How 2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| How 2 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Educational |
| Starring | Fred Dinenage, Gareth Jones, Gail McKenna |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | SMG Productions |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CITV on ITV1 |
| Original run | 1966 (as How) – Present |
How 2 is an informative children's programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1992, and SMG Productions (STV) from 1993. It has been a regular fixture in recent years in the CITV schedules.
[edit] Current presenters
- Fred Dinenage (Meridian newsreader)
- Gareth Jones (children's presenter, TV director)
- Gail McKenna (children's presenter).
[edit] Past presenters have included
- Siân Lloyd (ITV Weather forecaster)
- Carol Vorderman (co-presenter of Channel 4 quiz show Countdown)
- Gail Porter
The show began in 1966 as How. The series was popular in the Seventies, with Dinenage, Jack Hargreaves, Jon Miller and Bunty James (later replaced by Marian Davies). 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. In 2006 the final series was broadcast, having been waiting to be transmitted for over a year. ITV have now stopped commissioning home-grown programming including HOW2.
A similar CITV show to appear a few years later was The Big Bang, presented by How 2's own Gareth Jones and journalist Violet Berlin (whose former credits include video-games show Bad Influence, also on CITV). The Big Bang had a more scientific slant, focusing on performing fun experiments involving simple physics and chemistry. Other similar British televisions series included Don't Ask Me.
