Venus (Shocking Blue song)
"Venus" is a 1969 song written by Dutch musician Robbie van Leeuwen. In 1970, the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue took the song to number one in nine countries. In 1981 it was sampled as part of the Stars on 45 medley. In 1986, the British female pop group Bananarama returned the song to number one in seven countries; the composition has been featured in numerous films, television shows and commercials, covered dozens of times by artists around the world. Released in late 1969 as a single from the group's third album Scorpio's Dance, Shocking Blue's single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 7 February 1970. RIAA certification came on 28 January 1970 for selling over one million copies in the US, garnering a gold record. Worldwide, the single sold over 7.5 million copies. The song's lead vocals are performed by Mariska Veres; the song's music and lyrics were written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the band's guitarist and background vocalist, who produced along with record producer Jerry Ross. Van Leeuwen miswrote the line "...the goddess on the mountain top..." as "...the godness on the mountain top...", so Veres sang it this way on the hit recording of the song.
This was corrected in versions. The Hohner electric piano on the single was played by Cees Schrama. Van Leeuwen was inspired by "The Banjo Song", a composition by Tim Rose, for The Big 3, that set Stephen Foster's lyrics to "Oh! Susanna" to a new melody."Venus" was remixed and re-released by dance producers The BHF Team in May 1990, scoring the group a Top 10 hit in the UK and Australia 21 years after the release of the original. The remix featured samples. An instrumental version was released independently under the producer's alias "Don Pablo's Animals"; the instrumental version became the highest charting version of the song. The single began with a sample from James Brown's 1988 hit "The Payback Mix"; this release of "Venus" peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 8 in Australia in 1990. "Venus" had been a part of Bananarama's repertoire for several years before they recorded it. The group's three members, Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward, had the idea of turning the song into a dance music tune, but they were met with resistance from their producers at the time, Steve Jolley and Tony Swain.
Bananarama brought the idea to the production trio of Stock Aitken Waterman, it became Bananarama's first collaboration with them. Dallin and Woodward had nearly completed recording their third album, titled True Confessions, with Jolley and Swain. Stock and Waterman resisted the idea because they believed that "Venus" would not make a good dance record. After persistence by the women, SAW relented. Bananarama's "Venus" went to number one in the US, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa, it hit number two in Germany and Hong Kong and was a top ten success in Italy, Belgium, France, Sweden, Portugal and their native UK. It went to number one for two weeks on the US Dance chart; the collaboration on "Venus" led Bananarama and SAW to work together on the group's follow-up album Wow! the following year. A new mix of the track appeared as b-side to the 1989 limited release "Megarama'89" in Germany and France. Bananarama has since re-recorded the track for their 2001 album Exotica and it was remixed by Marc Almond, with re-recorded vocals, included on their 2005 album Drama.
The music video, directed by Peter Care, with choreography by Bruno Tonioli, received extensive play on MTV and video channels across the world, presented Bananarama in various costumes, including a she-devil, a French temptress, a vampiress, several Greek goddesses. In one sequence of the video, The Birth of Venus, the painting by Sandro Botticelli is adapted as a tableau vivant; the video marked a pivotal shift towards a more glamorous and sexual image for the girls that contrasted with the tomboyish style of their earlier work. U. K. / U. S. / Canada 7" vinyl singleU. K.: London Records NANA 10 / U. S.: London Records 886-056-7 / Canada: London Records LDS 227 / Australia: Liberation Records LS 1789 "Venus" 3:30 "White Train" 3:50 S. Dallin/S. Fahey/K. Woodward/P. Bishop/P. Seymour+ some copies released in picture disc format NANPD 10 U. K. / Australia 12" vinyl singleU. K.: London Records NANX 10 / Canada: Liberation Records LMD 474 "Venus" 7:23 "Venus" 8:15 "White Train" 3:502nd U. K. 12" vinyl singleLondon Records NANXR 10 "Venus" 9:20 #:remixed by Ian Levine "Venus" 6:55 "White Train" 3:503rd U.
K. 12" vinyl singleLondon Records NAXRR 10 "Venus" 6:35 #:remixed by Stock, Aitken & Waterman "Venus" 6:55 "White Train" 3:50U. S. 12" vinyl maxi-singleLondon Records 886 088-1 "Venus" 9:20 "Venus" 6:55 "Venus" 7:23 "Venus" 8:25CD video single"Venus" 7:23 "True Confessions" 4:09 "A Trick of the Night" 4:07 "More Than Physical" 3:40Other versions"Venus" 3:40 found on the 1989 U. K. CD single "Cruel Summer'89", remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow "Venus" 7:43 found on the 1989 German CD single "Megarama'89", remixed by Phil Harding and Ian Curnow "Venus" found on the album Exotica "Venus" 6:02 found on the 2005 album Drama, remixed by Marc Almond "Venus" Sara D
This Morning (TV programme)
This Morning is an award winning British daytime television programme, broadcast on ITV. The show airs live on weekdays from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm featuring news, topical items, showbiz and beauty, home and garden, health, real life and more similar features; the show was presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan for more than a decade after its launch. It is presented by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby from Monday to Thursday, with Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes hosting it every Friday and Sunday, it has aired on ITV since 3 October 1988, making it one of the longest running daytime programmes on British television. Numerous celebrities have made guest appearance on the show over the years. On 3 October 2018, This Morning celebrated its 30th anniversary. In 1988, ITV decided to create a live daytime morning programme to replace the weekday morning edition of Children's ITV. Four regional ITV companies made pilot shows to bid for the national contract: Television South offered a show called Home Today, hosted by Andy Craig and Fern Britton.
Thames Television Yorkshire Television Tyne Tees Television Granada Television offered a show called This Morning, was awarded the national ITV contract. The first episode of This Morning aired at 10:40 am on 3 October 1988 and finished at 12:10 pm, live from the Granada studio inside the Albert Dock in Liverpool. An industry insider believed the idea would not work and would be pulled by Christmas 1988, but despite This Morning being launched with no publicity, its ratings rose to a daily average of two million viewers. In the first few series', the show's "experts" were weatherman Fred Talbot, agony aunt Denise Robertson, medic Dr Chris Steele, cook Susan Brookes, beauty presenter Liz Earle and make-up artists Andrew and Liz Collinge, wine expert Charles Metcalfe; the theme tune was by David Pringle, who wrote opening music for Wheel of Fortune, Fun House and The Pyramid Game. To end the first series, in 1989, the show was presented via satellite from California. Produced by Granada's Field Producer, Brian Thomas, the set was built directly in front of'Sleeping Beauty Castle', a first for Disney.
The'special' week achieved the highest'daytime' viewing audiences outside of a Royal Wedding. As part of the show, weather presenter Fred Talbot used a floating map of the British Isles to report the forecast. A clip of Mark Roberts, a prolific streaker, running onto Talbot's weather map in 1995 is shown on clip shows. In 1996 the show was moved to the London Studios on the grounds that it was difficult to get celebrity guests to travel from London to Liverpool. In the summer of 2001, Madeley and Finnigan left This Morning to present their own show on Channel 4; the show scores around 1 million viewers a day, a high rating for the ITV Daytime schedules. On 3 October 2018, the show had one of its highest ratings, when 2.7 million viewers tuned in for its 30th anniversary. On 12 October 2018, a Royal Wedding special of This Morning got its highest rating yet, when an average of 3 million viewers tuned in, peaking at 4 million. In 2009, ITV had decided to relaunch This Morning, subsequently, ratings rose by 20%.
Part of the relaunch included a new co-host, Holly Willoughby. In March 2010, This Morning and ITV had announced that the show would run from five days a week to seven days a week, with two brand-new one-hour shows broadcast on the weekends. Schofield and Willoughby presented pre-recorded links in between compilations of the past week's programming. Weekend editions have since been dropped from the schedule; the Hub, an interactive segment of the show, was featured in This Morning from 2010 until 2014. Presenters included Jeff Brazier, Jenni Falconer, Stephen Mulhern Rylan Clark, Emma Willis, Coleen Nolan, Samanthi Jayawardena and Matt Johnson. On 1 March 2010, This Morning began an interactive cooking event, named This Morning Cook In!, where each week, five viewers and a celebrity guest cook along, via Skype, with the chefs on the day of the event. The show has proven newsworthy on several occasions: This Morning covered new ground by showing a gay partnership celebration live, a 2008 interview with Kerry Katona slurring her words attracted coverage.
On 21 August 2013, Carol Vorderman took her first steps towards a 2014 World Record attempt by doing a solo flight to 1,000 metres high, live on This Morning. Reporter Jenni Falconer covered the occasion. On 3 October 2013, This Morning celebrated its 25th anniversary; the programme was broadcast live from its original home at Albert Dock in Liverpool with presenters Phillip Schofield, Eamonn Holmes, Holly Willoughby and Ruth Langsford being joined by original presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. Numerous historical clips of the show were aired, including Gene Pitney's miming gaffe from 1989. Keith Lemon presented the weather from the show's famous floating weather map, while Stephen Mulhern presented various items including'The Hub Sub'. There was speculation concerning. During the summer of 2015, Marvin Humes and Rochelle Humes presented This Morning, however they were replaced by Gok Wan and Jenni Falconer. On 27 August 2015, This Morning broadcast the remaining weeks' shows from the South Bank due to the main studio having a revamp ready for the new series on 1 September.
The new series had many changes including a brand new set, theme music and the
England
England is a country, part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to Scotland to the north-northwest; the Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south; the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world; the English language, the Anglican Church, English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, the country's parliamentary system of government has been adopted by other nations.
The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains in central and southern England. However, there is upland and mountainous terrain in the west; the capital is London, which has the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. England's population of over 55 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom concentrated around London, the South East, conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century; the Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles"; the Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. The Angles came from the Anglia peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea; the earliest recorded use of the term, as "Engla londe", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term was used in a different sense to the modern one, meaning "the land inhabited by the English", it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was part of the English kingdom of Northumbria; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its modern spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, in which the Latin word Anglii is used; the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars. How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe, less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons of Old Saxony between the Weser and Eider rivers in Northern Germany. In Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England. An alternative name for England is Albion; the name Albion referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus the 4th-century BC De Mundo: "Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean that flows round the earth.
In it are two large islands called Britannia. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, i.e. it was written in the Graeco-Roman period or afterwards. The word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins, it either derives from a cognate of the Latin albus meaning white, a reference to the white cliffs of Dover or from the phrase the "island of the Albiones" in the now lost Massaliote Periplus, attested through Avienus' Ora Maritima to which the former served as a source. Albion is now applied to England in a more poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend; the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximate
The Wizard of Oz (2011 musical)
The Wizard of Oz is a musical based on the 1939 film of the same name, with a book adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams. The musical uses the Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg songs from the film and includes some new songs and additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and additional lyrics by Tim Rice. After previews in the West End from 7 February, the musical opened on 1 March 2011, directed by Jeremy Sams, closed on 2 September 2012; the original cast included Danielle Hope as Dorothy Gale, Michael Crawford as the Wizard and Hannah Waddingham as the Wicked Witch of the West. Sophie Evans played Dorothy on Tuesday evenings and took over the role full-time in February 2012; the role of Dorothy was cast through the 2010 reality television show Over the Rainbow, in which Hope won and Evans was the runner-up. After a similar Canadian reality TV search show, a Toronto production began in December 2012 and closed in August 2013, was followed by a North American tour. In April 2017 an Australian tour was announced including season at the Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre,the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, at the Adelaide Festival Theatre.
The cast includes Anthony Warlow as the Wizard with Lucy Durack as Glinda the Good Witch and Jemma Rix as Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz was first turned into a musical extravaganza by Baum himself. A loose adaptation of his 1900 novel, it first played in Chicago in 1902 and was a success on Broadway the following year, it toured for nine years. The 1939 film adaptation bore a closer resemblance to the storyline of Baum's original novel than most previous versions, it was a strong success, winning the Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Original Score, continues to be broadcast perennially. Among the many musical theatre adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, two previous ones have used the songs from the film. In 1945, the St. Louis Municipal Opera created a version with a script adapted by Frank Gabrielson from the novel, but it is influenced in some respects by the motion picture screenplay, it uses most of the songs from the film. This was followed, in 1987, by a Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation designed to more recreate the film version.
The book by John Kane follows the film's screenplay, it uses nearly all of the film's music. Both the MUNY and RSC adaptations were successes and have been revived numerous times in the US and UK; the Wizard of Oz is Andrew Lloyd Webber's 18th musical. Tim Rice first collaborated with Lloyd Webber in 1965, their next piece was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, followed by two more concept albums that became hit musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. Except for a special collaboration for Queen Elizabeth's 60th birthday celebration, the musical Cricket in 1986, after Evita, each man turned to other collaborators to produce further well-known musical theatre works; the Wizard of Oz was Rice and Lloyd Webber's first production together in the West End in over three decades. To create the new musical, Lloyd Webber and director Jeremy Sams adapted the 1939 film's screenplay, Rice and Lloyd Webber added several new songs to the film's score. In 2010, Lloyd Webber told the Daily Mail, "The fact is that The Wizard of Oz has never worked in the theatre.
The film has two holes where in the theatre you need a song. For example, there's nothing for either of the two witches to sing." He commented "Tim and I are doing quite a specific thing, because we know what's missing." After previews beginning 7 February, the musical opened in the West End, at the London Palladium, on 1 March 2011. The role of Dorothy was originated by Danielle Hope, selected through the reality television show Over the Rainbow, the title role of the Wizard was created by Michael Crawford. Over the Rainbow runner-up Sophie Evans performed the role of Dorothy on Tuesday evenings and when Hope was ill or on holiday. Hannah Waddingham originated the role of the Wicked Witch of the West and was replaced in September 2011 by her understudy, Marianne Benedict. Hope and Crawford left the production on 5 February 2012. Evans replaced Hope in the role of Dorothy full-time in February 2012, Russell Grant took over soon afterwards as The Wizard, for 14 weeks. Des O'Connor portrayed The Wizard from May 2012.
The musical was produced by Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright, with direction by Jeremy Sams, choreography by Arlene Phillips and sets and costumes by Robert Jones. It took in pre-opening sales of £10 million; the production celebrated its 500th performance on 9 May 2012 and closed on 2 September 2012. An autumn 2012 reality TV show, Over the Rainbow, hosted by Daryn Jones, searched for a Canadian girl to play the role of Dorothy in a Toronto staging by Mirvish Productions. On 5 November 2012, viewers of the show chose Danielle Wade, a 20-year-old University of Windsor acting major, to play the role, with Stephanie La Rochelle as 1st runner up; the production premiered on 20 December 2012 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre with an official opening on 13 January 2013. Besides Wade, the all-Canadian cast included Cedric Smith as Professor Marvel/the Wizard, Lisa Horner as Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West, Mike Jackson as the Tin Man, Lee MacDougall as the Cowardly Lion, Jamie McKnight as the Scarecrow and Robin Evan Willis as Glinda.
The production concluded its run on 18 August 2013. The musical received a North American tour beginning on 10 September 2013 at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, with the original Canadian cast, except that Jacquelyn Piro Donovan played Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West. I
Flavia Cacace
Flavia Cacace-Mistry is an Italian born British professional dancer. Her professional dance partner is Vincent Simone, for ten years both partners appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. Cacace was born in Naples, the youngest of six children, came to the United Kingdom with her family at the age of four when her father moved to another job, she attended St. Peter's Catholic School in Guildford, left in 1995. Cacace's mother insisted that each of the children have an activity, so she and her eldest sister joined the local ballroom dancing class – when Cacace was 6. After partnerships with two dance partners and Simone were both looking for partners, they decided to try out together in 1994, they have been dancing together since. Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance In 2005, Cacace appeared as a guest choreographer with Simone to choreograph an un scored group Argentine Tango to introduce the dance style to audiences; the dance was introduced into the competitive roster so therefore a scored individual dance a year later.
In 2006, Cacace appeared in the fourth series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. Her celebrity dancing partner was comedian Jimmy Tarbuck. However, the couple withdrew after only one show, due to medical reasons. Cacace was back dancing in the fifth series of the show, partnered with EastEnders star Matt Di Angelo, they got the only perfect score of the main series for their waltz in the final. The couple subsequently had a three-year off-screen romance, they reached the final of the show, but were beaten by Alesha Dixon and her professional partner Matthew Cutler. She took part in the 2007 Christmas special dancing the rumba with partner Matt, achieved a score of 39. Cacace and Di Angelo competed together in the live tour of Strictly Come Dancing in January and February 2008, they won more shows than any other couple, coming first overall sixteen times and second a further ten times. Cacace took part in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered by actor Phil Daniels, eliminated in the first week after a dance-off against Don Warrington despite Gary Rhodes being bottom after the judge's scores.
In late 2008, she took part in a Strictly Come Dancing special for Children in Need 2008 where she partnered presenter Terry Wogan against Tess Daly, partnered by Anton du Beke, who ended up as the winners. Cacace took part in the 2009 SCD Live tour partnering former Strictly Come Dancing semi-finalist Gethin Jones, they went on to win 6 shows out of 45 in total, coming second to her professional partner Vincent Simone and Rachel Stevens. Cacace returned to Strictly Come Dancing for the seventh series in 2009, partnering Coronation Street and Queer as Folk actor Craig Kelly; the couple were in the bottom two in the second week against Lilia Kopylova and Richard Dunwoody, were forced to perform their tango again. They won votes from three of the four judges and made it through to the third week of the competition, they were in the bottom two in week 4, against Darren Bennett and Lynda Bellingham. They went through to the next week on the casting vote of head judge Len Goodman. In week 5, the couple received their lowest score of the competition so far and were second from the bottom on the leaderboard.
However, they were saved from the dance-off by the public. The couple were eliminated in Week 8 of the competition, when the show went to Blackpool, after performing a cha-cha-cha. Cacace went on to dance once more with her tour partner of the previous year Gethin Jones in the 2009 Christmas special, they danced an American smooth to "Baby It's Cold Outside" and achieved a score of 38. Cacace created choreography for Gethin's Cinderella panto which ran at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in her home town of Guildford and had a small guest appearance in the final show. Cacace featured in the eighth series of the show. In the first week, their dance was given a score of 26 and they went on to make it to week 6 when they were eliminated despite finishing fourth on the leaderboard, a result, seen as surprising. In the ninth series, Cacace's partner was astrologer Russell Grant and they were the seventh couple to be eliminated. Gymnast Louis Smith was Cacace's partner in the tenth season of the programme.
They won the series on 22 December 2012. On 1 June 2013, Cacace announced that she and Simone would not be competing in Strictly Come Dancing 2013 so they could work on other shows. In January 2012, Cacace appeared on the BBC TV series The Magicians. Cacace and Simone have an App called'Dance with Vincent and Flavia'. Dance with Vincent and Flavia is a free dance tutorial App from which the user can learn the fundamental dance steps and advance into a competent dancer with Vincent and Flavia's help; the App is published by International Celebrity Networks. Career titles Cacace has earned from competitions, with her professional partner Simone: UK Professional Ten Dance Champions 2002–2006 UK Professional Showdance Champions 2003–2006 UK Argentine Tango Champions, 2006 UK Ballroom Champions World and European Ten Dance and Showdance finalists 2002–2006 Cacace resides in Jacobs Well, with her former Strictly Come Dancing partner, Jimi Mistry, she announced on Twitter on 5 January 2013 that they were engaged, their marriage took place in London on 28 December 2013.
Official website Flavia Cacace on IMDb Interview with Flavia Cacace Interview on Aliveradio 107.30 16th Dec 2010 Interview in Guildford Magazine Dec 2010 Flavia talks about her diet on Celebrity Diet Doctor sept 22 2010 Surrey Life Magazine Flavia's pe
Good Morning Britain (1983 TV programme)
Good Morning Britain was TV-am's flagship breakfast television show, broadcast on weekdays from February 1983 until the franchise ended in 1992. It had many different presenters throughout its run but the most enduring pairing was Anne Diamond and Nick Owen. From a slow start, which led to the closure of the channel, Good Morning Britain became successful and achieved impressive ratings. According to one presenter Mike Morris they estimated to have interviewed over 30,000-guests on the sofa throughout its run; the studio buildings in Hawley Crescent, would be acquired by MTV, used as Viacom Media Networks offices. The TV-am programme archive, including Good Morning Britain, is understood to nearly intact, available for clip sales. Good Morning Britain had a mixture of news and current affairs, cartoons and many popular guests of the time, it featured a popular exercise section, hosted in the early days by Michael Van Straten and Jackie Genova, more famously by "Mad Lizzie" Webb. The news was provided in-house by TV-am but following its loss of the licence the news provision was contracted out to Sky News.
In its heyday, the programme would feature large outside broadcasts throughout the European winter/Australian summer from Bondi Beach in Australia, renaming the show G'Day Britain. Other presenters of the show included Chris Tarrant, Anneka Rice, Richard Keys, Kathy Tayler, Lorraine Kelly, Jayne Irving, Dynasty star Gordon Thomson and David Frost, Anna Ford, Michael Parkinson and Angela Rippon. TV-am.org.uk – The TV-am Television Archives Good Morning Britain at TV.com
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service free-to-air television network that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although commercially-self-funded, it is publicly-owned. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital terrestrial broadcasting on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time; the channel was established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, the single commercial broadcasting network ITV. Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1, BBC2, ITV; the Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, Channel 4, along with its Welsh counterpart, was formally created by an Act of Parliament in 1982. After some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982; the notion of a second commercial broadcaster in the United Kingdom had been around since the inception of ITV in 1954 and its subsequent launch in 1955.
Indeed, television sets sold throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare tuning button labelled "ITV/IBA 2". Throughout ITV's history and until Channel 4 became a reality, a perennial dialogue existed between the GPO, the government, the ITV companies and other interested parties, concerning the form such an expansion of commercial broadcasting would take, it was most politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of three decades before the second commercial channel became a reality. One clear benefit of the "late arrival" of the channel was that its frequency allocations at each transmitter had been arranged in the early 1960s, when the launch of an ITV2 was anticipated; this led to good coverage across most of the country and few problems of interference with other UK-based transmissions. At the time the fourth service was being considered, a movement in Wales lobbied for the creation of dedicated service that would air Welsh-language programmes only catered for at "off peak" times on BBC Wales and HTV.
The campaign was taken so by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, that he threatened the government with a hunger strike were it not to honour the plans. The result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, the BBC and independent companies. Limited frequency space meant that Channel 4 could not be broadcast alongside S4C, though some Channel 4 programmes would be aired at less popular times on the Welsh variant, a practice that carried on up until the closure of S4C's analogue transmissions in 2010 when S4C became a Welsh channel. Since carriage on digital cable and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available; the first voice heard on Channel 4's opening day of Tuesday 2 November 1982 was that of continuity announcer Paul Coia who said: Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be able to say to you, welcome to Channel Four.
Following the announcement, the channel headed into a montage of clips from its programmes set to the station's signature tune, "Fourscore", written by David Dundas, which would form the basis of the station's jingles for its first decade. The first programme to air on the channel was the teatime game show Countdown, at 16:45 produced by Yorkshire Television; the first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second. The first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Whiteley's Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman but a lexicographer only identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words: As the countdown to a brand new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins. On its first day, Channel 4 broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, an agenda in part set out by its remit which required the provision of programming to minority groups.
In step with its remit, the channel became well received both by minority groups and the arts and cultural worlds during this period under founding chief executive Jeremy Isaacs, where the channel gained a reputation for programmes on the contemporary arts. Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashley's ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984; the channel did not receive mass audiences for much of this period, however, as might be expected for a station focusing on minority interest. Channel 4 began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in Nick Broomfield's documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife. In September 1993, the channel broadcast the direct-to-TV documentary film Beyond Citizen Kane, in which it displayed the dominant position of the Rede Globo television network, discussed its influence and political connections in Brazil.
After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Co
