science

See Hear

See Hear is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand See Hear rather than just read about it. In short: See Hear is a monthly magazine programme for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United Kingdom, broadcast on BBC Two at various times of the year currently at 1pm. The programme focuses on the British and the worldwide deaf community and covers a broad range of topics from areas such as education, deaf people's rights, technology and language.

Key takeaways

See Hear belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect See Hear to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of See Hear from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

See Hear is a monthly magazine programme for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United Kingdom, broadcast on BBC Two at various times of the year currently at 1pm. The programme focuses on the British and the worldwide deaf community and covers a broad range of topics from areas such as education, deaf people's rights, technology and language. The programme is presented entirely in BSL and is broadcast with voice-over (until Series 43) and subtitles in English. This allows both deaf and hearing people (who may be learning sign language) to understand the programme. See Hear is currently the thirty-second longest-running BBC programme.

History

1980s See Hear was launched on BBC1 on 11 October 1981, initially as a series of 20 programmes. It was broadcast with open subtitles, and was presented in sign by Martin Colville, a hearing CODA, and a Deaf presenter Maggie Woolley. The programme was originally broadcast at lunchtime on Sundays. As the series went from strength to strength different topics, such as discussions, chat shows, and special editions focussing on technology and education for Deaf people were added that ran alongside the original magazine. Some of the other early presenters included: Wendy Daunt, Gerry Hughes, Gloria Pullen and Mika Broje. Over the years, See Hear's appeal within the Deaf community increased, and with it the involvement of Clive Mason, the series' longest serving presenter who joined in 1984. Clive was prominently involved with the See Hear Christmas and pantomime specials written by Terry Ruane and the late Dorothy Miles, two deaf people with strong backgrounds in Theatre. By the late 1980s the show was focussed on the important issues and concerns of members of the Deaf community and by 1987, the programme was BSL-presented. As the show's popularity grew more Deaf staff were recruited to work on the show, both behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera. As the show neared its 10th anniversary, the BBC, along with other Deaf organisations felt that it needed a change to keep it fresh. See Hear took a brief hiatus from broadcast, while the format of the show was revamped. The new format had a broader scope than the previous one, because the producers felt that Deaf people were interested in different activities and experiences outside of their own community. When See Hear was broadcast following the new format the audience almost doubled. The new format was a success, and with this the BBC recognised BSL as a language.

1990s From 5 February 1990, a recorded version of the BBC Breakfast News 7.00am bulletin from BBC One was shown on BBC Two for 15 minutes from 8.00 am – 8.15 am with sign language and subtitles under the name as simply Breakfast News. From 9 October 1995, it moved to 7.00am which was a simulcast with BBC One, with Children's BBC following at 7.15am. By February 1996, Children's BBC began at 7.30 am with Breakfast News starting at 7.15am instead of 7.00am, now branded See Hear Breakfast News in the programme schedules, Starting on 6 October 1997 the programme returned to its 7:00am slot from 1995, with CBBC beginning at 7.15am. This practice stopped in April 1998, thus, the weekday CBBC block began on BBC Two full time from 7.00am. Sign language on Breakfast continues to appear from 7.00 am onwards on BBC News. During the late 1990s, See Hear was moved from the Sunday lunchtime slot to the Saturday morning slot. At this time the show was once again revamped, with new titles and music created for it. The show was also moved to the Light House in Wolverhampton and new presenter Lara Crooks joined the staff. It was renamed See Hear on Saturday. Since the time of this revamp, the show has constantly upgraded itself to keep up with the changes within the deaf community.

2000s In 2001, See Hear celebrated its 20th anniversary with three new TV projects: Switch, a drama series that revolved around the lives and relationships of people in the deaf community; The House on the Hill for young Deaf children, written by viewer Amy Possart and presented by Lesley McGilp and Julian Peedle-Calloo, and Hay's Way, showcasing the history of various cities around the UK through deaf academic and historian John Hay's visits. Five years later, See Hear celebrated its 25th anniversary with a retrospective of See Hear's 25-year history. In October, coinciding with the 25th anniversary, See Hear switched from open subtitles, in use since 1981, to closed subtitles, which has to be activated for subtitles to appear on screen. At the end of the 2006–2007 series, it was announced that See Hear would move its usual broadcast day from Saturday to Wednesday.

2010s As of January 2013, See Hear typically airs on BBC Two on the first Wednesday of every month at around 8:00am, although this schedule would sometimes be altered if any events occur in the schedule (e.g. Christmas & New Year). William Mager was appointed to produce the 33rd series in July 2013, which makes him See Hear's first deaf series producer since Terry Riley's departure in 2008. The following year, the 34th series was commissioned to be aired weekly until March 2015.

2020s In June 2023, the BBC announced that the programme, alongside DIY SOS would be put up for tender as part of the broadcaster's competitive tender policy.

References

External links See Hear at BBC Online See Hear at IMDb BBC Ariel interview with William Mager

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with See Hear

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what See Hear claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to See Hear before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about See Hear ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of See Hear

In research: See Hear appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses See Hear in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: See Hear is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1980s British television series, 1981 British television series debuts, 1990s British television series, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for See Hear outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study See Hear in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what See Hear means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain See Hear out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is See Hear in simple terms?

Why does See Hear matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study See Hear?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on See Hear.