30 Unforgettable Years!
All about This Morning
It’s been thirty fun-filled years since Britain’s much-loved breakfast television show This Morning first aired in Liverpool’s Albert Dock on October 3, 1988.
And for its 30th anniversary, ITV are hosting a special 90-minute documentar y, a “laugh-a-minute piece” looking back over three decades of the most daring morning television!
The first ever live testicle examination; cheeky Gino D’Acampo’s fulfilled promise to cook naked; and Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield’s drunk broadcast after partying all night at the National Television Awards – there’s never a dull moment on This Morning.
And generations have grown up with the show, so there’s no denying its influence on British television and the way the nation tunes in.
“We make the show for you!” says the ever-smiley Holly, who’s presented most weekdays alongside Phillip since 2009.
“The viewers have always been a part of the show. Sometimes it feels like it’s not just us two on that sofa, it’s like they’re all sitting with w us and helping us mould the t show.”
Phillip, who’s been one of This T Morning’s most charismatic c hosts for over a decade d says, “In the time I’ve been b here, times have changed c massively. But as a show, s we are always adapting and a moving with the times.
“Things come and go, but This T Morning is like the galleon oof TV – it sails on! But what it ddoes have is this amazing l oyalty, so I would just like to ssay thank you to all the vviewers.”
This Morning’s 30 years of breakfast banter began with a ver y timid introduction from the soon-to-be power couple of morning television, Richard and Judy: “Hi and a very warm good morning to you! My name is Richard Madeley and this is my wife Judy Finnigan.”
The pair fast became household names, and the couple had such an impact on viewers that many believed This Morning was actually called “Richard and Judy”.
Richard says the show was never really about bagging the
“This Morning’s like the galleon of TV – it sails on!”
best celeb inter views or the freshest news stories.
He explains, “It was the live phone-ins that were always at the heart of This Morning for us. We loved them, and the way they allowed our viewers to take possession of the show.”
Judy agrees, saying the show has always been for and about its audience: “Fundamentally we always believed that the programme belonged to the people watching it, not to those of us making it.”