Background: Channel 4 started staying up late in 1985, initially only on Friday & Saturday nights, and a special ident was briefly used. It was in early 1986 that the channel broadcast well into the early hours seven days a week offering an alternative to the programming on ITV as that network started extending broadcasting hours at around the same time, on a region-by-region basis, ahead of the entire ITV network being on air all night by autumn 1986.
(1986-2002)[]
Logo: On a black background, grey water ripples are seen. Then, they connect to form the silver Channel 4 logo and then 4 yellow corners fade in around it, and then it becomes 3D. There is the word "N I G H T I M E" that fades and flips in. At closedown, the finished product is seen, but the text turns into "GOODNIGHT".
FX/SFX: Terrific animation for the time.
Music/Sounds: Eerie ascending sounds are heard; they culminate into a mysterious tune that plays on the menus. This is actually a portion of "Dreamtime" by David Vorhaus.
Music/Sounds Variant: At closedown, it becomes a rather omnious descending theme.
Availability: Extinct.
Legacy:
- Original Version: The dark atmosphere, slow motion, and overall scary and mysterious music will intimidate a lot. It's even worse that it shows at late night, but it is not a problem as the block only appears on Friday & Saturday nights.
- Closedown: This variant is noticeably tamer, since the theme is less eerie and is more relaxing, but the dark atmosphere and slow motion are still there.
However, if you are used to seeing this on the program itself, this isn't much of a problem.