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| The Sky at Night | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Presented by | Sir Patrick Moore Chris Lintott Lucie Green Maggie Aderin-Pocock Pete Lawrence Dr George Dransfield |
| Theme music composer | Jean Sibelius |
| Opening theme | "At the Castle Gate" |
| Ending theme | "At the Castle Gate" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 825 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | BBC Birmingham (until 2013) BBC Science (2014–2015) BBC Studios Science Unit (2015-present) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One (1957–2013) BBC Four (2014–) |
| Release | 24 April 1957 – present |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Sky at Night is a documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first monthly broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date was a posthumous broadcast, following Moore's death[1] on 9 December 2012. This made it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.[2] Many early episodes are missing, either because the tapes were wiped or thrown out, or because the episode was broadcast live and never recorded in the first place.[3]
The programme was shown monthly up until 2023.
Beginning with the 3 February 2013 edition, the show was co-presented by Lucie Green and Chris Lintott.[4] Since December 2013 Maggie Aderin-Pocock has also been a presenter.[5] In April 2023 Dr George Dransfield joined the show as a presenter.[6]
Pete Lawrence has presented an observing section on the programme since 2004 as well as producing an online monthly star Guide on the BBC Sky at Night webpage.[7]
The programme's opening and closing theme music is "At the Castle Gate", from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, written in 1905 by Jean Sibelius, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
- ^ Sample, Ian (9 December 2012). "Sir Patrick Moore: the eccentric amateur who became a TV star". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ Biography of Sir Patrick Moore Retrieved 4/Jan/07 Archived 18 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kennedy, Maev (1 December 2011). "Arthur C Clarke predicted Russians would put first man on moon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ "The Sky at Night episode credits". BBC. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ "New Sky At Night presenter Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock 'confused with tea lady'". BBC News. 13 December 2013.
- ^ "BBC Four - The Sky at Night - Dr George Dransfield". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "BBC Four - The Sky at Night". BBC. Retrieved 24 September 2022.