JENNY HANLEY AND SIR TREVOR MCDONALD MARK

‘70 YEARS OF ITV’ 

Former Magpie presenter Jenny Hanley is joined by Sir Trevor McDonald to mark 70 years of ITV in a Boom Radio special.

Jenny will tell the story of commercial television from the quiet beginnings of Associated-Rediffusion and the debut TV ad for Gibbs SR toothpaste in 1955 - to ITV’s much-loved soaps, documentaries and children’s programmes through the years.

She’ll tell of her own time hosting the Magpie children’s programme - a ‘hip version of Blue Peter – and about the contribution to ITV played by her mother the actress Dinah Sheridan and her father Jimmy Hanley.

Trevor McDonald tells the ITN story, from the pioneering news bulletins - where we saw the announcers for the first tine – onto the creation of the famous Bongs and the groundbreaking News at Ten.

Boom’s Judi Spiers and David Hamilton open-up about how the announcers between the programmes made their mark.

There are also contributions from Simon Williams, who played the part of James Bellamy in LWT’s Upstairs Downstairs; from sitcom writer and Doctor at Large star George Layton; Chris Tarrant; producer/director Tony Virgo; and insight from Sir Michael Grade.

The whole programme is spiced with many familiar ITV signature tunes, so fondly remembered to this day.

‘70 YEARS OF ITV’ – Sunday September 21^st, 20.00 – 22.00 on Boom Radio. 

Repeated on Boom Light Monday Septemnber 22nd at 6.00pm