Howard Goodall's Great Dates
This series was broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK September-October 2002, and re-broadcast in May-June 2003. This was a set of four 50-minute programmes examining dates in musical history. The years Howard chose were 1564, 1791, 1874 and 1937.
The Sunday Times (London) ‘Culture Section’ 22.9.02 Television review [by AA Gill]:
“On the factual side, Howard Goodall’s Great Dates (Sunday, C4) has it […that ineffable, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it, believable, empathetic thing..] as well – a wholly likeable, winning screen presence. He is the music teacher none of us ever had……the first episode, on Wagner, was a brilliant bluffer’s guide, and relieved us of the guilty obligation of every having to listen to the stuff. If they could manufacture Howard Goodall CD players, they’d sell a million. Every home should have one.”
Information about the DVD availability of this series may be found by emailing Howard’s PA via the contact page. Each of the programmes is also available on YouTube.
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Filming ‘Great Dates’
On September 11th 2001, Howard was in New York, about to begin some shooting for this new Channel 4 series. Walking to a rendez-vous in Gramercy Park, he stood and watched the entire WTC terrorist atrocity with his own eyes from the street. Filming was (naturally) abandoned, though his camera crew and director Mandy Chang were on Brooklyn Bridge filming a panorama of Lower Manhattan at the time and caught the whole event on film. Final filming for the series was completed in February 2002.
