''It's a Mystery'' is a networked

Children's ITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

programme which ran for five series from 12 September 1996 to 9 May 2002. It was produced by The Media Merchants Television Company Ltd for Meridian Broadcasting Ltd. In Series five, the show was retitled as ''Mystery'' and featured different presenters. It was a magazine show featuring unusual stories including about UFOs, ghosts and other difficult to explain happenings, some of which were solved while others remained unexplained.

Neil Buchanan Neil Buchanan (born October 1956) is an English artist, photographer, and musician, best known for his work on British children's television. During his tenure as a children's television presenter, he hosted the CITV programme '' Art Attack'', ...

, best known for his regular arts show ''

Art Attack ''Art Attack'' is a British children's television programme revolving around art, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan on CITV from 1990 to 2007, and subsequently hosted by Lloyd Warbey on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2015. The original program ...

'', hosted the first series with

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

actor

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

. For the second and third series, Neil was joined by

Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In 1999, she posed nude for ' ...

(1997–1999) from magazine show ''

How 2 ''How 2'' is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Studios ( Scottish Television) from 1992 to 2006. The original show ('' How)'' was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981, when ...

'' along with

Tristan Bancks Tristan Bancks (21 December 1974) is an Australian children's and teen's author, with a background in filmmaking and acting. As an actor, he is known for his role as Tug O'Neale on ''Home and Away'' between 1992 and 1994. Biography Bancks tr ...

. In 2000, Gail and Tristan were replaced by Ben Jones and Shelley Blond. Following Neil's departure, Steve Wilson and Shiarra Juthan presented the final series in 2002.

Format

It was a programme that educated children by challenging them to solve a mystery. Usually this would involve people telling stories of mysterious occurrences that have happened to them, such as a Man in a Van driving up to a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

and seeing his exact duplicate across the roundabout, driving the same vehicle. Other times, the presenter would show unexplained phenomena such as

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

or the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...

. The production is Tim Edmunds. The presenter would then offer up possible explanations as to what might have been behind the mystery or if there is even an explanation to give. After each story, it would be given a solved or unsolved designation. At the end of each episode, a

riddle A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...

would be asked for the audience to solve until the next episode (where the answer would be given). Forty-four episodes were made, and the series regularly made the Children's Top Ten.

Presenters

The programme was originally presented by

and

(Series One); Neil Buchanan,

, and

(Series Two and Three); Neil Buchanan, Ben Jones and Shelley Blond (Series Four); Steve Wilson and Shiarra Juthan (Series Five). The series used many actors over the years. These included; Jo-Anne Good (''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'',

BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Place, London. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly au ...

), Russell Hookey (''

Channel Report ''ITV News Channel TV'' (referred to as ''ITV News on Channel'' on air) is a television news service for the Channel Islands broadcast and produced by ITV Channel Television. ITV News has its main Channel Islands newsroom in Jersey as well as ...

'', ''

Lookaround ''ITV News Lookaround'' is the name of a British television news service produced by ITV Tyne Tees & Border and broadcasting to the ITV Border region. Overview ''Lookaround'' is produced and broadcast from studios at The Watermark, Gateshead w ...

'',

ITV News Anglia ''ITV News Anglia'' is a British television news service for the East of England, broadcast and produced by ITV Anglia. History ''Anglia News'' replaced the long-running news magazine programme '' About Anglia'' on Monday, 9 July 1990. Initiall ...

ITN News Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C. IT ...

), Barry Rose (''Crossroads''), Mike Dyer-Ball (''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''), and Hal Dyer (''

Rentaghost ''Rentaghost'' is a British children's television comedy show, originally broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which ...

'', ''

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'', ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Geo ...

'').

Transmission guide

*Series 1: 10 editions from 12 September 1996 – 13 November 1996 *Series 2: 7 editions from 3 September 1997 – 15 October 1997 *Series 3: 10 editions from 4 January 1999 – 8 March 1999 *Series 4: 7 editions from 3 April 2000 – 5 June 2000 *Series 5: 10 editions from 9 April 2002 – 9 May 2002

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0135730, title=It's a Mystery 1996 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series 1990s British mystery television series 2000s British children's television series 2000s British mystery television series British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Mattel Television Television shows produced by Meridian Broadcasting