UK charitable campaign and television show
Children in Need 2008 was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 14 November, through to the morning of Saturday 15 November. The broadcast was hosted by Terry Wogan, Fearne Cotton and Tess Daly joined by other guest presenters throughout the night, including Alesha Dixon presenting from BT Tower. The voice-over reading out running totals was Alan Dedicoat. The 2008 event broke all previous records, with a total of £20,991,216 raised by the end of the broadcast.
Television campaign.
"QI".
During the customary break for the "BBC News at Ten" the first episode of the 6th series of "QI" was screened on BBC Two. The episode had a Children in Need theme. As with previous Children in Need specials, it guest starred Pudsey Bear, David Mitchell and Ronni Ancona, however immediately following the contestant introductions, Terry Wogan appeared to dismiss Pudsey and take his place. Stephen Fry admitted on Twitter that the special was recorded in May or June of this year.
"Celebrity Scissorhands".
A third series of "Celebrity Scissorhands" was shown in the run up to the 2008 event, again featuring celebrity hairdresser Lee Stafford and Steve Strange as lead stylist. The winner was Sabrina Washington with Jeff Leach as the runner up.
Official single.
On 30 October 2008 the BBC announced that the 2008 Children in Need official single would be a double A side of "Do Ya" and a cover of Faces "Stay With Me" by British pop band McFly. The songs were released for download on 23 November and in stores the following day, with all profits raised going to the appeal. The band performed both songs as part of the 2008 broadcast on BBC1. "Do Ya" charted at Number 18 on 30 November 2008, making it the lowest chart entry for a Children in Need song to date.
Other activities.
As in previous years, the TV show Countryfile sold a calendar in aid of the appeal. In 2008, it raised £369,000.
Regional Opt-Outs.
Every BBC English Region hosted their own event with coverage throughout the telethon.
BBC Wales, BBC Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland hosted their own opt out telethons alongside the main one in London
The locations were:
Totals.
The following are totals with the times they were announced on the televised show.
It was announced during the broadcast that since 1980 the appeal had raised over £500,000,000 towards helping children in the UK.
References.
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