Cult Programme Logos

The Prisoner was the cult show of the 1960s. It was first shown in the U.K. in black and white; colour hadn't yet started. But what was it all about? Who was No. 1? What do you want? Where am I? I am not a number: I am a free man. The logo on the right is the penny farthing seen in the closing titles. Viewers in the ATV region saw this going in and out of the ad breaks. Channel 4 also used it in the same way when they repeated the series (which they've done twice).

Many thanks to Steve Kelly for these pictures.

There have been quite a few different designs for the logo for the BBC Sci-Fi series Doctor Who. I consider this to be the best, and the theme tune that went with it was also the best arrangement they ever did. The logo was designed by Bernard Lodge. I "borrowed" the graphic from BBC Worldwide Americas web pages (now the BBC Shop for the US and Canada).

Charlie's Angels had something for everyone and was recently being blamed for an increase in violent women, would you believe. Three gorgeous women had boring jobs, but Charlie took them away from all that. Which one was your favourite? (Who said "Bosley"?!) The logo has been adapted from the original and I picked it up from Sony's web site. It appears on a shopping page - yes, you can actually buy a T-shirt with this logo on it and the words "This is a bust". (!)

Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile. Children of all ages tuned in in their millions to this ground-breaking show. There have been many poor imitations since (haven't there, Noel?), but this was the best kids show of the Seventies. The logo on the left is based on the one introduced at the same time that Forces' favourite, Sally James, joined the Tiswas team in 1977. The programme now has a great fan site, TiswasOnline, on Facebook.

And finally, still in the Seventies, we have the classic Top of the Pops logo, designed by Bob Blagden. This was the show where Radio 1 DJs would present bands in flares and platform shoes plus the dancing talent of Pan's People. Throughout its forty-year run, although the presenters, logos and fashions changed, it was always a programme that any dad in the land could watch with his children, commenting on what a load of old rubbish the pop bands of the day were! You can find out how the logo was designed on The Morrison Studio's blog.