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How 2

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How 2
Presented byFred 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
NetworkITV (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]

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

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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 that were 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 were developed by TVS; however, on 16 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

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Series Start date End date Episodes
1 21 September 1990 23 November 1990 10
2 23 September 1991 25 November 1991 10
3 7 September 1992 9 November 1992 10
4 6 September 1993 13 December 1993 15
5 5 September 1994 12 December 1994 15
6 4 September 1995 11 December 1995 14
7 9 September 1996 21 February 1997 161
8 1 September 1997 15 December 1997 2163
9 5 January 1999 6 April 1999 13
10 10 January 2000 11 April 2000 13
11 22 January 2001 16 February 2001 20
12 11 February 2002 22 February 2002 10
13 10 January 2003 14 March 2003 10
14 4 June 2004 27 August 2004 13
15 5 May 2006 1 September 2006 13
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

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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. This series focused on Fred and Gareth going to different places each week, and the eight shows featured segments from the first six-year run, that cast the original three presenters.

Notes

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

References

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  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.
  4. ^ "How2 – How About Now?". garethjones.tv.
  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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