''SMart'' was a British

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

television programme based on

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting H ...

in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at

Pebble Mill Studios Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne ...

in Birmingham. The format is similar to the

Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009)Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role as a children's television present ...

programmes '' Take Hart'' and '' Hartbeat''. The show was revamped into an hour-long show in 2007; from 1994 to 2006 it was previously a 25-minute show. From 1994 to 2005, the show also featured Morph, originally from ''Take Hart''. The series run featured 199 episodes, last airing on 11 August 2011.

Production

The BBC noticed the success of '' Art Attack'' with

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'', ...

for

CITV 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 ...

which started in 1990 and decided to create their own art show that was accessible to children similar to ''Art Attack''. The original theme tune was composed by Kjartan Poskitt, famous for the '' Murderous Maths'' series of books. From 2003, a different tune was used, written by Steve Brown (known as the fictional musical director Glen Ponder in '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge''). In 2007, this was remixed by Matt Thomas of Mosquito Music in line with the new format. In 2007, the new autumn series had a new format mixing some of the old segments with new ideas. It was aired on Sunday, and repeated on Wednesdays. It involved more child participation in games and celebrity guests. This new format also allowed for episodes of ''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...

'' (and sometimes ''Thumb Wrestling Federation'') to be aired halfway in. One of the segments displayed art that had been sent in by viewers, to the backing music of 'Give It Away' by

Zero 7 Zero 7 is an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. Both of them began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, '' Simple Things'', was released in 2001; their song "Destiny" stayed in ...

. Following the death of presenter

Mark Speight Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (6 August 1965 – 7 April 2008) was an English television presenter and host of children's art programme ''SMart''. Speight was born in Seisdon, Staffordshire, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist. He t ...

's fiancée

Natasha Collins Natasha Louise Collins (7 September 1976 – 3 January 2008) was an English actress and model. Following a car crash that curtailed her career, she fatally overdosed on cocaine, which Mark Speight, her fiancé, was initially suspected of supply ...

in January 2008, repeats of the show and its

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

spin-off '' SMarteenies'' were suspended. Speight left the programme, saying his "tragic loss" had left him unable to continue; he later committed suicide. The BBC indicated, however, that there would still be a new series of ''SMart'' later that year. The format was utilised again when a new series began with a new timeslot on Sunday 29 June 2008, airing on CBBC on BBC Two, still presented by Kirsten O'Brien and Mike Fischetti. A special tribute to Mark Speight was also broadcast. Along with this new format, guest presenters appear each week to assist the two presenters. Series 16 began airing on 3 January 2009 in the same style to the series before. The major change was that the original airings moved to the

channel rather than

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. Kirsten O'Brien and Mike Fischetti both returned to host the show and the show continued to have guest presenters. The games involving children in the studio were dropped and instead children participated via

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in Videotelephony, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...

or pre-recorded on location. The show also added segments on fun aspects of digital photography.

Spin-offs

The success of ''SMart'' allowed it to spawn various spin-off series. The first was ''SMart on the Road'' where either Mark Speight or Kirsten O'Brien, with the help of Lizi Botham, would travel around the country helping people with major projects, for example decorating a room or making a fun garden. It starred Kirsten O'Brien, Mark Speight,

Jay Burridge Jay Jay Burridge also known as Jay Burridge (born 12 January 1971) is a British artist and former television presenter. He fronted the BBC children's art programme '' SMart'' from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a graphic designer and ...

and Lizi Botham. '' SMarteenies'' was the second spin-off, where Kirsten, Mark, Jay and "Bizi Lizi" went through fun makes for younger viewers, including ''man of letters and shapes'' and Kirsten's Household Makes with Doogie the Dog. This programme was specifically aimed at a younger demographic, roughly from 3–6 years old on was aired on

. It starred Kirsten O'Brien, Mark Speight, Jay Burridge and Lizi Botham. A special episode, ''SMart Africa'', was made by the BBC to coincide with Africa Week. The episode contained easy ways to make things. This episode, with Kirsten O'Brien and Mark Speight, was aired as part of the 2003 series.

Presenters

Guest presenters

2007

2008

2009

Series guide

''SMart on the Road'' series guide

Legacy

In March 2011, CBBC started to air ''Deadly Art'' which followed a very similar format to ''SMart'' and also stars Mike Fischetti. They look to the wild for inspiration (to tie in with the "Deadly" series e.g. ''Deadly 60''). Then CBBC aired ''Totally Rubbish'' and their current art series is '' Art Ninja'', whose presenter Ricky Martin said he watched ''Art Attack'' and ''SMart'' religiously as a child.

References

External links

CBBC Homepage
*{{IMDb title, 0217959 BBC children's television shows 1994 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 1990s British children's television series 2000s British children's television series Television series about art British English-language television shows Television series by BBC Studios