Theme music composer Debbie Wiseman Original language(s) English No. of episodes 114 First episode date 19 October 1993 Network BBC One Genre Reality television | Country of origin United Kingdom No. of series 12 Executive producer(s) Jeremy Mills Final episode date 26 February 2003 Number of episodes 114 Language English | |
Nominations British Academy Television Craft Award for Photography - Factual | ||
Children's Hospital is a British television fly-on-the-wall documentary series based at the Sheffield Children's Hospital, Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. It was broadcast on BBC One between October 1993 and February 2003.
Contents
Production
According to scholar Annette Hill, the series had "all the hallmarks of a docu-soap", saying its "personal, melodramatic stories appeal to viewers, with more than 8 million tuning into the first series, despite widespread criticism from the press." Peter Lee-Wright observes that the series marked a transition in fly-on-the-wall documentaries by shifting the emphasis from the practical considerations onto the "human dramas being played out ... [capturing] the pain of the children ... and their parents' rollercoaster rides."
Music
The theme music was composed by Debbie Wiseman. The music was released as a CD single in 1997, containing full orchestral and piano versions of the theme, alongside the shorter versions used for the opening and closing sequences. The orchestral version was also released on the compilation album World of Sound. A new solo piano performance, titled "Ray of Sunshine", of the theme was included on the 2011 album Wiseman: Piano Stories.