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Arguably the most influential of all programmes aimed at a youth audience,
Network 7 signalled from its opening credits, with their jumping frames and
transmission 'noise', that a radically independent entity was taking over Sunday
afternoon Channel 4. The presentation style, with edgy camerawork, a
transparent acknowledgement of the production process and obtrusive graphics,
also marked it out from more conventional productions.
Into its two-hour Sunday lunchtime slot it typically crammed over ten items
on issues of the day and of general interest to a youthful audience, although it
differed from most offerings in this genre in that it followed a current
affairs/topical magazine agenda, without any of the musical performances that
were a fixture elsewhere. Most items were presented live, though there were also
pre-recorded inserts, some provided by separate production companies and
separately credited.
The programme's most startling innovation, though, was the constant use of
information captions - precursor to the now ubiquitous 'infobar' - which gave
background and supplementary information to the reports in progress. The effect
of this was to speed up the rate at which information was provided and to free
the reporter to cut to the essence of the piece, which often involved
'doorstepping' politicians, industrialists or other public figures. Other
features included rolling phone votes on the issues under discussion, an
animated insert, 'Dick Spanner', provided by Gerry Anderson, and star interviews
in 'Room 113'.
The brainchild of Janet Street-Porter and Jane Hewland, Network 7 chose its
presenters for their youth and spark, and several careers emerged from it,
notably those of Sankha Guha and Magenta De Vine. Street-Porter herself, though
in her forties, became the guru of British youth television, and was almost
immediately headhunted by the BBC to head up its entire youth output, which was
in desperate need of overhaul. Taking Guha, De Vine and others with her, she
created the remarkably similar DEF II slot (1988-94). Charlie Parsons, a Network
7 producer, also spread the programme's influence as editor of Channel 4's Club
X (1989), which applied much the same approach and visual feel to a late-night
magazine with a cultural agenda.
Steve Bryant
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