1982 in British television

Events

January

• 1 January –
• *Central Independent Television starts broadcasting in the English Midlands, replacing Associated Television, Television South starts broadcasting to the South and South East of England, replacing Southern Television, and Television South West starts broadcasting to the South West, replacing Westward Television.
• *The Bluebell Hill transmitter in Kent is transferred from Thames/LWT to TVS, to increase the size of TVS's new South East sub-region and the Kendal transmitter, covering much of southern Cumbria, is transferred from Granada to Border.
• *Yorkshire Television extends its coverage on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border when transmitters covering Todmorden and Walsden are transferred from the Granada region.
• *In London, the Friday handover from Thames to LWT is moved from 7.00pm to 5.15pm.
• *ITV airs the network television premiere of Steven Spielberg's 1977 science-fiction epic Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time, starring Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut and Melinda Dillon.
• *The first showing on British television of Stanley Kubrick's film , which is aired as part of BBC1's New Year's Day lineup.
• 3 January – Final edition of The Generation Game to be presented by Larry Grayson. It is a compilation of highlights of the previous series.
• 4 January – Peter Davison makes his first full appearance as the Fifth Doctor in the Doctor Who serial "Castrovalva".
• 8 January – Launch of London Weekend Television's Friday evening magazine programme The Six O'Clock Show. Until December 1987 the programme includes a fifteen minute news bulletin produced by Thames Television and titled Thames Weekend News.
• January – John Birt replaces Michael Grade as Director of Programmes at London Weekend Television, and makes major changes to output aimed at maximising audiences with some niche programming, such as arts and science, moving out of primetime to the schedule margins to make way form more entertainment shows at peaktime.

  February

• February – The first-ever 3D broadcast in the UK is screened by Television South. The programme includes excerpts of test footage shot by Philips in the Netherlands. Red/green 3D glasses were given away free with copies of the TVTimes listings magazine, but the 3D sections of the programme are shown in monochrome.

  March

• 2 March – Second television version of John Mortimer's play A Voyage Round My Father, produced by Thames Television for ITV, is broadcast, with Laurence Olivier as Mortimer's blind barrister father, Alan Bates as the young Mortimer, Elizabeth Sellars the mother and Jane Asher as Elizabeth and featuring blind actor Esmond Knight as a judge.
• 5 March – The BBC is given permission by the Government to start broadcasting television programmes on two satellite channels from early 1986. Ultimately, however, the channels are not launched.
• 28 March – The British television premiere of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me on ITV.

  April

• 2 April – The Falklands War begins as Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Both the BBC and ITV broadcast additional and extended news bulletins throughout the conflict.
• 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 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 becomes known as Sky One.

  May

• 1 May – British television debut of the US soap opera Dynasty.
• 9 May – BBC1 airs live coverage of the London Marathon for the first time. It had aired highlights of the event under the International Athletics strand the previous year.
• 28 May–2 June – The BBC and ITV provide extensive live coverage of Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom.

  June

• 14 June – The Falklands War ends after Argentina surrenders.
• 17 June – American musical high school drama Fame starts airing on UK television on BBC1.
• 20 June – The BBC relaunches its Sunday morning programme for the Asian community. The new programme is called Asian Magazine.
• 26 July – Alasdair Milne succeeds Ian Trethowan as Director-General of the BBC.

  July

• 9 July – British television premiere of Ridley Scott's 1979 science-fiction horror Alien airs on ITV, starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton.

  August

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

  September

• 20 September – The first showing of BBC Schools' first computer generated ident takes place.

  October

• 3–9 October – As part of its coverage of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the BBC broadcasts a two-hour breakfast programme Breakfast with Brisbane. The programme 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 the BBC's breakfast television programme Breakfast Time.
• 6 October – BBC1 airs season 6 of the US drama series Dallas.
• 10 October – Boys from the Blackstuff premieres on BBC2.
• 17 October – First showing on British television of Lord of the Flies on BBC2.
• 24 October – British television premiere of George Lucas' 1977 science-fiction epic Star Wars: A New Hope airs on ITV for the first time.
• 31 October – Programmes in Welsh are broadcast on BBC Cymru Wales and HTV Cymru Wales for the final time.

  November

• 1 November – S4C, the first Welsh language TV service is launched.
• 2 November – Channel 4 starts broadcasting in the UK at 4:45pm. The first programme shown is the game show Countdown, which, barring the news, is the only programme from the launch night that is still running today. The first ever episode of Brookside is broadcast. The programme was shown on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8:00pm.
• 3 November – Television debut of the nostalgic coming-of-age film P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang on Channel 4, a film produced by David Puttnam as part of the First Love series.
• 5 November – Debut of Channel 4's innovative music programme The Tube.
• 7 November – Coverage of American football is first shown on Channel 4 at 5.30pm, beginning the channel's several years of association with the sport. The programme is initially presented by Nicky Horne and Miles Aiken. Due to an NFL players strike over pay negotiation rules the programme 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.
• 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 air.
• 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.
• 9 November – The first episode of anarchic sitcom The Young Ones starring Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan and Alexei Sayle is aired on BBC2.
• 14 November – The viewer complaints programme Right to Reply first airs on Channel 4.
• 16 November – A dispute over new technology forces Border Television to close for around a month.

  December

• 2 December – 10.2 million viewers saw a classic comedy scene from the Only Fools and Horses episode "A Touch of Glass" in which the Trotters accidentally smash a priceless chandelier.
• 23 December – Service Information is broadcast on BBC2 for the final time.
• 26 December – Premiere of Raymond Briggs' The Snowman on Channel 4.
• 27 December –
• *British television premiere of the James Bond film Moonraker on ITV.
• *Channel 4 airs its first theme night, Fifties to the Fore. The evening includes episodes of ABC and ATV shows such as Armchair Theatre and Oh Boy!.
• 28 December –
• *BBC1 airs the British television premiere of the 1978 musical hit Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
• *ITV airs the British television premiere of the 1977 comedy Smokey and the Bandit starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason.
• December – ITV conducts a national 3D experiment, with red/blue glasses allowing colour 3D to be shown for the first time. The programme, an episode of the weekly science magazine The Real World is shown on a weekday evening, and repeated that weekend on Sunday afternoon, followed by a rare screening of the Western Fort Ti starring George Montgomery and Joan Vohs.

  New channels

Debuts

BBC1

• 8 January – Fame is the Spur
• 28 January – Goodbye, Mr Kent
• 16 April – Odd One Out
• 4 May – Wogan
• 17 June – Fame
• 4 September – The Late, Late Breakfast Show
• 29 September – The Jockey School
• 2 October – Saturday Superstore
• 30 December – 'Allo 'Allo!

  BBC2

• 1 September – Timewatch
• 10 October – Boys from the Blackstuff
• 9 November – The Young Ones
• 29 December – East Lynne

  ITV

• 1 January – Central News
• 2 January –
• *No. 73
• *O.T.T.
• 3 January – Airline
• 4 January – Let's Pretend
• 5 January – CBTV
• 8 January – Shine on Harvey Moon
• 12 January – Muck and Brass
• 16 February – On Safari
• 18 February – Falcon Crest
• 1 March – Murphy's Mob
• 29 March – 3-2-1 Contact
• 16 April – The Bounder
• 9 June – Andy Robson
• 6 July – Pullover
• 12 July – A.J. Wentworth, B.A.
• 26 July – Ragdolly Anna
• 13 September – Hold Tight!
• 23 September – Wales This Week
• 25 October –
• *Foxy Lady
• *Harry's Game
• 30 October – The Saturday Show

  Channel 4

• 2 November –
• *Countdown
• *Brookside
• *Channel 4 News
• *The Comic Strip Presents
• 5 November – The Tube
• 14 November – Right to Reply
• 26 December – The Snowman
• 28 December – Treasure Hunt

  S4C

• 1 November –
• * SuperTed
• * Newyddion
• 3 November – Y Byd ar Bedwar
• 4 November – Joni Jones
• 5 November – Anturiaethau Syr Wynff a Plwmsan
• 11 November – Noson Lawen

  New channels

Television shows

Changes of network affiliation

Continuing television shows

1920s

• BBC Wimbledon

  1930s

• BBC Cricket

  1940s

• Come Dancing

  1950s

• The Good Old Days
• Panorama
• Crackerjack
• What the Papers Say
• The Sky at Night
• Blue Peter
• Grandstand

  1960s

• Coronation Street
• Songs of Praise
• Animal Magic
• Doctor Who
• World in Action
• Top of the Pops
• Match of the Day
• Crossroads
• Play School
• Mr. and Mrs.
• World of Sport
• Jackanory
• Sportsnight
• Call My Bluff
• The Money Programme
• The Big Match
• Nationwide
• Screen Test

  1970s

• The Old Grey Whistle Test
• The Two Ronnies
• Crown Court
• Pebble Mill at One
• Rainbow
• Emmerdale
• Newsround
• Weekend World
• We Are the Champions
• Last of the Summer Wine
• That's Life!
• Wish You Were Here...?
• Arena
• Jim'll Fix It
• Rentaghost
• One Man and His Dog
• Open All Hours
• The Professionals
• Butterflies
• 3-2-1
• Grange Hill
• Terry and June
• The Book Tower
• Blankety Blank
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show
• Antiques Roadshow
• Question Time

  1980s

• The Gentle Touch
• Juliet Bravo
• Cockleshell Bay
• Children in Need
• The Gaffer
• A Fine Romance
• Punchlines
• Finders Keepers
• Freetime
• Game for a Laugh
• Tenko
• That's My Boy
• Razzamatazz
• Bergerac
• BBC News After Noon
• Sorry!

  Ending this year

• Unknown –
• *How
• *Boys from the Blackstuff
• *Harry's Game
• *Noggin the Nog
• *O.T.T.
• 1 January – Clapperboard
• 13 February – The Goodies
• 6 March – Dick Turpin
• 8 March – Not the Nine O'Clock News
• 27 March – Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
• 2 April – Friday Night, Saturday Morning
• 3 April – Tiswas
• 25 April – Open All Hours
• 30 July – It's a Knockout
• 31 August – Sapphire & Steel
• 8 September – Into the Labyrinth
• 15 October – Something Else
• 20 October – Strangers
• 16 December – Only When I Laugh
• 27 December – Sorry!

  Births

• 3 January – Amanda Robbins, model
• 20 January – Joe Swash, actor
• 9 March – Paul 'Des' Ballard, television presenter
• 22 March – Pete Bennett, reality show contestant
• 9 April – Jennifer Maguire, reality show contestant and television presenter
• 24 April – Laura Hamilton, television presenter
• 28 April – Nikki Grahame, model, dancer and television personality
• 7 June – Amy Nuttall, actress and opera singer
• 13 June – Davood Ghadami, actor
• 3 September – Fearne Cotton, television presenter
• 22 September – Billie Piper, singer and actress
• 28 October – Matt Smith, actor
• 29 November – Imogen Thomas, reality show contestant
• 21 December – Tom Payne, soap actor

  Deaths