In the first of a new series of the TV Live Podcast, Rob Francis takes a critical look at the 1989 ITV on-air look. Where it came from. What it was trying to fix. And why it exposed deep problems inside the network it was meant to unite.

This isn’t a nostalgia trip. It’s a story about branding without authority, design without conviction, and a broadcaster that wanted to be one thing, but couldn’t bring itself to act like it.

If you want to understand how ITV became what it is today, this is where the cracks first showed.