The Sky at Night: Time Lord

29 Mar 2007

BBC One ... 1 April at 11.30pm
BBC Four ... 2 April at 8.30pm
BBC Two ... 7 April at 12.45pm

In April 1957 the very first Sky at Night programme was ushered in by the comet Arend-Roland. Fast forward 50 years and Sir Patrick Moore is still at the helm of the BBC’s longest running television programme. This anniversary programme celebrates this extraordinary achievement as Sir Patrick is joined by some very special guests.

Sir Patrick will start off by time travelling back to visit his younger self played by Jon Culshaw. He will then jump forward to 2057 to discover what could happen in the next 50 years of The Sky at Night. As he is uploaded into a BBC computer and pays a visit to Mars, he meets Dr Brian May, Queen guitarist and professional astronomer.

Early editions of the programme were transmitted live from the BBC's Lime Grove studios, which allowed for the occasional unforeseen event. Patrick once swallowed a fly live on air and, on another occasion, he had to think on his feet when a Russian guest turned out not to speak any English; the interview went ahead in pidgin French.

Other guests over the years include leading astronomers such as Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Jocelyn Bell-Burnell as well as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The programme has covered many remarkable events around the world, from the first pictures obtained of the far side of the moon to total eclipses of the Sun. However, the team was less fortunate for the eclipse of 1999 in Cornwall when heavy rain prevented them from seeing anything!

Sir Patrick attributes the long running success of the series primarily to the fact that the sky is all around us so nobody can avoid a passing interest.

[photo credit: Robin Hammond - Copyright BBC - www.bbc.co.uk ]

> The Sky at Night web site

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