1973 in British television

Events

• 1973 – Five experimental community cable television stations launch. They include Sheffield Cablevision, The Bristol Channel and Swindon Viewpoint.

  January

• 4 January – The UK and world record breaking long-running comedy series Last of the Summer Wine starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show. The first series run starts on 12 November and the programme runs for 37 years until August 2010.
• 6 January – Sesame Street, the long running US children's educational series goes to air on UTV, the first time the series is transmitted on television in Northern Ireland.
• 11 January – The Open University awards its first degrees.

  February

• 5 February – Elisabeth Beresford's popular children's characters The Wombles spawn into a stop motion animated television series narrated by Bernard Cribbins and composed by Mike Batt on BBC1.
• 15 February – The first episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, starring Michael Crawford, airs on BBC1.

  March

• 14 March – Are You Being Served? begins its first regular series, six months after the pilot episode had been broadcast as part of the Comedy Playhouse series.
• 25 March – The pilot episode of Open All Hours airs as part of Ronnie Barker's series Seven of One on BBC1.
• March – Experimental Ceefax teletext transmissions begin.

  April

• 1 April – "Prisoner and Escort", the pilot episode of Porridge, airs as part of Seven of One.

  May

• 5 May–28 July – BBC Television series The Ascent of Man, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski, airs; there is also an accompanying bestselling book.
• Unknown – Sesame Street airs on Westward Television for the first time, originally on Sundays until next summer when it will be shown on Saturdays.

  June

• No events.

  July

• No events.

  August

• 6 August – James Beck, who stars as Private Walker in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army, dies of a burst pancreas at the age of 44. Although the series continues until 1977, the part of Walker is not recast and the show carries on without him.
• 24 August – Trade test colour films are shown on BBC2 for the final time.

  September

• 10 September – The Goodies receives its first transmission on television in Zambia on ZBS.

  October

• 8 October –
• *Pat Phoenix leaves the role of Elsie Tanner on Coronation Street after thirteen years.
• *LBC becomes the first legal Independent Local Radio station in the United Kingdom when it begins broadcasting at just before 6am, providing talk radio to the London area. It is welcomed on air by London Weekend Television.
• 31 October –
• *Thames Television's landmark 26-part documentary The World at War begins.
• *The sixth series of BBC television sitcom Dad's Army opens with the episode "The Deadly Attachment" containing the "Don't tell him, Pike!" exchange which becomes rated as one of the top three greatest comedy moments of British television.

  November

• 12 November – First series run of Last of the Summer Wine starts on BBC1.
• 14 November – The BBC and ITV broadcast extensive live coverage of the Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips.
• 23 November – 10th anniversary of the first episode of Doctor Who.
• Smash Martians advertising campaign launches on ITV.

  December

• 17 December – The government announces severe measures to reduce electricity consumption due to the on-going strike action in the country. Part of these measures are that both BBC and ITV television are ordered to end their broadcasting day earlier than usual, at around 10.30pm in order to save energy. The early closedowns commence today and continue until Sunday 23 December. They are then lifted so that Christmas and New Year programming can air as normal and provide some light relief to the public. The restrictions will be reimposed from Monday 7 January 1974 and remain for a further month.

  Debuts

BBC1

• 9 January – Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
• 14 January – Woodstock
• 25 January – Whoops Baghdad
• 5 February – The Wombles
• 15 February – Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
• 18 February – A Little Princess
• 26 February – The Crocodile
• 13 March – Lizzie Dripping
• 25 April – The Gordon Peters Show
• 11 May – Scotch on the Rocks
• 26 May – That's Life!
• 6 June – Son of the Bride
• 7 June – Warship
• 13 June – We Are the Champions
• 16 June – Sutherland's Law
• 13 July – Jack the Ripper
• 19 July – Centre Play
• 20 August – Why Don't You?
• 1 September – Moonbase 3
• 12 September – Oh, Father!
• 13 September – Casanova '73
• 14 September – The Donati Conspiracy
• 12 November –
• * Heil Caesar!
• * The Terracotta Horse
• * Last of the Summer Wine

  BBC2

• 15 February – Weir of Hermiston
• 4 March – The Pearcross Girls
• 25 March – Seven of One
• 1 April – Away from It All
• 19 April – Cheri
• 1 May – A Picture of Katherine Mansfield
• 20 May – M*A*S*H
• 24 May – The Song of Songs
• 28 June – Two Women
• 26 July – A Pin to See the Peepshow
• 14 August – Black and Blue
• 6 September – Then and Now
• 23 September – The Dragon's Opponent
• 6 October – Jane Eyre
• 15 October – Second City Firsts
• 8 December – Vienna 1900
• 14 December – Frost's Weekly
• 27 December – The Vera Lynn Show

  ITV

• 1 January – Pipkins
• 14 February – All Our Saturdays
• 3 February – No Man's Land
• 25 February – The Upper Crusts
• 28 February – The Jensen Code
• 12 March – Hickory House
• 13 March – So It Goes
• 8 April – Our Kid
• 11 April – Armchair 30
• 14 April – Thriller
• 30 April – The Tomorrow People
• 2 May – Dolly
• 11 May – Between the Wars
• 15 May – Hey Brian!
• 30 May – The Kids from 47A
• 4 June – Hunter's Walk
• 12 June – Sam
• 26 June – Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
• 11 July – Shabby Tiger
• 13 July – Sir Yellow
• 29 July – Bowler
• 12 August – Once Upon a Time
• 15 August –
• * Man About the House
• * Reg Varney
• 1 September – Orson Welles' Great Mysteries
• 4 September – Up the Workers
• 21 September –
• 29 September – New Faces
• 30 September – The Brontës of Haworth
• 3 October – Men of Affairs
• 26 October – Billy Liar
• 29 October – Tell Tarby
• 30 October – Marked Personal
• 31 October –
• * The Tommy Cooper Hour
• * The World at War
• 1 November – Beryl's Lot
• 4 November – Oranges & Lemons
• 12 November –
• * Potty Time
• * Roberts Robots

  Television shows

Returning this year after a break of one year or longer

• Sunday Night at the London Palladium

  Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon

  1930s

• BBC Cricket

  1940s

• Come Dancing

  1950s

• The Good Old Days
• Panorama
• Dixon of Dock Green
• Crackerjack
• Opportunity Knocks
• This Week
• Armchair Theatre
• What the Papers Say
• The Sky at Night
• Blue Peter
• Grandstand

  1960s

• Coronation Street
• Songs of Praise
• Steptoe and Son
• Z-Cars
• Animal Magic
• Doctor Who
• World in Action
• Top of the Pops
• Match of the Day
• Crossroads
• Play School
• Mr. and Mrs.
• Call My Bluff
• World of Sport
• Jackanory
• Sportsnight
• It's a Knockout
• The Money Programme
• The Golden Shot
• ITV Playhouse
• Dad's Army
• Magpie
• The Big Match
• Clangers
• Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Nationwide
• Screen Test

  1970s

• The Goodies
• Upstairs, Downstairs
• The Onedin Line
• The Old Grey Whistle Test
• The Two Ronnies
• Colditz
• The Protectors
• Love Thy Neighbour
• Clapperboard
• Crown Court
• Pebble Mill at One
• Are You Being Served?
• Rainbow
• Emmerdale
• Newsround
• Weekend World

  Ending this year

• Watch with Mother
• Father, Dear Father
• Freewheelers
• Nearest and Dearest
• The Flaxton Boys
• On the Buses
• Crime of Passion
• ...And Mother Makes Three
• The Fenn Street Gang
• Now Look Here
• Follyfoot
• Arthur of the Britons
• War and Peace

  Births

• 29 January – Miranda Krestovnikoff, scientific presenter
• 7 February – Kate Thornton, journalist and presenter
• 8 February – Sonia Deol, presenter
• 3 March – Alison King, actress
• 5 April – Jason Done, actor
• 24 April – Gabby Logan, media presenter
• 30 April – Leigh Francis, comedian
• 8 May – Marcus Brigstocke, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
• 19 May – Alice Roberts, biological anthropologist and scientific presenter
• 21 May – Noel Fielding, comedian and actor
• 24 May – Dermot O'Leary, media presenter
• 26 May – Julie Wilson Nimmo, Scottish actress
• 9 June – Iain Lee, comedian and media presenter
• 16 June – Amanda Byram, Irish-born presenter
• 3 July – Emma Cunniffe, actress
• 11 October – Mark Chapman, broadcaster and newsreader
• 21 October – Beverley Turner, media presenter
• 5 November – Danniella Westbrook, actress and television presenter
• 8 December – Kim Medcalf, actress

  Deaths

• 31 March – George Woodbridge, 66, Inigo Pipkin in Pipkins
• 6 August – James Beck, 44, Private Walker in Dad's Army