Heaven and Earth Show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Heaven and Earth Show | |
---|---|
Genre | Religion/Spirituality |
Presented by | Various, including: |
Country of origin | UK |
Language(s) | English |
Production | |
Location(s) | Granada Studios, Manchester |
Running time | 60 min. per episode |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | BBC |
Original run | 1998 – 2007 |
External links | |
Official website | |
IMDb profile | |
TV.com summary |
The Heaven and Earth Show was a BBC television programme that aired on Sunday mornings from 10am to 11am on BBC One. The show ran for nine years between 1998 and 2007, looking at spiritual and moral issues. Over the years it had numerous presenters, and its final presenter was Gloria Hunniford.
The programme had a magazine format, with guests of all backgrounds talking about various ethical, spiritual and cultural issues. The programme also featured phone-ins, email and text readouts. Commonly a celebrity guest would be interviewed about their career with a particular focus on religious belief or spirituality; some later guests included Jermaine Jackson, Al Green, Alexei Sayle and Vic Reeves. Heaven and Earth was notably different from traditional 'God slot' (Sunday morning/afternoon) programming in that it concentrated on a wide range of beliefs rather than just Christianity — for example, features on the ethics of halal meat or 'New Age' concepts of spirituality. It included prominent figures from the Church and Islamic, Jewish, Hindu and secular communities and would also contain reports on topical religious issues, with notable reporters including Toyah Willcox, John Walters, Ed Stourton, Myleene Klass, Kate Silverton and Kate Gerbeau.
Occasionally there were special programmes such as that on 7th of September 2003 covering 3 different types of beliefs: theist, New Age followers and atheists or agnostics. A specially commissioned poll was produced on issues raised.
Heaven & Earth was made by the BBC's in-house Religion and Ethics department and was broadcast live from Granada Studios in Manchester.
The BBC announced in the spring of 2007 that they were cancelling the show in Autumn after a run of nine years — to be replaced for a 12-month period with commissions made by two independent production companies. On September 2, 2007 Heaven & Earth had its final show: The Proclaimers were the final musical guests.
[edit] Notable guests
Over the years many guests appeared on the programme, including:
- Dolly Parton - US country music star
- William Shatner - US actor (Star Trek)
- Vanessa Feltz - British TV and radio presenter
- Kevin Costner - US movie star
- Cliff Richard - British pop singer
- Vic Reeves - British comedian
- Matthew Kelly - British TV presenter
- Lionel Richie - US musician
- Liza Minnelli - US stage and movie star
- Noel Edmonds - British TV presenter
- Tony Robinson - British actor and presenter
- John Barrowman - British actor (Doctor Who, Torchwood)
- Tom Baker - British actor (The Doctor in Doctor Who)
- Myleene Klass - British musician and TV presenter
- Henry Olonga - Zimbabwean cricketer
- Morgan Freeman - US actor
- Pierce Brosnan - Irish actor (James Bond)
- Dennis Hopper - US actor
- Mike Oldfield - Musician
- Nerina Pallot - British singer
- Gary Numan - British singer and musician