1963 in British television

This is a list of British television related events from 1963.

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Events

January

• 7 January – Granada Television first broadcasts World in Action, its influential investigative current affairs series, which will run for 35 years.
• 13 January – BBC TV broadcasts the play The Madhouse on Castle Street in the Sunday-Night Theatre strand. The play co-stars a young American folk music singer named Bob Dylan.

February

• 18 February – The Strabane transmitter opens, bringing coverage to the west of Northern Ireland for the first time.

March

• 23 March – The 8th Eurovision Song Contest is held at the BBC Television Centre in London. Denmark wins the contest with the song "Dansevise", performed by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann.

April

• No events.

May

• No events.

June

• No events.

July

• No events.

August

• 9 August – Ready Steady Go! premieres on ITV.

September

• 30 September – BBC TV begins using a globe as their symbol. They would continue to use it in varying forms until 2002.

October

• No events.

November

• 22 November – BBC TV interrupts regular programming to report the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
• 23 November
  • That Was The Week That Was broadcasts its famous, non-satirical Kennedy tribute episode on BBC TV.
  • Doctor Who premieres on BBC TV with the first episode of the four-part serial An Unearthly Child. The First Doctor is portrayed by William Hartnell.

December

• 21 December – First episode of the seven-part serial The Daleks broadcast in the Doctor Who series, introducing the titular aliens (revealed fully in the following week's episode).
• 28 December – The satirical BBC show That Was The Week That Was (TW3) airs for the last time.

Debuts

BBC Television Service/BBC TV

• 5 January – The Chem. Lab. Mystery (1963)
• 18 January – Mr Justice Duncannon (1963)
• 21 February – Moonstrike (1963)
• 24 February – The Desperate People (1963)
• 7 April – Jane Eyre (1963)
• 18 May – The Stanley Baxter Show (1963–1971)
• 19 May – Epitaph for a Spy (1963)
• 10 July – Taxi! (1963–1964)
• 13 July – The Dick Emery Show (1963–1981)
• 16 August – Marriage Lines (1963–1966)
• 1 September – No Cloak - No Dagger (1963)
• 3 September – Swallows and Amazons (1963)
• 22 September – First Night (1963–1966)
• 30 September – Spotlight South-West (1963–present)
• 5 October – The Telegoons (1963–1964)
• 6 October – Dig This Rhubarb (1963–1964)
• 13 October – Kidnapped (1963)
• 1 November – Teletale (1963–1964)
• 23 November – Doctor Who (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
• 28 November – Bold as Brass (1963–1964)
• 26 December – Laughter from the Whitehall (1963–1965)
• 28 December – Meet the Wife (1963–1966)
• Unknown – Bleep and Booster (1963–1977)

ITV

• 3 January – Hancock (1963)
• 5 January – Dimensions of Fear (1963)
• 5 January – Once Aboard the Lugger (1963)
• 6 January – Best of Friends (1963)
• 7 January – World in Action (1963–1998)
• 2 February – 24-Hour Call (1963)
• 4 February – The Plane Makers (1963–1965)
• 30 March – Jezebel ex UK (1963)
• 30 March – The Human Jungle (1963–1964)
• 2 April – Crane (1963–1965)
• 7 April – Space Patrol (1963–1968)
• 7 May – Sierra Nine (1963)
• 29 May – The Des O'Connor Show (1963–1973)
• 3 June – Love Story (1963–1974)
• 9 June – Sergeant Cork (1963–1968)
• 26 July – Bud (1963)
• 6 August – Smugglers' Cove (1963)
• 8 August – A Little Big Business (1963–1965)
• 9 August – Ready Steady Go! (1963–1966)
• 25 September – Our Man at St. Mark's (1963–1966)
• 28 September – The Sentimental Agent (1963)
• 2 October – Espionage (1963–1964)
• 1 November – Friday Night (1963)
• 9 November – Emerald Soup (1963)
• 10 November – That's My Boy (1963)

Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon (1927–1939, 1946–2019, 2021–2024)

1930s

• BBC Cricket (1939, 1946–1999, 2020–2024)

1940s

• Watch with Mother (1946–1973)
• Come Dancing (1950–1998)

1950s

• Andy Pandy (1950–1970, 2002–2005)
• Rag, Tag and Bobtail (1953–1965)
• The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
• Panorama (1953–present)
• Picture Book (1955–1965)
• Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1955–1967, 1973–1974)
• Take Your Pick (1955–1968, 1992–1998)
• Double Your Money (1955–1968)
• Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976)
• Crackerjack (1955–1984, 2020–present)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)[1]
• What the Papers Say (1956–2008)
• Grandstand (1958–2007)
• Noggin the Nog (1959–1965, 1970, 1979–1982)

1960s

• Sykes and A... (1960–1965)
• The Flintstones (1960–1966)
• Coronation Street (1960–present)
• Ghost Squad (1961–1964)
• The Avengers (1961–1969)
• Points of View (1961–present)
• Songs of Praise (1961–present)
• Compact (1962–1965)
• Steptoe and Son (1962–1965, 1970–1974)
• Hugh and I (1962–1967)
• The Saint (1962–1969)
• Z-Cars (1962–1978)
• Animal Magic (1962–1983)

Ending this year

• Zoo Quest (1954–1963)
• That Was The Week That Was (1962–1963)
• The Jetsons (1962–1963, 1985–1987)

Births

• 16 January – James May, motoring journalist and television show host
• 19 January – Martin Bashir, television journalist
• 22 January – Nicola Duffett, actress
• 27 January – Mark Moraghan, actor and singer
• 10 February – Philip Glenister, actor
• 16 March – Jerome Flynn, British actor
• 20 March – David Thewlis, English actor
• 16 April – Nick Berry, actor and singer
• 11 May – Natasha Richardson, actress (died 2009)
• 20 May – Jenny Funnell, radio and television actress
• 22 May – David Schneider, actor
• 6 June – Jason Isaacs, actor
• 2 July – Mark Kermode, British film critic
• 3 July – Jo Wheeler, weather forecaster
• 31 August – Todd Carty, actor and director
• 11 September – Colin Wells, actor
• 26 September –
  • Lysette Anthony, English actress
  • Jo Caulfield, actress, writer and comedian.
• 5 October – Nick Robinson, journalist, BBC News political editor
• 3 November – Ian Wright, footballer and radio and television presenter
• 10 November – Hugh Bonneville, actor
• 28 November – Armando Iannucci, Scottish comedian, satirist and radio producer
• 24 December – Caroline Aherne, comic actress/writer (died 2016)
• Unknown –
  • Ruth Goodman, historian and television presenter
  • Judy Flynn, British actress, (Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom)

See also

• 1963 in British music
• 1963 in British radio
• 1963 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1963

References

1. Mark Duguid "Armchair Theatre (1956–74)", BFI screenonline