Details

Release year: 1970

Storyline

An arts magazine programme for ITV, presented by Humphrey Burton. Originally a fortnightly series, it became weekly, while later editions were presented by Peter Hall.

Top credits

Cast

Humphrey Burton — Self - Presenter
Peter Hall — Self - Presenter, Self, Self - Host, Self - Director: The Battle of Shrivings
Russell Harty — Self, Self - Interviewer, Self - Narrator, Self - Presenter
Leonard Bernstein — Self, Self - Conductor

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Awards

1 win & 6 nominations

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Did you know

• When second presenter Peter Hall stepped away from the programme, producer Derek Bailey developed a new arts magazine programme as a replacement: The South Bank Show (1978).

• In his 2021 autobiography "In My Own Time", Humphrey Burton stated that he had selected Peter Hall to be the presenter from the outset. Burton claimed: "Only a few weeks had gone by when Peter Hall pulled out of the presenter role with the perfect excuse: he had teamed up with Colin Davis to run opera at Covent Garden. (Five years later, by then in charge at the National Theatre, Peter did make good his promise to present Aquarius. This was after I had moved back to the BBC, and he hosted the LWT arts show for three seasons in the mid-1970s, until Melvyn Bragg took it over. But that's another story.) Faced with Peter's defection, Cyril [Bennett] was upbeat. He called me in to confirm my Aquarius posting. 'Bill', he said, brooking no argument, 'you're gonna have to present the show yerself. Get down to Duggie Hayward's in Mount Street and fix yourself up with some nice suits.'"

• The duration of Aquarius would differ widely: while 39 minutes is the overall listing for the programme as a whole, and the most common occurrence, some editions would run to 52 minutes. Occasional specials, particularly those featuring concert footage, would run to over 90 minutes.