Hartbeat
Children's arts programme with Tony Hart and Morph.
Hartbeat is a Children's BBC arts programme presented by Tony Hart, broadcast between 1984 and 1993. It succeeded Take Hart and instructed children in designing art features and creating objects from everyday items. The series was notable for its blend of live action and the animated Plasticine character Morph.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 30mins (Special: 60mins)
- Starring
- Tony Hart
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Network
- Children's BBC
- First aired
- 14 September 1984
- Last aired
- 17 November 1993
- Related
- Vision On
- Take Hart
- The Amazing Adventures of Morph
Facts from the source article.
History
Tony Hart and his Plasticine sidekick Morph returned in Hartbeat, a show that guided young viewers in creating art projects and repurposing household items. It premiered on 14 September 1984. The first series aired solo on Friday afternoons. From its second series in 1985, it became part of Children's BBC and moved to Wednesdays, staying there until the programme ended in 1993. Episodes lasted about thirty minutes.
Theme
Hartbeat continued the themes of Take Hart but deliberately updated its image. It introduced a more modern set of opening titles using rudimentary CGI and a synthesised theme tune composed by David Owen Smith. Several young female co-presenters were added, initially alternating between Margot Wilson, Joanna Kirk, Gabrielle Bradshaw, Alison Millar and Liza Brown. The studio backdrops were changed to reflect the new direction. A storyline featured in each episode to keep casual viewers interested, generally revolving around a topic such as a broken computer or Tony's birthday; some fans of Take Hart felt these storylines upstaged the show's premise. The "Gallery" segment, in which viewers sent in their own artworks, remained from Take Hart and Vision On and continued until 2009 in the BBC Children's programme SMart. With the advent of computers in schools, Hart often arranged for professional graphic designers to visit the studio to demonstrate computer use in art and craft and show off the latest software. Colin Bennett continued as Mr Bennett, the bumbling caretaker from Take Hart; each episode normally ended with a humorous segment where Mr Bennett distracted Tony, and after the closing credits Tony dealt with the aftermath. In the 1989 series Mr Bennett was replaced by the dotty tea lady Elvira Muckett, played by Amanda Swift, who called "Te-ea!" and referred to Tony and the co-presenter as "Mr and Mrs Hartbeat"; her first appearance featured her humming the original Take Hart theme "Left Bank Two". Elvira was later replaced in 1992 by an accident-prone cleaning-lady named Alison, aiming to bring back the comedy element left by Mr Bennett's departure.
Popularity
Between 1984 and 1990, Hartbeat regularly attracted over 5 million viewers, a very high figure for a UK children's television series at the time, and was one of the most popular series broadcast on Children's BBC. Repeats aired on the CBBC segment of BBC2's Daytime on Two during school holidays between 1986 and 1989. By 1992 viewing figures declined, and the BBC discontinued the series a year later.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Hartbeat are there?
Hartbeat has 132 episodes across 10 seasons.
When did Hartbeat end?
Hartbeat last aired on 17 November 1993.
More in British Television Series with Live Action and Animation
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