Local Heroes (British TV series)

Local Heroes is a science and history television programme in the United Kingdom, presented by Adam Hart-Davis.

For the company, see Local Heroes (company).

Made by Screenhouse Productions and directed by Paul Bader, it was first aired on the ITV regional network Yorkshire Television in 1991. In the show, Adam Hart-Davis, dressed in the pink and yellow cycling clothes that would become the show's trademark, rode around the YTV region (including Yorkshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire) on a matching pink and yellow bicycle, stopping in a particular area to tell the stories of scientists that lived or were born there. These stories were embellished by experiments, performed on the street by Hart-Davis, generally using bits of wood and junk from a trailer on his bike.

This hobo-meets-Johnny Ball style approach to science-education proved appealing, and after two series, the show was sold to the national BBC2 network in 1994. The move saw two changes: the scope of the show was expanded nationwide, with a different region visited each episode; and the theme tune was changed from No More Heroes by The Stranglers to a twee and plinky number, more in keeping with the programme genre. Eventually this was replaced by a more upbeat theme, by Wallace and Gromit composer Julian Nott, played by a Czech orchestra.

Since then, the series has covered over 200 'heroes', and has seen several special episodes. The first special saw Hart-Davis visit Egypt to investigate ancient heroes, while another took him to Italy for a Renaissance special. Another notable show was the finale of the last series (to date), which was performed in front of a live audience at the Royal Institution, much in the style of the Institution's Christmas Lectures.

The show continued until 2000. Since then, Hart-Davis has moved on to other shows, and the bbc.co.uk Local Heroes pages have now been deleted, suggesting that no further series are planned.

Series 1
  1. South West:
    • Sarah Guppy: patented the exercise bed, the breakfast urn and the suspension bridge
    • William Watts: invented lead shot
    • Humphry Davy: discovered laughing gas, started electrochemistry and made patients breathe gases from cows
    • Edward Jenner: introduced vaccination against smallpox
    • Mikael Pedersen: designed a beautiful and curious bicycle
    • George Pocock (inventor): inventor of spanking machine and pioneer of kite locomotion
  2. South:
  3. Scotland:
  4. Midlands:
  5. Northern Ireland:
  6. North West:

Series 2

1 Devon: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Henry Moule: Thomas Savery: Mary Anning:

2 Scotland: Alexander Bain (inventor): Electro-chemical telegraph Charles Macintosh: Mac James Clerk Maxwell: Robert Stirling: Inventor James Gregory (mathematician): Mathematician

3 East: William Harvey: Reformed incorrect thinking about the circulation of blood. Robert Fitzroy: Pioneered storm warning system and invented the weather forecast. Benjamin Wiseman: Patented a Windmill in 1783. William Hase: Modified prison treadmills to take power outside the prison. William Gilberd: Discovered the earth is a magnet. John Jeyes: Invented a unique three-function toilet cleaner Jeyes Fluid. William Hyde Wollaston: Invented a clever mirror-and-prism device (Camera lucida) that lets you see your subject superimposed on your sketch pad.

4 North East: John Walker (inventor): Invented the friction match. Charles Algernon Parsons: Invented the steam turbine. Joseph Wilson Swan: Invented the incandescent light bulb. Lewis Fry Richardson: Inventor of sonar and the understanding of the mathematics of the weather. Thomas Wright (astronomer): First to understand the Milky Way. Gladstone Adams: Invented the windscreen wiper.

5 Wales: Thomas Telford: Developed a system for road building & built bridges. Alfred Russel Wallace: Devised theory of natural selection jointly with Darwin. William Price (physician): Pioneer of cremation. Harry Grindell Matthews: Invented a portable radio, and supposed Death Ray inventor. Richard Trevithick: Ran world's first steam locomotive at Merthyr. Robert Recorde: Invented equals sign. Hugh Owen Thomas (and the bonesetters of Anglesey): Four generations of bonesetters and founder of orthopaedic surgery.

6 South East: Samuel Morland: Invented giant megaphones and was master mechanic to Charles II Hertha Ayrton: Invented way of clearing trenches of Mustard Gas. Eleanor Coade: Her artificial stone was used for many landmarks. Henry Maudslay: Founder of precision engineering and first production line. Thomas Young (scientist): Discovered how the eye works and translated the Rosetta Stone. Liborio Pedrazzoli: Inventor of swimming umbrellas. Ralph Wedgwood (inventor): Invented carbon paper. William Willoughby Cole Verner: Invented cavalry sketching board to enable cavalrymen to make accurate maps whilst on horseback.

Series 3

1 Devon and Cornwall: Thomas Newcomen et al.

2 London: Cornelius Drebbel et al.

3 South: Robert Hooke et al.

4 Special – Egypt

5 Special – Italy

6 Special – Science Week

Series 4

1 South: Henry Cavendish et al.

2 East of Scotland: James Dewar et al.

3 Cotswolds: William Henry Fox Talbot et al.

4 St Pauls: Heroines

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