Local Heroes (1996)

Genre

documentary film

Country

United Kingdom

Length

5 seasons, 42 episodes

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Adam Hart-Davis rides a bicycle around the United Kingdom to tell stories about local scientists. He performs street experiments using simple materials to explain their discoveries.

educationalplayfulquirkyupbeatinformalgeekywhimsicalcasual

What happens

Local Heroes is a science and history television programme in the United Kingdom, presented by Adam Hart-Davis. Made by Screenhouse Productions and directed by Paul Bader, it was first aired on the ITV regional network Yorkshire Television in 1992. In the show, Adam Hart-Davis, dressed in the pink and yellow cycling clothes that would become the show's trademark, rode around the YTV region (including Yorkshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire) on a matching pink and yellow bicycle, stopping in a particular area to tell the stories of scientists that lived or were born there. These stories were embellished by experiments, performed on the street by Hart-Davis, generally using bits of wood and junk from a trailer on his bike. This hobo-meets-Johnny Ball style approach to science-education proved appealing, and after two series, the show was sold to the national BBC2 network in 1994. The move saw two changes: the scope of the show was expanded nationwide, with a different region visited each episode; and the theme tune was changed from No More Heroes by The Stranglers to a twee and plinky number, more in keeping with the programme genre. Eventually this was replaced by a more upbeat theme, by Wallace and Gromit composer Julian Nott, played by a Czech orchestra. Since then, the series has covered over 200 'heroes', and has seen several special episodes. The first special saw Hart-Davis visit Egypt to investigate ancient heroes, while another took him to Italy for a Renaissance special. Another notable show was the finale of the last series (to date), which was performed in front of a live audience at the Royal Institution, much in the style of the Institution's Christmas Lectures. The show continued until 2000. Since then, Hart-Davis has moved on to other shows, and the bbc.co.uk Local Heroes pages have now been deleted, suggesting that no further series are planned. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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