Thames Television station idents

Thames TV's station idents were simple and effective, relying on the famous skyline of London landmarks as the best form of brand identity for most of the station's 24 years on air.

There were some departures from this, notably in the late 1980s when Thames adopted the corporate ITV look for a period.

Click on each image for a video of the ident.

Thames idents in the 1960s

thames ident 1968
The first Thames ident used the 'mirror effect' but without the London landmarks. This ident was initially used just for programmes made at the central London Euston Road studios.
thames ident 1968
The first version of the Thames 'skyline' ident. This ident was initially used mainly for programmes made at the Teddington Lock studios.
thames ident 1969
A slightly different variant of the preceding ident with a ripple effect on the river in the foreground. Or perhaps it's just the same ident with a different film exposure. It's difficult to tell for sure.

Thames idents in the 1970s

thames ident 1970s
The first colour version of the Thames ident used from 1969. This included a marked rippling effect on the river. Used through the 1970s, the ripples were later dropped.
thames ident 1980s
The 1980s version of the Thames ident and the ripples have been dropped. This example is from the early 1980s but in 1986 the ident was re-made digitally. Thames resisted the temptation for computer wizardry and 3D graphics which was so popular with TV stations in the 1980s and stuck faithfully to a digital version of the standard ident so there was no difference for the viewer.

Thames idents in the 1980s

thames ident night variant
A night-time version of the Thames ident used throughout the 1980s and heavily used from 1988 when 24-hour television started.
thames ident night variant
NEW The full Thames Television night time ident suite introduced in 1988 when 24-hour television started.
thames 21 ident
A special ident was introduced to celebrate the stations 21st anniversary. The less said about this the better but, mercifully, it did not last for long.
thames ITV corporate ident
ITV attempted to introduce a form of corporate, unified branding in 1989 and Thames Television adopted the ident made for its use.
thames itv ident
The second version of the ITV corporate ident included a modified, simpler version of the Thames logo.

Thames idents in the 1990s

thames 1990s ident
Thames dropped the corporate ITV branding early in 1991 and introduced a powerful new ident harking back to the famous London landmark theme. This was the last on-air ident to be used by the station which lost the franchise to broadcast to the London area from 1 January 1993.

Thames video ident

thames video ident
The 'Thames Video' ident from the early 1980s, complete with synthesised version of the famous Thames jingle.