Patrick Moore in the 1950s; Moore argued against Lord Dowding and other UFO proponents. He was invited to present a live astronomy programme and said the greatest difficulty was finding an appropriate theme tune; the opening of Jean Sibelius's "Pelléas et Mélisande" was chosen and used throughout the programme's existence. The programme was originally named "Star Map" before "The Sky at Night" was chosen in the "Radio Times". On 24 April 1957, at 10:30 pm, Moore presented the first episode about the Comet Arend–Roland. The programme was pitched to casual viewers up to professional astronomers, in a format which remained consistent from
Artist of the Year Artist of the Year Artist of the Year is a television competition shown on the Sky Arts channel (formerly known as Artsworld and Sky Arts 1) which aims to find the best portrait/landscape painter every year. Through several rounds of regional competitions in different parts of the UK professional and amateur artists are challenged to produce a portrait/landscape of one of three famous sitters. The winning artist of each round, selected by three judges, advances to the semifinal and then to the final, which are filmed at the National Portrait Gallery. The winner receives a £10,000 commission to paint a