Fans call for CITV ‘Old Skool’ Channel

Following today’s first instalment of a weekend of classic Children’s ITV programming, on the CITV Channel, fans of series such as Knightmare and Press Gang are calling for a golden CITV channel to air archive material.

The celebrations to mark 30 years of CITV kicked off last week with an ITV1 aired documentary, which charted how great Ant and Dec are, and also looked at a few other programmes from the vast Children’s ITV vaults.

Programmes screened today included Count Duckular, Supergran, Raggy Dolls and Knightmare. Unlike ITV3, who broadcast 1970s and 80s material with chopped off original company credits – to pretend they were made by ‘ITV Studios’, many of the programmes have been aired complete with local ITV production company fanfares including Tyne Tees, Yorkshire TV and Thames Television.

While a CITV Gold channel may be a bit much to ask, certainly an ‘Old Skool’ afternoon on a Sunday would clearly prove popular with older viewers as social networking sites have been lively with nostalgia today over the classic programming.

CITV was the replacement to Watch It! and began broadcasting in 1983 from Central Television in Birmingham where it remained until the mid-2000s. The CITV channel launched in 2006. ITV right back to its earliest days had always aired programming for under 16s however it wasn’t until Watch It! that a single brand was used to introduce the programmes, and it wasn’t until Children’s ITV that a networked presenter introduced the days schedule. The first host was Stars In Their Eyes’ Matthew Kelly.

While the 30th documentary was lacklustre, the 20th celebrations produced by Central were much more about the programmes and many personalities. It can be viewed here.

A Twitter ‘petition’ to get CITV Gold on air has been started this afternoon, here. Another collection of classic CITV programmes airs from 6am to 6pm tomorrow on CITV.

4 comments

  • I would like to see the old cartoons come back…. yeah, i’m 37, but you cant beat some of the old ones…. cant remember what channel each cartoon was though…. is there anywhere you have list of oldies? i remember centurions, M.A.S.K, he-man…. etc…. would be good to see cartoons again rather than stuff that passes as kids entertainment today….

  • Thankyou and happy birthday CITV networks for a unforgettable weekend of childhood memories. Sooty Show, Mike & Angelo, Fun House and Supergran etc.. please please dont make us wait another 10-20 years to see these timeless programmes again. I’m all for the launch of CITV gold oldies channel or please give us some classic 80s-90s retro air time on the original channel. I’m 25, this was kids TV at its very very best:-)

  • Oh man,what a top weekend of nostalgic kids tv which took me back to the days when i would arrive home from school,and watch CITV for 2 hours,im 41 now and loved every minute!
    We sooooo need a CITV Gold channel,or at least one day,every Saturday or Sunday to carry on viewing these classic kids programmes!
    Who remembers the other CITV classics such as Chocky, On Safari, Educating Marmalade,
    Emus World, Behind the Bike sheds, Moomins, Aubrey, Boomer, Dr Snuggles, The Gemini Factor etc? ,and what about showing complete series from the start like Knightmare, Press Gang, Woof!, Fun House, and Childrens Ward?
    I reckon ratings would be sky high,so what about it CITV?
    Happy 30th Birthday!

  • I to would love to see a channel or a day where all the old citv stuff is on im 28 and remember running home from school to watch T.Bag would love to see these again i actually threw a sickie from work to watch these(lets hope the boss dont see this)