Going for a Song was an antiques quiz show 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 1965-1977. It was a forerunner of the Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...

. The original television series was hosted by presenter Max Robertson

Max Robertson

William Maxwell Robertson was a sports commentator, radio and television presenter and author. He is best remembered for his forty years of tennis coverage on BBC Radio.-Biography:...

, with Arthur Negus

Arthur Negus

Arthur George Negus OBE was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. He was a broadcaster and antiques expert.Negus's family has a long history in the antiques business, and Negus himself began running the family business when he was 17, following the death of his father. During World War II he was an...

 appearing as the resident expert and antique valuer. The programmes were recorded before a studio audience. Revivals of the programme were made in the 1990s, hosted by Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

 (1995-1999), and in 1997 by Anne Robinson

Anne Robinson

Anne Josephine Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter, known for her assertive views and acerbic style of presenting. She was one of the presenters on the long-running British consumer affairs series, Watchdog, from 1993 to 2001 before returning in 2009...

, with Eric Knowles

Eric Knowles

Eric Knowles is a British antiques expert whose main interest is in ceramics.He first became famous after being a ceramics expert on the Antiques Roadshow. He has also appeared in such programmes as, Going for a Song, Going, Going, Gone, Noel's House Party, Call My Bluff and 20th Century Roadshow...

 as the resident antiques expert.

Format

Robertson would introduce an antique to a panel of experts who would examine the object and give its date and value. Negus would then present its actual age and worth.

All versions of the series were characterised by a caged bird automaton

Automaton

An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...

 singing over the programme's opening and closing credits, accompanied in the original series by the first movement from Respighi

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...

's suite Gli Uccelli

Gli Uccelli

The Birds is a suite for small orchestra by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. Dating from 1927, the work is based on music from 18th-century and represents an attempt to transcribe birdsong into musical notation...

(or The Birds in English).