Record Breakers
| Record Breakers | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Alan Russell |
| Developed by | BBC |
| Presented by | |
| Judges | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 15 December 1972 – 21 December 2001 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Blue Peter |
Record Breakers is a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001. It was originally presented by Roy Castle with Guinness World Records founders twin brothers Norris McWhirter and Ross McWhirter. The programme was a spin-off series from Blue Peter which had featured record breaking attempts overseen by the McWhirter twins. Producers of the series over the years were, Alan Russell (its creator), Michael Forte, Eric Rowan, Greg Childs, Annette Williams and Jeremy Daldry.
The closing theme was "Dedication", performed by Roy Castle, who broke nine world records on the show himself.[1]
As well as interviews with people who held British or World records, early editions of the programme would include a feature in which the studio audience would test the McWhirter brothers on their (almost infallible) knowledge of records, and the climax of each show would usually be a world record attempt in the studio. Ross was murdered by a Provisional IRA gunman in 1975, but his brother continued to appear on the show in the "Norris On The Spot" feature.
Hosts
Other hosts included Fiona Kennedy, Julian Farino, Cheryl Baker, Fearne Cotton, Kriss Akabusi and Ronald Reagan Jr.[2] After Castle died in 1994, the show was hosted by Baker and Akabusi, then Linford Christie took over in 1999 with co-presenters Jack Lattimer, Jez Edwards and Kate Sanderson.
Specials
All Star Record Breakers, which ran annually from 1974 to 1982, was a special Christmas edition of the show. Castle was joined for this extended edition by virtually all the BBC's children's TV presenters for music and dance numbers, which generally culminated with the ensemble cast performing a classic story.
Longevity
By the time Record Breakers was cancelled, it had been on air for 29 years, 7 days and was one of the longest-running TV programmes in Britain.
Transmission guide
- Series 1: 6 editions from 15 December 1972 – 19 January 1973
- Series 2: 6 editions from 5 October 1973 – 9 November 1973
- Series 3: 7 editions from 5 November 1974 – 17 December 1974
- Series 4: 7 editions from 30 September 1975 – 11 November 1975
- Series 5: 6 editions from 27 October 1976 – 1 December 1976
- Series 6: 7 editions from 7 October 1977 – 18 November 1977
- Series 7: 8 editions from 24 October 1978 – 12 December 1978
- Series 8: 7 editions from 6 November 1979 – 18 December 1979
- Series 9: 12 editions from 22 October 1980 – 7 January 1981
- Series 10:10 editions from 21 October 1981 – 23 December 1981
- Series 11: 9 editions from 27 October 1982 – 22 December 1982
- Series 12: 9 editions from 25 October 1983 – 20 December 1983
- Series 13: 9 editions from 8 January 1985 – 5 March 1985
- Series 14: 8 editions from 1 November 1985 – 20 December 1985
- Series 15: 9 editions from 21 October 1986 – 16 December 1986
- Series 16: 9 editions from 27 October 1987 – 22 December 1987
- Series 17: 9 editions from 21 October 1988 – 16 December 1988
- Series 18: 9 editions from 20 October 1989 – 15 December 1989
- Series 19: 10 editions from 28 September 1990 – 14 December 1990
- Series 20: 10 editions from 27 September 1991 – 13 December 1991
- Series 21: 10 editions from 25 September 1992 – 11 December 1992
- Series 22: 10 editions from 24 September 1993 – 10 December 1993
- Series 23: 12 editions from 7 October 1994 – 23 December 1994
- Series 24: 13 editions from 29 September 1995 – 22 December 1995
- Series 25: 13 editions from 23 September 1996 – 16 December 1996
- Series 26: 13 editions from 26 September 1997 – 19 December 1997
- Series 27: 10 editions from 16 October 1998 – 18 December 1998
- Series 28: 8 editions from 1 October 1999 – 19 November 1999
- Series 29: 8 editions from 20 October 2000 – 8 December 2000
- Series 30: 8 editions from 2 November 2001 – 21 December 2001
- All Star Record Breakers
- 27 December 1974
- 30 December 1975
- 24 December 1976
- 28 December 1977
- 27 December 1978
- 27 December 1979
- 24 December 1980
- 27 December 1981
- 26 December 1982
- Japan Domino Toppling Special : 10 April 1981
- The Big Jump Special: 25 October 1985
- Dominoes Special 17 February 1988
- Roy Castle Tribute Special: 30 September 1994
- Record Breakers : Roy Castle Personality Plus: 28 December 1994
- Record Breakers Gold:
- Series 1:13 editions from 1 January 1997 – 24 March 1997
- Series 2:13 editions from 5 January 1998 – 30 March 1998
Ratings(CBBC Channel)
- Thursday 11 April 2002- 20,000 (10th most watched on CBBC that week)
See also
References
- ↑ Norris Mc Whirter - 1994 Roy Castle tribute special
- ↑ screenonline: Record Breakers (1973-2001)
- ↑ http://www.barb.co.uk