Eureka was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 educational television series about science and inventiveness which was produced and broadcast by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 from 1981 to 1986. Devised and written by Clive Doig

Clive Doig

Clive Doig is a retired British television producer.Early in his career he produced the series for deaf children Vision On before becoming known as the creator-producer of a large number of children's programmes. Working for the BBC, he created programmes such as Jigsaw, which ran from 1979 to...

 and Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy Beadle

Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE was an English television presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s, he was a regular face on British television and in two years appeared 50 weeks of the year. His shows regularly topped the charts beating Coronation Street and EastEnders on one...

 the series told the stories behind the inventions of commonplace objects.

Cast

Presented by Jeremy Beadle, then Sarah Greene

Sarah Greene

Sarah Greene is a British television personality well known for presenting live TV: long-running series e.g. Blue Peter, from 19 May 1980 until 27 June 1983, Saturday Superstore, Going Live for 10 years and big event/awards shows.- Early life and career :Greene was born in London, England, the...

 and later Paul McDowell the show featured an ensemble cast who re-enacted the moments of invention or performed humorous sketches to deliver key facts and information. Notable cast members included Sylvester McCoy

Sylvester McCoy

Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...

, Bernard Holley

Bernard Holley

Bernard Holley is a British actor, whose career has spanned more than four decades.Holley attended the Rose Bruford Drama School and Kilburn Grammar School...

, Madeline Smith

Madeline Smith

Madeline Smith is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2 August 1949 in Hartfield, Sussex) is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2...

, Mike Savage, Julia Binsted, Philip Fox and Jackie Clarke.

Each show also featured a segment showcasing a madcap and not always reliable invention by Wilf Lunn

Wilf Lunn

Wilf Lunn is probably best known for his regular appearances on the 1960s and 1970s British television show Vision On demonstrating his latest inventions with Tony Hart and Sylvester McCoy....

often to the bemusement of McCoy or another of the regular cast.

External links

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/titles/eureka.shtml The show's title sequence
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDzadukw-u4 'The Digital Watch Sketch'
• http://www.myspace.com/video/brian/animation/54536638