How: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

How was a British educational television show created by Jack Hargreaves. It was produced from 22 March 1966 – 19 August 1981.

How was originally devised by Hargreaves for an audience of adults returning from the pub. Its aim would be to give facts and demonstrations that could settle arguments or be used aspub tricks. A one-off pilot was broadcast at 11.15pm on 22 March 1966, to viewers in the Southern Television area only.

Following the pilot, Hargreaves felt the show might work better in an afternoon slot, aimed at making facts fun for children. Thus, at 5.25pm on 25 April 1966, Southern began live transmission of the first programme in the series of How, which would continue in a similar format for the next fifteen years. Made in Southern's Southampton studios, it provided answers to questions beginning with the word "How".

Each episode began with the presenters all raising one hand and saying "How" simultaneously (mimicking the stereotypical Native American greeting). Topics commonly covered included science, history, mathematics and simple puzzles. The formula proved so successful that it was soon broadcast to the whole ITV network and given two slots per week.

The show was originally presented by Hargreaves alone. He was joined by Fred Dinenage (1966–1981), Jon Miller (1966–1981), Bunty James (1966–1969 and 1970–1976), Dr Tom Gaskell (1969), Jill Graham (1969–1970) and Marian Davies (1977–1981). Occasional stand-ins for Hargreaves included Barry Bucknell.

The series came to an end in 1981 when Southern Television lost its ITV franchise, but was revived as How 2 in 1990.

Series details

• Title: How
• Format: Variety
• Language: English
• Genres: Children
• Premiere date: 1966-11-10
• Final broadcast date listed: 1981-08-19
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ITV1
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 10704

Cast and credited roles

• Fred Dinenage — Fred Dinenage
• Jon Miller — Jon Miller
• Jack Hargreaves — Jack Hargreaves
• Bunty James — Bunty James
• Marian Davies — Marian Davies
• Jill Graham — Jill Graham
• Tom Gaskell — Tom Gaskell

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1966-11-10; final listed air date 1967-06-29; episode order: 34.
• Season 2: premiered 1967-09-28; final listed air date 1968-03-07; episode order: 24.
• Season 3: premiered 1968-11-18; final listed air date 1969-06-23; episode order: 28.
• Season 4: premiered 1970-01-16; final listed air date 1970-04-03; episode order: 12.
• Season 5: premiered 1970-07-09; final listed air date 1970-08-20; episode order: 7.
• Season 6: premiered 1971-07-08; final listed air date 1971-08-26; episode order: 8.
• Season 7: premiered 1972-06-22; final listed air date 1972-08-24; episode order: 10.
• Season 8: premiered 1973-04-24; final listed air date 1973-06-26; episode order: 10.
• Season 9: premiered 1974-04-30; final listed air date 1974-06-25; episode order: 9.
• Season 10: premiered 1975-01-08; final listed air date 1975-02-19; episode order: 7.
• Season 11: premiered 1975-12-31; final listed air date 1976-03-24; episode order: 13.
• Season 12: premiered 1977-01-05; final listed air date 1977-03-30; episode order: 13.
• Season 13: premiered 1978-03-01; final listed air date 1978-05-24; episode order: 13.
• Season 14: premiered 1978-12-27; final listed air date 1979-03-21; episode order: 13.
• Season 15: premiered 1980-06-25; final listed air date 1980-09-24; episode order: 12.
• Season 16: premiered 1981-05-13; final listed air date 1981-08-19; episode order: 13.

Source and licence

Adapted from How 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.