1968 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1968.

Events

• 1 January – The Colour television licence is introduced when a £5 "colour supplement" is added to the £5 monochrome licence fee, therefore making the cost of a colour licence £10.
• 4 February – The cult series The Prisoner finishes its first run on British television.
• 6 April – The 13th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Spain wins the contest with the song "La, la, la", performed by Massiel. This year marks the first time the event is broadcast in colour, with several European countries transmitting the event in colour. Because BBC1 does not yet broadcast in colour, BBC2 airs an encore edition of the show in colour the following day.
• 20 April – Conservative MP Enoch Powell makes his infamous Rivers of Blood speech about immigration and anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom.^[1] The speech is made at the Midland Hotel in Birmingham to a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre at 2:30 pm. The Birmingham-based television company ATV saw an advance copy of the speech that morning, and its news editor ordered a television crew to go to the venue, where they filmed sections of the speech. The speech provokes great outcry among the British public, making Powell one of the most popular and loathed politicians in the country, and leading to his dismissal from the Shadow Cabinet by Conservative party leader Edward Heath.
• 4 May – Mary Hopkin performs on the British TV show Opportunity Knocks. Hopkin catches the attention of model Twiggy, who recommends her to Beatle Paul McCartney. McCartney soon signs Hopkin to Apple Records.
• 20 May – Harlech (which became HTV in 1970) starts its dual service for Wales and the West Country, replacing the interim ITSWW, which had replaced TWW on 4 March.
• 28 July – Final day on air for ABC which had broadcast to the North and Midlands regions during weekends. The 1968 Contract Round sees the end of weekend franchises in these regions. It is also the last day on air for ATV London which lost its weekend franchise to the newly formed London Weekend Television.
• 29 July – Granada and ATV broadcast seven days a week to the Midlands and the North-West respectively. The North is split into two regions with Granada broadcasting to the North-West and Yorkshire Television broadcasting to the Yorkshire region. It is also the last day on air for Rediffusion, London in the London area.
• 30 July – **Thames Television goes on air, having taken over the ITV London weekday franchise from Rediffusion, London. Thames is a result of a merger between the respective parent companies of ABC (ABPC, famously known for the ABC cinema chain) and Rediffusion (British Electric Traction), the ABPC having been awarded the controlling 51% stake in the new London weekday broadcaster.
  • Magpie premieres on ITV.
• 31 July – Popular sitcom Dad's Army begins its nine-year run on BBC1.
• 2 August – London Weekend Television takes over the ITV London weekend franchise from ATV London. They went on air initially using the name London Weekend Television but then adopted the name London Weekend before reverting to London Weekend Television (often abbreviated to LWT) in 1978.
• August – Independent Television technicians strike immediately after the 1968 franchise changes,^[2] causing a national stoppage.^[3] The individual companies are off the air for several weeks and an emergency service is established. The ITV Emergency National Service is presented by management personnel with no regional variations. This was the first time that a uniform presentation practice was adopted across all regions.^[4]

Debuts

BBC1

• 12 February – The Herbs
• 14 June – Me Mammy (1968–1971)
• 31 July – Dad's Army (1968–1977)

ITV

• 4 April – Freewheelers (1968–1973)
• 30 July – Magpie (1968–1980)
• 15 August – Nearest and Dearest (1968–1973)
• 21 September – Strange Report (1968–1969)
• 24 September – How We Used To Live (1968–2002)
• 25 September – The Champions (1968–1969)
• 29 September – Joe 90 (1968–1969)
• 5 November – Father, Dear Father (1968–1973)
• 8 November – Please Sir! (1968–1972)
• 16 November – Journey to the Unknown (1968–1969)
• Unknown – The Big Match (1968–1992)

Television shows

1940s

• Watch with Mother (1946–1973)
• Come Dancing (1949–1998)

1950s

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
• The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976)
• Crackerjack (1955–1984)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)^[5]
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• The Sky at Night (1957–present)
• Blue Peter (1958–present)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)

1960s

• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• The Avengers (1961–1969)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• The Saint (1962–1969)
• Z-Cars (1962–1978)
• Animal Magic (1962–1983)
• Doctor Who (1963–1989, 2005–present)
• World in Action (1963–1998)
• The Wednesday Play (1964–1970)
• Top of the Pops (1964–2006)
• Match of the Day (1964–present)
• Crossroads (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Play School (1964–1988)
• Mr. and Mrs. (1964–1999)
• The Newcomers (1965–1969)
• Public Eye (1965–1975)
• World of Sport (1965–1985)
• Sportsnight (1965–1997)
• Softly, Softly (1966–1969)
• The Trumptonshire Trilogy (1966–1969)
• Jackanory (1965–1996, 2006)
• It's a Knockout (1966–1982, 1999–2001)
• The Money Programme (1966–2010)
• Market in Honey Lane (1967–1969)
• Not in Front of the Children (1967–1970)
• Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (1967–1971)
• The Golden Shot (1967–1975)
• ITV Playhouse (1967–1982)

Ending this year

• Take Your Pick (1955–1968, 1992–1998)
• Double Your Money (1955–1968)
• White Heather Club (1958–1968)
• Danger Man (1960–1961, 1964–1968)
• Theatre 625 (1964–1968)
• Beggar My Neighbour (1966–1968)
• At Last the 1948 Show (1967–1968)
• Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–1968)
• Man in a Suitcase (1967–1968)
• Pinky and Perky (1967–1968)
• The Prisoner (1967–1968)

Births

• 3 February – David Scarboro, actor (died 1988)
• 29 February – Wendi Peters, actress
• 4 March – Patsy Kensit, English actress
• 11 March – Dominic Mafham, actor
• 21 March – Jaye Davidson, British actor
• 23 March – Abigail Cruttenden, actress
• 3 April – Charlotte Coleman, actress (died 2001)
• 8 April – Jenny Powell, British television presenter
• 22 April – Amanda Mealing, actress
• 23 April – Ricky Groves, actor
• 4 May – Julian Barratt, comedian and actor
• 12 May – Catherine Tate, comedian
• 15 May – Sophie Raworth, journalist and newsreader
• 22 May – Graham Linehan, Irish writer and director
• 7 June – Sarah Parish, actress
• 28 June – Adam Woodyatt, actor
• 4 July – Ronni Ancona, actress and impressionist
• 20 July – Julian Rhind-Tutt, film, television and radio actor
• 26 July – Olivia Williams, actress
• 4 August – Lee Mack, comedian and actor
• 5 August – Stephanie Flanders, broadcast journalist
• 9 August
  • Kate Gerbeau, television presenter and newsreader
  • Gillian Anderson, British actress (born in the U.S.)
• 11 August – Gray O'Brien, actor
• 14 August – Adrian Lester, British actor
• 17 August – Helen McCrory, actress
• 21 August – Laura Trevelyan, BBC journalist
• 9 September – Julia Sawalha, English actress
• 20 September – Philippa Forrester, British TV presenter
• 23 September – Yvette Fielding, television presenter and actress
• 28 September – Shiulie Ghosh, television journalist
• 1 October – Mark Durden-Smith, British television presenter
• 2 October – Victoria Derbyshire, British Radio presenter
• 19 October – Kacey Ainsworth, British actress.
• 20 October – Susan Tully, television producer, director and former actress
• 12 November – Jo Coburn, journalist and broadcaster
• 22 November – Andrew Gilligan, British journalist
• 23 November – Kirsty Young, television presenter
• 12 December – Kate Humble, television presenter
• Unknown – Sarah Smith, journalist

References