''Holiday'' is a British television programme, which aired mainly 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, ...

, and sometimes on BBC Two. It is the longest running travel review series on UK television, showing every year from 1969 until its demise in 2007.

Overview

The programme began in 1969 as ''Holiday 69'', and until the 1990s the year was included in the title in this way. The first presenter was

Cliff Michelmore Arthur Clifford Michelmore (11 December 1919 – 16 March 2016) was an English television presenter and producer. He is best known for the BBC television programme '' Tonight'', which he presented from 1957 to 1965. He also hosted the BBC's t ...

, who remained with the series until 1986. In 1974, competitor network ITV launched its own travel show, '' Wish You Were Here...?'', which ran until 2003. Each week the programme consisted of reports made by presenters visiting holiday resorts and destinations in both the UK or overseas. The locations would be reviewed based on criteria such as amenities, attractions, and hospitality. Despite the programme's interesting locations and resorts, it garnered a reputation for featuring destinations that the majority of viewers would be unable to afford. The programme spawned several short-lived offshoot programmes, including ''Summer Holiday'' (1994–2002); ''Holiday: Fasten Your Seatbelt'' (1996–98), in which presenters tried out holiday-related jobs); ''Holiday: You Call the Shots'' – in which viewers advised the presenters which sites to visit in a particular destination prior to filming (2001–03); and ''Holiday on a Shoestring'' (1999). It was announced by the BBC in November 2006 that after 37 years and 40 series, ''Holiday'' would end in March 2007 at the conclusion of its current run.

Presenters

Many presenters appeared in the programme, including Cliff Michelmore, Ginny Buckley,

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 author a ...

, Anne Gregg, Frank Bough, Desmond Lynam,

Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959)Holmes receives honorary degree
BBC ...

Anneka Rice Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter. Early life and education Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wale ...

Jill Dando Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her ...

, Rizwana Lateef,

Craig Doyle Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970, Dublin) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently BT Sport. Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One cha ...

and

Nana Akua Nana Akua Amotemaa-Appiah (born July 1971) is a British television presenter for GB News. Early life The child of Ghanaian immigrants, Akua was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her family moved to the United States when she was 11 years old. She ...

. In addition, the teams of reporters who provided regular reviews from holiday destinations included

Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...

, Bill Buckley,

Kieran Prendiville Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947) is an English-Irish television writer, producer, and presenter. Early life Prendiville was born on 25 December 1947 in Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of an Irish father from Killorglin, County Kerry, ...

Fyfe Robertson James Fyfe Robertson (19 August 1902 – 4 February 1987) was a Scottish television journalist and broadcaster. Biography Robertson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was one of six children of Jane Dunlop and James Robertson, a miner w ...

, Kathy Tayler,

Monty Don Montagu Denis Wyatt Don (born George Montagu Don; 8 July 1955) is a British horticulturist, broadcaster, and writer who is best known as the lead presenter of the BBC gardening television series '' Gardeners' World''. Born in Germany and rais ...

Rowland Rivron Rowland John Rivron (born 28 September 1958) is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality. Early career Rivron played the comic character "Dr Martin Scrote" on the Jonathan Ross chat show ''The Last Resort'', and also played Scr ...

, John Cole and

Carol Smillie Carol Patricia Smillie (born 23 December 1961) is a Scottish television presenter, actress and former model. Smillie became famous as a presenter on British TV during the 1990s and early 2000s. She was best known for assisting Nicky Campbell on ...

. The final presenter was

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen (; born 11 March 1965) is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme ''Changing Rooms''. Name He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn", and th ...

Theme tunes

The original theme tune for the series was

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

's "The Castle". Subsequent theme tunes in the mid-1970s included

Hugo Montenegro Hugo Mario Montenegro (September 2, 1925 – February 6, 1981) was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio M ...

's arrangement of Lalo Schifrin's theme to the 1968 movie '' The Fox'', a cover of the Beatles song "

Here Comes the Sun "Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...

", and Part Five of

Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

's ''

Équinoxe ''Équinoxe'' (, en, Equinox) is the fourth studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in December 1978 on the Dreyfus record label, licensed to Polydor Records for its worldwide distribution. The albu ...

''.

Gordon Giltrap Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including ...

's "Heartsong" was used as a theme tune from 1978 until the end of the 1985 series. In 1986 it was replaced with "The Holiday Suite" written by

Simon May Simon May (born 15 August 1944) is a British composer. He has composed many British television theme tunes, including ''EastEnders'' and ''Howards' Way'', and the music for the 1988 film ''The Dawning''. Biography Born in Devizes and a pupi ...

, who also composed the '' EastEnders'' theme. This proved unpopular, and was replaced the following year by a further Giltrap composition. In 1988

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Early l ...

composed new music, titled "The Voyager". This theme was used throughout the 1990s and 2000s until the programme came to an end after 37 years in 2007.

Transmissions

''Holiday''

''Holiday Quiz''

''Summer Holiday''

''Holiday: Fasten Your Seatbelt''

''Holiday Heaven''

''Holiday Memories''

''Celebrity Holiday Memories'' in 1999

''Holiday Guide to....''

''Holiday on a Shoestring''

''Holiday Swaps''

''Holiday: You Call the Shots''

Specials

References

External links

* * {{Tourism in the United Kingdom 1969 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings 1960s British travel television series 1970s British travel television series 1980s British travel television series 1990s British travel television series 2000s British travel television series BBC television documentaries BBC travel television series English-language television shows