1982 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1982.

List of years in British television (table)
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Events

January

February
  • 3 February – The network television premiere of John Carpenter's 1978 slasher Halloween on ITV, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence.
  • February – The first ever 3D broadcast in the UK is shown by TVS. The programme includes excerpts of test footage shot by Philips in the Netherlands. Red/green 3D glasses were given away free with copies of TV Times, but the 3D sections of the programme are shown in monochrome.

March

April
  • 2 April – The Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.[9] Both the BBC and ITV broadcast additional and extended news bulletins throughout the conflict.
  • 3 April
  • 6 April – ITV debuts The Human Race, a six-part series produced for Thames Television and presented by English zoologist Desmond Morris, as he travels all over the world and rifled film archives to put together by showing the vast diversity of human culture and behaviour. The series ends on 11 May.
  • 15 April – BBC2's start time moves to the later time of 5:10pm with transmissions beginning with a single Open University programme with regular programmes now beginning at 5:40pm. For the past six months, BBC2 had been starting its weekday broadcasts at the earlier time of 3:55pm.
  • 16 April – Debut of the game show Odd One Out on BBC1, presented by Paul Daniels.
  • 17 April – The BBC launches its first Summer Saturday morning magazine show, Get Set. However, unlike its Winter counterpart, the Summer shows only air for the first half of the morning. This allows for an earlier start to Grandstand to accommodate live test cricket and on the weeks that cricket is not being shown, a feature film is broadcast from around 11am until the start of Grandstand at 12:30pm.
  • 24 April – The 27th Eurovision Song Contest is held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The contest is presented by Jan Leeming and won by Germany's Nicole with Ein bißchen Frieden.
  • 26 April – The Satellite Channel launches. However, to be able to view the channel in the UK, a satellite dish approximately 10 feet (3 meters) wide is required due to the satellite on which the channel is broadcast. In 1984, it is renamed Sky Channel after it is purchased by Rupert Murdoch and in 1989 it is renamed Sky One alongside the launch of Sky's satellite television service.[10]

May
  • 1 May – The US soap opera Dynasty makes its UK debut on BBC1.[11]
  • 4 May – The long-running chat show Wogan makes its debut on BBC1, presented by Terry Wogan. It would be shown three times a week from 1985 and would continue until July 1992.
  • 9 May – BBC1 airs live coverage of the London Marathon for the first time.[12] It had aired highlights of the event under the International Athletics strand the previous year.[13]
  • 26 May – The network television premiere of Don Taylor's 1978 horror sequel Damien: Omen II on ITV, starring William Holden.
  • 28 May–2 June – The BBC and ITV provide extensive live coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to the UK.

June

July

August
  • 2 August – Test broadcasts commence for Channel 4 and S4C. These mainly consist of showing the IBA's testcard ETP-1 between 9am and 8pm.

September

October
  • 2 October – The first edition of the Saturday morning children's show Saturday Superstore is broadcast on BBC1. It adopts a similar format to its predecessor, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.
  • 3–9 October – As part of its coverage of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the BBC airs a two-hour breakfast programme called Breakfast with Brisbane. It includes regular news summaries and is the first time the BBC has broadcast a scheduled news bulletin at breakfast and comes three months ahead of the launch of their own breakfast television programme Breakfast Time.[16][17] Other coverage of the Games consists of highlights programmes aired at lunchtime and early evening.
  • 6 October – BBC1 starts airing season 6 of the US drama series Dallas.
  • 10 October – Alan Bleasdale's hard-hitting Liverpool-set drama Boys from the Blackstuff makes its debut on BBC2, starring Bernard Hill as the downtrodden character Yosser Hughes. The final episode was shown on 7 November.
  • 17 October – The network television premiere of Peter Brook's 1963 adventure Lord of the Flies on BBC2.[18]
  • 23 October – ITV begins showing the Japanese science-fiction marionette series Star Fleet, with the theme tune written and performed by Queen guitarist Brian May.
  • 24 October – The network television premiere of George Lucas' epic 1977 science-fiction blockbuster Star Wars: A New Hope on ITV, starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Alec Guinness. At the time it was the most money ITV had spent on a single film ($4 million dollars) for three showings over seven years, however they go on to show Star Wars a total of five times (October 1982, September 1983, December 1984, January 1987 and January 1988). The debut 1982 showing drew in an estimated audience of over 16.8 million viewers.[19]
  • 25 October – ITV debuts Harry's Game, a three-part drama miniseries made by Yorkshire Television closely based on Gerald Seymour's 1975 novel of the same name starring Ray Lonnen, Derek Thompson and Benjamin Whitrow. The drama is noted for its haunting theme song by the Irish musical group Clannad reaching top five of the UK Singles Chart, bringing the band its first major international exposure. The serial continues on 27 October.
  • 31 October – Programmes in Welsh are broadcast both on the BBC and HTV for the final time.

November
  • 1 November – S4C, the first Welsh language TV service is launched.[20]
  • 2 November – Channel 4 starts broadcasting at 4:45pm.[20]
  • 3 November – Debut of the nostalgic coming-of-age film P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang on Channel 4, produced by David Puttnam and directed by Michael Apted as part of the First Love series.[21]
  • 4 November – The first of six episodes of Tom Keating on Painters is broadcast. Channel 4 enticed viewers to their pioneering instructional programme with an ad in The Times that invited them to: "Watch the great 16th century Italian painter Tom Keating (who) believes the spirits of the Old Masters sometimes enter him as he works on a canvas. Tonight, in the first of a series, watch Titian paint 'Tarquin and Lucretia' through Keating."[22] The art restorer and notorious art forger secured for Channel 4 one of two Broadcasting Press Guild awards for its very first season: ‘Best on-screen performance in a non-acting role’ for Keating.[23] A Times television critic wrote, "Tom Keating does more than just break new ground in art appreciation... Instruction by example: that is the Keating approach."[24]
  • 5 November
  • 6 November – Channel 4 airs its first terrestrial television showing of Sidney Lumet's 1976 American satirical drama Network, starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Ned Beatty. The film was recently shown during the launch of S4C six days earlier.
  • 7 November – Coverage of American football is first shown on Channel 4 at 5:30pm, beginning the channel's association with the sport. The programme is initially presented by Nicky Horne and Miles Aiken, but due to an NFL players strike over pay negotiation rules, it is forced to show matches played earlier in the season. In spite of this and because of the British viewing public's limited knowledge of American football, coverage of the sport proves to be popular. The players have ended their action by January 1983, enabling Channel 4 to air live coverage of that year's Super Bowl.[25]
  • 7–28 November – The London Weekend Television epic production The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is aired by Channel 4 over its first four Sunday evenings on the air.[26]
  • 8 November – Channel 4 begins airing basketball coverage, presented by Simon Reed and Miles Aiken. Each week sees coverage of a match from Division One of the National Basketball League with highlights of the first half of the game and live coverage of the second half. The first match to be shown is a game between the Birmingham Bullets and Crystal Palace.[25]
  • 9 November – The first episode of the anarchic sitcom The Young Ones is broadcast on BBC2, starring Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan and Alexei Sayle.
  • 14 November – The viewer complaints programme Right to Reply is first broadcast on Channel 4.[27]
  • 16 November – A dispute over new technology forces Border to close for around a month.[28]
  • 20 November – BBC1 begins showing the five-part historical Japanese-set drama Shōgun, starring Richard Chamberlain.

December

Debuts

BBC1

BBC2

ITV

Channel 4

S4C
  • 1 November
  • 3 November – Y Byd ar Bedwar (1982–present)
  • 4 November – Joni Jones (1982)
  • 5 November – Anturiaethau Syr Wynff a Plwmsan (1982–1989)
  • 11 November – Noson Lawen (1982–present)

New channels
Date Channel
26 April The Satellite Channel
1 November S4C
2 November Channel 4

Television shows

Changes of network affiliation
Show Moved from Moved to
Rising Damp ITV Channel 4
Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982) BBC1

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

1980s

Ending this year

Births

Deaths
DateNameAgeCinematic Credibility
21 March Harry H. Corbett 57 actor (Steptoe and Son)
15 April Arthur Lowe 66 actor (Dad's Army, Coronation Street)
12 July Kenneth More 67 actor
4 November Talfryn Thomas 60 actor (Dad's Army)
16 November Arthur Askey 82 comedian
2 December Marty Feldman 48 comedian and actor (At Last the 1948 Show, Marty)

See also

References
  1. Peter Fiddick "ITV's framework for survival in the eighties", The Guardian; 25 January 1980; p.2
  2. ITV's framework for survival in the eighties: Expectations of a harsh ... The Guardian (1959–2003); 25 January 1980;
  3. £5m for staff who seek TV franchise. By Kenneth Gosling. The Times, Monday, 12 May 1980;
  4. "2001: A Space Odyssey – BBC One London – 1 January 1982 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  5. "Larry Grayson's Generation Game – BBC One London – 3 January 1982". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. "On This Day – March 5, 1982". London: Times Online. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  7. "Swap Shop – BBC One London – 27 March 1982". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  8. "James Bond On TV – Movies". MI6 – The Home Of James Bond 007. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  9. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.
  10. Beaumont, Ian. "Sky One". Transdiffusion Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on 2009-07-19. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  11. "Dynasty – BBC One London – 1 May 1982 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  12. "London's Marathon – BBC One – 9 May 1982". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  13. "International Athletics – BBC One – 29 March 1981". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  14. "BBC One London – 20 June 1982 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  15. "Wales this Week celebrates thirty years of success". ITV. 2012-12-11. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  16. "BBC One London – 3 October 1982 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  17. Midgley, Neil (16 January 2013). "Breakfast television: the revolution embraced by the nation". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  18. "Film of the Week: Lord of the Flies – BBC Two England – 17 October 1982 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  19. Binder, Michael (July 2011). Haliwell's Horizon: A Store of Riches. ISBN 9781447742050.
  20. "25 facts from Channel 4's 25 years". BBC News. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
  21. "BFI Screenonline: P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  22. Channel 4 (4 November 1982). "Watch the great 16th century Italian painter Tom Keating". The Times. p. 13.
  23. Gosling, Kenneth (18 March 1983). "Channel 4 wins two awards". The Times. p. 5.
  24. Davalle, Peter, ed. (11 November 1982). "Today's television programmes – CHOICE: Tom Keating on Painters". The Times. p. 25.
  25. "Part One (1982–1992): "Suddenly The Refrigerator Was a Bigger Name Than Gary Lineker" : Off The Telly". Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  26. "1982 : Off The Telly". Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  27. BFI.org.uk (episode capsule)
  28. "News in Brief" The Times (London, England), Thursday, 16 Dec 1982; pg. 3;
  29. "What the Papers Say in pictures". The Guardian. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
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