1973 in British television

Events

January

  • 4 January – The UK and world record breaking long-running comedy series Last of the Summer Wine starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show. The first series run starts on 12 November and the programme runs for 37 years until August 2010.
  • 6 January – Sesame Street, the long running US children's educational series goes to air on UTV, the first time the series is transmitted on television in Northern Ireland.
  • 11 January – The Open University awards its first degrees.[1]

February

March

April

  • 1 April – "Prisoner and Escort", the pilot episode of Porridge, airs as part of Seven of One.

May

June

  • No events.

July

  • No events.

August

September

  • 10 September – The Goodies receives its first transmission on television in Zambia on ZBS.

October

November

December

  • 17 December – The government announces severe measures to reduce electricity consumption due to the on-going strike action in the country. Part of these measures are that both BBC and ITV television are ordered to end their broadcasting day earlier than usual, at around 10.30pm in order to save energy. The early closedowns commence today and continue until Sunday 23 December. They are then lifted so that Christmas and New Year programming can air as normal and provide some light relief to the public. The restrictions will be reimposed from Monday 7 January 1974 and remain for a further month.

Debuts

BBC1

BBC2

  • 15 February – Weir of Hermiston (1973)
  • 4 March – The Pearcross Girls (1973)
  • 25 March – Seven of One (1973)
  • 1 April – Away from It All (1973)
  • 19 April – Cheri (1973)
  • 1 May – A Picture of Katherine Mansfield (1973)
  • 20 May – M*A*S*H
  • 24 May – The Song of Songs (1973)
  • 28 June – Two Women (1973)
  • 26 July – A Pin to See the Peepshow (1973)
  • 14 August – Black and Blue (1973)
  • 6 September – Then and Now (1973)
  • 23 September – The Dragon's Opponent (1973)
  • 6 October – Jane Eyre (1973)
  • 15 October – Second City Firsts (1973–1978)
  • 8 December – Vienna 1900 (1973–1974)
  • 14 December – Frost's Weekly (1973–1974)
  • 27 December – The Vera Lynn Show (1973–1975)

ITV

  • 1 January – Pipkins (1973–1981)
  • 14 February – All Our Saturdays (1973)
  • 3 February – No Man's Land (1973)
  • 25 February – The Upper Crusts (1973)
  • 28 February – The Jensen Code (1973)
  • 12 March – Hickory House (1973–1977)
  • 13 March – So It Goes (1973)
  • 8 April – Our Kid (1973)
  • 11 April – Armchair 30 (1973)
  • 14 April – Thriller (1973–1976)
  • 30 April – The Tomorrow People (1973–1979, 1992–1995)
  • 2 May – Dolly (1973)
  • 11 May – Between the Wars (1973)
  • 15 May – Hey Brian! (1973)
  • 30 May – The Kids from 47A (1973–1974)
  • 4 June – Hunter's Walk (1973–1976)
  • 12 June – Sam (1973–1975)
  • 26 June – Nobody Is Norman Wisdom (1973)
  • 11 July – Shabby Tiger (1973)
  • 13 July – Sir Yellow (1973)
  • 29 July – Bowler (1973)
  • 12 August – Once Upon a Time (1973)
  • 15 August –
  • 1 September – Orson Welles' Great Mysteries (1973–1974)
  • 4 September – Up the Workers (1973–1976)
  • 21 September – Helen: A Woman of Today (1973)
  • 29 September – New Faces (1973–1978, 1986–1988)
  • 30 September – The Brontës of Haworth (1973)
  • 3 October – Men of Affairs (1973)
  • 26 October – Billy Liar (1973–1974)
  • 29 October – Tell Tarby (1973)
  • 30 October – Marked Personal (1973–1974)
  • 31 October –
  • 1 November – Beryl's Lot (1973–1977)
  • 4 November – Oranges & Lemons (1973)
  • 12 November –

Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

Continuing television shows

1920s

  • BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present)

1930s

  • The Boat Race (1938–1939, 1946–2019)
  • BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

Ending this year

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ""1973: First Open University degrees awarded", BBC On This Day". BBC News. 11 January 1973. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  2. "Television's crowning moments". BBC News. 24 August 1999. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  3. Mark Duguid "Armchair Theatre (1956–74)", BFI screenonline
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