| Children's Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Docu-soap[1] |
| Theme music composer | Debbie Wiseman |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 12 |
| No. of episodes | 114 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jeremy Mills[2] |
| Producers | Richard Bradley[3] Tracy Cook |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 19 October 1993[3] – 26 February 2003 |
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.[4] It was broadcast on BBC One between 19 October 1993 and 26 February 2003.
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."[5] 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."[6]
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.[7] The orchestral version was also released on the compilation album World of Sound.[8] A new solo piano performance, titled "Ray of Sunshine", of the theme was included on the 2011 album Wiseman: Piano Stories.[9]
Transmissions
Series
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 October 1993 | 21 December 1993 | 10 |
| 2 | 20 October 1994 | 22 December 1994 | 10 |
| 3 | 7 January 1997 | 3 June 1997 | 20 |
| 4 | 3 September 1997 | 10 October 1997 | 6 |
| 5 | 21 April 1998 | 17 June 1998 | 12 |
| 6 | 7 September 1998 | 9 November 1998 | 10 |
| 7 | 27 April 1999 | 8 July 1999 | 10 |
| 8 | 18 January 2000 | 29 February 2000 | 6 |
| 9 | 27 June 2000 | 1 August 2000 | 6 |
| 10 | 13 June 2001 | 15 August 2001 | 8 |
| 11 | 26 June 2002 | 7 August 2002 | 6 |
| 12 | 22 January 2003 | 26 February 2003 | 6 |
Specials
| Entitle | Air Date |
|---|---|
| (Update) | 22 December 1997 |
| Philadelphia | 8 December 1999 |
| Russia with Jeremy Spake | 10 December 1999 |
| Christmas Special | 20 December 1999 |
Further reading
- Bradley, Richard; Cook, Tracy; Phillips, Mark (1993). Children's Hospital: The Book of the BBC-TV Series. BBC Worldwide. ISBN 0-563-36972-8.
- Hill, Annette (May 2000). "Fearful and Safe: Audience Response to British Reality Programming". Television & New Media. 1 (2): 193–213. doi:10.1177/152747640000100205. S2CID 144757382.
References
- ↑ Born, Georgina (2005). Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the Reinvention of the BBC. Random House. p. 433.
- ↑ Kent, Simon (2001). Getting a top job in-- the arts & media. Kogan Page Publishers. p. 76.
- 1 2 "CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL". BFI. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ↑ "TV hospital that became a beacon of hope". The Telegraph. UK. 30 January 2001. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ↑ Hill, Annette (2005). Reality TV: audiences and popular factual television. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 0-415-26152-X.
- ↑ Lee-Wright, Peter (2009). The Documentary Handbook. Taylor & Francis. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-415-43402-7.
- ↑ BBC Worldwide, BMG, 743214758922
- ↑ Big George. "DEBBIE WISEMAN: TV & Film Composer Extraordinaire". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ↑ Debbie Wiseman: Piano Stories, 2011, Warner Classics