| Genre: | Regional News |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Network: | Anglia Television |
| Country: | England |
| Producer: | Anglia Television |
| Related: | ITV News Anglia |
About Anglia is a regional news magazine programme produced by Anglia Television in the east of England, broadcast for over thirty years from 2 June 1960 to 6 July 1990.
One of the first regional programmes of its kind on ITV, About Anglia began in May 1960 as a twice-weekly programme, accompanying the ten-minute regional evening news bulletin on weekdays.
Its success prompted it to be extended to four nights a week the following September, and then, every weeknight.[1] Its original main presenter was Dick Joice.
Early regular features included gardening, Police Call and in-depth weather forecasts for the region provided by Anglia's in-house weather department.
Some early elements of About Anglia featured on the short-lived Midday Show, which aired during the first few months of the station, and featured Susan Hampshire among its cast.
The programme was transmitted throughout the Anglia region: Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire and east Yorkshire.
From 1 January 1974, East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and parts of north Norfolk (served by the Belmont transmitter) were transferred to the Yorkshire Television area, although the Anglia weather department continued to produce special regional forecasts for the area for several years.
About Anglia was given a new, modern look on Monday 21 March 1988 when Anglia Television abandoned its original identification, a small silver statue of a knight on horseback.
Two years later, on Monday 9 July 1990, About Anglia was replaced by Anglia News, which transmitted two programmes:
Both were produced and broadcast from studios at Anglia House in Norwich, long before this became standard practice across ITV regional news services, with reporters in Ipswich, Chelmsford, Cambridge, Peterborough, Northampton, Luton and Milton Keynes, along with a political bureaux at Westminster.
Cutbacks in 2009 led to the reintroduction of a pan-regional programme (known as Anglia Tonight) with shorter sub-regional opt outs – which have since been extended under ITV News Anglia.
Many About Anglia personalities moved on to national prominence.
Other presenters and journalists who regularly appeared include: