Did You See...?

Did You See...? was a long-running British television documentary series which began on the BBC in 1980. The programme took a look back at the week's television with a discussion between the presenter and three guests. In the first run there was also an item on related issues. The presenters of Did You See...? were the journalist and broadcaster Sir Ludovic Kennedy, who fronted the programme from 1980 to 1988,^[1] and from 1991 to 1993 Jeremy Paxman. Sarah Dunant hosted the show while Kennedy was absent due to ill health. The format was to review the week's TV highlights, followed by an in depth review and critique of three selected shows with a panel of three notable public figures (not necessarily 'celebrities'). The last segment of the show was a commissioned review of an aspect of TV by an independent reporter.

Notable editions of Did You See...? include a 1986 edition which featured a look at the history of Blue Peter in which former presenter Peter Purves recalled that on the death of Blue Peter pet parrot Joey, the show's editor Biddy Baxter called him in floods of tears. He speculated that had he himself died, Baxter would have been far less upset and wouldn't have been likely to be calling his co-presenters telling them he'd died! This particular feature was one of several that was later expanded and extracted from the series, shown in a stand alone documentary format. Sea of Faith, a 1984 documentary series examining the history of Christianity in the modern world, was featured on another edition. In 1982, the programme featured a visual history of Doctor Who's recurring enemy The Cybermen, to mark their first appearance in the series in seven years. Another later Doctor Who feature took a look at monsters from the series in general.

References

1. ^ David Steel Obituary: Sir Ludovic Kennedy, The Guardian, 19 October 2009

External links

• Did You See...? at the Internet Movie Database