Thames Video

Thames Video was the home video imprint of Thames, the weekday franchise holder for ITV in London. The division was founded in 1978, and later merged with newly-founded distributor The Video Collection in 1985, reducing the Thames name under a label titled Thames Video Collection, which later reverted back to Thames Video in 1991, which VCI continued to use even after Thames lost their ITV franchisee, and continued to release videos under their name until 1999, when VCI's deal with Pearson Television expired.

1st Logo (1978?-1982?)
Logo: Just a still image of the 1961-1989 Thames Television logo, while the cursive white text "Video" fades in below. There are lines that extend to each side of the screen connected to the word.

FX/SFX: The text fading in.

Music/Sounds: Silence, but the show's theme could play before the logo fades out.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was used as a placeholder before the 2nd logo was created. Found on a Betamax of The Best of The Benny Hill Show Vol. 1.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1982?-1992)
Nicknames: "The White London View/V", "Thames Video Triangle"

Logo: Against a dark blue background, we see a V, curvy, with two white stripes and a thinner black stripe, turning in sync with the curve, looking like a road. It then pans out, forming a V with lines on the sides, and then an all-white view of London (with Big Ben, the Telecom Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge) pops up into view on top of the V. Then, an outline of the London skyline on the V zooms out, which then morphs into "THAMES video" on the view of London. The view of London then "shines" on top. Afterwards, the background darkens a little.

Variants:
 * On all tapes which were released after Thames Video merged with VCI in 1985, the word "Collection" is written in the Brush Script font below the view of London, along with an extra 5-pointed star-shaped flash behind it when the logo glows. The background also darkens a lot more as the background changes from dark blue to black.
 * A static version of this logo is seen at the end of certain tapes (other tapes show the closing seconds of the logo instead).
 * This logo could also be seen as a precursor to Thames' "21st Anniversary" ident, which was used from July to September 1989, and survived into the initial version of their "ITV Generic" ident (introduced later that year).

FX/SFX: Everything happening in this logo, including the later addition of "Collection" writing itself in after the VCI merger in 1985. Pretty cool for 2D effects.

Music/Sounds: An extended synthesized version of the 1968 Thames fanfare. The non-static end variant includes a synthesized chord.

Music/Sounds Variant: Sometimes, when the static variant plasters over the Thames Television logo, the closing theme of the show will be heard, or in the case of Count Duckula VHS releases, the downpour of rain is heard over it.

Availability: Rare. Seen on tapes featuring programs produced by Thames Television (including The Benny Hill Show, The Sooty Show, Rainbow, Danger Mouse, Button Moon, The Wind in the Willows, Alias the Jester, Creepy Crawlies, and Count Duckula—to name a few). You may also find this logo paired with that of Lollipop Video on certain tapes of the sixth and ninth shows, given that they were aimed primarily at children. The final tape to use this is Benny Hill's One Night Video Stand. Like its successor (which was the third logo), the static variant was used to plaster over the usual Thames Television endboard.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (US only) (1988-1992)
Logo: Against a bright red background, two silver beams of light point upwards. The beams then lower to the center of the screen, one pointing each way. The lights seem to dispel, the background turning a deep blue, and form the words 'THAMES VIDEO COLLECTION', with THAMES coming from the middle, VIDEO from the left, and COLLECTION from the right. The three words set into the middle of the screen as two silver bars appear from both sides, resting at the top and bottom of the wording, with the finishing touch being a black marble version of the famous skyline logo topping the logo.

FX/SFX: The shining lights, the words and the skyline.

Music/Sounds: A fairly ominous-sounding six-note jingle, with the last few notes held out a bit longer.

Availability: Seen on later Thames Video releases distributed by HBO Video.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (UK only) (1990-1999)


Nicknames: "CGI Thames", "Gold Thames", "Thames Video Triangle II", "Color Shifting Thames"

Logo: On a black background, we see three inverted triangles (one in red/yellow, a second in blue/red, and a third in yellow/blue), with a view of London (again, featuring Big Ben, the Telecom Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge) and "THAMES VIDEO" on them, flying by, then a gold version of the logo is created, then the background changes from black to navy blue. This logo is based on Thames Television's final ident - which was used from mid-1990 to 31 December 1992.

Variants:


 * At the end of videos of certain shows like The Bill, this logo is seen instead of the usual Thames Television end board, with the final seconds of the show's theme being heard in place of the fanfare.
 * The videos of Truckers (which edited the thirteen episodes together to form a movie) and Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime (which only contained three episodes from the first series of 1991) also featured this logo at the end, instead of Cosgrove Hall's third logo.

FX/SFX: The three differently-colored versions of the logo flying by to reveal the gold one, and the background changing from black to navy blue.

Music/Sounds: A re-arranged version of the theme from the aforementioned 1990 Thames ident. There are a few added drumbeats in the background, and it ends on the fanfare's last note, without any echo. At the end of most tapes, it is silent.

Availability: Seen on tapes from the early 1990s featuring programs produced by Thames Television during their "twilight" years (including the last few series of The Sooty Show and Rainbow, Truckers, and Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime). The best tapes to find with this logo are PAL-format ones from the UK. This was, however, seen in the U.S. on a 1997 VHS of Benny Hill: Golden Laughs.

Editor's Note: None.