UK TV viewers of a certain age may remember Channel 4’s FourMations animated tv seasons. Usually consigned to late night slots or acting as televisual polyfilla when there were five minute gaps between episodes of Countdown and Fifteen-to-One - it usually consisted of a wide plethora of the latest animated shorts from across the globe.

It was via these that I first experienced as wide ranging series of films starting from Aardman’s Creature Comforts, to Jan Svankmajer’s terrifying (to a youngling Archer, at least) Alice. After Fourmations came to a close, Channel 4 tried a few other animation initiatives, including Mesh (specifically for computer generated graphics) and my personal favourite - Dope Sheet - a late night showcase of the latest animated shorts.

Unfortunately, this all seemed to come to an end in 1999. Although C4 continued to encourage and help develop the British animation scene, the TV coverage diminished. Some people might argue that this coincidentally took place at the same time that Channel 4 invested heavily in Big Brother-all-night coverage, but then some people will look for any reason to slam Big Brother. Myself included.

Obviously, British animation as a whole hasn’t suffered, there is still a massive scene out there - but now Channel 4 are getting involved again, and settting up the 4mations.tv - a YouTube style site where people can view, review and upload their own films. Look at it as a more focussed YouTube channel with cash prizes. My little play about on the site so far has come up with some little gems already, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else there is to offer.