''About Anglia'' was a regional

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

programme produced by

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

in the east of England, broadcast for over thirty years from 2 June 1960 to 6 July 1990.

History

One of the first regional programmes of its kind in the ITV, ''About Anglia'' began in May 1960 as a twice-weekly programme, accompanying the ten-minute regional evening news bulletin on weekdays. Its success prompted it to be extended to four nights a week the following September, and then, every weeknight. Its original main presenter was

Dick Joice Dick Joice (1921 in Great Ryburgh, Norfolk – 1999) was a British regional television presenter renowned in the East of England for his Anglia Television programmes - particularly the '' Bygones'' show that ran from 1967 for twenty years. ...

Features

Early regular features included gardening, ''Police Call'' and in-depth weather forecasts for the region provided by Anglia's in-house weather department. Some early elements of ''About Anglia'' featured on the short-lived ''Midday Show'', which aired during the first few months of the station, and featured

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for '' The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churchills'' in 1969, and for ''Vani ...

among its cast.

Transmission

The programme was transmitted throughout the Anglia region:

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

and east

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. From 1 January 1974, East Yorkshire,

and parts of north

(served by the Belmont transmitter) were transferred to the Yorkshire Television area, although the Anglia weather department continued to produced special regional forecasts for the area for several years.

Demise

''About Anglia'' was given a new, modern look on Monday 21 March 1988 when Anglia Television abandoned its original identification, a small silver statue of a knight on horseback. Two years later, on Monday 9 July 1990, ''About Anglia'' was replaced by ''Anglia News'', which transmitted two programmes: *Anglia News East for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and parts of Cambridgeshire *Anglia News West for Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, North Hertfordshire, North Buckinghamshire, South Lincolnshire and the rest of Cambridgeshire. Both were produced and broadcast from studios at Anglia House in Norwich, long before this became standard practice across ITV regional news services, with reporters in Ipswich, Chelmsford, Cambridge, Peterborough, Northampton, Luton and Milton Keynes, along with a political bureaux at Westminster. Cutbacks in 2009 led to the reintroduction of a pan-regional programme (known as ''Anglia Tonight'') with shorter sub-regional opt outs - which have since been extended under ''

ITV News Anglia ''ITV News Anglia'' is a British television news service for the East of England, broadcast and produced by ITV Anglia. History ''Anglia News'' replaced the long-running news magazine programme ''About Anglia'' on Monday, 9 July 1990. Initially ...

''.

Presenters

Many ''About Anglia'' personalities moved on to national prominence. *In 1960, David Dimbleby spent his summer vacation from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

working as an ''About Anglia'' reporter. The same year also saw David Frost join the reporting team - infamously, his contract was not renewed by Anglia Television, reputedly because management felt he did not have a future in regional television. * Judy Finnigan came to Anglia in the mid-1970s from Granada Television as a reporter and presenter. She married and settled in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, making her name in 1977 when she gave birth to twin sons and, the following day, showed the babies on ''About Anglia''. She left to return to Granada as co-host of ''

Granada Reports ITV News ''Granada Reports'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Granada. Overview ''Granada Reports'' is produced and broadcast from studios in the Orange Tower at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Before this, the ...

''. * Bob Wellings, covering offbeat stories, became a presenter of BBC Television's current affairs '' Nationwide'' programme in 1971, staying there until 1979. *

Alastair Yates Alastair Kenneth Yates (3 September 1952 – 26 July 2018) was an English news anchor, for over 20 years with the BBC, on BBC World News and BBC News. Born 3 September 1952 and brought up in Burton upon Trent, Yates was educated at Manor Hous ...

joined ''About Anglia'' in 1987 following a period with

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...

's ''

North Tonight ''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...

'', but left two years later to become the first presenter on Sky News in Britain. Other presenters and journalists who regularly appeared include: *Tony Adams *Patrick Anthony *Rebecca Atherstone *John Bacon *Greg Barnes *Paul Barnes *Surrey Beddows *Graham Bell *Vic Birtles * Malcolm Brabant *Lindsay Brooke *Griselda Cann *Stephen Chambers * Stephen Cole *David Delvin (the show's resident medical expert) *Geoff Druett *David Geary *Dick Graham * Anne Gregg *Lionel Hampden * Gerry Harrison *David Henshaw *Stuart Jarrold *David Jennings *Chris Kelly *John Kiddey *Alison Leigh *Peter Lugg * Helen McDermott * Guy Michelmore *Caroline Oldrey (presenter of the last ''About Anglia'') *Jeremy Payne *Jane Probyn *Caroline Raison * Pam Rhodes * Steve Rider *Owen Spencer-Thomas *Christine Webber *Chris Young

References

External links

Final report and end of last About Anglia
{{ITV Local News ITV regional news shows 1960 British television series debuts 1960s British television series 1970s British television series 1980s British television series 1990s British television series 1990 British television series endings Television series by ITV Studios Television news in England Television shows produced by Anglia Television English-language television shows