''Heart of the Matter'' is a British television debate series that aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

from 1979 to 2000. Presented variously by

Joan Bakewell Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, ('' née'' Rowlands; born 16 April 1933), is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an auth ...

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Early ...

QC and

David Jessel David Greenhalgh Jessel (born 8 November 1945) is a former British TV and radio news presenter, author, and campaigner against miscarriages of justice. From 2000 to 2010, he was also a commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Backgro ...

, its subject matter was often concerned with

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

ethical issues Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

. Topics covered include subjects as diverse as

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

, the effects of anti-personnel landmines, and

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

. Bakewell would usually chair an in-studio debate in which invited guests would discuss the edition's chosen topic. An edition from 1996 hosted by

, ''The Heart of the Matter: God Under the Microscope'' featured a debate on science and religion and included as guests

David Starkey David Robert Starkey (born 3 January 1945) is an English historian and radio and television presenter, with views that he describes as conservative. The only child of Quaker parents, he attended Kendal Grammar School before studying at Cambr ...

Mary Warnock Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, (née Wilson; 14 April 1924 – 20 March 2019) was an English philosopher of morality, education, and mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best known for chairing an inquiry whose report formed the ...

, Wentzel van Huyssteen,

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...

, Polish Roman Catholic priest and 2008 Templeton Prize winner cosmologist Prof. Michael Heller, and

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

. ''Heart of the Matter'' was broadcast late on Sunday evenings, usually alternating with the similarly themed ''

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

'', though the latter tended to have more of a religious focus. Both programmes were cancelled in the 2000s following a revamp of BBC output.

References

External links

* * 1979 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings 1970s British documentary television series 1980s British documentary television series 1990s British documentary television series 2000s British documentary television series BBC Television shows Religion and science 1996 television specials English-language television shows BBC television documentaries about science {{BBC-tv-prog-stub