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Overview of the events of 1978 in British television
This is a list of
British television
related events from 1978.
Events
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January
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- 2 January ? The first episode of the science fiction series
Blake's 7
is broadcast on BBC1.
- 4 January ? The first edition of the arts series
The South Bank Show
is broadcast, presented by
Melvyn Bragg
and replaces
Aquarius
.
- 8 January ?
All Creatures Great and Small
debuts on BBC1.
- 20 January ? The first of ITV's occasional
An Audience With
programmes is aired. The first presenter is
Jasper Carrott
.
- 21 January
- 27 January ? In an interview for
Granada Television
's
World in Action
, Leader of the Opposition
Margaret Thatcher
remarks, "people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture".
[1]
Critics regard the comment as a veiled reference to people of colour, thus pandering to xenophobia and reactionary sentiment. However, she receives 10,000 letters thanking her for raising the subject and the Conservatives gain a lead against Labour in the opinion polls.
[2]
February
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- 6 February ? The BBC broadcasts the inaugural World Darts Championship run by the British Darts Organisation with evening highlights until 10 February.
- 8 February ?The first episode of the influential Comprehensive school series
Grange Hill
is broadcast on BBC1. The
Phil Redmond
devised teenage drama would become one of the longest-running programmes on British television, lasting until 2008.
[3]
[4]
- 13 February ?
Anna Ford
becomes the first female newscaster on
News at Ten
.
[5]
- 21 February ? The supernatural drama series
Armchair Thriller
makes its debut on ITV. The series consisted of stand-alone serials of which the most popular,
Quiet as a Nun
, featured the infamous "Nun with No Face" scene.
- 22 February ?
The Police
appear in an advert for Wrigley's chewing gum.
- 24 February ? The BBC airs
Going Straight
. The sitcom is a direct spin-off from
Porridge
, starring
Ronnie Barker
as
Norman Stanley Fletcher
, newly released from the real-life Slade Prison where
Porridge
had been set. The programme runs for one series.
March
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April
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- 3 April ? ITV begins showing the courtroom drama series
Rumpole of the Bailey
, having originally debuted as a one-off drama on the BBC's
Play for Today
in 1975.
- 6 April ? The four-part drama series
Law & Order
begins on BBC2. Each of the four stories within the series is told from a different perspective, including that of the Detective, the Villain, the Brief and the Prisoner. The series proves to be highly controversial upon its release due to its depiction of a corrupt British law enforcement and legal system.
[6]
- 17 April ? The BBC begins broadcasting the World Snooker Championship with daily highlights until the final on 29 April. Previously, they only had highlights of the final on
Grandstand
with largely further coverage last year.
June
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July
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August
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- 30 August - The first edition of
Midweek Sports Special
is broadcast on ITV.
September
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October
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November
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- 6 November ? ITV airs the first episode of
Edward & Mrs. Simpson
, a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King
Edward VIII
who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American
Wallis Simpson
.
- 10 November ? Debut of
Carla Lane's
family sitcom
Butterflies
on BBC2.
- 13 November ? The
Association of Broadcasting Staffs
imposes an
overtime ban
on its members working in drama, news and current affairs after talks on pay rise stalled. This resulted in blackout of early evening programmes on BBC2, before spreading to other programmes and on BBC1 by 14 December.
[11]
- 23 November ? 15th anniversary of the first episode of the long-running science-fiction series
Doctor Who
.
- 27 November ? The Times reports that
News International
will sell 16% of its share in
London Weekend Television
, reducing its shares from 39.7% to 25%.
[12]
- November ? ITV starts broadcasting the
ORACLE
teletext service. It ends on 31 December 1992.
December
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- 15 December ?
Scottish Television
technical staff, who are members of the
Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians
, imposes an overtime ban over the company's use of freelance staff. This forced STV to go off the air at 4 p.m. that day.
[13]
- 21?22 December ? BBC1 and BBC2 are forced off the air due to industrial action at the BBC by the ABS union which starts on Thursday 21 December. The following day the radio unions join their BBC Television counterparts, forcing the BBC to merge their four national radio networks into one national radio station, the BBC All Network Radio Service, from 4pm that afternoon. The strike is settled shortly before 10pm on 22 December with the unions and BBC management reaching an agreement at the British government's industrial disputes arbitration service ACAS. BBC1 resumes broadcast at 3pm on Saturday 23 December with BBC2 resuming at 1pm the same afternoon. Threat of disruption to the BBC's festive television schedules is averted. BBC Radio networks resume normal schedules on the morning of Saturday 23 December.
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
- 25 December
- 26 December ? BBC1 screen the network television premiere of
William Friedkin's
1971
Oscar winning
crime thriller
The French Connection
, starring
Gene Hackman
and
Roy Scheider
.
- 28 December ? ITV airs the final episode of
The Sweeney
.
- December ? A strike forces
Yorkshire Television
off air throughout the entire Christmas period. The strike commenced on 17 December 1978, with normal service not resumed on Yorkshire Television until 5.45pm on Wednesday 3 January 1979. Many of ITV's Christmas programmes are eventually shown in early 1979 after the dispute has ended, little did anyone know that the seeds for the ITV Strike of 79 were sown.
[11]
Debuts
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BBC1
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BBC2
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Continuing television shows
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1920s
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- BBC Wimbledon
(1927?1939, 1946?2019, 2021?present)
1930s
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- The Boat Race
(1938?1939, 1946?2019, 2021?present)
- BBC Cricket
(1939, 1946?1999, 2020?2024)
1940s
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1950s
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1960s
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1970s
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Ending this year
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Births
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- 22 February ?
Jenny Frost
, singer, dancer, television presenter and model
- 23 March ?
Joanna Page
, actress
- 31 March ?
Daniel Mays
, actor
- 28 April ?
Lauren Laverne
, radio and television presenter and singer
- 29 May ?
Adam Rickitt
, actor
- 10 July ?
Sarah-Jane Mee
, journalist and news and sports presenter
- 11 July ?
Dustin Demri-Burns
, actor, comedian and writer
- 24 July ?
Joanna Taylor
, actress and model
- 19 August ?
Callum Blue
, actor
- 8 November ?
Jane Danson
, actress
- 17 November ?
Tom Ellis
, actor
Deaths
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See also
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References
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]
- ^
Interview for Granada TV with journalist Gordon Burns (27 January 1978),
TV Interview for Granada
World in Action
("rather swamped")
,
Margaret Thatcher Foundation
. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
Archived
2009-05-08.
- ^
John Campbell,
Margaret Thatcher: Volume One: The Grocer's Daughter
(Jonathan Cape, 2000), p. 400.
- ^
"GRANGE HILL ? A TELEVISION HEAVEN REVIEW"
.
TV Heaven
. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2008
. Retrieved
8 April
2008
.
- ^
Lysons, Jon.
"Grange Hill (1978?2008)"
. BFI Screen Online
. Retrieved
8 April
2008
.
- ^
"
"1978: Ford makes her ITN debut", BBC On This Day"
.
BBC News
. 1978-02-13
. Retrieved
28 April
2009
.
- ^
Newman, G.F. Television interview with
Mark Lawson
.
Mark Lawson Talks to... G.F. Newman
. United Kingdom: BBC Four. Accessed 3 April 2018
- ^
"The Godfather ? BBC One London ? 28 May 1978"
.
BBC Genome
. BBC
. Retrieved
16 October
2016
.
- ^
"The Godfather ? BBC One London ? 29 May 1978"
.
BBC Genome
. BBC
. Retrieved
16 October
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"James Bond On TV ? Movies"
. MI6 ? The Home Of James Bond 007. 5 April 2011
. Retrieved
26 January
2018
.
- ^
"Larry Grayson's Generation Game ? BBC One London ? 23 September 1978"
.
BBC Genome
. BBC
. Retrieved
18 August
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rodger, Gary (2018-12-24).
"Almost a silent night"
.
Transdiffusion
. Retrieved
2024-05-08
.
- ^
Peter Wainwright "News International to sell 16% of its shares in London Weekend Television",
The Times
, 27 November 1978; p.15
- ^
"Blackout on all three channels"
.
The Glasgow Herald
. 16 December 1978. p. 1.
- ^
Walmsley, Andy (May 30, 2011).
"Random radio jottings: BBC All Network Service"
.
- ^
Borgwick, Boggenstrovia Van (December 27, 2013).
"Boggenstrovia's Bit: The Christmas that Nearly wasn't ? The BBC Strike of December 1978 and Christmas Television of that year (2015 Update)"
.
- ^
"You can't touch me, I'm part of the union - Politics - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System"
.
www.transdiffusion.org
.
- ^
"TV Cream"
.
tv.cream.org
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-01-06
. Retrieved
2018-09-05
.
- ^
"The Sound of Music ? BBC One London ? 25 December 1978"
.
BBC Genome
. BBC
. Retrieved
10 February
2018
.
- ^
"What the Papers Say in pictures"
.
The Guardian
. 29 May 2008
. Retrieved
2 April
2022
.
External links
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