Going for a Song was an antiques quiz show broadcast by the BBC from 1965-1977. It was a forerunner of the Antiques Roadshow. The original television series was hosted by presenter Max Robertson, with Arthur Negus appearing as the resident expert and antique valuer.[1] The programmes were recorded before a studio audience. Revivals of the programme were made in the 1990s, hosted by Michael Parkinson (1995-1999),[2] and in 1997 by Anne Robinson, with Eric Knowles as the resident antiques expert.
Robertson would introduce an antique to a panel of experts who would examine the object and give its date and value. Negus would then present its actual age and worth.
All versions of the series were characterised by a caged bird automaton singing over the programme's opening and closing credits, accompanied in the original series by the first movement from Respighi's suite Gli Uccelli (or The Birds in English).