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Original poster

Who remembers News Flashes

28 replies

KattyKattyKatz · 19/02/2023 11:25

Is anyone on here old enough to remember News Flashes in the days before social media ? You would be watching tv and all of a sudden up would pop News Flash . I can remember feeling a huge sense of dread as they always contained awful news.

OP posts:
ScentOfAMemory · 19/02/2023 14:39

You still get them?

Cupcakequeen75 · 19/02/2023 14:42

They weren't all bad news, THE Angela Rippon one wasn't...., 😁😆

Original poster
KattyKattyKatz · 19/02/2023 16:05

ScentOfAMemory · 19/02/2023 14:39

You still get them?

No not since social media took off .

OP posts:
radiatorflush · 19/02/2023 16:20

Yes I remember the Iranian embassy siege interrupting a movie - I think it was a James Bond but I couldn't be sure

ScentOfAMemory · 19/02/2023 17:50

KattyKattyKatz · 19/02/2023 16:05

No not since social media took off .

Show quote history

Recent ones I remember are: the Queen's death, Prince Philip's death and Boris Johnson's resignation.
Maybe we're talking about two different things- I'm talking about the "breaking news" "we interrupt this programme to go over to .." etc.

@radiatorflush it was a Sunday evening and the snooker final was on one side so there would have been a blockbuster film for sure on the other, so you're probably right!

Original poster
KattyKattyKatz · 19/02/2023 20:56

I remember you would be watching tv and all of a sudden the words News Flash would appear . It made you sit up because it would be serious news .

OP posts:
FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 19/02/2023 21:01

Yep. I remember it was things like Lockerbie and other terrorist acts.

TokyoSushi · 19/02/2023 21:08

Yes! In the 80's and 90's, they were reserved for really terrible things so your heart absolutely sank when there was one.

Not like breaking news on your phone now which goes off for all sorts on nonsense.

These were really serious, your programme would stop and somebody from 'the news' like Moira Stuart or Michael Burke would come on and say in a really serious voice 'this is a news flash' and then announce something dreadful/monumental like Lockerbie or Margaret Thatcher resigning. Otherwise whatever happened in the day, you had to wait until 6 or 9 (it was the 9pm news not 10) to find out.

I think that's where my love of all things current affairs started!

SwedishEdith · 19/02/2023 21:12

It's the Iranian Embassy siege I thought of first as well. Sometimes wonder if we'd be less anxious/stressed/whatever if only had access to the news via the scheduled news programmes.

IcedPurple · 19/02/2023 21:15

I remember the expression 'news flash' but don't remember ever actually seeing one.

I guess they became redundant with the rise of round the clock news channels and later the internet and social media.

AndAllOurYesterdays · 19/02/2023 21:18

The only one I remember is when the Queen Mother died

Bobbybobbins · 19/02/2023 21:19

I remember the Lockerbie one. My mum was really worried as my dad was driving back from Scotland and was very late - turns out his car broke down.

EllieQ · 19/02/2023 21:26

I remember the one for the Lockerbie bombing, but I don’t remember what we were watching at the time. It was only the most serious news stories that merited an interruption to normal tv programme.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 19/02/2023 21:33

Yes I remember those, before the days of social media. Dh and I were just remembering the moment we learnt of Princess Diana's death, it wasn't a newsflash but turning the TV on that morning I couldn't work out exactly what the reporter in front of Buckingham Palace was talking about so I pressed the Teletext button where I got the news. Teletext seems a long time ago too now.

NeedHelpToReachTheEnd · 19/02/2023 21:42

Reminds me of this!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=gcO_RRdfsAM

tobee · 19/02/2023 22:57

Yes absolutely used to make my heart start thumping.

Interestingly, I seem to remember 9/11 being announced on BBC1 after Neighbours had finished. However, if it was in the middle of Gone With Wind or something I expect that they would have interrupted the programme.

Think they sometimes put up a banner at the bottom of the screen to say "There is a newsflash now on the news channel" or is that also out of date?

tobee · 19/02/2023 23:00

EllieQ · 19/02/2023 21:26

I remember the one for the Lockerbie bombing, but I don’t remember what we were watching at the time. It was only the most serious news stories that merited an interruption to normal tv programme.

Yes I remember that, just before Christmas and then another one for Kegworth, a few days later, just after Christmas

VanillaImpulse · 19/02/2023 23:01

Yes I remember when the Zeebrugge ferry sank and there was a massive newsflash. I was only about 7 and staying at my nans for the night and it came on the screen. It seemed so scary.
When I was in a car in America there was a scary sound that interrupted the kids dvd playing in the car giving a weather warning. And a storm did bucket down shortly after and we could barely see out the windows. The alert noise did give us all a heart attack though!

TurquoiseDress · 19/02/2023 23:49

Yes I remember these

Vivid memories of the Lockerbie bombing one just a few days before Christmas Sad

Also the Hillsborough football disaster

I must have been around 8 or 9 the memories of these still so vivid

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 20/02/2023 01:02

I remember the news flash when President Kennedy was shot. I was scared and asked my mum if we would have a war.

Whattodowithallthebooks · 20/02/2023 01:09

I remember seeing news flashes for princess Diana dying and September 11th.

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 20/02/2023 01:11

I feel the same "oh shit what's happened" still about my colleagues bbc news app notification sound playing - except that 75% of the time it's mundane news now.

IreneJones · 20/02/2023 01:14

Yes, I remember the news flash when John Lennon was shot and my mum being really shocked.

Gingernaut · 20/02/2023 01:24

The London Evening Standard had a weird little footer on the back page under the sports

Any breaking news, too late for the earlier editions (2 or 3 print runs a day) would be printed horizontally across the page - you'd have to turn the page 90 degrees to read it.

The first News Flash I remember was The Falklands Conflict

For a split second, I thought the UK had been invaded - I thought the Falklands were off Scotland

magicthree · 20/02/2023 01:53

I'm not in the UK, but we still have breaking news across the bottom of the screen when something happens, and if its really bad they interrupt the programme.