Landmarks
Landmarks is a BBC schools TV series from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, covering various topics for primary school pupils.
A popular series on geography and history topics for upper primary school pupils.
Geography programmes tend to focus on skills such as map reading and case studies which viewing pupils can compare to their own local studies. Episodes also follow the lives of children and ordinary people in foreign countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and the Caribbean.
History programmes look at the experience of people living at different times, such as Victorian schoolchildren or evacuees in the Second World War.
Landmarks and its contemporary BBC TV topics series Zig Zag for slightly younger children, were designed to be complementary with subjects planned together and many production personnel in common.
Landmarks replaced the earlier geography series Near and Far and history series Now and Then, which had already been brought closer together and billed as Near and Far: Now and Then in the year before Landmarks launched. Several programmes from those earlier series were repeated as part of Landmarks in its early years, notably including a dramatised look at school life in Victorian times originally shown on Now and Then in 1988 (when it won a BAFTA award) refreshed as part of the Victorian Britain unit in 1995 and repeated well into the 21st Century.
In 2002 Landmarks and Zig Zag were both replaced by new series called Primary History and Primary Geography, bringing together new and repeat programmes for the whole junior school age range but again separating the topics of history and geography.
Titles & Theme Music
Version 1: White
A series of illustrations against a white canvas background, with some simple animation, evoke elements of history and geography - farming techniques, windmills, construction and power stations, methods of transport and communications. From a satellite in space we move to earth and the Egyptian pyramids, where the triangular shape becomes the 'A' in an outline of the 'LANDMARKS' title.
In some early programmes the white space above the word Landmarks is used to show a title or another illustration on the topic being covered.
These titles were abbreviated as time went on, with the satellite often fading directly to the Landmarks title without the pyramids sequence. Later they were further abbreviated or edited, for example 1992's Treasures of the Landscape interspersing clips of the presenters' bikes with illustrations from the existing titles.
The BBC Motion Graphics Archive identifies that the original sequence was designed by Linda Sherwood-Page.
Version 2: Custom
From 1993 customised title sequences were used for each unit, using the existing Landmarks title logo but with different designs and animations such as a map of the country for Portrait of Britain or artifacts for Victorian Britain.
The existing theme music was still used, or an arrangement of it on appropriate instruments such as for Tudors and Stuarts.
Version 3: Green
Digitally manipulated photographs evoke geography and history topics - ancient monuments and statues, maps and weather, old films and photographs - leading to a new Landmarks title appearing on a green background with floating 'BBC Education' logos, a design used by many BBC schools TV series at this time.
The title or a logo for the particular unit appears beneath the Landmarks title.
Units
| Programme | Dates | |
|---|---|---|
|
Changing Landscapes (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1988-1992 |
|
Weather Watch (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1989-1993 |
|
Egypt (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Miscellany • Topics | 1989-1994 |
|
Over to You (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Miscellany • Topics | 1989-1993 |
|
Children at War (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1989-2002 |
|
Tropical Rainforests (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1990-1995 |
|
Earthwatch (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1990-1993 |
|
People on the Move (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1991-1996 |
|
|
Buildings and Builders (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Miscellany | 1991-1996 |
|
Special Reports (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1991-1996 |
|
|
The History of Writing and Printing (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1991-1995 |
|
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Victorian Children (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1991-1994 |
|
Treasures of the Landscape (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1992-1996 |
|
|
Transport (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1992-1996 |
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Exploration and Encounters (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11, Age 11-13 • History | 1992-1995 |
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Christopher Columbus: The Man Who Dared (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11, Age 11-13 • History | 1992-1995 |
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Pakistan and Its People (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1993-2007 |
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Tudors and Stuarts (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1993-1997 |
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Coping with the Climate (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1994-2007 |
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Britain Since 1930 (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1994-2002 |
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Portrait of Britain (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1995-2003 |
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Victorian Britain (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1995-2003 |
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Portrait of Europe (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1996-2007 |
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Investigating Local History (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1996-2006 |
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Follow the River Severn (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1997-2007 |
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Ancient Egypt (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1997-2007 |
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The Caribbean (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1998-2008 |
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Rivers of the World (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1998-2006 |
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Time Lines (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 1998-2008 |
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World Environmental Changes (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 1999-2008 |
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Using the Land (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 2000-2008 |
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Geography Postcards (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • Geography | 2001-2008 |
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Children in Victorian Britain (from Landmarks) • BBC Schools TV • Age 9-11 • History | 2002-2008 |
Termly broadcasts
Episode List
A full, sortable list of all 148 episodes is available on a separate page.
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-89 | Autumn 1988, Spring & Summer 1989 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:20am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1989-90 | Autumn 1989, Spring & Summer 1990 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:00am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1990-91 | Autumn 1990, Spring & Summer 1991 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:00am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1991-92 | Autumn 1991, Spring & Summer 1992 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:10am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1992-93 | Autumn 1992, Spring & Summer 1993 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:10am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1993-94 | Autumn 1993, Spring & Summer 1994 | Monday, 1:40pm | Thursday, 11:10am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1994-95 | Autumn 1994, Spring & Summer 1995 | Monday, 1:25pm | Thursday, 11:30am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1995-96 | Autumn 1995, Spring & Summer 1996 | Monday, 1:20pm | Thursday, 11:35am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1996-97 | Autumn 1996, Spring & Summer 1997 | Monday, 1:25pm | Thursday, 11:35am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1997-98 | Autumn 1997, Spring & Summer 1998 | Monday, 11:40am | Friday, 11:10am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1998-99 | Autumn 1998, Spring & Summer 1999 | Monday, 11:40am | Friday, 11:10am | BBC2 | ||||
| 1999-2000 | Autumn 1999, Spring & Summer 2000 | Monday, 12:10pm | BBC2 | |||||
| 2000-01 | Autumn 2000, Spring & Summer 2001 | Monday, 9:40am | BBC2 | not Scotland | ||||
| 2001-02 | Autumn 2001, Spring & Summer 2002 | Monday, 11:50am | BBC2 |
Credits
Resources
Teacher's Notes
Booklets of teacher's notes were published to accompany every term until 2001.
Videos
From 1992 units of Landmarks programmes were released as Video Plus packs, containing a video of the TV programmes though not always all of the episodes, and often with the iconic Landmarks opening titles edited out in favour of Video Plus branding, plus a teacher's resource book and other artefacts such as photographs.
Released as Video Plus packs: Egypt, Tropical Rainforests, The History of Writing and Printing, Exploration and Encounters, Pakistan and Its People, Tudors and Stuarts, Coping with the Climate, Britain Since 1930, Victorian Britain, Portrait of Europe, Investigating Local History, Follow the River Severn, Ancient Egypt, The Caribbean, Rivers of the World, Time Lines, World Environmental Changes, Using the Land & Children in Victorian Britain
DVDs
A decade later, after Landmarks had been replaced by Primary Geography and Primary History, several of the Landmarks units were released as DVD Plus packs.
Released as DVD Plus packs: Portrait of Europe, Follow the River Severn, Ancient Egypt, Rivers of the World, World Environmental Changes & Children in Victorian Britain
Books
Books in the BBC Factfinders range accompanied several units.
The resource books from the Video Plus packs were also available indivdually.
Software
Several of the historical units of Landmarks were accompanied by a type of software referred to as "time-child," an interactive simulation in which a fictional child character from the time period introduces their life and experiences.
Some units were also accompanied by data files for the Junior Pinpoint database software often used by schools.
Links
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Topics
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