Blues and Twos (TV series)

Blues and Twos
Genre	Documentary
Narrated by	Laurie Mayer
Theme music composer	Michael Groth
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	32 (1 pilot)
Production
Executive producer	Ivan Rendall
Producer	John Pettman
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Zenith North Carlton Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	22 November 1993 (1993-11-22) – 5 March 1998 (1998-03-05)

Blues and Twos is a documentary series following the work of Britain's emergency services. It aired on ITV between 22 November 1993 and 5 March 1998 and was produced by Carlton Television and Zenith North. ^[1]

Production

Executive producer Ivan Rendall explains the idea behind the series:

Above all, the idea was to show the reality of people whose working lives are spent in dangerous circumstances, and to do so without sanitising what they actually do (…) by making it real, the audience could see them for the very special kind of people they are. ^{[2] : 19}

A pilot episode was created in 1993, featuring the team from the London Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) as they responded to casualties in the aftermath of the Bishopsgate bombing. ^{[2] : 17  [3]}

To capture the action up close, a solo cameraman accompanied the rescue teams. Cameras were also mounted on and inside vehicles, and workers wore body-mounted cameras, marking a first for this type of documentary. ^{[2] : 13}

Originally the programme had been commissioned by Carlton for transmission in the London area but the ITV network decided to air it nationally. The opening episode gained 12.25 million viewers, higher than anticipated. From there the first series of seven episodes was commissioned, covering the work of a variety of emergency services across the country. ^{[2] : 21}

Series Overview

Series	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
Pilot			22 November 1993 (1993-11-22)
1	7		8 September 1994 (1994-09-08)	27 October 1994 (1994-10-27)
2	7		11 January 1996 (1996-01-11)	29 February 1996 (1996-02-29)
3	7		13 January 1997 (1997-01-13)	24 February 1997 (1997-02-24)
4	10		1 January 1998 (1998-01-01)	5 March 1998 (1998-03-05)

Episodes

Pilot (1993)

Title	Original release date
"Medevac"	22 November 1993 (1993-11-22)
London's HEMS team Doctor Karen Heath with paramedics Alan Norman and Lester Bernard are busy tackling a series of 999 calls when the Bishopsgate bomb blast rocks their control room in the city centre.

Series 1 (1994)

Episodes aired on ITV on Thursdays at 20:30. ^[4]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date
1	1	"Stay on the Line"	8 September 1994 (1994-09-08)
2	2	"Green Watch"	15 September 1994 (1994-09-15)
3	3	"Tango 476"	22 September 1994 (1994-09-22)
4	4	"On Scene"	6 October 1994 (1994-10-06)
5	5	"D Day"	13 October 1994 (1994-10-13)
6	6	"Solo One"	20 October 1994 (1994-10-20)
7	7	"India Juliet"	27 October 1994 (1994-10-27)

Series 2 (1996)

Episodes aired on ITV on Thursdays at 20:30. ^[5]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date
8	1	"Around Midnight"	11 January 1996 (1996-01-11)
9	2	"Make Pumps Five"	18 January 1996 (1996-01-18)
10	3	"Taking Bricks"	25 January 1996 (1996-01-25)
11	4	"East-AM 123"	1 February 1996 (1996-02-01)
12	5	"Hotel 900"	8 February 1996 (1996-02-08)
13	6	"On Scene"	22 February 1996 (1996-02-22)
14	7	"Ace of Clubs"	29 February 1996 (1996-02-29)

Series 3 (1997)

Episodes aired on ITV on Mondays at 20:30. ^[6]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date
15	1	"196 Emergency Message"	13 January 1997 (1997-01-13)
16	2	"Helimed 181"	20 January 1997 (1997-01-20)
17	3	"Level Two"	27 January 1997 (1997-01-27)
18	4	"Lifebikes"	3 February 1997 (1997-02-03)
19	5	"Dawn Raiders"	10 February 1997 (1997-02-10)
20	6	"November 232"	17 February 1997 (1997-02-17)
21	7	"The Night D"	24 February 1997 (1997-02-24)

Series 4 (1998)

Episodes aired on ITV on Thursdays at 20:30. ^[7]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original release date
22	1	"Mike 6-4"	1 January 1998 (1998-01-01)
23	2	"One Under"	8 January 1998 (1998-01-08)
24	3	"T.W.O.C."	15 January 1998 (1998-01-15)
25	4	"Celtic One Three"	22 January 1998 (1998-01-22)
26	5	"The Men in the Middle"	29 January 1998 (1998-01-29)
27	6	"Carriageway Chaos"	5 February 1998 (1998-02-05)
28	7	"Rescue 122"	12 February 1998 (1998-02-12)
29	8	"Echo Bravo 1-1"	19 February 1998 (1998-02-19)
30	9	"BASICS"	26 February 1998 (1998-02-26)
31	10	"Uniform Bravo"	5 March 1998 (1998-03-05)

Awards and nominations

The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. ^[8]

Year	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
1995	Best Sound Factual	Bob Jackson Colin Hobson	Nominated	[9]
1997	Best Sound Factual	Bob Jackson Chris Pancott Steve Blincoe	Won	[9]

References

1. "Blues and Twos (TV Series 1993–1998)". IMDb. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
2. Rendall, Ivan (1995). Blues & Twos. Little, Brown & Company. ISBN   0-316-87672-0.
3. "The Flying Doctors". TV Times (20-26 November 1993 ed.). Future plc. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 14 February 2025.(subscription required)
4. "TV Times London Edition Programmes 3-9 Sept 1994". TV Times. Future plc. p. 63. Retrieved 14 February 2025.(subscription required)
5. "TV Times London Edition Programmes 6–12 January 1996". TV Times. Future plc. p. 65. Retrieved 14 February 2025.(subscription required)
6. "TV Times London Edition Programmes 11-17 January 1997". TV Times. Future plc. p. 50. Retrieved 14 February 2025.(subscription required)
7. "TV Times London Edition Programmes 20 Dec 1997 - 2 Jan 1998". TV Times. Future plc. p. 121. Retrieved 14 February 2025.(subscription required)
8. "BAFTA: Our Heritage". BAFTA . Retrieved 14 February 2025.
9. "Awards Search - Blues and Twos". BAFTA. Retrieved 14 February 2025.

Bibliography

• Rendall, Ivan (1995). Blues & Twos. Little, Brown & Company. ISBN   0-316-87672-0.

External links

• Blues and Twos at IMDb