1980 in British television

Events

January

  • 1 January – A new sitcom, Hi-de-Hi!, set in a 1959/60 holiday camp, debuts on BBC1.[1]
  • 20 January – The British record TV audience for a film is set when some 23,500,000 viewers tune in for the ITV showing of the James Bond film Live and Let Die, released in 1973 and starring Roger Moore, who is now in the process of filming his fifth film as the spy.[2]
  • 24 January – The Independent Broadcasting Authority announces that in the next ITV franchising round it will offer a national licence for breakfast television on ITV.
  • 28 January – The first edition of Newsnight is broadcast on BBC2.[3] Its launch has been delayed for four months by the Association of Broadcasting Staff, at this time the main BBC trade union.[4]

February

March

  • March – The very first in-vision Ceefax transmissions are broadcast. These consist of three 30-minute transmissions broadcast between 8:30 and 9:00 on BBC1 and 10:00–10:30 and 15:30–16:00 on BBC2. However, if BBC2 were to be transmitting programmes at these times, the channel would broadcast Ceefax pages for the 30 minutes prior to the start of the first programme.

April

May

  • 5 May – Both the BBC and ITV interrupt their scheduled programming to broadcast the SAS assault during the Iranian Embassy siege. The coverage launches the careers of several journalists, such as the BBC's Kate Adie, while ITN Director, David Goldsmith and his team receive a BAFTA for their coverage.
  • 26 May – BBC1 airs the third-season finale of the US drama series Dallas two months after its US airing in which J.R. Ewing is shot by an unknown assailant in his office, this leads to the "Who shot J.R.?" phenomenon which lasts for a few months until November 1980 when the series returns for the fourth season.

June

July

August

  • No events.

September

  • 8 September – Watchdog is launched as a weekly consumer slot on BBC1's news magazine programme Nationwide.[8]
  • September – Edmund Dell is appointed as Chairman of Channel 4, the UK's forthcoming fourth channel, while Jeremy Isaacs becomes its Chief Executive.[9]
  • September – The government reverses its position on the establishment of a separate Welsh language television service for Wales following opposition from the public and Welsh politicians, and the idea is given the green light. This leads to the establishment of the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, and ultimately S4C.[10]

October

  • 1 October – BBC1's lunchtime children's programme is labelled See Saw for the first time.[11]

November

December

Unknown

  • BBC2 launches a totally computer generated clock, probably the first. (Although ATV has an electronic digital timepiece by this time, the digits are electronically superimposed onto a physical "ATV - COLOUR" caption.)
  • BBC Video is established as a division of BBC Enterprises.

Debuts

BBC1

BBC2

ITV

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

DateNameAgeCinematic Credibility
14 May Hugh Griffith 67 film, stage and television actor
26 April Cicely Courtneidge 87 actress
23 June John Laurie 83 actor (Dad's Army)
24 July Peter Sellers 54 comic actor (Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther)
24 August Yootha Joyce 53 actor (Man About the House, George and Mildred)
6 October Hattie Jacques 58 comic actress
20 October Isobel Barnett 62 broadcast personality (What's My Line?)
8 December John Lennon 40 singer (The Beatles)

See also

References

  1. "Hi De Hi – BBC One London – 1 January 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  2. "James Bond On TV – Movies". MI6 – The Home Of James Bond 007. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  3. "Newsnight – BBC Two England – 28 January 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  4. Andrew Billen "Flagship sails on", New Statesman, 7 February 2000
  5. "Play Your Cards Right". UKGameshows.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. Glyn Davis; Gary Needham (3 December 2008). Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics. Routledge. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-1-134-05856-3.
  7. "Yes Minister – BBC Two England – 25 February 1980 – BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. "Nationwide – BBC One London – 8 September 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  9. "Channel 4's 25 year Anniversary" (PDF). Channel 4. 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  10. Hancock, Dafydd. "A channel for Wales". EMC Seefour. Transdiffusion Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
  11. "See-Saw – BBC One London – 1 October 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  12. Peter Wilson-Smith "Murdoch group sells 25pc stake in LWT", The Times, 13 March 1980
  13. "BBC Children in Need: Our History". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  14. "Echoes of who shot JR". BBC News. BBC. 5 April 2001. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  15. Bergan, Ronald (24 November 2012). "Larry Hagman obituary". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  16. BBC Genome Project BBC1 Scotland listings 1 December 1980
  17. "Play for Today: The Flipside of Dominick Hide – BBC One London – 9 December 1980 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  18. "Green light for breakfast television". BBC On This Day. 28 December 1980. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
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