How 2


How 2 is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Productions from 1992 to 2006.
The original show '' was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981 when the company lost its franchise to TVS, which was a regular fixture in the ITV schedules.

History

The show began in 1966 as How; a series popular in the 1970s. It was designed to provide answers to questions beginning with the word "How". Each episode began with the presenters all raising one hand and saying "How" simultaneously. Common topics covered included science, history, mathematics, and simple puzzles. The series came to an end in 1981 when Southern Television lost its ITV franchise, but was revived as How 2 in 1990 by TVS. In 2006 the final series was broadcast, having waited more than a year for transmission. The show was rebroadcast on STV in late 2009 as part of their weekend strand Wknd@stv broadcasting series 14 and 15. Repeats of the rebroadcasts on the weekend strand were also shown on the
CITV Channel in October Half-Term 2009.
A similar CITV show to appear a few years later was The Big Bang, presented by How 2's own Gareth Jones and Violet Berlin. The Big Bang had a more scientific slant, focusing on performing fun experiments involving simple physics and chemistry. Other similar British television series included Don't Ask Me. Fred Dinenage was the only presenter to appear in both incarnations of How, presenting the shows for a total of 31 years. On 6 January 2013, as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend, the first episode of the 1995 series was shown. Prior to this, a How 2 segment was featured on the 30 Years of CITV documentary that aired on ITV on 29 December 2012 and featured interviews with Dinenage and Jones.

Series overview

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
126 September 199023 November 199010
223 September 199125 November 199110
37 September 19929 November 199210
46 September 199313 December 199315
55 September 199412 December 199415
64 September 199511 December 199514
79 September 199616 December 1996151
81 September 199715 December 19972163
95 January 19996 April 199913
1010 January 200011 April 200013
1122 January 200116 February 200120
1211 February 200222 February 200210
1310 January 200314 March 200310
144 June 200427 August 200413
155 May 20061 September 200613

;Notes
1 The last episode of the series was a 30th anniversary special.

2 Before that, there was "The Best of How 2" which aired on 18 August 1997.

3 The last episode of the series was a Christmas special.

''How Goes 2''

There was no series aired in 1998 but there was a spin-off series called How Goes 2, which aired from 25 February to 15 April 1998. The series focused on Fred and Gareth going to different places each week, and the 8 shows featured segments from the first 6-year run, feat the original 3 presenters.