''Why Don't You?'' was a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's television series created by producer/director Patrick Dowling and broadcast in 42 series between 20 August 1973 and 21 April 1995. The format consisted of groups or "gangs" of children responding to letters from viewers who wrote into the show suggesting games, 'makes' and days out. Typically these were arts-and-crafts activities or games and magic tricks children could learn to impress their friends.

Broadcast history

The show was originally broadcast in the morning during the school summer holidays and once was shown during the weekday evening children's TV slot. Later it went out during the Easter and Christmas school holidays although it was also broadcast once on Saturday mornings.

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

was at one time a producer and director for ''Why Don't You...?'' before going on to greater fame as writer of ''

Queer as Folk ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * Queer as Folk (British TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * Queer as Folk (American TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of th ...

'' and producer of the 2005 revival of ''

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 ...

''. Under Davies's direction, the format of the series shifted from magazine show to drama, with plots frequently centring on harebrained young Welsh presenter

Ben Slade Benjamin Rory Slade (born 22 April 1976)In praise of summer mischief
Finlo Rohrer, BBC news magazine, 17 July 2008 During the

Ben Slade Benjamin Rory Slade (born 22 April 1976)ITV. Slade and Davies reunited in 2019 in a

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

documentary, first broadcast in December of that year.

Geographical variations

The 1972 pilot for ''Why Don't You'' was filmed in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, with a team of children from Valley Road Primary School. When the series proper launched in 1973, the gang's studio had been moved to Bristol and resembled a dusty basement; however, from 1980 the show also featured gangs from other parts of the United Kingdom, and these shows were made by the respective BBC regional centre, although all were broadcast nationwide. The first "alternative" gangs came from a barn in Scotland and a church hall in Belfast, followed by a seaside café in Cardiff. As the 1980s continued, all four studio settings were abandoned and the gang became based in other UK locations.

Theme tune

The original 1973 theme was "I Say, I Say, I Say", from the De Wolfe Music Library, written by Paul Lewis and credited to The London Studio Group. This theme was retained until 1975. In 1976 the theme changed to "Kings Road Raspberry Parade", written by

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook and Tony Burrows. His compositions have included " You've Got Your Troubles" and the ...

& Roger Cook and performed by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

& His Orchestra. By 1979 the opening theme had changed to the "Why Don't You?" song, written by Faron Brooks. This series retained "Kings Road Raspberry Parade" as the closing theme, but by 1981 this had been replaced by a reprise of the opening song. By 1984 the opening song had been re-recorded by a children's choir. By 1991 the theme tune had changed to one by Norman Cook. The last theme tune was introduced in 1994.

Notable presenters

Gideon Coe Gideon Jon Quantrill Coe (born 22 September 1967) is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist. Early career He began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a child presenter on the BBC One TV programme '' Why Don't You? ...

Andy Crane Howard Andrew Crane (born 24 February 1964) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting Children's BBC between 1987 and 1990 and for his current work as a presenter on the Greatest Hits Radio network. Career Cran ...

* Daniel Evans *

Alexandra Fletcher Alexandra Fletcher (born 8 July 1976) is an English actress, known for her roles as Jacqui Dixon in ''Brookside'' and Diane Hutchinson in ''Hollyoaks''. Career Fletcher joined ''Brookside'' in 1990, and played the role of Jacqui Dixon until ...

Anthony McPartlin Anthony David McPartlin (born 8 January 1975) is a British television presenter, former singer, rapper and actor. He is best known for working alongside Declan Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec. McPartlin came to prominence, a ...

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen (née Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is a retired English actress. She began her career with roles on various television series, before fronting her own comedy sketch show, ''Pauline's Quirkes'', in 1976. She later starred as ...

References

External links

''Why Don't You?'' opening title sequence
at

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