Stars celebrate ITV's 50th birthday

ITV celebrated its 50th birthday last night with a star-studded gathering.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh mingled with the channel's top artistes, including Ant and Dec, Chris Tarrant, newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, Claire Sweeney and the casts of Coronation Street, Emmerdale and The Bill, for the event at London's Guildhall.

Ant McPartlin revealed that the Queen was not a regular viewer of his Saturday Night Takeaway, saying: 'She asked, "How are you involved?", and I said, "We do things like go to the rainforest".'

ITV went on air at 7.15pm on September 22, 1955.

Viewers saw the Halle Orchestra playing Elgar's Cockaigne Suite and part of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

The launch also saw the broadcast of the country's first commercial, for Gibbs SR toothpaste.