
The 30th anniversary of the
Children's ITV brand is to be marked with a special documentary and an "Old Skool Weekend" of iconic programmes from the '80s and '90s.
Children's ITV launched on
3rd January 1983, and in the early days guest presenters - including Roland Rat, Timmy Mallet, and Basil Brush - pre-recorded the intros to children's programming every month. In 1987, Children's ITV went live, with output presented by
Gary Terzza and
Debbie Shore. The CITV channel arrived on
11th March 2006 and, with its mix of programming aimed primarily at four-to-nine-year-olds, now broadcasts approximately a third of original content.
A one-hour documentary entitled
30 Years Of CITV will be shown on ITV1 on
Saturday 29th December at
6.30pm, while between
9.25am and 6pm on
Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th January, CITV will be showing a selection of its iconic shows, including the first and last episodes of
Press Gang -
Steven Moffat's first TV work - and episodes from
Children's Ward, which was produced by
Russell T Davies, who also wrote for it, as well as an episode of
Button Moon, whose theme music was co-composed by
Peter Davison.
The "Old Skool Weekend" schedule is as follows:
SATURDAY 5th JANUARY
- 9.25am: Mike and Angelo (1990)
- 9.50am: Super Gran (second episode, 1985)
- 10.15am: Wizadora (last episode, 1998)
- 10.30am: T-Bag (1987)
- 10.50am: Engie Benjy (series 3, episode 1, 2004)
- 11.05am: The Raggy Dolls (1994)
- 11.15am: Puddle Lane (1986)
- 11.35am: Count Duckula (1991)
- 12pm: The Sooty Show (1986)
- 12.25pm: Art Attack (1992)
- 12.40pm: The Big Bang (1997)
- 1pm: Finders Keepers (1991)
- 1.30pm: Fun House (1994)
- 2pm: Knightmare (1993)
- 2.30pm: Fraggle Rock (1983)
- 3pm: The Worst Witch (1998)
- 3.30pm: Woof! (Eric, first episode, 1989)
- 4pm: Dramarama (Blackbird Singing In The Dead of Night, 1988)
- 4.30pm: Press Gang (first episode, 1989)
- 5pm: The Tomorrow People (1992)
- 5.30pm: Children's Ward (2000)
SUNDAY 6th JANUARY
- 9.25am: Mike and Angelo
- 9.50am: Spatz (1992)
- 10.10am: Huxley Pig
- 10.30am: Rainbow (1984)
- 10.50am: Button Moon (1985)
- 11.05am: The Riddlers
- 11.15am: Rosie and Jim (first episode, 1990)
- 11.35am: Dangermouse (1986)
- 12pm: Sooty & Co (1993)
- 12.25pm: How 2 (1995)
- 12.40pm: Fingertips (2002)
- 1pm: Jungle Run (2001)
- 1.30pm: Fun House (1995)
- 2pm: Knightmare (1993)
- 2.30pm: Fraggle Rock (1983)
- 3pm: My Parents Are Aliens (2005)
- 3.30pm: Woof! (Rex, 1993)
- 4pm: Dramarama (Back To Front, 1989)
- 4.30pm: Press Gang (last episode, 1993)
- 5pm: The Tomorrow People (1992)
- 5.30pm: Children's Ward (unknown)