Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 09:25 Monday morning to 17:15 Friday afternoon (19:00 Friday night until 1982) at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT).
Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation—soon taken over by EMI—owning 51%. Like all ITV franchisees at that time, it was a broadcaster, a producer and a commissioner of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and, as one of the "Big Five" ITV companies, for networking nationally across the ITV regions. After its loss of franchise in 1992, it continued as an independent production company until 2006.
The British Film Institute describes Thames as having "served the capital and the network with a long-running, broad-based and extensive series of programmes, several of which either continue or are well-remembered today." Thames covered a broad spectrum of commercial public-service television, with a strong mix of drama, current affairs and comedy.
After Thames was acquired by FremantleMedia it was merged with another Fremantle company, Talkback, to form a new independent production company, Talkback Thames; consequently, Thames ceased to exist as a separate entity, but it, along with Talkback's own logo, continued to be used separately until 2006, when a new logo for Talkback Thames was introduced. However, on 1 January 2012, the Thames brand was revived when Talkback Thames was split into four different labels: Boundless, Retort, Talkback and Thames, within the newly created FremantleMedia UK production arm. Thames was once again amalgamated with Talkback to form a new company called Talkback Thames in 2025.
History
Formation Background From its formation in 1954, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) offered broadcasting licences to different companies for weekday and weekend service in its first three Independent Television network locations, the London area, the Midlands, and the North. The initial six contracts were parcelled out to different companies. Associated-Rediffusion (Rediffusion) won the London weekday service while Associated Television (ATV) operated weekends. ATV also won the weekday service in the Midlands, while ABC Weekend TV operated the weekend service. Granada Television won daytime service in the North, and ABC the weekends.
Geographical and structural changes led to the first significant shakeups of the network, a process that started in 1967 to take effect from 1968. As part of these changes, the separate weekend service was eliminated in the Midlands and North, who would instead be served by a single seven-day schedule. The London weekday/weekend split schedule remained the same, although the weekend contract was extended to include Friday evenings, but was opened to new applicants.
ABC loses franchises As a result of the changes to the schedule, ABC was at risk of losing both of its existing franchises, the weekend services that would be going away. Consequently, ABC applied for both the Midlands seven-day operation and the contract to serve London at the weekend, preferring the latter.
It was widely expected that the company would be awarded the London weekend franchise. Instead, after an impressive application by a consortium led by David Frost and others, this market was awarded to what became London Weekend Television.
This led to a serious problem for the ITA as ABC was a popular station, whose productions earned vital foreign currency – one such series was The Avengers. Its station management and presentation style were also admired.
While they were still in the running for the seven-day service in the Midlands, it was clear this would be won by ATV, who was also a large earner of overseas revenue, having won the Queen's Award for Export in 1966.
Rediffusion angers the ITA In programming, Rediffusion was originally considered stuffy but in the previous contract round of 1964, it had re-invented itself, dropping the name Associated-Rediffusion in favour of the trendier Rediffusion London, to reflect the cultural changes of the time, with its output altered accordingly.
By the time of the 1967 negotiations, Rediffusion believed that its contract renewal for London weekday service was a formality, and its application reflected this complacency: the company had treated the ITA high-handedly in interviews.
In the early days of ITV, the company had worked hard to keep the network on-air during financial crises that threatened the collapse of other companies, particularly Granada.Black, P. The Mirror In The Corner – People's Television, Hutchinson, London, 1972, pp. 102-103 It was reported that Rediffusion's chairman Sir John Spencer Wills felt the ITA owed his company a 'debt of gratitude' for this, a comment which particularly annoyed the authority.
During the interview process, several members of Rediffusion management also appeared in interviews for applicants for other regions, principally the consortium of which David Frost was a member, as well as the interview for Rediffusion, leading the ITA to question the loyalty at the company.
ABC and Rediffusion become Thames The outcome proposed by the ITA was a "shotgun marriage" between ABC and Rediffusion. "The combination of these two companies," announced ITA Chairman Lord Hill, "seemed to the Authority to offer the possibility of a programme company of real excellence."Independent Television in Britain Vol. 2, published by Palgrave Macmillan The resultant company was awarded the contract to serve London on weekdays.
Control of the new company would be given to ABC, a move unpopular with Rediffusion.Cherry, S. ITV: The People's Channel, Reynolds & Heran, 2005, pp. 172-173 Questioning the ITA's decision, Rediffusion attempted to slow down the merger: only the threat of giving the licence solely to ABC made it relent. To assist Rediffusion financially, the ITA insisted that the new company have two sets of shares: voting shares which would allow ABC to have control (with 51%) and 'B' shares which were to be split equally between the two, thus sharing profits fairly.
The structure of the new company was also a problem. A merger between the two existing contract holders ABC Television Limited and Rediffusion Television Limited was impossible, owing to internal politics, as was a merger between their respective parent companies Associated British Picture Corporation and British Electric Traction. The answer was found to be a new holding company, Thames Television (Holdings) Ltd. ABC's parent, the Associated British Picture Corporation was taken over by EMI in 1969, and in 1979 became part of Thorn EMI.
The ITA ordered ABC's managing director Howard Thomas and its director of programmes Brian Tesler to be appointed in similar capacities at the new station, the only individuals named or specified in all 15 franchise awards. ABC had majority control of the new company and the make-up of its board predominantly (and eventually fully) came from ABC. The use of ABC's old studios at Teddington meant the workforce was predominantly ex-ABC, although those at Kingsway were ex-Rediffusion.
After some discussion as to the name of the new company—some directors favoured ABC London, while others suggested Tower Television to reflect the Post Office Tower and the Tower of London—it was named Thames Television, after the River Thames. This name had been previously considered and rejected by London Weekend Television.Docherty D, Running The Show: 21 years of London Weekend Television, Boxtree, 1990
On 30 July 1968, Thames began broadcasting to London. The opening week was disrupted by sporadic strike action;Graham, Russ J Lights Camera Inaction , Talk of Thames from Telemusications, 2005; accessed 26 April 2006 the following week, the action had spread to all of ITVGraham, Russ J Everybody Out! , Talk of Thames from Telemusications, 2005; accessed 26 April 2006 and resulted in the creation of a management-run ITV Emergency National Service for some two weeks.
Each week Thames broadcast from the start of transmissions on Monday until its handover to London Weekend Television at 19:00 on Friday. (From 1982, the handover time was 17:15.)
Studios
The former ABC studios at Teddington became Thames's main production base. Thames's corporate base moved to its newly constructed studios and offices on Euston Road (next to Euston Tower) in 1970, when it relinquished Television House, Rediffusion's former London headquarters. The Teddington studios were highly desirable, as they had participated in colour experiments and were already partially converted by the time of the franchise change, and as such had been sought after by both Thames and LWT.
When Thames was formed, the new company acquired numerous other properties of the former franchise holders. Rediffusion's main studio complex at Wembley was leased to London Weekend Television by order of the ITACherry S ITV: The People's Channel, eynolds and Hearn, 2005, p. 173 before being sold to Lee International in 1977. ABC's Midlands base in Aston, Birmingham (see Alpha Television), co-owned with ATV, was sold in 1971 when ATV moved to new colour television facilities. Its northern base in Didsbury, Manchester, was used by Yorkshire Television prior to its Kirkstall Road studios in Leeds being completed, and eventually sold to Manchester Polytechnic in 1970, with a lease on sales offices in central Manchester being surrendered.
Early programmes
Thames was among the "Big Five" franchises that provided much of the ITV schedule. The station continued formats inherited from its predecessors. These included the variety show Opportunity Knocks, Armchair Theatre, the last series of The Avengers, and the detective thrillers Callan and Public Eye, all inherited from ABC. The comedy Do Not Adjust Your Set, though, originated with Rediffusion, and if nominally a children's show, was one of the forerunners of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
More conventional sitcoms, all of which began in Thames's early years, included Father, Dear Father (1968–73), the Sid James vehicle Bless This House (1971–76), and Love Thy Neighbour (1972–76). Another sitcom, Man About the House (1973–76), was successful enough for two spin-offs, George and Mildred (1976–80) and Robin's Nest (1977-81).
The company took over the This Is Your Life format in 1969, several years after the BBC had dropped the show in 1964. Another BBC favourite was comedian Benny Hill, the star of The Benny Hill Show (1969–89), who was placed under contract. Hill spent most of the rest of his career with Thames.
The Sooty Show, cancelled in 1967 by the BBC, now aired on Thames and began on the first day of transmission. It continued after Harry Corbett's retirement in 1975 with his son, Matthew Corbett, and lasted on Thames until late 1992. The company also produced the children's show Magpie (1968–80), intended as a rival for Blue Peter on BBC1, and The Tomorrow People (1973–79), a science fiction series commissioned as an answer to the BBC's Doctor Who.