Why Don't You?: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Why Don't You? or (Why Don't You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go Out and Do Something Less Boring Instead?) was a BBC children's television series broadcast in 42 series between 20 August 1973 and 21 April 1995.

It originally went out in the morning during the Summer school holidays and once was shown during the weekday evening children's TV slot around 4:45 to 5:45. Later it went out during the Easter and Christmas school holidays although it was also broadcast once on Saturday mornings. The format consisted of groups or "gangs" of children responding to letters from viewers who wrote into the show suggesting games, 'makes' and days out. Typically these were arts-and-crafts activities involving cutting up paper, or games and magic tricks children could learn to impress their friends.

Created by producer/director Patrick Dowling at the BBC's Bristol studios, Russell T Davies was later at one time a producer and director for Why Don't You...? before going on to greater fame as writer of Queer as Folk and producer of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who. Under Davies's direction, the format of the series shifted from magazine show to drama, with plots frequently centring around harebrained young Welsh presenter Ben Slade and his increasingly elaborate inventions. Slade was one of the longest serving presenters in the show's 22-year run.

Series details

• Title: Why Don't You?
• Format: Reality
• Language: English
• Genres: Children
• Premiere date: 1973-08-20
• Final broadcast date listed: 1995-04-21
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 25 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 10869

Cast and credited roles

• Ant McPartlin — Ant McPartlin
• Pauline Quirke — Pauline Quirke
• Alexandra Fletcher — Alexandra Fletcher
• Andy Crane — Andy Crane
• Ben Slade — Ben Slade

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1973-08-20; final listed air date 1973-08-24.
• Season 2: premiered 1974-07-11; final listed air date 1974-09-05.
• Season 3: premiered 1975-04-05; final listed air date 1975-05-31.
• Season 4: premiered 1975-09-27; final listed air date 1975-11-15.
• Season 5: premiered 1976-08-13; final listed air date 1976-10-01.
• Season 6: premiered 1977-08-06; final listed air date 1977-10-01.
• Season 7: premiered 1978-03-27; final listed air date 1978-03-31.
• Season 8: premiered 1978-12-21; final listed air date 1979-01-03.
• Season 9: premiered 1979-04-16; final listed air date 1979-04-20.
• Season 10: premiered 1979-12-26; final listed air date 1980-01-04.
• Season 11: premiered 1980-04-07; final listed air date 1980-04-11.
• Season 12: premiered 1980-12-22; final listed air date 1981-01-02.
• Season 13: premiered 1981-04-20; final listed air date 1981-04-24.
• Season 14: premiered 1981-12-21; final listed air date 1981-12-30.
• Season 15: premiered 1982-04-05; final listed air date 1982-04-16.
• Season 16: premiered 1982-12-21; final listed air date 1982-12-31.
• Season 17: premiered 1983-03-29; final listed air date 1983-04-08.
• Season 18: premiered 1983-12-27; final listed air date 1984-01-06.
• Season 19: premiered 1984-04-16; final listed air date 1984-04-27.
• Season 20: premiered 1984-12-31; final listed air date 1985-01-04.
• Season 21: premiered 1985-04-01; final listed air date 1985-04-12.
• Season 22: premiered 1985-08-05; final listed air date 1985-08-09.
• Season 23: premiered 1986-03-27; final listed air date 1986-04-09.
• Season 42: premiered 1995-04-21; final listed air date 1995-04-21.

Source and licence

Adapted from Why Don't You? on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.