Britain's T.V Firsts

   

Television first came to Great Britain by way of the Baird Television company, who used a BBC transmitter in Southampton to televise it's five nights a week TV station which began in September 1929. 

TV did not go national in the UK until the BBC began regular live broadcasts to the nation from their studios at Alexander Palace in north London on the first of October 1936.

T.V was halted in Britain during the war years from 1939 until it resumed service again on the seventh of June 1946. The last programme to be aired before this shutdown was Walt Disney's, Mickey's Gala Premiere, shown on the first of September 1939. Mickey's Gala Premiere was also the first programme to welcome TV back again when it came back on air after the end of the war in June 1946.

Found below is a list ( in alphabetical order) of a few more of Britain's television firsts.  

BBC CHANNELS.

Britain's third TV channel was BBC2 launched on the twentieth of April 1964, followed by it's sister channels BBC3, launched on the ninth of February 2003 and BBC4  launched on the second of March 2002.    

CHILDREN'S TV.

The first TV series made especially for children was the BBC's Saturday series “For the Children” first screened on the twentyfouth of April 1937.

Britain's longest running children's TV programme is Blue Peterwhich has been continually  running since 1958.  

COLOUR BROADCAST.

Britain's first colour broadcast was aired on July the first 1967 when BBC 2 showed a live colour broadcast of the Wimbledon Championship. 

  

COOKERY SHOW.

Britain's first televised celebrity chef was Fanny Cradock (Phyllis Pechey) who aired her first TV cookery show for BBC television in 1955.

CURRENT AFFAIRS. 

Britain's longest running current affairs series is BBC's Panorama which aired it's first episode on the eleventh of November 1953, making it not only Britain's longest running current affairs programme but Britain's longest running TV programme of all time.

 

FA CUP FINAL.

The FA Cup match of 1938 played between Preston North End and Huddersfield Town, was the first televised FA Cup match aired on BBC TV . The match was shown on the twenty third of April 1938 and Preston North End beat Huddersfield Town One – Nil.   

FOOTBALL MATCH.

The BBC aired the first televised football match on the sixteenth of September 1936. The match was a friendly between Arsenal and Arsenal Reserves.  

FOOTBALL WORLD CUP.

The football World Cup of 1954, hosted that year by Switzerland, was Britain's first televised World Cup.  

INDEPENDENT CHANNELS 

Britain's first independent and second national TV channel was the ITV Network which began it's service of fifteen regional TV stations on the twenty second of September 1955.  

This station also featured Britain's first ever TV advert on this date when an ad for Gibbs SR Toothpaste was aired during the broadcast of a celebratory dinner being held at London's Guildhall in honour of the launch of the new channel.

Britain's Channel 4 was launched on the second of November 1982 followed by Channel Five on the thirtieth of March 1997.  

Today Britain hosts hundreds of TV channels owing to it’s many cable and satelite channels.

 

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL MATCH.

The first televised international football match in the UK was a match between Scotland and England on the nineteenth of April 1938. Scotland's Celtic beat England's Everton One - Nil.

 

LIVE INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST.

Britain's first live European transmission was screened on the twentyseventh of August 1950 by way of the Eurovision TV Network, founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1954. 

The country's first Trans Atlantic live transmission was aired on the twentythird of July 1962 via the Telstar 1 satellite.

OLYMPIC GAMES.

Britain's first televised Olympic Games coverage was that of the Winter Olympics of 1956 held in Cortina, Italy. 

Britain's first Summer Olympic Games coverage was the 1960 games held in Rome. 

OXFORD / CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACE. 

The first televised Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race was aired on the second of April 1938. That year, which was the ninetieth annual race, it was won by Oxford. 

PUPPET SHOW.

The stringed puppet Muffin the Mule was shown as part of the BBC's “For the Children” series and was Britain's first televised puppet show when it first appeared on screen on the twentieth of October 1946.

QUIZ SHOW.

Britain's first televised quiz show was Spelling Bee, an inter - regional spelling competition which was just fifteen minutes long. The show was first aired on the thirtyfirst of May 1938 and was hosted by Freddie Greasewood. 

The show was such a hit that a children's show was also introduced and a UK / US English spelling competiton held in conjunction with the US's NBC Network. 

In 1939 when TV went off air during the war years, so popular was this TV show, that the BBC decided to carry on airing the show by way of their radio service, although it only lasted another year. 

Historians of the period are of the opinion that the once much loved show lost momentum due to the low moral of the war weary British people. 

 

ROYAL WEDDING.

Britain's first televised royal wedding was aired on the sixth of May 1960 when Queen Elisabeth II's sister, Princess Margaret, married Anthony Armstrong - Jones at Westminster Abbey. 

The wedding attracted over twenty million viewers, not only beacause of the uniqueness of the occasion but because Princess Margaret was held in the same esteem by the British public at the time as had Princes Diana during the nineteen eighties and nineties. 

  

SCIENCE FICTION PROGRAMME.

The science fiction programme Rossum Universal Robots, written by Czech playwrite Karl Calpek, was the first televised sci - fi programme to be aired on BBC TV on the eleventh of February 1938.

Britain's longest running sci - fi series is Doctor Who, which has been on air since 1963.

SITCOM.

Britain's first televised sitcom was Pinwrights Progress, a half hourly comedy which was aired fortnightly. The show was written by Rodney Hobson and stared James Hayter.The series was first aired on the twentyninth of November 1946 and ran until May of the following year. The show featured shop owner Mr Pinwright and his rivalry with a despised neighbour.  

    

SOAP OPERA.

Britain's first soap opera was the Grove Family, a series about a family coping with life in post war Britain. It first went on air in 1954 and 148 episodes were televised before it's axe in 1957.

Britain's longest running 'soap' is ITV's Coronation Street, which has been running since 1960.

 

VARIETY SHOW.

The BBC's weekly Starlight Show was Britains first ever televised variety show. The show first went on air on the third of November 1936 and was one of the few former pre war shows that resumed service when TV made it's comeback again in 1946.   

WIMBLEDON COVERAGE.

The first televised coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament was in 1937.