Music Time was a BBC schools television series which ran from autumn 1970 to spring 1991, with repeats airing until summer 1994. It was presented initially by Mari Griffith and Ian Humphris, from 1977 by Kathryn Harries and Peter Combe and then from 1983 by Jonathan Cohen and Helen Speirs. From its inception until summer 1983 it was transmitted on BBC1; subsequently it was on BBC2, and for most of its run it was transmitted on Mondays and Thursdays.
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Format
The series was aimed at primary school children aged between 7 and 9. It taught singing, instrumentation, and basic elements of music theory and performance through simple, easily understandable songs. These often formed part of a production intended to be performed by schools, and usually performed at the end of the series (though in later years, as with Tarfa and the Trolls, the full performance was sometimes at the beginning of the series). This would often be a pantomime in the autumn term. The series also included animated films (usually produced by Bura and Hardwick) based on familiar classical works such as Coppelia, Lieutenant Kije and Hary Janos. These were sometimes shown in their own right on BBC2 in the early evening.