''How 2'' is an informative educational programme produced by
TVS between 1990 and 1991, and
STV Studios
STV Studios (previously STV Productions, SMG Productions, and originally known as Scottish Television Enterprises) is the television production arm of the STV Group plc. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England, ...
(
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
) from 1992 to 2006.
The original show (''
How
How may refer to:
* How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech
* How, an interrogative word in English grammar
Art and entertainment Literature
* ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seidma ...
)'' was produced by
Southern Television
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
from 1966 up until 1981 when the company lost its franchise to
TVS, which was a regular fixture in the
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
schedules.
History
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
Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between indivi ...
). Common topics covered included science, history, mathematics, and simple puzzles. The series came to an end in 1981 when
Southern Television
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
lost its
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
franchise, but was revived as ''How 2'' in 1990 by
TVS. 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
CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...
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
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the Expansion of the universe, universe expanded from an initial state of high Energy density, density and temperature. Various Physical cosmology, cosmological models of the Big Ba ...
'', presented by ''How 2s own
Gareth Jones and
Violet Berlin
Violet Berlin (born 2 January 1968) is a British television presenter, producer and script writer for films, games and immersive experiences, best known for her pioneering coverage of innovative technology and video games.
Career
Berlin first ...
. ''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
Frederick Edgar Dinenage MBE (born 8 June 1942) is an English author and retired broadcaster and television presenter. His television career spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme ''How'' and ITV's regional pro ...
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
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
in the UK.
Also in 2019,
the CITV channel commissioned a further
revival of the format. Due for air November 2020, with
Fred Dinenage
Frederick Edgar Dinenage MBE (born 8 June 1942) is an English author and retired broadcaster and television presenter. His television career spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme ''How'' and ITV's regional pro ...
making his third return to the series, alongside a new team of
Vick Hope
Victoria Nwayawu Nwosu-Hope (born 25 September 1989) is a British TV and radio presenter, journalist and published author.
Vick hosts three shows a week across BBC Radio 1 "Going Home with Vick and Jordan", "Life Hacks" and "Official Chart: F ...
, Sam Homewood and Frankie Vu.
Series overview
;Notes
1 The last episode of the series was a 30th anniversary special.
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''
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. The series focused on Fred and Gareth going to different places each week, and the 8 shows featured segments from the first 6-year run, featuring the original 3 presenters.
References
{{Reflist
External links
''How 2''at
itv.com/citv – now defunct.
1990 British television series debuts
2006 British television series endings
1990s British children's television series
2000s British children's television series
English-language television shows
ITV children's television shows
Television series by STV Studios
Television shows produced by Scottish Television
Television shows produced by Television South (TVS)