How old do you have to be to remember "On The Third Stroke The Time Sponsored By Accurist , Will Be Zero Eight, Forty And Thirty Seconds Precisely"?

Erm I think it was. My parents never said anything anyway about me calling it 12 times a day to check my new digital watch. I'm a bit older than you. Pretty sure I can remember them announcing it wouldn't be free any more.

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MercuryJellyfish@reddit

I was thinking it cost because my parents did complain the whole time about me using it. Maybe without reason though. 😂

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MercuryJellyfish@reddit

I was thinking it cost because my parents did complain the whole time about me using it. Maybe without reason though. 😂

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DrachenDad@reddit

I remember hearing a woman then a man doing so.

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smoulderstoat@reddit

The woman's voice was Pat Simmons.

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_gothick@reddit

Yes! I’m also 53 and remember being vaguely scandalised by the start of the version with advertising. (Maybe I was right to be—I suppose that was the first flurry of privatisation taking hold…)

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TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit

The same as me! Then you'll remember being able to call Santa, for free, by dialling 123

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BillWilberforce@reddit (OP)

Hang on, 123 was the time.

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TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit

Oh god yeah it was, it was definitely 3 consecutive numbers.

I think

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caffeine_lights@reddit

Did it really start in 1986? I could have sworn I remember the woman and it not being sponsored, but I wasn't born in 1986.

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soundknowledge@reddit

Just tried it, now sponsored by o2.

Decided to make the most of it and set my watch to it also.

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ChelseaGem@reddit

Well quite!

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KingPrawnOkay@reddit

I was born in 96 and was so shy my mum would make me call the talking clock to get used to using the phone!

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No-Medicine1230@reddit

Born in 1987 but this has just unlocked a memory!

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shokalion@reddit

I remember Sponsored by Accurist but not before that, I'm 39

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Slapped91@reddit

I remember it before it was sponsered by Accurist.

Are Accurist still a thing?

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DanS1993@reddit

Born ‘93 and have vague memories of the speaking clock, don’t remember any of the accurist thing…

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KellyMelany@reddit

Calling the speaking clock was the ultimate 'I'm bored and my parents aren't looking' move. It felt so futuristic yet pointles—I mean pointless—at the same time. There was something strangely comforting about that robotic voice telling you exactly how much of your life you were wasting in ten-second increments. Now we just have phones that sync to atomic clocks automatically, and somehow I'm still five minutes late to everything. Progress is a lie.

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biscuittingerg@reddit

Born 1991, first hand me down pay as you go phone around 2002. Talking clock was one of my most called numbers.

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caffeine_lights@reddit

Did your phone not have the time displayed on the screen? Or you called it just because it was fun?

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biscuittingerg@reddit

I think it was purely the novelty of it. Then I’d play a bit of snake, followed by programming in the James Bond theme song monophonic ringtone.

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flummuxedsloth@reddit

I don’t remember calling it. If I needed to set my Casio wristwatch, I’d simply use Teletext.

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Fatbloke-66@reddit

Ah, now that's a service to blow kids minds nowadays!

NMS Ceefax

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nanomeister@reddit

I think it only said ‘precisely’ when the time was exactly on the minute (i.e. zero seconds)

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Fatbloke-66@reddit

yes, I thought the same.

6 44 and fifty seconds....
6 45 precisely...

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SuperNashwan@reddit

My memory is that it was always said, but this is 30 years ago.

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mhoulden@reddit

There were a few "novelty" versions. Lenny Henry did one for Comic Relief in 2003. Disney used it to promote their Tinker Bell film in 2008. There's a list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaking_clock#BT_%22Speaking_Clock%22_voices

The HANDEL system used for the Four Minute Warning piggy-backed off the lines it used. It was cheaper than having dedicated lines and people calling in would make sure any fault would be noticed.

Bill Bryson mentioned that the version that Iowa used to use spelled out BIG JOHN on the phone keypad. His mother could never remember "JOHN" so she tried other names and ended up asking random strangers the time.

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StanBeal97@reddit

Chris, we’re gonna have to let you go mate

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DerwentPencilMuseum@reddit

I grew up in Eastern Europe but know this phrase because it appears at the end of Vangelis' song Pulstar! I listened to it a lot as a child without reallly understanding what was being said and it seemed mysterious and strange

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Mglfll@reddit

I was born in 86, I recall that. BIL born in 95 thinks me and his sister are making it up when we talked about it

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thebowstreetbastard@reddit

Or if you're a fan of PWEI "Time to get Ugly!"

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Original_Bad_3416@reddit

Comic relief took over for a week too

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Reasonable-Ad-3271@reddit

I’m 30 and never knew it. My wife is 35 and fairly often quotes it. So yeah that fits your dates

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ScaredCrowww@reddit

I never had any friends to call so sometimes I used to ring it and just listen to it 🥹

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Original_Bad_3416@reddit

Oh man same

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NortonBurns@reddit

I remember it from before it was sponsored ;)

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Frosty_Leg4438@reddit

It’s amazing how you get old so subtly you don’t realise!

On reflection, I genuinely rang the talking clock a few times as a kid because it was exciting and interesting…

To a modern kid, that 100% is clearly the same as an oldy telling me they used to poke a rock with a stick for fun.

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Original_Bad_3416@reddit

Tbf the ole rock poke is still fun

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811545b2-4ff7-4041@reddit

Some people are still dialing 123 to get the speaking clock.. 3 times a week in parliament alone! https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/freedom-of-information/information-we-already-publish/house-of-commons-publication-scheme/information-technology/speaking-clock-2021/

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

It was a good way of making it look like your line is occupied, I seem to remember someone did a similar request of a council and they were racking up serious bills calling it as it isn't a free service! I highly doubt anyone is checking the time using it surely, surprised anyone even really did.

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colin_staples@reddit

I remember it before it was sponsored by Accurist

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bacon_cake@reddit

I'm young enough to remember when it stopped being sponsored by Accurist. Didn't it just become "The time from BT" ?

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pinkdaisylemon@reddit

Born in 61. Remember calling it often! I remember when we didn't have a phone, I used to go to the phone box about 15 minutes walk away or pop upstairs to use the neighbours! I think we got one in the very late 70s eventually. We waited a long time for installation and excitement was high!

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mronion82@reddit

At junior school, someone told me that if you dialled 123456789 the devil would answer.

So in the dark depths of the night- probably about 8pm- I crept downstairs, dialled the number and heard a deep booming voice.

I ran up the stairs and never told anyone about it, 'til now.

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Martipar@reddit

Time to drag this article out again.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23814934

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herwiththepurplehair@reddit

I remember it, it was called TIM because when it was originally set up those were the letters on the dial (846) - I remember it being 8081 before it went to 123, I'm not old enough to remember 846 but my parents did.

My mum didn't have a phone at home until I was in my teens, my dad and stepmum did because he was on the ambulance service and they paid for him to have it. I think the speaking clock was the first call he let me make on it! It was a very plummy lady's voice originally, without the sponsored message.

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DarthScabies@reddit

I remember Tom Baker voicing it. Think it was for comic relief.

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Snaggl3t00t4@reddit

I am officially "fucking hell" old it seems

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FelisCantabrigiensis@reddit

I can remember when it wasn't sponsored by Accurist (or anyone else)!

Also it only said "precisely" if there was no seconds. E.g. "12 40 precisely" then "12 40 and ten seconds", etc.

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