Southern were far from insolvent. It was the IBA's decision not to renew its franchise.

R.I.P Southern television

Is it possible that the full program can be uploaded to youtube in one piece?

Yes it was quite sad actually! The TVS VT's are all on my Channel for you and others to enjoy!

Bits of it did sound like it, you're right there! XD

@GLFVIDEO It's the rhythm. You know, the de-dum, de-dum, de-dum-de-dum-de-dum bit. I could pick out the Southern fanfare melody but it's affixed to the Pink Panther rhythm.

That was the biggest mistake the IBA ever made taking the Southern Television Franchise and given it to Television South. If Southern had kept its franchise it would have made even more great programmes and shows like How, Out Of Town and Runaround would have gone on for a good few more years. Also Southern would have been the sixth big ITV company like Thames LWT Central Granada and Yorkshire

@TheMasterNo6 I take your point. But there would have been little point in adding a "Remember to switch off" Anno, after the drama of the close down. As far as I know Chris Rrobbie never did v/o work for TVS. regards, GLF