1984 in British television explained
This is a list of British television related events from 1984.
Events
January
- 4 January – Pat Phoenix leaves Coronation Street for the second and final time as Elsie Tanner as she goes to live with old flame Bill Gregory in Portugal, having been in the show since its inception in 1960 (except for a three-year period between 1973 and 1976).
- 8 January – BBC1 begin showing the romantic US miniseries The Thorn Birds, starring Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward and Christopher Plummer.
- 7 January
- Fraggle Rock makes its UK debut on ITV, nearly a year after airing in the US and Canada. The series is a co-production by TVS, CBC, HBO and Henson Associates.
- Daytime Ceefax transmissions are renamed Pages from Ceefax following the decision by Radio Times to begin listing daytime Ceefax broadcasts.[1]
- 9 January
- 16 January – Satellite Television Limited is renamed Sky Channel.
- 30 January – The BBC's Panorama documentary series airs "Maggie's Militant Tendency" which claims links between several Conservative MPs and far-right organisations both in Britain and Europe. Two of the MPs named, Neil Hamilton and Gerald Howarth, subsequently sue the BBC for slander. In 1986, after the BBC withdraws from the case, Hamilton is awarded £20,000 in damages.[2]
- 31 January – The long-running comedy sketch show Alas Smith and Jones, starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, makes its debut on BBC2.
February
- 6 February – The short-lived American action series Blue Thunder, based on the 1983 hit movie of the same name, makes its UK debut on BBC1.
- 14 February
- The first of six episodes of Tom Keating On Impressionism, a follow-up to the award-winning Tom Keating On Painters,[3] is broadcast two days after Keating's death, from a heart attack, at age 66.[4]
- An estimated 24 million viewers watch Torvill and Dean win gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics skating to Ravel's Boléro.
- 26 February – Debut of the long-running satirical puppet comedy series Spitting Image on ITV.
March
- 10 March – The American teenage science-fiction series Whiz Kids makes its UK debut on ITV, airing as a Saturday feature in most ITV regions. Exceptions are Ulster which airs the series on Sundays and TVS which airs it at a later date.
- 16 March – Peter Davison's last serial as the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who, The Caves of Androzani, finishes; Colin Baker becomes the Sixth Doctor in the same episode.
- 22 March
- Colin Baker makes his first full appearance as the Sixth Doctor in the Doctor Who serial The Twin Dilemma.
- Horse racing is shown on Channel 4 for the first time.
- 24 March – Game show The Price Is Right makes its UK debut on ITV. It is produced by Central in association with Mark Goodson Productions and Talbot Television and is presented by Leslie Crowther.[5]
- 26 March – Return of the popular 1950s panel game show What's My Line? after 20 years, with original host Eamonn Andrews in the chair, now on ITV.
- 29 March – The Entertainment Network, Music Box and Screensport launch on cable.
- 31 March – Pop group Matt Bianco imfamously appear on BBC1's Saturday Superstore when a phone-in caller verbally abuses them by calling them "A Bunch of Wankers" live on air.
April
- 5 April – Industrial action by members of the Entertainments Trade Alliance results in all of today's BBC1 programmes being cancelled.
- 15 April – Comedian and magician Tommy Cooper dies from a heart attack on live television at the age of 63, during Live from Her Majesty's.
- 21 April
- ITV screen the 1983 television movie Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum reprising their roles from the 1960s' spy series.
- The Saturday Picture Show replaces Get Set as the BBC's Summer Saturday morning magazine show. Its running time is extended, beginning earlier at 8:45am.
- 22 April – The network television premiere of Hugh Hudson's 1981 Oscar-winning biographical drama film Chariots of Fire on BBC1, starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Davenport, John Gielgud, Patrick Magee, Nigel Havers, Ian Holm and Alice Krige.
- 28 April – ITV airs the first episode of Robin of Sherwood, produced by HTV and starring Michael Praed as Robin Hood and featuring Ray Winstone, with music by the Irish celtic band Clannad.
May
- 4 May – A football match from England’s second tier is televised live for the first time as BBC’s Match Of The Day Live features the promotion battle between Manchester City and Chelsea.[6] [7]
- 6 May – Debut of the long-running light entertainment series Surprise Surprise on ITV, presented by Cilla Black.
- 10 May – The five-part BBC Schools French language adventure series La Marée et ses Secrets (The Tide and its Secrets) is first broadcast which is repeated each year until 1993.[8] The series continues on 14 June.
- 12 May – The short-lived American science-fiction series Automan makes its UK debut on BBC1, starring Desi Arnaz Jr., Chuck Wagner, Heather McNair and Robert Lansing.
- 16 May – ITV airs the network television premiere of the 1980 romantic time travel film drama Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.
- 28 May – BBC1 airs the network television premiere of Harold Ramis' 1980 American sports comedy film Caddyshack, starring Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight.
June
- 4 June
- The hit animated series Danger Mouse is broadcast on children's cable network Nickelodeon in the US, becoming the first British cartoon to air on that channel and one of the earliest to be in syndication there.
- The short-lived American fantasy series Manimal makes its UK debut on BBC1, starring Simon MacCorkindale.
- 7 June – The first edition of Crimewatch UK is broadcast on BBC1.[9] The first case to be featured on the show is the murder of Colette Aram which had occurred the previous year. A man is finally charged with the murder in 2009[10] and is sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2010 after pleading guilty.[11]
- 19 June – The final episode of Ben Elton's anarchic comedy series The Young Ones is broadcast on BBC2 in spectacular fashion by blowing up the entire cast after briefly surviving a bus crash.
- 23 June – ITV airs the rock concert New Brighton Rock recorded at the event staged in the seaside resort of New Brighton, Merseyside over two days on 21 and 22 May.
July
- 27 July – The final edition of Sixty Minutes is broadcast on BBC1, ending less than a year after it first went on the air.
- 28–29 July – BBC2 hosts Jazz on a Summer's Day, a weekend of programmes devoted to jazz music.[12]
- 28 July–12 August – The BBC airs the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. Due to the Games taking place in Los Angeles, BBC1 stays on the air into the night to provide live coverage of the major events.
- 30 July
- BBC1's teatime news programme reverts to its original name of Evening News and to its original broadcast time of 5:40pm. The regional news programmes follow broadcasting for 20 minutes from 5:55pm. This is a stop-gap measure and continues for five weeks until the launch of BBC1's new teatime newshour.
- ITV begins airing Kenneth Johnson's US science-fiction miniseries "V" and "V" The Final Battle. The alien invasion drama starring Marc Singer, Faye Grant, Jane Badler and Robert Englund is shown over five consecutive nights.
August
- 4–12 August – During the second week of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, the BBC extends its live coverage until around 4am. Rather than closing down, they fill the gap with Ceefax Olympics AM which provides news from the Games to fill the gap between the end of live coverage and the start of Olympic Breakfast Time.[13] This is the first time that Ceefax pages are broadcast overnight.
- 6 August – ITV screen the UK terrestrial premiere of the 1979 horror film The Amityville Horror, starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder.
- 25 August – ITV show the 1978 action comedy film Every Which Way but Loose, starring Clint Eastwood as a bare-knuckle brawler, accompanied by Clyde, his pet orangutan.
- 25–26 August – For the second time, BBC2 Rocks Around the Clock.[14]
- 27 August
- The network television premiere of the 1979 gangster film The Long Good Friday on ITV, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.
- Technicians at Thames walk out on strike over the use of new cameras and editing equipment along with overtime payments for transmission staff. The strike lasts for two weeks but the station is off the air for just one day over the August Bank Holiday weekend.[15] Management and administration staff take over their roles, broadcasting a skeleton service.[16]
- 31 August – ITV begins airing the popular French/American children's cartoon series Inspector Gadget.
September
- 1 September
- 2 September – The two-part American miniseries Lace makes its debut on ITV, starring Phoebe Cates.
- 3 September
- 5 September – ITV begins showing the horror-themed anthology series Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense.
- 7 September – Les Dawson becomes the new host of Blankety Blank on BBC1.
- 10 September – BBC1 begins showing the American fantasy adventure cartoon series Dungeons & Dragons.
- 11 September – After making its debut in Australia, Towser finally makes its debut on ITV.
- 18 September – The network television premiere of Mel Brooks' 1974 horror comedy film Young Frankenstein on BBC2, starring Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman.
- 23 September – Barry Hines's acclamied Threads airs on BBC2. Produced by the BBC and Nine Network Australia, the one-off TV drama depicting the impact of a nuclear war in Britain would go on to win four BAFTA awards, including Best Single Drama.[17]
October
- 4 October
- The BBC Radio 4 show Checkpoint begins a 4 episode TV mini series hosted by Roger Cook
- 5 October
- The first programme in the trilogy to be produced by Maddocks Cartoon Productions, The Family-Ness, makes its debut on BBC1.
- BBC2 broadcasts an Open University programme at teatime for the final time.
- 6 October – TV Times Magazine is rebranded back to its original TV Times name.
- 7 October–December – Pirate television station Thameside TV broadcasts illicitly from south London.[18]
- 8 October
- BBC2 launches a full afternoon service, consisting primarily of repeats of Dallas and old feature films.[19]
- The Australian soap Prisoner: Cell Block H makes its UK debut when Yorkshire Television becomes the first ITV region to begin airing the programme in a late night slot. It is followed by all other ITV regions over the following five years.
- Scottish Television relaunches its regional news programme Scotland Today as a features-led magazine format with the news relegated to brief summaries before and after the programme.[20]
- Pirate television station Channel 36 'Late Night London Television', run by Waveview Holdings, begins broadcasting illicitly.[18]
- 9 October – The children's series based on the books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and narrated by Ringo Starr, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends makes its debut on ITV, becoming one of the most successful children's TV programmes of all time since Postman Pat first went to air on the BBC three years earlier. The show will move to one future station, Cartoon Network, in the mid-1990s, before returning to terrestrial television in 2003 and moving to its new permanent future station Channel 5 three years later.
- 12 October – The American helicopter action series Airwolf makes its UK debut on ITV, starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine.
- 15 October – Channel 4's output increases by 25%. The weekday schedules now begin at 2:30pm instead of 5pm while weekend airtime starts at 1pm rather than 2pm.[21]
- 16 October – The Bill airs for the first time on ITV. It debuted last year as a pilot show, Woodentop.[22] When the last episode is shown in 2010, it will be the longest-running police procedural in British television history.
- 17 October – Another strike begins at Thames over the same issue which unions went on strike six weeks earlier.
- 19 October
- A management-operated schedule is introduced on Thames. It broadcasts programming between around 1:30pm and around midnight as well as the ITV breakfast service TV-am. For the intervening four hours, instead of schools programmes, Thames viewers are left with a blue screen showing their upcoming emergency schedule and, with no access to ITN News, Thames viewers have to make do with short news bulletins. Weekend ITV schedules for the London region are not affected by the strike, with London Weekend Television coming on air on Fridays at 5:15pm as usual.[23]
- Yorkshire Television airs a special documentary on the birth of Prince Harry.
- 23 October – BBC News presenter Michael Buerk gives a powerful commentary of the famine in Ethiopia which has already claimed thousands of lives and reportedly has the potential to kill as many as seven million people. The news report subsequently leads to the formation of the charity supergroup Band Aid and the No.1 single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" as well as the Live Aid concerts the following year.
November
- 3 November
- Following the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October, coverage of her funeral is televised by the BBC and ITV.
- The strike at Thames Television finally ends, after 62 film editors agree to the new conditions while the ACTT agrees as well to start negotiations about the introductions of new technology. Additional episodes of network productions are screened to help clear the backlog.[24]
- 7 November – BBC1 starts airing season 8 of the American drama series Dallas.
- 21 November – Debut of Alan Seymour's dramatisation of the 1935 John Masefield children's fantasy adventure novel The Box of Delights on BBC1, starring Patrick Troughton and Robert Stephens.[25] The six-part series concludes on Christmas Eve.[26]
December
- 1 December – The Cable Authority comes into existence and on 1 January 1985 it takes over the functions granted to it by the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984, paving the way for fully commercial cable franchises to be awarded on a city-by-city basis.
- 10 December – Channel 4 airs An Evening with Mary Tyler Moore, along with episodes of St. Elsewhere and The Betty White Show.[21]
- 18 December – Bruce Lee's 1973 martial arts action film Enter the Dragon is shown on ITV in its full uncut version; however all subsequent airings would be censored.
- 21 December – Children's programme Crackerjack ends after 29 series and nearly 3 decades.
- 25 December – The network television premiere of Steven Spielberg's 1981 action adventure blockbuster film Raiders of the Lost Ark on ITV, starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.
- 26 December
- 27 December – BBC2 airs the final episode of the US sitcom M*A*S*H.
- 30 December
- The network television premiere of Kramer vs. Kramer, the 1979 Oscar-winning legal drama film, on BBC1, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.[30]
- ITV airs the 1977 science-fiction epic film Star Wars for a third time.
Unknown
- Telstar TV, the UK's first pirate television station goes on the air in Birmingham. The channel broadcasts for about eight weeks on the BBC2 transmitter in the Northfield and Rubery areas of the city, showing a mixture of films and music videos after BBC2 closes at weekends. It goes unnoticed by the authorities for several weeks much to their embarrassment.[31]
Debuts
BBC1
BBC2
ITV
Channel 4
Channels
New channels
Rebranded channels
| width=90 | Date | width=150 | Old Name | width=150 | New Name |
|---|
| 16 January | Satellite Television | Sky Channel | |
Television shows
Returning this year after a break of one year or longer
- 26 March - What's My Line? (1951 - 1964, 1984 - 1996)
- 9 September Thunderbirds (1972–1980, 1984–1987)
Continuing television shows
1920s
- BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present)
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
- Play Your Cards Right (1980–1987, 1994–1999, 2002–2003)
- Family Fortunes (1980–2002, 2006–2015, 2020–present)
- Juliet Bravo (1980–1985)
- Cockleshell Bay (1980–1986)
- Children in Need (1980–present)
- Finders Keepers (1981–1985)
- Freetime (1981–1985)
- Game for a Laugh (1981–1985)
- Tenko (1981–1985)
- That's My Boy (1981–1986)
- Razzamatazz (1981–1987)
- Bergerac (1981–1991)
- Odd One Out (1982–1985)
- On Safari (1982–1985)
- 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
- Wogan (1982–1992)
- Saturday Superstore (1982–1987)
- The Tube (1982–1987)
- Brookside (1982–2003)
- Countdown (1982–present)
- Let's Pretend (TV series) (1982–1988)
- No. 73 (1982–1988)
- Timewatch (1982–present)
- Right to Reply (1982–2001)
- Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983–1985)
- Inspector Gadget (1983–1986)
- Bananaman (1983–1986)
- Just Good Friends (1983–1986)
- Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983–1986)
- Breadwinners (1983–1986)
- Breakfast Time (1983–1989)
- Dramarama (1983–1989)
- Don't Wait Up (1983–1990)
- Good Morning Britain (1983–1992)
- First Tuesday (1983–1993)
- Highway (1983–1993)
- Blockbusters (1983–93, 1994–95, 1997, 2000–01, 2012, 2019)
Ending this year
Births
Deaths
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: BBC Two England – 7 January 1984 – BBC Genome. genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2018.
- News: Jamie. Wilson. Who will listen to his story now?. The Guardian. 20 June 2013. London. 22 December 1999.
- News: Gosling . Kenneth . 18 March 1983 . Channel 4 wins two awards . 5 . The Times.
- News: 14 February 1984 . Tom Keating, 66, a Painter; Gained Fame as Art Forger . D6 . The New York Times . Associated Press . 17 April 2023.
- Web site: The Price is Right . UKGameshows . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: itv football 1968-1983 - League results by club . 2023-11-26 . carousel.royalwebhosting.net.
- Web site: 1984-05-04 . BBC Programme Index . 2023-11-26 . genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- Web site: La Marée et ses Secrets . BroadcastForSchools.co.uk . 11 April 2017.
- https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_one_london/1984-06-07 BBC Programme Index BBC1 7th June 1984
- News: Man remanded in 1983 death case. BBC News. 9 April 2009. 20 April 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090411193415/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7990989.stm. 11 April 2009. live.
- News: Man sentenced to life for 1983 murder of Colette Aramref. BBC News. 25 January 2010. 25 January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100128104429/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8478075.stm. 28 January 2010. live.
- Web site: BBC Two England – 28 July 1984 – BBC Genome. genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2018.
- https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1984-08-03 BBC Genome Project - BBC1 listings 3 August 1984
- Web site: BBC Two England – 25 August 1984 – BBC Genome. genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2018.
- Web site: Thames strike caption (27 August 1984) . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160131124817/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwbxKFL7dUo . 31 January 2016 . live . 2009-04-20.
- Book: Cherry, Simon. ITV: The People's Channel. London. Reynolds and Hearn. 9781903111987. 2005. 196.
- Web site: Threads – BBC Two England – 23 September 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Ben. Ricketts. Anarchy over the airwaves. Best of British. March 2022. 58–60.
- Web site: Schedule - BBC Programme Index. BBC Programme Index. 2022-03-12.
- News: Kelly gets his eye in. Gavin. Docherty. Evening Times. 1984-10-08.
- Web site: 1984 : Off The Telly. 23 January 2019.
- Web site: The Bill. tv.com. 2012-10-19. 14 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201114002102/http://www.tv.com/shows/the-bill/. dead.
- Web site: Carry On Euston. Gary. Rodger. 29 November 2019.
- TV film editors end strike. Barker, Dennis The Guardian (1959–2003); 3 November 1984
- Web site: The Box of Delights – BBC One London – 21 November 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: The Box of Delights – BBC One London – 24 December 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: Miss Marple: The Body in the Library: Part 1 – BBC One London – 26 December 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: Miss Marple: The Body in the Library: Part 2 – BBC One London – 27 December 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: Miss Marple: The Body in the Library: Part 3 – BBC One London – 28 December 1984 – BBC Genome . Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . 2018-01-13.
- Web site: Kramer vs Kramer – BBC One London – 30 December 1984 – BBC Genome. genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2018.
- News: Britain's First Pirate TV Station. Veronica. Minto. Freespace.virgin.net. West Indian World. 650. 19 February 1984. 19 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121017171832/http://freespace.virgin.net/mickey.nold/britains%20first%20pirate%20tv.htm. 17 October 2012. dead.
- Web site: What the Papers Say in pictures . The Guardian . 2 April 2022 . 29 May 2008.
