37:37 the fastest Closedown announcement to be ever made with an announcer (10 seconds since the clock was rapidly approaching the dreaded 3 o'clock mark)
Facts about Closedowning Common times of Closedown (compared with Italy's counterpart of the BBC since the Italian version of ITV had other minds about Closedowning¹) 1950s 2315 - 2330 1960s 2330 - 2330 1970s 2345 - 2330 1980 2355 - 2330 1984 0030 - 0100 1988 0045 - 0100 1992 0030 - 0200+ 1995ish 0110 - 0330+ 1997 (aka the last time BBC1 did a closedown as BBC News 24 did begin to fill in the overnight) 0300 - 0330+ All times in the four digits mode + means that it's no longer every night and on all three of the TV channels simultaneously as since 1992 the 24/7 did begin Italy's counterpart of the BBC albeit with one channel closing down between 0330 and 0400 and returning at 0600 or 0700 once a week (a different channel did that the following week) until mid 2012 By 1988, ITV had other minds about Closedowning aswell and by 1993 when BBC2 did the Learning Zone they didn't closedown that much (and Closedowning became rare) ¹italian version of ITV did sometimes closedown while some other times did not and it's confusing but if they did Closedown they always closedown AFTER Italian BBC counterpart did (at times like 0130 or 0300 as closing down at midnight isn't crazy enough for the early 80s) Nowadays it's hard to find a closedown (Timesharing and kids doesn't count) either occasional or daily (also handing over to all news channel or infomercials or Temporary brand changes don't count). *NOTE* Italian BBC counterpart = RAI Italian ITV counterpart = Fininvest then Mediaset Both groups have three channels as opposed to UK television having two per group
They didn't want to get hit with huge amounts of overtime because if they up past 3 AM they would; the announcer just made it real quick by going into 'cut to the chase' mode.
Well considering i was born in 1998 after the final closedown i take great pleasure in listening to these especially the early ones very talented spokespersons back then & Yes i understand time only goes forward but nice to remember the past too & on balance not many 25 year old's i know say that but occasionally do wish I'd have been born earlier in 20th century
BBC would continue the closedown clocks on occasion until 19th November 2001 on BBC2 Wales, the final night of the golden age of BBC2 idents for the network starting in February 1991. The closedown clocks were retired after that date before the Personality 2a ident set launch. The BBC1 clocks was shown for the last tine before the removal of the Balloon idents and the channel losing its trademark Globe synbol in the early hours of 29th March 2002 before the Rhythm & Movement idents set premiered
Remember those Christmas idents that airs when BBC1 celebrates christmas? Well, some of those idents actually have their own clock. Take 1984 with the Snowmen and the Snowwoman holding parts of a christmas cracker in the daytime, sunset, nighttime and full moon's night, for example. The clock was a Christmas red and looked a bit 3d against the blue background
I remember Round Midnight with Brian Matthew, BBC didn't start up until 9.10am, no horrendous breakfast TV. Proper accents, love it. Then the sound went????
I loved the earlier 1970s closedowns then you only had Radio 2 until 2am then in late 1978 it all changed on BBC Radio, I wish it was still like the early 70's now on TV and Radio, it was so familiar.
Interesting to see that there must have been at least two mechanical clocks in late 1970's as the seconds hand is thicker in some closedowns than others; also there is clearly a judder on some of the clocks.
Your announcers are Richard Straker Robin Whilling Late Michael Maine Late Peter Brook Late Roger Maude Bruce Hamal Late Mike Gamble Tim Nicholls Malcolm Eynon David Miles David Allan Peter Bolgar Mark Waddington Cathy Stewart Heather Lynn Charles Nove Rosanna Macmillan Lorna Thomas Stevens Andy Taylor Peter Offer Dan Austin
12:20 'And there's your first look at the BBC1 clock this decade, two hours of which have now elasped.' Clock at 02:01 am in the early hours of Monday 1st January (New Year's Day) 1990. Quite a long closedown announcement.
"May I now wish you a Happy New Year, particularly if I am the first to do so." These little understated - but really quite meaningful - touches are largely gone from the airwaves, despite the fact that loneliness is considered to be on the increase.
Thanks for posting this reel of vintage goodnights. Do u have year Mark Waddington Xmas Day one was from? I worked in BBC Duty Office in the 1980s & followed the announcers before I joined. Do miss the closedown & waiting to hear if the announcer would name check themselves. FYI correct spelling are: Peter Bolgar, Malcolm Eynon & Roger Maude for the transcript.
Back when analogue equipments meant TV stations need to have their midnight breaks for nightly maintenance routines or checks. In some countries, TV channels had to sign off at 11.15 or 11.30pm for years bcoz they operated on smaller budgets, not enough viewership numbers and relying less on commercial advertisements.
Oh proper broadcasting with proper announcers and the clock. Where did it all go? Well the announcers have proberbly retired and with a the digital latency the clock would be wildly inaccurate... Sorry but I miss them.
