Holiday (TV series)
Holiday was a long-running UK television programme, which aired mainly on BBC One, sometimes airing on BBC Two. It is the longest running travel review series on UK television, showing every year from 1969 until its demise in 2007. Overview. The programme began in 1969 as "Holiday 69", and until the 1990s the year was included in the title in this way. The first presenter was Cliff Michelmore, who remained with the series until 1986. In 1974, competitor network ITV launched its own travel show, "Wish You Were Here...?", which ran until 2003. Each week the  programme consisted of reports made by presenters visiting holiday resorts and destinations in both the UK or overseas. The locations would be reviewed based on criteria such as amenities, attractions, and hospitality. Despite the programme's interesting locations and resorts, it garnered a reputation for featuring destinations that the majority of viewers would be unable to afford. The programme spawned several short-lived offshoot programmes, including "Summer Holiday" (1994–2002); "Holiday: Fasten Your Seatbelt" (1996–98), in which presenters tried out holiday-related jobs); "Holiday: You Call the Shots" – in which viewers advised the presenters which sites to visit in a particular  destination prior to filming (2001–03); and "Holiday on a Shoestring" (1999). It was announced by the BBC in November 2006 that after 37 years and 40 series, "Holiday" would end in March 2007 at the conclusion of its current run. Presenters. Many presenters appeared in the programme, including Cliff Michelmore, Ginny Buckley, Joan Bakewell, Anne Gregg, Frank Bough, Desmond Lynam, Eamonn Holmes, Anneka Rice, Jill Dando, Rizwana Lateef, Craig Doyle and Nana Akua. In addition, the teams of reporters who provided regular reviews from holiday destinations included Sarah Kennedy, Bill Buckley, Kieran Prendiville, Fyfe Robertson, Kathy Tayler, Monty Don, Rowland  Rivron, John Cole and Carol Smillie. The final presenter was Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Theme tunes. The original theme tune for the series was Love's "The Castle". Subsequent theme tunes in the mid-1970s included Hugo Montenegro's arrangement of Lalo Schifrin's theme to the 1968 movie "The Fox", a cover of the Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun", and Part Five of Jean Michel Jarre's "Équinoxe". Gordon Giltrap's "Heartsong" was used as a theme tune from 1978 until the end of the 1985 series. In 1986 it was replaced with "The Holiday Suite" written by Simon May , who also composed the "EastEnders" theme. This proved unpopular, and was replaced the following year by a further Giltrap composition. In 1988 Paul Hardcastle composed new music, titled "The Voyager". This theme was used throughout the 1990s and 2000s until the programme came to an end after 37 years in 2007. Transmissions. Section::::"Holiday Memories". "Celebrity Holiday Memories" in 1999