Dave Jeffery's
Flash Files 4

ABC Clock

ABC broadcast at the weekends, serving both the Midlands and the North of England. This clock was for joint continuity, parts of the programme schedule where both regions were showing the same programmes. It was broadcast from the ABC studios in Teddington, Middlesex and would be seen, for example, before World of Sport on Saturdays.

ABC Clock - Midlands

The second ABC clock was seen only by viewers in the Midlands.

ABC Clock - North

And finally, an ABC clock seen only by viewers in the North.

ATV Clock 1
ATV Clock 2

ATV's digital clock was the last image broadcast by the company as it closed down for the final time, 34 minutes into the first day of 1982. Later that morning, Central was born. Its clock used the same digits, this time superimposed onto a Central caption. You can choose the clock with a black background or the more common blue background. (Or if you can't decide, download both!)

BBC 1 Clock - Black & White

A new clock was designed for the launch of colour on BBC 1 in November 1969. It was reportedly the work of senior designer Alan Jeapes, who used hour markers of increasing thickness. This version was used for programming that was still in black and white, hence there's no "COLOUR" label next to the BBC 1 logo.

BBC 1 Clock - Colour III NEW!

By 1972, the BBC network clocks had been modified so that the BBC logo had rounded corners and the "COLOUR" label used italics. "BBC COLOUR" in this style would now also appear at the end of the credits for most BBC productions.

BBC 1 Clock - electronically generated

This is BBC 1's first virtual clock. The image was generated by a box of electronics, designed in house by Richard Russell. Similar hardware was then used for the other BBC solid state clocks featured below.

BBC 1 Clock - electronically generated II

The second virtual clock for BBC 1 first appeared in February 1985. It was introduced to accompany the new golden globe symbol or COW (Computer-Originated World) as it was known at the BBC.

BBC 2 Clock - Black & White NEW!  Sa 1-Jul-23

BBC 2's first clock had roman numerals on the dial. The Flash version of this was shown at the National Film Theatre (now BFI Southbank) in London when it held a Play School event, with former presenters, to celebrate 40 years of BBC 2. There was also a version of this clock with a grey background.

BBC 2 Clock - electronically generated

This is BBC 2's first virtual clock. The move to electronic generation meant that the network symbol underneath the clock face could finally be shown with all of the colour shades on the stripes. I'm reliably informed that when Roly Keating, who was the channel controller from 2004 - 2008, first saw the original Flash version of this screensaver, he decided he had to have it installed on his own PC!

Border Clock

This is Border Television's mechanical clock, used in the Eighties. It features the company's "chopsticks in a bowl" symbol.

Channel 4 Clock

Martin Lambie-Nairn and his company were responsible for Channel 4's identity when the station launched in 1982. This is the station's clock, which features the multi-coloured 4 logo. For some reason they decided to use a dark blue rather than the main logo's light blue.

HTV Clock

When colour came to the Wales and West region in 1970, Harlech became HTV and its famous "aerial" logo was born. To go with the new white-on-blue symbol was this white-on-blue clock, which lasted well over a decade.

London Weekend Clock

This was the London Weekend clock introduced at the same time as its stripy River ident. It was unusual in that despite being a mechanical clock there was no judder perceptible on the second hand.

Rediffusion Clock - Black
Rediffusion Clock

In 1964 Rediffusion began using an ident that ended with the rotating "adastral" star on a completely black background. This was later superseded by another that ended on a grey background. These two clocks match those idents.

Southern Clock

This was a clock used by Southern after the station began its colour service. The clock was still in use in 1981, the company's final year of broadcasting.

STV Clock - Black & White

This Scottish Television clock resembled something you used to see on electric cookers. It was unpopular because if the camera wasn't aligned properly, it seemed to tell the wrong time, as the centre stalk to which the hands were attached actually came quite a way out in front of the clock face.

Thames Clock

Thames Television's clock also told you the date as well as the time. It was used until the end of the Eighties, when the Thames mirrored skyline ident was dropped and the ITV "corporate look" began.

TSW Clock

TSW promoted itself as "Television Simply Wonderful" on its opening night in 1982. It ceased broadcasting ten years later, having lost its licence at the next franchise round. This computer-generated clock was TSW's only timepiece throughout its decade on air.

TVS Clock

The second clock design used by TVS, which served the South and South East from 1982 until the end of 1992. Sometimes the caption would say "TVS South" or "TVS South East", when different presentation was being transmitted in each of the two TVS sub-regions.

Tyne Tees Clock

This clock was introduced when Tyne Tees began broadcasting in colour in 1970. As well as white-on-blue, other colour schemes were experimented with such as light-blue-on-black.

Westward Clock

For some reason, Westward's clock, used until it ceased broadcasting in 1981, reminds me of one of those wooden-framed clocks you used to see on the wall inside banks. The exploded pie-chart style (with the bottom right-hand quarter of the rounded rectangle separated from the rest) was also seen on continuity slides for much of the seventies.

Yorkshire Clock - Gold

Seen in 1977, this clock from Yorkshire Television features golden lettering.

Yorkshire Clock

This was Yorkshire's first computer-generated clock. It was a replacement for a mechanical clock of a similar design.