Channel 4 (25) - 2007
Happy Birthday Channel 4
The 2nd of November 1982 saw the grand launch of Channel 4, with the famous blocks leaping in to the dulcet tones of the orchestral piece Fourscore (or did if you were in the right parts of the country anyway). 25 years of challenging, different, and controversial programming, and Channel 4 celebrates their anniversary of that night... by taking their whole presentation back to their multicoloured start.
Channel 4 at 25 (Blocks Breakbumper) - 2007
Every break of the birthday day featured a traditional blocks breakbumper (albeit zoomed in to bring it up to 16:9 standards), or one of 4's 'special event' idents of the 90s.
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Channel 4 at 25 (Blocks Breakbumper) - 2007
Another lot of coloured blocks into another break.
Channel 4 at 25 (Blocks Breakbumper) - 2007
And formup 3 of the traditional block animations.
Channel 4 at 25 (Italia) - 2007
Still used into a break, this time it's the full Football Italia ident from the 90s complete with sound.
Channel 4 at 25 (Japan) - 2007
Fourscore and a bit of culture, in another classic ident used as a breakbumper for the birthday celebrations.
Channel 4 at 25 (ECP) - 2007
The presentation changes didn't just stop at a digging out of old idents however. The End Credit Promotions on the channel were updated to mimic the style of pres from launch, complete with a newly tweaked endboard.
Channel 4 at 25 (Menu) - 2007
And to go with the ECP... a traditionally mocked up Menu for the evening, with the channel's signature music playing in the background.
Channel 4 at 25 (Promo) - 2007
Even the programme promotions find themselves with a touch of nostalgia.
Channel 4 at 25 (Ident) - 2007
And not forgetting, the programme idents themselves. Not surprisingly, the original Fourscore comes out, proving you cant beat a classic.
Channel 4 at 25 (Ident B) - 2007
And another ident, with the more familiar mix of the Fourscore notes. Happy Birthday Channel 4!
Channel 4 at 25 (Special Break) - 2007
Tucked away in the graveyard of the Saturday night schedules on November 3rd was a terrestrial repeat of a documentary which had been aired several times on More4 in the runup to the birthday weekend. Only, there was to be a little treat in the ad breaks, introduced by this montage of idents over the years.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Disney) - 2007
Throughout the documentary, the advert breaks were made up from a mix of old besides new of several contemporary advertisers. The only exception to this was for the Disney DVD of The Jungle Book, where a special edit of the advert had been put together. A nice touch, if perhaps the most tenuous link ever!
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - BT) - 2007
BT adverts old and new unite.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Think!) - 2007
From a more public information perspective, the Green Cross Code campaigns collide with the more modern Think! approach.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - McDonalds) - 2007
McDonalds, proving they've been around a long time... by digging out a not-too-old-advert from yesterday.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Carlsberg) - 2007
Carlsberg proving how alcohol advertising has improved in budget somewhat over the years.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Coca Cola) - 2007
Yep, all the big corporates raided their advert archives for the birthday, and here comes Coca Cola!
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Iceland) - 2007
Amazing audio quality on this surviving copy of an advert for Iceland; at least the modern day sound is a bit clearer.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Lurpak) - 2007
Danish Lurpak; it's been around for years, but never looks much different!
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Gillette) - 2007
In a mammoth duo of adverts, Gillette reminded us of how they've been the best a man can get for some considerable years.
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Fairy) - 2007
If the quantity of plates a single bottle of Fairy cleans is always going up, does this mean by now they can wash dishes for every country in the world's cricket team?
Channel 4 at 25 (Advert - Marmite) - 2007
Someone's VHS collection appears to have been raided to find this old Marmite classic... with a kid who appears in Heinz Baked Bean ads too. Will they be digging the latter Paddington ad out in 25 years time, who knows!
Channel 4 at 25 (Countdown Anniversary) - 2007
No celebration of 25 years of Channel 4 would be complete without the programme that started it all of course. The opening titles to a very special 25th anniversary edition of Countdown, mixing together every set of titles since launch. Carol hasn't aged a bit!
