Two bears and a caravan load of top television stars will set out from Birmingham this week. Their mission is to make friends with 1,550,000 potential fans. Their town and village safari heralds the opening of a new transmitter at Membury, near Hungerford, Berks., on April 30 which will enable another 1,500,000 people to join join the 8,850,000 Midlanders already served by the Lichfield transmitter.
For the 10 days the ATV caravan is touring the new area, telling people about the new transmitter, Jimmy Tarbuck, the wisecracking Liverpool comedian, will be abroad. So will Crossroads stars Noele Gordon and John Bentley. They will answer questions about their highly popular daily television show and all other ATV programmes.
But perhaps the biggest role will be the bears - Tingha and Tucker, the cuddly koalas, who, with Jean Morton, should any chance thousands of kiddies with the impromptu kerbside entertainment.
Areas to be served by Membury include Oxford, Swindon, Newbury, Cirencester, Malborough and Wantage. Pictures will even reach parts of Somerset.
Smart blue and white television vans have already been right through the new area making arrangements to flashover local events for weekday Midland News and ATV Today programmes. Midlands announces Pat Ashley and Jill Bechley will join the caravan party when ever they can get away from the studios.
Members of the ATV Today team, including David Lloyd, John Brookes, Gwyn Richards and Lionel Hampden will also play host to the potential newcomers to the vast Midlands audience.
Among exciting future projects to welcome viewers is an outside broadcast addition of Emergency – Ward 10 from the hospital in the new area.
These are the places where the blue and white caravan carrying the TV stars can be seen:
Cirencester (by the Urban Council offices) on April 7.
Swindon (opposite Gaumont Cinema) April 8 and 9.
Newbury (Central car park area) April 10 and 12.
Oxford (Oxpens car park) April 13 and 14.
New clipping from TV World - Date incomplete. 3rd April 19xx.