1968 in British television

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

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Events

January

• 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.
• 13 January – Sooty, Harry Corbett's glove puppet bear, moves from the BBC to ITV following its cancellation the previous year by the controller of BBC One, Paul Fox.[1]

February

• 4 February – Cult series The Prisoner finishes its first run on British television.
• 5 February – BBC2's Newsroom becomes the first news programme in the UK to be broadcast in colour.[2]
• 12 February – The Herbs debuts on BBC1.

March

• 4 March – TWW closes. The station has lost its franchise in the previous ITV licensing awards and decided to close 10 weeks early, selling its remaining airtime to HTV for £500,000; however Harlech is not ready to commence transmissions and to fill the gap an interim service, staffed by former TWW staff, is provided until Harlech's launch on 20 May.

April

• 1 April – Reporting Scotland launches on BBC1 Scotland, replacing A Quick Look Round.
• 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.[3] 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 has seen an advance copy of the speech this morning, and its news editor has ordered a television crew to go to the venue, where they film sections of the speech. The speech provokes great outcry among the British public, making Powell simultaneously one of the most popular and loathed politicians in the country, and leading to his rapid dismissal from the Shadow Cabinet by Conservative party leader Edward Heath.

May

• 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 who soon signs Hopkin to Apple Records.
• 20 May – Harlech (which becomes HTV in 1970) starts its dual service for Wales and the West of England, replacing the interim ITSWW, which has itself replaced TWW in March.

June

• No events.

July

• 9 July – American time-travel series The Time Tunnel debuts on BBC1.
• 28 July – Final day on air for ABC which has 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 loses its weekend franchise to the newly formed London Weekend Television.
• 29 July – Granada and ATV broadcast seven days a week to the North-West and Midlands 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 new joint venture between the respective parent companies of ABC (ABPC, 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 but profits shared equally. Thames's evening news program Today, presented by Eamonn Andrews, features Jamaican Barbara Blake Hannah as the first black news presenter on British television.[4]
  • Children's magazine programme Magpie premieres on ITV.
• 31 July – Popular sitcom Dad's Army begins its nine-year run on BBC1 with the episode "The Man and the Hour".

August

• 2 August – London Weekend Television takes over the ITV London weekend franchise from ATV London. Going on air initially as London Weekend Television, it later adopts 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,[5] causing a national stoppage.[6] 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, the first time that a uniform presentation practice has been adopted across all regions.[7]

September

• 9 September – Translated French children's puppet series Hector's House debuts on BBC1.
• 14 September – The final editions of Look Westward (Westward Television), The Viewer (Tyne Tees Television), TV Post (Ulster Television), Television Weekly (Harlech Television) and TV World (ATV Midlands) are published for the last time.
• 21 September – TVTimes becomes a national publication, as previously some ITV companies have produced their own listings magazines.

October

• No events.

November

• No events.

December

• 7 December – American science fiction series Land of the Giants makes its debut on ITV.

Debuts

BBC1

• 3 January – Zokko! (1968–1970)
• 6 January – The Portrait of a Lady (1968)
• 22 January – Hugh and I Spy (1968)
• 30 January – Cilla (1968-1976)
• 11 February – Nicholas Nickleby (1968)
• 12 February – The Herbs (1968)
• 1 April – Reporting Scotland (1968–present)
• 7 April – The First Lady (1968-1969)
• 10 May – Thicker Than Water (1968-1969)
• 12 May – The Railway Children (1968)
• 24 May – Wild, Wild Women (1968)
• 14 June – Me Mammy (1968–1971)
• 30 June – Triton (1968)
• 15 July – Ukridge (1968)
• 9 July – The Time Tunnel (1966–1967)
• 28 July – The Man in the Iron Mask (1968)
• 31 July – Dad's Army (1968–1977)
• 30 August – The Old Campaigner (1968–1969)
• 9 September – Hector's House (1968–1975)
• 10 September – The Jazz Age (1968)
• 12 September – Sportsnight (1968–1997)
• 13 September – Oh Brother! (1968-1970)
• 29 September – The £1,000,000 Bank Note (1968)
• 3 November – Treasure Island (1968)
• 25 December – The Harry Secombe Show (1968-1973)

BBC2

• 2 March – Point Counter Point (1968)
• 29 April – Marty (1968-1971)
• 14 June – Colour Me Pop (1968–1969)
• 22 June – Cold Comfort Farm' '(1968)
• 5 July – The Expert (1968-1976)
• 13 July – Middlemarch (1968)
• 31 August – Nana (1968)
• 2 September – The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968–1977)
• 8 September – Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–1973)
• 10 October – Jazz at the Maltings (1968–1969)
• 28 October – Broaden Your Mind (1968-1969)
• 16 November – Resurrection (1968)
• 28 December – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1968-1969)
• 31 December – The Borderers (1968-1970)

ITV

• 4 January – A Man of our Times (1968)
• 5 February – Rogues' Gallery (1968-1969)
• 28 February – The Flight of the Heron (1968)
• 28 March – Virgin of the Secret Service (1968)
• 3 April – The Ronnie Barker Playhouse (1968)
• 4 April – Freewheelers (1968–1973)
• 19 April – Spindoe (1968)
• 30 July – Magpie (1968–1980)
• 2 August – Gazette (1968)
• 6 August – Best of Enemies (1968)
• 15 August – Nearest and Dearest (1968–1973)
• 25 August – The Big Match (1968–1992)
• 21 September – Strange Report (1968–1969)
• 22 September – The Caesars (1968)
• 24 September – How We Used To Live (1968–2002)
• 24 September – Inside George Webley (1968-1970)
• 25 September – The Champions (1968–1969)
• 29 September – Joe 90 (1968–1969)
• 1 October – The Root of All Evil? (1968-1969)
• 5 November – Father, Dear Father (1968–1973)
• 8 November – Please Sir! (1968–1972)
• 16 November – / Journey to the Unknown (1968–1969)
• 5 December – High Living (1968–1971)
• 7 December – Land of the Giants (1968–1970)

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 (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, 2020–present)
• Opportunity Knocks (1956–1978, 1987–1990)
• This Week (1956–1978, 1986–1992)
• Armchair Theatre (1956–1974)[8]
• 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

See also

• 1968 in British music
• 1968 in British radio
• 1968 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1968

References

1. Tucker, Anthony (13 January 2015). "BBC to let Sooty go: from the archive, 13 January 1968". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
2. "And now... the news in colour". BBC Genome Blog.
3. ""1968: Powell slates immigration policy", BBC On This Day". BBC News. 20 April 1968. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
4. Hannah, Barbara Blake (23 October 2008). "It wasn't Trevor or Moira - I was the first black British TV presenter". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
5. Bowden-Smith, Kif Strike Service Vision On, 1 January 2002, accessed 7 May 2009. Archived 2009-05-09.
6. Carmody, Robin The Bradshaw of Broadcasting Off the Telly June 2000, accessed 7 May 2009. Archived 2009-05-09.
7. Alyett, Glenn Strike Out Archived 23 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine' Talk of Thames, 2005, accessed 7 May 2009
8. Mark Duguid "Armchair Theatre (1956–74)", BFI screenonline