How 2

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How 2
Presented by Fred Dinenage
Gareth Jones
Carol Vorderman (1990–97)
Siân Lloyd (1997)
Gail Porter (1999)
Gail McKenna (2000–06)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series15
No. of episodes198
Production
Running time30 minutes (later 15 minutes)
(inc. adverts)
Production companies
Original release
Network ITV (CITV)
Release26 September 1990 (1990-09-26) –
1 September 2006 (2006-09-01)
Related
How (1966–1981)

How 2 is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Studios (Scottish Television) from 1992 to 2006. [1]

Contents

The original show ( How) was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981 when the company lost its franchise to TVS, which was a regular fixture in the ITV schedules.

History

The show began in 1966 as How; a series popular in the 1970s. It was designed to provide answers to questions beginning with the word "How". Each episode began with the presenters all raising one hand and saying "How" simultaneously (playing on the stereotypical Native American greeting). Common topics covered included science, history, mathematics, and simple puzzles. The series came to an end in 1981 when Southern Television lost its ITV franchise, but was revived as How 2 in 1990 by TVS. The first two series developed by TVS, however on 16th October 1991 when it was announced that TVS had lost the franchise round to Meridian, [2] several ITV companies were interested in taking over production of the show, ultimately Scottish Television won out and produced the show from Series 3 onwards. After an intervening year at the Maidstone Studios, from Series 4 until the end of Series 15, taping of the show took place at STV's Glasgow Studios. [3]

In addition to the regular series, two specials were also produced. This included a comedy special, produced especially for CITV's Comedy Week of programs in February 1997. Later the same year, a christmas special was produced, which was filmed in Lapland. [4]

In 2006 the final series was broadcast, having waited more than a year for transmission. Afterwards, series 14 and 15 were regularly repeated on the CITV channel, normally at weekends and some school holidays until the end of 2012.

A similar CITV show to appear a few years later was The Big Bang , presented by How 2's own Gareth Jones and Violet Berlin. The Big Bang had a more scientific slant, focusing on performing fun experiments involving simple physics and chemistry. Other similar British television series included Don't Ask Me . Fred Dinenage was the only presenter to appear in both incarnations of How, presenting the shows for a total of 31 years. On 6 January 2013, as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend (a televised event celebrating the strand's 30th anniversary), the first episode of the 1995 series was shown. Prior to this, a How 2 segment was featured on the 30 Years of CITV documentary that aired on ITV on 29 December 2012 and featured interviews with Dinenage and Jones.

In 2019 How 2 was made available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. [5]

Also in 2019, the CITV channel commissioned a further revival of the format. [6] Fred Dinenage made his third return to the series, alongside a new team of Vick Hope, Sam Homewood and Frankie Vu. [7]

Series overview

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
121 September 199023 November 199010
223 September 199125 November 199110
37 September 19929 November 199210
46 September 199313 December 199315
55 September 199412 December 199415
64 September 199511 December 199514
79 September 199621 February 1997161
81 September 199715 December 19972163
95 January 19996 April 199913
1010 January 200011 April 200013
1122 January 200116 February 200120
1211 February 200222 February 200210
1310 January 200314 March 200310
144 June 200427 August 200413
155 May 20061 September 200613
Notes

1 The last episode of the series was a comedy special, aired as part of CITV's comedy week.
2 Before that, there was "The Best of How 2" which aired on 18 August 1997.
3 The last episode of the series was a Christmas special.

How Goes 2

There was no regular series in 1998 but there was a spin-off series called How Goes 2, which aired from 25 February to 15 April 1998. The series focused on Fred and Gareth going to different places each week, and the 8 shows featured segments from the first 6-year run, featuring the original 3 presenters.

Notes

  1. ↑ Later known as SMG TV Productions and STV Studios

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References

  1. ↑ GarethJones.tv- How 2
  2. ↑ Thynne, Jane (17 October 1991). "ITV auctions cost four companies their licences". The Daily Telegraph. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "How2 - The How2 Presenters". garethjones.tv.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ "How2 - How About Now?". garethjones.tv.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ "Watch How 2 | Prime Video". www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Young Audiences Content Fund announces first slate". Kidscreen. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "The new HOW presenters are…". Press Centre. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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