The Burke Special

The Burke Specials were a TV series broadcast on BBC1 from 1972 to 1976.

They starred James Burke and were broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1. The shows had a "circus" format, with Burke on a radio microphone walking around interacting with a studio audience that surrounded him on three sides. Recordings were discontinuous, final assembly being done by timecode-controlled video editing.

Series One

15 June 1972 to 27 July 1972 (7 episodes of 30 mins each)

Series Two

8 March 1973 to 19 April 1973 (7 episodes of 30 mins each) at 8.30 pm to 9 pm on BBC1

Thursday 8 March 1973
"Every minute of the day things are happening that will, sooner or later, change our lives. They're like parts of a jigsaw.
It's only when the picture comes together that you know if you like it or not.
It used to be you could afford to wait and see. Not anymore. Tomorrow comes too fast. That's why this programme puts the picture together ahead of time."

James Burke starred on the front cover of the Radio Times and had his futurologist cover story on page 6.

Series Three

21 June 1973 to 26 July 1973 (6 episodes of 30 mins each)

Series Four

21 March 1974 to 6 June 1974, excluding 2 May 1974 (10 episodes of 30 mins each)

Series Five

8 April 1976 to 13 May 1976 (6 episodes of 30 mins each)at 8.30 pm to 9 pm on BBC1

No further series were made. James Burke went on to make the TV series Connections for BBC1.