We had a fantastic 50th birthday party for the Sky at Night a couple of days ago, on the actual anniversary of the first transmission. More than 250 guests turned up (Patrick was hosting an overflow party for 200 or so more yesterday!) and we filmed what felt like hundreds of interviews which you’ll get to see in the next program (broadcast May 6th), along with the best of the archive.
My favourite moments are pictured below. The first shows Patrick with his five surviving producers; from left to right Pat Owtram (9 years), Pat Wood (about 4, I think), Pieter Morpurgo (almost 20), Ian Russell (3, and the producer of the first shows I appeared on) and Jane Fletcher (5 and counting). All deserve much more credit than they get, so it was great to see them all.
The MC for the party was the astronaut Piers Sellers. I’d missed the filming for Patrick’s January interview and so it was wonderful to have a chance to talk to him (the photo below was at the end of a very long night…). Hopefully we’ll hear more from him on the programme soon.
BRUCE WOODS on May 6, 2007
Dear Chris,
I’ve just seen The Sky at Night 50th birthday party – wonderful!. It was great seeing all those well-known astronomers and the astronaut Piers Sellers all together in one place – Sir Patrick’s back garden!. My wish to see a retrospective programme has now been fully satisfied and it brought back a few memories . . . many thanks, Bruce
Richard on May 7, 2007
Hi Chris
I watched the BBC4 repeat tonight of the 50th Birthday Party and it was great to see all the familiar faces in one place for a change. There have been so many people involved with Sky at Night over the years and it must have been wonderful for them to actually meet in such an informal atmosphere. The cake looked great. I hope there was enough to go round! Patrick’s enthusiasm for his subject has clearly inspired many people over the last 50 years and it was wonderful to share some of the moments during the programme. Please thank Patrick and everyone involved with the programme for letting us go to the party, too.
Play the Xylophone… Please at Orbiting Frog on May 8, 2007
[...] Octogenarians should not be put in charge of policy at the BBC. (Link). God bless Sir Patrick for not being PC, but it did make me cringe. We should be able to say what we mean of course and in that spirit I think he’s being pig-headed and an old fogey. Shame on the guys at Cardiff, in our Philosophy of Science group, who said he was just saying what we all think. That’s patently ridiculous! Also there was recently a party for the 50th anniversary of The Sky at Night. At which the show’s five previous producers were pictured with Patrick himself (Link). I’m pretty sure that three of them are women. [...]