End boards are usually the final image to be seen on a TV show, explaining the name of the production company or copyright owner and sometimes also the year of production. In the modern television era, these graphics are animated, but the phrase ‘end board’ dates back to the ‘golden age’ of television with which TVARK is preoccupied, when they actually were small, flat pieces of card with artwork mounted on them, perhaps 3 x 4 inches in size and mounted on a stand. To compliment our history of LWT idents, here is our collection of the company’s end boards from 1968 to 2004; we’re always on the lookout for more!
LWT Endboard 1970LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ 1971LWT Endboard ~ From 6th June 1971LWT Endboard ~ 1973LWT Endboard ~ 25th December 1976LWT Endboard ~ 1974LWT Endboard ~ 1974LWT Endboard ~ With the introduction of the river ident in 1971, the end boards were altered to suit. There were two versions (above from 1973 and 1974). The white example (left) is from 1976, closing Stanley Baxter’s Christmas Box, and appears to have been used on Light Entertainment programmes of the period. I’m amused by the manner in which the stripes bend, as if the sticky-backed plastic used to make them was applied unevenly.LWT Endboard ~ 1979LWT Endboard ~ 1979LWT Endboard ~ 1978LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ 1985LWT Endboard ~ 1981LWT Endboard ~ The slide above left appeared on the closing titles of The Professionals, made by Mark 1 Productions for LWT in 1977 and produced by Albert Fennell & Brian Clemens.LWT Endboard ~ the slide seen at the end of Mapp and Lucia in 1985, a LWT production for Channel Four.LWT EndboardLWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ A new look in 1986, to coincide with the debut of the blinds ident. This was amended in 1989 with the addition of the ITV corporate ident for network programmes.LWT Endboard ~ 1992LWT Endboard ~ 1989LWT EndboardLWT EndboardLWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ 1989LWT EndboardAn LWT ProgrammeLWT Endboard ~ 1989LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ For a short while in the early-mid 90s, an embossed LWT logo was used, as well as the white ITV Network logo seen above.This one dates from 1993.LWT Endboard ~ 1994LWT Productions for Channel 4LWT Endboard ~ 1997LWT Endboard ~ 1998LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ 1999LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ 1996LWT EndboardLWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ In 2001, ITV1 adopted a new generic style for its closing title sequences. Production companies were required to position their logo on the left hand side of the frame, while credits would appear on the right hand side, within a smoky, wavy border.Here’s the 1997 LWT logo, placed within the 16:9 framework.LWT Endboard ~ Granada bought LWT in 1994, but casual viewers probably wouldn’t have noticed until 2002, when the media group adopted a generic slide for all its productions.LWT EndboardLWT Endboard ~ An interesting 16:9 regional variant, from the final episode of the Sunday documentary series Doodlebug Summer, 19/05/2002, screened in both Meridian and LWT.Two versions of the show were made, both identical bar the end-caps. This logo was used in the Meridian region, while in LWT land the purple background comprised LWT logos.LWT Endboard ~ The ITV1 Network took on a whole new look on 28/10/2002. As a result, all production companies displayed their logos full frame.This is how LWT appeared until Sunday 31st October 2004. From 01/11/04, LWT’s parent company christened it “Granada London”, and end slates for Granada London are what now appear at the end of all shows made at the former LWT studios on the South Bank.
Unlike many other ITV regions, including Thames in London, LWT tended not to clutter its end boards with copyright symbols or dates of production, except for a brief period in the mid-1980s during the Genesis/Solari idents era. Closing credits rollers for LWT programmes also omitted copyright production dates until at least the late 1970s. For a short while in the 1990s, LWT featured two sets of end boards – a chrome-effect “LWTP” graphic with a date, followed by a white “LWT for ITV” design. When Granada and later ITV got its teeth into the company, programmes reverted to using one board only without a copyright symbol or date. From 2002 – 2004, full frame boards displayed the logos of LWT and its parent company Granada. Then in 2004, Granada made the decision that every show made within its empire would be known as a Granada production, which meant that LWT programmes were branded Granada London Productions. These days everything is simply boarded as an ITV Studios Production.
