Blighty was a British pay television channel broadcasting as part of the

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 throug ...

network of channels. The channel was originally launched on 8 March 2004.

History

The channel launched on 8 March 2004 as UKTV People, showing

repeats A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the wor ...

of lighter factual programming, based on the people of the world with programmes such as '' Top Gear'' and the docusoap ''

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

''. Much of this programming had come from the spinoff for

UK Horizons UK Horizons was a television channel broadcast in the United Kingdom, as part of the UKTV network of channels, showing mainly BBC documentaries. Most programmes were abridged for commercial timing purposes. It took its name from the BBC series '' ...

, which had closed down the day before. The channel itself, along with UKTV Documentary, replaced this channel formally. For the channel's first few months, it timeshared with UKTV Food +1, airing from 7pm-3am, but soon expanded to a full 24-hour schedule by 1 July. On 9 October 2008, UKTV announced plans to rebrand UKTV People and UKTV Documentary in early 2009. The news came just two days after UKTV's entertainment channels were rebranded to

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and Alibi. They announced that UKTV People would be rebranded as Blighty and this rebrand took place on 17 February 2009. As part of the rebrand, some programmes were transferred to channels such as sister channel

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

, while the channel acquired some other programmes looking at British life. The channel closed at midday on 5 July 2013, replaced by

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

on 8 July.

Timeshift

On 12 January 2005, UKTV launched a time shift service called UKTV People +1 It was exclusively available on Sky Digital, and ran exactly the same broadcast on a one-hour delay. It also ran for the same hours as its main channel, except an hour ahead. For unknown reasons, the service closed on 18 April 2006, and was removed from the Sky EPG afterwards. Its bandwidth would be reused for UKTV Drama +1 which launched two weeks later on 2 May, however unlike UKTV People +1, UKTV Drama +1 initially aired as a part-time service.

Identity

When the channel launched as UKTV People, the idents all featured people depicted from different angles set against a screen split in four, before fading into the stacked UKTV People logo. Later in 2007, the idents features a live-action footage where the people are working or having activities (e.g. building site, shopping centre) before a red part moving into the stacked UKTV People logo over a three striped red background. This same background also featured on promotions for the channel, both on the channel and across the network. When the rebrand to Blighty occurred, a new logo was designed consisting of a brightly coloured Union Flag. This is seen on a large scale flying behind the scenes depicted in front. These scenes included many people and centred on a number of typically British themes:

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

, with large

wellies The Wellington boot was originally a type of leather boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military riding boot. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The "Wellington" boot became a staple of pr ...

, business men with umbrellas and people

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

; sun with beach scenes, and other summer activities; tea, with all methods of making tea celebrated alongside cakes and biscuits and multicultural, featuring foreign dances and Indian food and spices.

Programming

Much of the channels programming focused on repeated programming, mainly but not exclusively from the BBC, who held a 50 percent stake in the channel through commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Additionally, BBC programmes were edited to fit the time slot as an original broadcast for an hour-long programme on the BBC might be as much as 58 minutes long, whereas the same programme on Blighty might be 42 minutes long without the commercials. *'' A Life of Grime'' *''Air Medics'' *''

Amazing Adventures of a Nobody ''Amazing Adventures of a Nobody'' is a reality-travel entertainment TV series that follows Leon Logothetis, the presenter and creator, on his travels around the U.K. on just 5 pounds a day. The 5 pounds have to cover food, accommodation and tr ...

'' *'' Billy Connolly's World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales'' *''Blackpool Medics'' *''Blues and Twos'' *'' Britain From Above'' *''Britain in Motion'' *''British Style Genius'' *'' The Britpop Story'' *''The Builders'' *''

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

'' *''Dog Borstal'' *'' Heir Hunters'' *''Jeremy Clarkson Meets the Neighbours'' *''Made In Britain - Dom Joly'' *''Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work'' *''My Brilliant Britain'' *''Rescue Heroes'' *'' Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure'' *''Save Our Boozer'' *''Seaside Rescue'' *''

Sky Cops ''Sky Cops'' is a British documentary series broadcast on BBC One revealing the work of the air police in the UK. The show, which was first broadcast from 2006 to 2008, follows police helicopters from the South Yorkshire Air Operations Unit and ...

'' *'' Traffic Cops'' *'' Who Do You Think You Are?''

References

External links