The Money Programme

{{Short description|British TV finance and business affairs series (1966–2010)}}

{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Money programme 2008.png

| caption = The Money Programme logo as of 2008

| alt_name =

| genre = Finance and business affairs

| creator =

| director =

| creative_director =

| developer =

| presenter = Max Flint and Libby Potter

| starring =

| voices =

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme = Main Title from The Carpetbaggers

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_seasons =

| num_episodes =

| list_episodes =

| executive_producer =

| producer =

| editor =

| location =

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime =

| network = BBC2

| first_aired = {{start date|1966|4|5|df=y}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2010|11|9|df=y}}

| related =

}}

The Money Programme is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC Two which ran between April 1966 and November 2010. It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" (financial journalists) William Davis, Erskine B. Childers and Joe Roeber. The programme's theme tune was a version of the main title theme from The Carpetbaggers (1964) (which appeared on an album by jazz organist Jimmy Smith). By 1989, the programme was updated with a new theme by George Fenton, but an updated version of the original theme tune was re used again later on.

The programme used a magazine style starting in the 1980s, but changed to a single subject documentary in 2001.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/sep/03/bbc.television |title=BBC's Money Programme series to become one-off specials |work=The Guardian |first=Leigh |last=Holmwood |date=3 September 2008}} More recently the programme has formed a partnership with the Open University Business School. The Open University provides input into programmes and supplementary materials written by OU Business School academics.

On 1 June 2007, an episode of the Money Programme called "Virtual World / Real Millions" became the first full BBC programme to have been broadcast inside the virtual world Second Life.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/24/money.shtml BBC – Press Office – Money Programme is first BBC show to broadcast in Second Life] That episode featured an interview with Second Life founder and CEO Philip Rosedale amongst others.

This programme was parodied in Series 3 of Monty Python's Flying Circus as the opening sketch of the third episode in that series first airing on the BBC on 3 November 1972.

{{Cite episode

| title = The Money Programme

| episode-link = List_of_Monty_Python%27s_Flying_Circus_episodes#3._The_Money_Programme

| series = Monty Python's Flying Circus

| series-link = Monty Python's Flying Circus

| credits = recorded 4 December 1971)

| network = BBC

| station = BBC One

| airdate = 2 November 1972

| season = 3

| number = 29

}}