Original network BBC One Final episode date 1996 | First episode date 29 October 1988 Network BBC One | |
Directed by Robin BextorMalcolm SmithPhil Chilvers (1990 Christmas special) Producer(s) Jane Elsdon-Dew (1990 Christmas special)Nick Vaughan-BarrattBryher ScudamoreRichard Woolfe Original release 29 October 1988 (1988-10-29) – 1996 Similar No - Honestly, That's Life!, The Rag Trade (1961), Cash in the Attic, Changing Rooms | ||
Hearts of gold
Hearts of Gold was a BBC television programme devised and presented by Esther Rantzen, with Michael Groth and Carol Smillie as co-presenters. Running for six years in the 1980s and 1990s, the programme commended members of the public for their good deeds.
Contents
Rantzen devised the show in 1988. The premise of the show was to commend those who had done good deeds to others. They would usually be tricked into appearing on the show using a practical joke, a device which some critics (such as The Independent's Geraldine Bedell) compared to Beadle's About. Journalist Bedell explains that participants "are inviegled into the studio under false pretences and presented with gold hearts on blue ribbons while they wonder where to put themselves. (There is also a sub-Beadle segment in which Esther and chums dress up as folk in distress and wait for passers-by to come to their aid)."
The theme song was written by Lynsey de Paul and released as a single by Gold in 1988.For some of its life, the show was filmed at The Fountain Studios in Wembley.