In recent years, in addition to the standard channel logo, they've added
huge quarter-screen-filling graphics like "Summer Nights of Comedy",
even though we knew at the time that it was summer, it was nighttime and it
was a comedy programme.
UK Gold is rapidly going down the hill with all the rubbish they're
sticking over the top of the programmes lately, and any time I've tried to
get a sensible answer over some of these, they just ask me how else I think
they can advertise their services. Of the "press red" logo, I've asked them
to restrict it to using only during programme trails and pre-programme announcements
so that it obscures no part of any programme itself. They keep ignoring my
response to this and instead place it onscreen either side of each ad break
and at the start and end of any programme, for at least a minute each time.
Currently, the main annoyances from UK Gold are:
PRESS RED: As mentioned above.
Onscreen nexts: Around five minutes before the end of each programme
we're interrupted with "Next: Open All Hours", or whatever the next
programme is, despite the fact that we could find this out ourselves with
the programme guide.
End-credits interruptions: Continuity announcements and the screen
being partially overtaken by clips of other programmes, such as a clip of
the appalling "Goodness Gracious Me" appearing over the end of "Game On"
(Mon 24th March) when Martin pressed his remote control.
"7 Days to...": "UK Ginger" sounded like an advert for a new
channel, but with no news about it whatsoever on the UKTV website, it was the
final straw for permanent onscreen crap. They continued, as of w/c May 3rd 2003
with "7 Days to go to The Battle..". Battle of what? "Monstrous bosses"
it seems - or yet more repeats of The Office, Fawlty Towers, etc, and as
of June 7th 2003 with "7 Days To Go To Blackadder @ 20", to celebrate
the 20th Anniversary with more repeats.
As of w/c August 18th 2003, we now have "7 Days to Carry On Weekend" and
on UK Style, "7 days to Ground Force Weekend". Keep those emails going to
UK Gold!
Come November 2003, and we have had "7 days to UKG2" - a supposed revamp of
UK Gold 2, but the content is little different and it's a complete joke to have
blighted our screens for a week for that! Oh, and as I type we have a huge
"7 days until Doctor Who @ 40". More repeats! Just grow up, Katie Barnard, or
do the decent thing and resign!
If you feel equally aggrieved by all this, then click the following link which will forward your
email to UK Gold's main address, the UK Gold channel controller Katie
Barnard and the Radio Times.
A copy of the email will also go to Logo Free TV, who
are keeping a record of all the protests made against the BBC and UK Gold.
If you include further text with your email, please keep the replies polite
and to the point.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
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